Ocean State Job Lot is a discount shopper’s dream, which makes sense if you consider the store's roots.
It started as three guys selling at flea markets in New York before the first store opened in North Kingstown in 1977. Today, the chain has 150 stores in New England, New York and Pennsylvania, but it’s stayed true to the flea market principles of buy something people will want, buy it at a low price, and sell that item at a price where the customer believes they got a great deal.
Ocean State Job Lot is particularly famous for one very good deal: the Crazy Deal. This week’s What and Why RI comes from my mother, an avid Crazy Deal shopper, who wondered at a recent dinner about the seemingly “too good to be true” factor of the Crazy Deal and how it works. Being a halfway-decent daughter, I called the president of Ocean State Job Lot to see what I could find out.
How does an Ocean State Job Lot Crazy Deal work?
First, here's how it works: You buy a marked Crazy Deal itemand Ocean State Job Lot will give you a Crazy Deal gift card back for up to the entire price of the item you just purchased.
They run as both in-store deals and ship-to-store deals, with more than 65 pages of offerings online.
Looking at the ship-to-store deals, right now, for example, you could order a $129 Instant Pot and get a $129 Crazy Deal gift card back. Or you could order a $399 inflatable paddleboard and get a $399 Crazy Deal gift card back, which both my mother and sister have done.
There are also items where you don’t recoup the full purchase price, such as an arched top cedar pergola selling for $2,000 for which you can get a $1,400 Crazy Deal gift card.
And there are smaller items, like the Crazy Deals on food items in the “eat for free” section of the store or on vacuum storage bags.
There are a fewrules, though. One, you have sign up to become an Ocean State Job Lot Insider. Two, the Crazy Deal gift card can’t be used until the next day. Three, you can’t use the Crazy Deal gift card to buy another Crazy Deal, or use it on an Insider Deal or during storewide promotion days. And finally, rule four, you can’t use them to purchase gift cards, propane tanks and exchanges, beer and wine, or live plants outside the store.
Also, if you use an EBT card to purchase food, you won’t get the Crazy Deal associated with the food item.
How does Ocean State Job Lot make money on Crazy Deals?
We asked Ocean State Job Lot's president, Marc Perlman, how the company makes money from Crazy Deals, and this was his diplomatic answer.
“Let’s put it this way, if we were losing money, we'd be chasing Christmas Tree Shops, , Toys "R" Us and everybody else out of business, but we’re doing OK,” he said. “It’s a challenging retail environment … but you know, we show up to work every day and, you know, try to make the type of buys that would encourage people to come into the store.”
Getting consumers to come into the store is likely the biggest benefit for Ocean State.
As a closeout store, they’re constantly buying the surplus of other stores or the leftover stock of stores going out of business, like Bed Bath & Beyond. They look for quality, Perlman said, but are willing to buy pretty much anything they think would have value for their customers, whether that’s toothpaste, party supplies or a gazebo.
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The spark to recognize that you want the very specific item they now have in store often comes once you are physically in the store. The Crazy Deals keep loyal shoppers coming back in, because that gift card is just too good to not use.
“Giving you your money back in the form of a Crazy Deal, at least we get you to come back in the store,” Perlman said. “That’s one of the advantages to us, that we're trying to increase the frequency that our customers come into the store, because we're always coming up with new things. It's just a great opportunity to show that the products in our stores are constantly changing.”
There are a lot of ways people use the deals, Perlman said. Some people use the Crazy Deals to buy household essentials, like toothpaste, laundry detergent, flour and other things they would have had to buy anyway. Others use the deal money to buy items to donate to charity, and some people use the money for the next fun thing they find.
Will Ocean State Job Lot link the Crazy Deals to the Insider Card?
My mother had one last question. While you have to be an Insider to claim a Crazy Deal, the Crazy Deal is delivered as its own gift card that shoppers have to remember to use. She wanted to know if the deal will ever be linked to the Insider number so that shoppers don’t have to remember a second card.
Perlman said there aren’t plans for that right now, because of the complexities of working in eight different states.
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“There are so many federal and state regulations, which is always difficult,” Perlman said. “It’s a challenging environment to change things, because you never know. You’re in eight states, and you’re going to violate something in state number three.”
He said he’s not sure if it ever would change, but for now, expect it to stay the same.
What and Why RI is a weekly feature by The Providence Journal to explore our readers' curiosity. If you have a question about Rhode Island, big or small, email it toklandeck@gannett.com.She loves a good question.
