Caught an 8-Hour Dick's Flash Sale from the Parking Lot, Saved 50% on Cleats
Ben T.
Dick's flash sales run for eight hours with a countdown in the email, and they switch off price matching while the sale is live. Vlingo flagged it mid-afternoon, so the cleats got ordered from the parking lot at pickup — half price, with ScoreCard points on top.
“No chance I was going through emails that evening, we had practice. Vlingo nudged me mid-afternoon and I ordered them sitting in the parking lot.”
Third pair of cleats in eighteen months
My son had outgrown his cleats again. That's the third pair in about eighteen months, and I'd been putting it off because they are never cheap.
Eight hours on the clock
Then the Dick's email turned up with a countdown on it. Eight hours ticking down right there in the email, which is probably the only reason I opened it. Up to 50% off, and the cleats were half price. Normally I'd see something like that the next morning and it would already be over.
Vlingo nudged me mid-afternoon and I ordered them sitting in the parking lot at pickup. There was no chance I was going through emails that evening, we had practice.
The catch nobody mentions
The thing with their flash sales is they also turn off price matching while the sale is running. So you can't go and find it cheaper somewhere else and have them match it afterwards. It's the sale price or nothing, for eight hours.
I'm on the ScoreCard so the points went on too. It's a point per dollar and 300 gets you $10 back, which isn't much on its own, but they expire after a year so you may as well use them. I'd let a whole load lapse the year before without noticing.
Why flash sales are the ones worth catching
Flash sales are the main reason I bother with any of this. A normal sale comes round again and you can wait it out. A flash sale you either see it or you pay full price for the same shoes two weeks later, and with a kid growing out of everything that adds up fast. Catching them in time is where the savings actually are.
