Insider Information: Clearance capers

If, for some reason, you really liked the $7.48 outfit, you better buy it now. Both the T-shirt and the mini-skirt came from the 75-percent-off rack, and Target never discounts its clothes past that point.

Softlines (clothing, shoes, and accessories) begin their journey through clearancehood on the 30-percent-off rack. Items that don't sell are eventually reduced to 50-percent-off, and finally, 75-percent-off.

In hardlines, however, clearance reductions work differently. There, items can be reduced as little as 15 percent or as much as 90 percent. (A friend purchased this Friends SceneIt board game for about $3 at the Fayetteville, N.Y. Target over the summer. Apparently, it continues to be regular-priced on Target.com.)

Clearances vary by store, so an item that's 75-percent-off at one location may be only 50- or 30-percent-off at another.