There’s a hidden markdown language used by popular retailers to communicate to employees what items are being discounted. I’ve put together a list of secret markdown codes at Walmart, Costco, and Target that only employees and insiders know. Pricing doesn’t always follow this format as retailers are constantly testing new prices but the following codes come from insiders:

Markdown Codes at Walmart:

• Items with prices ending in $__._7 are the original price
• Items with prices ending in $__,_5 are 1st markdown
• Items with prices ending in $__,_1 are final markdown

Markdown Codes at Costco:

• Items with prices ending in $__._9 are the original price
• Items with prices ending in $__,_7 are reduced for clearance
• Items with an asterisk (” * “) will on the price sign will not be re-stocked.

Markdown Codes at Target:

• Items with prices ending in $__._9 are the regular price
• Items with prices ending in $__,_8 are discounted
• Items with prices ending in $__,_4 are the final clearance price
• The small numbers in the top right corner of the price tag indicate the percentage discount you’re getting off of the regular price (for example, if you see “75”, that’s 75% off the regular or original price)

Markdown Codes at Sams Club:

• Items with prices ending in $__._1 are the clearance price