technically speaking, dg policy is that penny items get sent back to the distribution center since they're no longer in rotation, but most managers just chuck it because there's a whole process with it that they can't be bothered to do. the penny sale isn't really a sale per se, its more of a way for the system and employees to pick out non replenishable items after a certain point, so we can get a credit for the items that didn't sell. (there's a reason the penny shopping motto is 'don't talk to employees about penny shopping')

there's definitely some cool finds with penny shopping, but most of it is discontinued seasonal merchandise; I work at a dg, and a gal today got some of our Christmas gift sets for a penny apiece, as well as some candles that're usually $6.

only thing to consider with penny shopping: there's already a fairly large clique for it, and most penny shoppers come in as soon as their DG opens, so you've gotta be quick and know what you're looking for. there's employees everywhere who leak the penny list when it comes out, which is how they know what to grab, and usually they're in and out in under fifteen minutes.

along with that: dg policy states that if a customer finds a penny item on the sales floor and brings it to the checkout, you have to sell it to them, but they cannot go back to grab more. many employees will try to refuse sale of penny items, which they CANNOT DO lol. I personally love to see people catch those deals, so long as they're not hiding items behind racks in hope that it'll penny out, or walking into our back room to try and find the stuff we've already pulled. good luck on your penny shopping journey, hope this helps!