How To Locate Hard-To-Find Halloween Items

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This is the story of how my friend Venus totally saved Halloween 2018. (Credit where it is rightfully due!)

(If you’re on Instagram, be sure to give her a follow. If you love what I share, you’ll definitely love what she shares too!)

See…she reminded me of a Halloween hack I hadn’t used in quite a while. It’s a GOOD one. Like, really good, so I want to pass it on to you if, like me, there’s that ONE Halloween item you’re on the hunt for and can’t seem to find anywhere. (HomeGoods shoppers, you know what I’m talking about!)

My item was the neon bat, ghost and pumpkin lights in Target’s dollar section:

 

 

How darling are those? As soon as I saw them on Instagram, all I could think was, “I HAVE to grab all three because they’d be perfect for blog photos!”

Now, if you’re a regular in the dollar section at Target…you know how quickly seasonal items can disappear. Target stores only get so many of each thing with little to no restocks, as far as I know, so when you see something…you better grab it.

And thus began my hunt for my neon lights. Over the course of two weeks, I haunted five different Target stores in Houston, scouring their dollar section shelves for any sign of a neon light. I was thrilled when I spotted a single pumpkin light at my SuperTarget while hunting on a Friday night. I grabbed it, hopeful I’d still find the others.

 

Enter Venus.

 

She reminded me that, armed with a UPC, SKU or DCPI number, I could cheat the system by looking up the item on sites like brickseek.com or zoolert.com to see which stores might have an item in stock.

That’s my Halloween hack for you today: use product item numbers on the barcode to locate hard-to-find Halloween items you’re hunting for at big box stores.

 

 

But wait!

Before you run off to try this, here are a few things you should know:

  • BrickSeek only works for items at Walmart, Target, Lowes, CVS, Home Depot and Staples.
  • Zoolert only works for items at Best Buy, CVS, Fry’s Electronics, GameStop, Home Depot, Lowes, Meijer, Office Depot, Target, Walgreens and Walmart.
  • While using the UPC, SKU or DCPI numbers to find an item is easiest on these sites, keyword search may work too.
  • Inventory lists are not always reliable on these sites (i.e. these are NOT updated instantaneously, there IS a lag), so it IS possible you’ll arrive and not find the item.
  • Prices listed on the site may not match what you find in stores.
  • If the store sells online, the UPC, SKU or DCPI numbers may be listed there. If not, ask an Instagram friend if they can share a clear photo of the barcode with you.

Alternately, you could take a UPC, SKU or DCPI number into a store and (kindly!) ask if an employee could check the store inventory for you to see if their location – or possibly any nearby locations – have the item you’re searching for.

Employees in stores may be able to look up items for you with these numbers, but you shouldn’t approach them with the expectation of them finding an item for you. Every store’s process will be different, so be patience and understanding if it isn’t possible.

(i.e. Be kind and don’t give Halloween lovers a bad name by being aggressive or rude. 😉 And remember…part of the fun of hunting is the hunt itself!)

You could also give those numbers a spin on the store’s website, if they sell online, which I know is often a hard thing with stores like HomeGoods, TJ Maxx and Marshalls who carry unique Halloween goodies we all seek out.

 

Here’s how I managed to find my bat and ghost lights using this trick:

 

Using the DCPI number from Target that Venus shared out on her Instagram stories, I headed over to brickseek.com and clicked on the button to check Target’s inventory. I entered the number, along with my ZIP code and searched.

Where do you find this number?

 

 

You can find these numbers on the barcode tags. Target specifically refers to theirs as DCPI codes, while other stores might have a UPC or SKU number. I boxed the number in orange in the image above.

 

 

And behold, my results! My understanding from my research is BrickSeek doesn’t get as specific with Target as it does with other stores. (When I was searching for their first spirit board tray in 2015, I remember the site displaying the number of trays each store had in stock.)

But, armed with the knowledge that SOME sort of neon lights were in stock at the Galleria and Meyerland locations, I decided to take a chance and check it out.

It took visits to both stores, but I found my ghost at the Galleria location and my bat at Meyerland!

 

 

And now I’m one happy ghoul who checked a major must-have off her Halloween 2018 shopping list. Thanks, Venus!

 

 

Looking for more Halloween hacks?

Stay tuned because I’ll be sharing more of my favorite hacks all season long.

Wondering what’s in stores this year? Be sure to swing through the Halloween hunting section of the blog.

Now the question is…what item is left on your shopping list you hope to track down with this hack? Let me know in the comments!

 

Happy haunting,

 

Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween

Miranda is the Houston-based writer, blogger, and Halloween lover behind Spooky Little Halloween, the blog celebrating October 31st all year long. Her favorite Halloween things include pumpkin guts, chocolate bars in her trick-or-treat pail, real haunted houses (including the one she lives in!), and historic cemeteries.

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