Poughkeepsie Kmart Liquidation Prices Actually More Expensive?

We were shocked to find that some items were actually more expensive at the soon-to-be-closing South Hills Kmart liquidation sale.

When you see deals that seem too good to be true the rule of thumb is that they usually are. That's exactly what we found at the Kmart store that recently announced they're going out of business in Poughkeepsie. After seeing discounts of 30% on many items we wondered if the sale price was actually as good of a deal as it seemed to be. While we expected some inflation, we couldn't believe it when we found out that some regular priced items were actually cheaper at the Kmart store just a few miles away.

On Monday we visited both the Kmart on Route 44 in Poughkeepsie, which is not going out of business, and the Kmart in the Shoppes at South Hills, which is currently having a liquidation sale. Surprisingly, many items were actually the same price, or cheaper at the Route 44 location.

For example, this patio set is being sold at the liquidation sale for what looks like an incredible deal of $139 down from the regular price of $199. However, at the Route 44 location the regular price is listed as only being $139, which the sign says has been dropped from a former price of only $179. So where did the $199 original price come from? We have no idea.

Even more shocking, we found a Bestway inflatable 10' pool on sale for $69.99 at the liquidation sale. The exact same pool was $20 cheaper at the Route 44 store. It's safe to say that the average shopper would never suspect that a bright yellow liquidation sticker would be showing a price that is actually more expensive than other Kmart stores.

Comparing prices to Kmart's own online store was even more maddening. A flatscreen 43" television was being offered on the shelf for $288.99, a 15% discount from the "original price" of $339.99. The exact same television was available online with free store pickup for only $256.49. The original price on the website is listed as being only $269.99, which is almost $20 cheaper than the liquidation price.

We found countless other examples of these price inconsistencies on everything from appliances to grills and furniture. While it's true that many times a store's website has discounts that aren't available in store, it seems suspicious that the original list prices are so dramatically different.

To be fair, some items like coffee pots and children's toys were offered at both locations and online for similar prices before liquidation discounts. However, comparing those prices to the ones offered by Amazon.com or Toys R Us showed that Kmart's was the most expensive, sometimes even after liquidation discounts.

So the bottom line is to make sure to do your research before making an impulse purchase on an item that looks like it's at a deep discount. Most likely you won't actually be getting the deal you think you are, and in some cases you may even wind up paying too much.

We want to know what you think about our findings at the Kmart liquidation sale. Have you shopped for deals and realized that you actually saved less than you thought you did? Let us know you think about the prices we discovered on our Facebook page or in the comments section below.