I ‘ram-raid’ shop shelves for bargains – trolls shame me for not sharing, my 60 Lynx gift sets prove it’s worth it
WALKING into a department store in Leeds, West Yorks., Polly Arrowsmith was on a military-style shopping mission.
She spied shelves stacked with dozens of Lynx and Sure gift sets – selling for £2 rather than £8.
Pushing a trolley, Polly, 55, stripped the shelf of the Lynx ones, grabbing an astonishing 60.
And she’s shameless about it.
“I am a shelf-swiping supremo,” she said. “I ram-raided for discount sets from Lynx and Sure on Boxing Day.
“I spent £120 on 60 twin item Lynx sets. It means I am never short of a gift for a male friend or relative.”
At home the bulk buys are stored in a bedroom which has been converted to a bargain store room with more than two years supply of items.
The saved cash and the vast number of standby men’s gifts aren’t the only benefit.
According to Polly, of Islington, north London, she also doubled down on the bargain offer by getting discount points on her store card.
“I ram-raid not just for the actual items but the points and vouchers that come with it,” she explained. “There is a science to this form of shelf-sweeping and I am an expert at it. I have the formula to get a bargain from a bargain,” the marketing director said.
“I spend money to get the discounted items and then the shop pays me in card points and vouchers, and I get to treat myself by spending the store’s money on myself. Everyone should follow my lead.”
It isn’t just cut-price smellies which Polly gets.
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At Marks & Spencer Polly filled her trolley with dozens of the same items in the post-Christmas sales.
“I found a shelf filled with Christmas card boxes reduced to just 10p,” she said. “I grabbed the lot of them.
“The next shelf was filled with wrapping paper for just 10p as well and I grabbed what was left.”
According to Polly over the past six months she has “ram-raided” sale shelves for bottles of shower gels reduced to 60p from £6 and socks priced at 80p down £8.
“I have also shelf-swiped discounted cleaning fluids, clothes, tissues and children’s bubble baths at 90 percent off.
I even nabbed a haul of rubbish bags at 90 percent off.
“I put things in my trolley and used a rubbish bag as a carry sack.”
Polly said she loved the thrill of researching what shops will be having what sales and even predicted during sale seasons the exact day they will drop items to their lowest price.
It isn’t just cheaper priced items Polly stockpiles during shopping.
“I grabbed a batch of Clinique sets at £50, down from £100, and for an additional £75, I got a set worth £207 and a free Clinique gift worth £40.”
“I make online purchases to earn me money. Not only do I break up some of the ‘gift sets’ and make money selling them individually on eBay, but I use cashback sites and I earn points from the actual site I buy from.”
Polly’s love of shelf-swiping began 42 years ago.
“My dad sadly lost his job and we couldn’t afford nice things,” she said. “I got my first job at a café when I was 13 and became a super bargain hunter.
“I have always been good at maths and over the last 20 years I have kept track of sales.”
However, Polly’s super swiping supremo skills didn’t fully develop until 2010 when she became the self-professed ‘Robin Hood of shelf swiping’.
“A friend of mine ran an OAP Christmas lunch in London using donations.
“In December 2010 she mentioned she couldn’t get any wine donation.
“I was a fan of meal deals and had a stockpile of 30 bottles of wine.
“I don’t drink but couldn’t leave the wine when I bought a meal deal. So, I offered to donate the wine.
“I loved helping my friend and the OAPs loved the plonk I donated.
“As a child, even in lean times, we’d always been taught to donate to charity if we could.
“After the OAP wine donation I went through my stockpile of bargains and donated loads a charity supporting long term residential housing for people with mental health issues.”
Now Polly donates 250 gifts to charity each year, many to vulnerable adults.
However, Polly admits not everyone approves of her shelf swiping abilities.
“People behind me see me clearing an entire shelf of bargains and tell me I am greedy,” she said.
“In some stores you can only buy a certain number of gift sets on sale and you get horrible looks or lectures from staff. I have also been banned from one store because they got sick of me clearing their shelves.
“But it’s fair. I work hard to find my bargains.”