How to Score Lululemon on Sale

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The question of how to get Lululemon on sale is one we hear on a pretty regular basis—usually with an overtone of frustration. There are a couple of reasons for that. Go to their website and you won’t see a “sale” or “clearance” section. Walk into a Lululemon store and you won’t find a “sale” section there either. Combine that with the fact that it isn’t sold at other retailers, so snatching up Lululemon at Macy’s semi-annual sales event isn’t going to happen, and you can begin to understand the frustration.

However, there are ways around paying full price for the coveted pieces of exercise clothing and equipment made by this adored high-end athleisure brand. Specifically, we’ve come up with 11, but first, let’s address the elephant in the room.

Why is Lululemon So Expensive?

Whatever your exercise of choice—be it yoga, cycling, running, HIIT, CrossFit, walking, juggling or whatever sport you’re into—there is no doubt that if movement and sweating are involved, comfort is key. Let’s look specifically at yoga pants. A pair of Lululemon yoga pants can put a $100 hole in your pocket. And frankly, you can find an abundance of legging options under $75  and Lululemon dupes elsewhere.

This begs the obvious question: Why is Lululemon so expensive? Without factoring in branding and marketing costs, these are the main reasons:

• Performance fabrics: With five high-quality, exclusive fabric choices that include Luon, Nulu, Luxtreme, Everlux and Nulux, these innovative materials have gone through extensive research and development to ensure that they breathe, wick away moisture, won’t bunch, are highly durable and literally feel like you are wearing nothing at all.
• High-tech design: Those five fabrics offer varying degrees of compression and thickness and have been designed to make certain you can concentrate on your workout moves without worrying about bunching or sagging.
• Exceptional customer service: Because happy Lululemon-wearing customers create more Lululemon-wearing customers, the brand works exceptionally hard to ensure its customers are happy. Lululemon reviews speak as much to the fantastic customer service as they do the products.
• Warranty: Lululemon understands that when you pay more, you expect more. Their Quality Promise says that if your Lululemon clothing rips or tears, a seam comes undone, or it simply doesn’t perform the way you’d like it to, they will take it back (with the exception of Like New products purchased from Lululemon).   
• 30-day return policy: With the exception of your We Made Too Much and Like New purchases, Lululemon accepts returns in person or by mail for free (they’ll hook you up with a pre-printed shipping label) within 30 days. 
• Coveted free bag that doubles as a gym bag: This last one may seem silly, but if you’ve created a shopping bag that has resale value, you’ve created something special (only available when your purchase was made in-store). 

How to Land Lululemon on Sale

While a pair of $100 Lululemon yoga pants will likely last longer and perform better than cheaper versions, that doesn’t mean it’s absolutely necessary to pay full price for them—even if you count yourself among the throngs of die-hard Lululemon-wearing fans. They aren’t better if you pay full-price; in fact, we’d argue the opposite. To that end, we’ve wangled a full 11 ways for you to score Lululemon on sale. 

1. Shop the Lululemon We Made Too Much Section

In some ways, we would argue the We Made Too Much Section of the Lululemon site—where you can find discounts from 15%-60%—is better than a Lululemon sale. For one, Lululemon adds new products to the page once a week (but let’s not call it a weekly sale). And for another, the markdowns found on this page can be combined with some of the others we outline below, including Sweat Collective. 

2. Shop Lululemon Like New

Recently, we’ve seen retail brands embracing sustainable consumption in a number of ways. Lululemon’s approach was to launch their own online resale shop. When you make a product that is as durable, well designed and technically advanced as those made by Lululemon, you can feel confident in providing an outlet for the resale of that product. Through their website, lululemon Like New, they provide an opportunity to prolong the life of perfectly good athletic gear and offer sale prices you won’t find on the regular site. Consider for a moment that those $98, highly coveted Align leggings we keep referring to are priced between $45 and $59 on the Like New site. 

3. Shop Lululemon Outlet

Outlet shopping is considered a sport among some people we know—not unlike hunting or fishing. Fortunately, Lululemon provides almost 20 locations in the U.S. where hunting for Lululemon on sale is not a spectator sport. Like most outlet stores, the inventory is inconsistent (mostly last season, with some current), but we’ve heard that you can find items on sale for as much as 40% off.    

4. Watch for Lululemon Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day Sales

Even though Lululemon has not done a traditional Black Friday sale in the past, it’s still a sound practice to keep an eye on the major sales events that happen within the retail industry. In the past, we have seen sales events around Black Friday titled “You Don’t Want to Miss This,” online markdowns that coincide with Cyber Monday and the day after Christmas, also known as Boxing Day, that have delivered some solid deals.

The key with Lululemon is to remain open minded, don’t search for traditional sales titles and remember to snatch up markdowns when you find them. 

5. Take Advantage of Lululemon’s Military and First Responder Discount

The name “Military and First Responder Discount,” is misleading because Lululemon has greatly expanded who is eligible for what amounts to an everyday sale of 25% off everything including markdowns. In response to our changing world, Lululemon offers this sale not only to members of the military and their spouses, but also to active emergency first responders (police, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, correctional officers), nurses, doctors, hospital, acute-care and long-term facility support workers.

The offer must be used in-store and ID is required. An important thing to note here: we know for a fact that this discount also applies to the very expensive Mirror home gym device (we only wish it had ended up on our wall).

6. Join the Sweat Collective

Your yoga instructor is likely wearing Lululemon apparel because it’s arguably the best athletic wear available, and you probably won’t be shocked to find out that he likely didn’t pay full price for it. But you might be surprised to learn that what is traditionally known as a “trainer discount” has a broader definition at Lululemon. The professional discount program known as the Sweat Collective is available to anyone who teaches group fitness. If you train people, lead a dance group or captain a volleyball team, you might be eligible for a 25% discount on all regular, sale, in-store, outlet and online Lululemon purchases. Learn more about the Sweat Collective to understand the application process and eligibility requirements; because, let’s be honest, for 25% off, we all might be willing  to gather a group together to do some collective sweating. 

7. Take Advantage of Lululemon’s Team Program 

Similar to a corporate discount, Lululemon’s Team Program offers discounts when a “team” purchases in multiples. The discount varies, but we’ve heard that orders of 12 or more items can expect a discount of 25%. Because each store has some autonomy, these numbers can vary. For example, some may require a purchase of only 6 items, or give a discount as high as 30%. If you are getting ready to suit up your graduating class of 1985 with shirts for a spirited softball tournament, you may want to take a gander at Lululemon’s Team Program.  

8. Check Out the Retail Sale Section at Your Local Gym or Yoga Facility

Most likely due to the discount offered through the Team Program, some yoga and gym facilities have Lululemon clothing in their retail section that is screen printed or embroidered with the studio or gym’s name or logo. When these items don’t sell out quickly, they can end up on the sale rack. Notice what’s being sold in your facility, and then keep an eye out to see if you can find your favorite Lululemon on sale there.   

9. Follow Lululemon Social Media Accounts

If you are a fan of, well, just about anything, it’s wise to follow the social media account of your affection. It can be expensive and tedious for brands to update their websites with sale information, whereas updating Facebook and Instagram happens daily—sometimes hour-by-hour. Lululemon sale information may show up on social media before it makes an appearance on the website.

10. Sign Up for Lululemon’s Email List

If you check your email more often than your Facebook and Instagram accounts, be sure to get on Lululemon’s email list to learn about can’t-miss product drops, collaborations, community events, and more. We’ve heard that some of the attendees at community events come away with some sweet swag, including discount coupons. 

11. Add the RetailMeNot Deal Finder to Your Browser

When doing your online shopping, let the Deal Finder browser extension check for promo codes and cash back offers that can be applied to your shopping cart. It’s free. It’s easy. And, who knows, a Lululemon sale might show up to brighten your day.

Shopping Tip: Be sure to browse through The Real Deal’s Fashion section for a fresh look at mixing and matching cheap but fun shoe options with your new Lulu outfit. 

The post How to Score Lululemon on Sale appeared first on The Real Deal by RetailMeNot.

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