7 retail pricing secrets revealed

Exploit end-of-life-cycle pricing by shopping for a product when its new version has launched. Today that Razr V3 sells for a mere $50 with a contract since Motorola is pushing its MotoKrzr.

Similarly, the new Mizuno Wave Creation 8 sneaker retails for $130, while the Mizuno Wave Creation 7 (originally $120) can be had for $85. Once the Creation 7s are gone, however, there's no restocking.

Shopping at discount retailers like dollar stores and outlets can also help you capitalize on life-cycle decline. "The shelf life of detergent may be seven years. So Dollar General locates a warehouse of Tide that's five years old," says Underhill. "And they purchase that warehouse at a discount." Since it's not "fresh," they're able to undersell supermarkets. But since it's still usable, there's no real downside.