Easter gets all the glory: the brunch, the egg hunts, the bunny, the candy. But April 6, the completely unsung Monday after Easter, is where the real magic happens. Hopefully, you still have some room in your basket because the day after Easter, every store in America starts selling candy for basically nothing. And as a broke college student, that is your Super Bowl.
Egg-sactly How This Started
Yesterday, in my college house, one of my roommates set up an impromptu Easter egg hunt for the other nine of us. She hid 30 eggs around the house, and we went absolutely feral looking for them. It was a perfect rainy Sunday activity, but her best move wasn’t the hunt itself. She waited until Easter morning to buy everything: the plastic eggs, the candy to fill them, Recess eggs, and Jelly Bellys (arguably two best Easter candies) for us to snack on throughout the day, scoring a solid last-minute discount.
If you thought Sunday morning was cheap, though, today is where the real savings begin. Starting the day after Easter, major retailers clear out everything pastel to make room for the Mother’s day inventory, beginning with markdowns ranging from 50% to 90% off.
Why This Day Exists
Retailers stock up hard for Easter with Peeps, Cadbury eggs, chocolate bunnies, you name it. Then, the holiday ends, and suddenly it all needs to disappear. So stores do the most logical thing and slash prices starting Easter day and increasing exponentially the next morning. Your gain.
Where To Find The Best Deals
The big four when it comes to holiday clearance are Target, CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart. Here’s how their markdown schedule is expected to play out this week:
Day 1 (Today, Monday): Immediate 50% off on candy, baskets and decor.
Days 3-5 (Wednesday-Friday): Discount increase to around 70% on whatever’s left.
Day 7 (Next Monday): Stragglers hit the 90% off point with minimal selection expected.
Another tip: don’t just check the seasonal aisles. Shoppers abandon items all over the store, and employees often move items to clearance endcaps near the back or front. The egg hunt isn’t over — keep your eyes peeled!
The Candy Tier List
Not all discounted Easter candy is created equal. Here is the hierarchy:
Top tier: Peeps, Cadbury Creme Eggs, Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs, Jelly beans. These are the ones that go the fastest and are worth going early in the day for.
Second tier: anything in pastel packaging even if it isn’t explicitly Easter branded. This all usually gets marked down even if it’s not Easter-themed.
What To Stock For Next Year
The ultimate money-saving move to buying next year’s supplies with this year’s deals. Plastic eggs never go bad. You can buy them discounted now, toss them in a shoebox, and you are all set for your 2027 roommate egg hunt. Easter baskets and fake grass are notoriously expensive right before the holiday, too. Stock up on these now and nest them in the back of your closet to whip out for Easter brunch decor next spring.
A Peep Into Your Pantry: What to Do With All That Candy?
Hard candies & Jelly Beans have super long shelf lives. If you buy them now you can store them in a cool and dark place and they will easily last to next year. Peeps are also notoriously indestructible, making them a safe long-term investment as well. For chocolate like Reese’s Eggs and Lindt bunnies, toss them in a freezer bag– they freeze well and thaw out fine for next year.
And if you don’t want to wait that long, there are plenty of recipes that will put a haul like this to good use.
The early bird gets the worm, or in this case, the Cadbury egg. Happy hunting. May your baskets be full and your receipts be low.