Coles shopper saves $269 on huge chicken haul: 'Winner winner'

A Coles customer has scored the deal of a lifetime at her local store just in time for Christmas, but her massive haul has rubbed some shoppers up the wrong way. The South Australian woman purchased $329.38 worth of chicken and salmon for just $70.40, saving herself $268.92.

Posting about her bargain buy on Facebook, the shopper said she couldn't wait to share the food with family and friends over the holidays. "Right place right time, thank you Coles Mount Gambier," she wrote. "Markdown lady said Merry Christmas! My family and friends will be happy."

'Winner winner, chicken dinner'

The woman's haul included 21 packs of chicken breast fillets, marked down to less than $3.12 each, one packet of chicken thigh fillets for $4.50 and two packs of salmon for $3.25 apiece. Some members of the Markdown Addicts Australia Facebook page said it was one of the best supermarket buys they'd ever seen.

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"What an awesome score for you and your family. Especially at this time of year," one person commented, while another simply wrote, "Winner winner, chicken dinner!"

Responding to other shoppers who wanted to know how she scored such a great deal, the woman revealed she was in the store as the items were being marked down at around 5:15pm.

'Never judge someone'

While most people who commented on the woman's post congratulated her on her find, others said she should have left some products behind for others to enjoy, especially as it's Christmas time. However, the negative comments were soon drowned out by fellow shoppers who came to her defence.

"If there are bargains like this I grab them! If there are others around me at the time I offer but otherwise, I take the whole lot. I share them with friends and family and when I do my meal prep on Sundays I feed half the neighbourhood," one person said. "Never judge someone whose situation you don't know. Good for you! I'm jealous. I love a bargain. Enjoy!"

Many group members agreed, saying they would too have taken the whole lot home too. "Times are tough and things are expensive, take all you need! Good score! It's also lovely that you're giving some to your family! Good work!" one person added.

When to score markdowns

A Coles spokesperson previously told Yahoo News that stores sometimes mark down products near their best-before date to reduce wastage and offer value for money to shoppers.

"We know our customers love good value so when a product is near its best before date we often mark it down so it can be enjoyed for a cheaper price, instead of being wasted," the spokesperson said, adding there's no set time to secure marked down items. "Markdowns do not uniformly take place at the same time across all stores. There are many things that can impact when this takes place including stock on hand, delivery schedules and team member rostering."

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