Even if you’re not an avid Bath & Body Works connoisseur, you know the store. You’ve inevitably strolled past it in the mall, and you knew exactly what it was before you looked as the fragrances greeted you with the warm Bath & Body Works welcome.
Bath & Body Works was founded in 1990 in Ohio, and it now spans six continents, including its American home. The chain specializes in things like skin-care products, body sprays, candles, and gift items. It operates both brick-and-mortar locations and an online storefront.
Anyone enticed into a Bath & Body Works shop can’t help but fall in love with the thoughtful aesthetic and the array of goodies meant to make life a little nicer. And the only thing better than spraying or lathering yourself with some deliciously scented Bath & Body Works product? The satisfaction of having saved money on it.
To that end, Bath & Body Works hosts a number of sales, and we’ll discuss the three largest: the Semi-Annual Sale, the Black Friday Sale (plus Cyber Monday), and the Candle Sale. We’ll also cover a handful of tips for getting a deal on top of a deal, just for good measure.
Let’s dive into the Bath & Body Works sales schedule and see what the best days are for shopping.
We’ll start with the biggest of the three Bath & Body Works sales, which happens not just once but twice a year. Buckle up!
The Bath & Body Works Semi-Annual Sale is generally lauded as the most impressive sale that the company puts on. It happens twice a year, and it usually lasts around four weeks. The sale is notable for its emphasis on offering 75% off select products, usually those that are discontinued, seasonal, or overstocked.
The sale happens both online and in-store. However, the online version has historically launched in spurts, occurring as a series of sales with different pricing on different products. The Semi-Annual Sale held in-store, on the other hand, functions like one gigantic clearance event across the nation.
As with any clearance event, only specific items will enjoy the biggest price drops, and those are likely to sell quick. That’s especially true of recent years, given the changes to some of the pricing, where 50% off was more common than 75% off.
It seems that the pandemic has caused issues for even Bath & Body Works, as 2020 witnessed some of the least impressive deals for the Semi-Annual Sale. With most of the supply issues resulting from the pandemic in the past, though, numbers are beginning to return to normal for the Semi-Annual Sale.
The Bath & Body Works Semi-Annual Sale occurs twice a year–once in June and once in December. The confirmed dates will vary from year to year, but trends from previous sales help inform us as to what is likely to happen again.
The winter Semi-Annual Sale has consistently started the day after Christmas, which is December 26 – this was the case from 2019 through 2021. Those years also saw the sale run for between 22 and 24 days, which is shorter than the summer sale by a week or more.
The summer Semi-Annual Sale has consistently started mid-June. It also usually ran past the Fourth of July, meaning we had even more reason to celebrate the holiday. From 2019 through 2021, the sale ran for between 28 and 43 days. That’s a significant amount of variation, but it is consistently longer than the winter Semi-Annual Sale.
Brick-and-mortar locations have, in the past, been given considerable leeway in offering aggressive price drops. In contrast, online prices were locked in and only started getting significant toward the end of the sale.
If you’re going to shop the Semi-Annual Sale at Bath & Body Works, we recommend prioritizing your neighborhood location over the online storefront. And if you’re going to shop online, try to hold out until the end of the sale, as the better prices tend to happen later.
Because 75% off is the goalpost for this sale, aim for that on all your purchases. Prowl through their inventory for your favorite seasonal or discontinued goodies, as those are likely to go first.
Make sure you’ve also joined the My Bath & Body Works Rewards program (more on that below) so you can earn while you shop, and hunt for applicable coupons beforehand.
Hot tech isn’t the only thing that goes on sale for Black Friday. Bath & Body Works comes out swinging too!
The Bath & Body Works Black Friday Sale has consistently offered the same deal for a number of years. That deal is easy to state and easy to see the value of: buy three, get three. Move aside, “BOGO”--we’re all about the “BTGT.” The sale is usually available both in-store and online, with an additional flash sale for the digital storefront.
This is a terrific sale for shoppers who have products they just can’t get enough of. It’s also a good sale for those who like perusing the limited-edition Black Friday gift boxes. “BTGT” sales aren’t unheard of the rest of the year for Bath & Body Works, though–so what makes the Black Friday one special?
Historically, the Black Friday Sale was unique in that select categories weren’t excluded. The dreaded fine print locking us out of our favorite lotion was discarded, at long last, and we were free to shop as we pleased.
The Black Friday Sale is also followed by Cyber Monday, which has recently offered 40% off everything plus a free-shipping promo–and since free shipping is a rare gift from Bath & Body Works, it’s an extra-special treat.
Don’t be fooled by the name. The Bath & Body Works Black Friday Sale might not actually start on…Black Friday. The last two years saw the sale begin on the Monday before Thanksgiving, then end on Black Friday itself.
That leaves a lot of questions for future Black Friday Sales. As Thanksgiving starts to creep toward our calendars, make sure you’re keeping your eyes peeled for an announcement from Bath & Body Works.
If they hold true to tradition, future Black Friday events will begin on the Monday before Thanksgiving. It’s worth noting that on Thanksgiving itself, stores are generally closed. The online storefront, however? Always available.
Signing up for the Bath & Body Works newsletter will make sure you’re in the know as soon as there’s stuff to know. Any announcement of Black Friday dates and times will reach you immediately, and you can start prepping your plan of attack.
If you intend to shop in-store, make sure you also double-check the hours for that specific location, especially since it’s likely to be closed on Thanksgiving itself. And for all sales, don’t forget about that Bath & Body Works Rewards program, where you’re earning as you’re spending.
If you’re not much interested in the “BTGT” sale, consider poking around the gift sets. These make excellent presents for later, either for yourself or for a friend. The boxes usually contained products worth around $100 and cost around $40, making them an easy answer for the family member that’s sometimes hard to buy for.
You can skip this one if you don’t like candles…but who doesn’t like candles?! And if you truly don’t, we bet a friend of yours will.
We wish Candle Day was every day, but for Bath & Body Works, it’s generally a two-day sale focusing on…you guessed it…candles. This means all their three-wick candles go on sale for the same price across the board.
This price has unfortunately increased over the years. In 2012, that number was just $8–in 2021, the price was $10.25. Since these candles have retailed for around $25 recently, that’s still a worthy deal, and it’s a better deal than you’re likely to see from either the Semi-Annual Sale or the Black-Friday Sale. However, given the current rate of inflation, the price may be higher yet for future events.
The Bath & Body Works Candle Day Sale is both online and in-store, and there is understandably a limit per customer. That limit has been 18 in the past, though, which is generous enough to satisfy most candle enthusiasts plus their candle-enthusiast friends.
The Candle Day Sale typically happens in the first week of December. In 2019, it was the 7th, while it was the 4th and the 3rd in subsequent years. Its duration has also varied over the years, at one time being a three-day sale and most recently being a two-day sale. (Candle Days Sale.)
Where the sale lives changes too. If there are multiple days, sometimes only one day is dedicated to online purchases, while the full event is available in-store. For 2021, the Candle Day Sale started on December 3rd both online and in-store, then continued exclusively in-store the day after.
Most likely the Bath & Body Works Candle Day Sale will continue to be held during the first week of December, lining up perfectly with buying last-minute holiday gifts for friends and family.
The Bath & Body Works Candle Day Sale is both online and in-store, but if you can’t score free shipping online, you’ll counterbalance some of the savings you would have had otherwise. Best to prepare for a dive into your nearby physical storefront to harvest your favorite candles.
Since there’s been so much variation in when and where the sale happens, the savviest shoppers ought to sign up for the Bath & Body Works newsletter so that the dates are in their inbox as soon as they’re announced.
This is also prime gift-buying season, so knowing what scents the people in your life like best ahead of time will help you when the rush happens and you’re snatching up your 18 candles like there’s no tomorrow.
The quickest hack for Bath & Body Works deals is to simply sign up for the Bath & Body Works newsletter–then you’re alerted to any and all news. Here are some other ways to save at Bath & Body Works.
Once merely a whisper of a possibility and now a full-fledged reality, the rewards program offered by Bath & Body Works makes every discount even more of a steal. There’s usually a promo for joining up, like getting $10 off a $30 purchase, and the points system means you earn as you buy.
That system offers you points for purchases. For every eligible $1 you spend at Bath & Body Works, you get 10 points. If you spend $100, you get 1,000 points plus a free product (worth up to $16.50) of your choice. For those who already intend to spend this kind of money regularly at Bath & Body Works, that’s basically a free return on everything you buy.
You also get a birthday gift every year, as well as exclusive access to special events and products. If you sign up for the newsletter and the My Bath & Body Works Rewards, you’re doubly in the know for when the best sales and deals go live.
Stackable coupons are the cherry on top of the big Bath & Body Works sales. These coupons are often physical and come directly from Bath & Body Works, but they can also be digital. Furthermore, some come in the form of promo codes that are only applicable with the online storefront.
You now know the best days to shop at Bath & Body Works–make the most of those periods by clipping your coupons early and studying the fine print. If you plan on wielding your coupon stack, make sure that it’s relevant to the product and the sale at hand.
Bath & Body Works tracks their own sales and deals online, so take a peek at their Top Offers page if you’re looking for some extra inspiration.
When shopping online, “Pick Up In Store” is a free option for some products and locations. That gives you the freedom to shop in your pajamas and dodge any shipping charges. Otherwise, you’re on the hook for a $6.99 shipping charge on orders over $10. To make matters worse, the pick-up option might get shut down during high-volume events…like during sales.
Bath & Body Works promo codes for free shipping do happen, but they’re relatively rare, and since usually only one coupon code can be applied per order, you get stuck having to choose between one discount over the other.
It’s possible that free shipping will be included with the My Bath & Body Works Rewards program somewhere down the line, but it’s also possible we’re being overly optimistic with that prediction. As things currently stand, try not to do small orders via online, and purchase in-store whenever you can instead.
If you do find yourself having to order online, if you’re a regular shopper at Bath & Body Works, we recommend you make sure you’re signed up for the rewards program so that the points you earn on your purchases can counteract that shipping fee.