What Does Short-Dated Mean? And Why It Makes Big Brands So Cheap

If you shop clearance deals, you will see the phrase short-dated a lot. It sounds ominous. It is not. Here is what it actually means and why it is the reason you can buy big name brands at a fraction of their usual price.

The short answer

Short-dated means a product is approaching its best before date, typically within six months. That is it. The product is brand new, sealed and completely genuine. It has simply been sitting in a warehouse longer than the brand or retailer would like.

Best before is not the same as use by

This is the bit most people mix up. A use by date is about safety and applies to fresh food like meat and dairy. A best before date is about quality: the manufacturer's promise of when the product is at its absolute peak. A vitamin tablet, a shampoo or a bag of dry dog food does not become unsafe the day after its best before date. Retailers, however, want long dates on their shelves, so perfectly good stock gets cleared out early.

Why it makes things cheap

Brands and wholesalers would rather sell short-dated stock quickly at a steep discount than pay to store it or dispose of it. Traders like us buy it in bulk, by the pallet or the truckload, and pass the saving on. That is how a product with months of life left ends up at 40 percent or more below RRP.

How we handle short-dated stock

At Stockbridge Trading we clearly label anything short-dated in the product description, so you always know exactly what you are buying. Everything we sell is brand new, sealed and 100% genuine, and orders placed before 1pm Monday to Friday are dispatched the same day. UK delivery is free on orders over £30 and a flat £3.99 below that, on a 48hr tracked service either way.

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