It's been a busy week as the girlfriend and I have scoured local Barnes & Noble (B&N) stores in hopes of finding some great loot for a decent price! Periodically throughout the year, B&N hosts their own Red Dot Sale events, and if lucky, you can find some great treasures for either yourself or as gifts! We generally focus on board games and gifts (birthday and Christmas) for our nieces and nephews!

They shifted their sale structure from previous years (I believe it originally started at 50% off, then eventually hit 75% off, until ending at everything being 1$), starting at 30% off (which we promptly ignored) and progressing to 50% off and then finally 75% off all marked items (actually they seemed to completely ignore using the giant red dot stickers this year too).

At first we were fairly bummed about the 30% starting point and the selection available. It was definitely a step down from what we were accustomed to with the sale. Once they hit the 50% mark, though, we thought we would take the time to explore multiple stores and see what they had, because many of them hold different stock.

Above is our modest take. While many of the selections weren't exactly what we were hoping for (from reports of what was being offered elsewhere out of state), we were extremely excited to find some games that we have never come across at B&N stores. Most notably Dead Man's Draw, a game we both love. Our only lament was that we couldn't find a second copy to combine for more players.

I also couldn't pass up the opportunity for the Magic: The Gathering binder, even if I end up never using it...

Not pictured are a good number of gifts for some runts, just in case they somehow happen across this! Very unlikely, but I like to play it safe!

Have you ever found good deals at Barnes & Noble during their Red Dot Sales? If so, what were some of your favorite finds? Have you ever found great deals at Red Dot Sales hosted by other companies? Which? Do you have a favorite company sale that you look forward to every year?