How to Save Money When Buying Animatronics Animals

Okay y’all, Spirit Halloween has come to play! While Home Depot, Lowe’s, Michaels, Joann, and Target were revealing their Halloween lineups, Spirit Halloween dropped the motherload of animatronics. You think the Home Depot animatronics lineup is amazing, wait until you take a look at the Spirit Halloween animatronics that are already available for .

For more information, please visit Gengu.

Most of Spirit Halloween animatronics are much shorter size-wise than those offered at Home Depot (we’re pretty sure we spotted Skelly‘s smaller cousin at Spirit Halloween). However, the variety of gruesome characters is impressive with prices ranging from $49 to $400. We have over 50 animatronics in our list that you can shop with our quick “Buy Now” buttons. Yes, animatronics are expensive, regardless of where you shop. But, we did our homework and found ways to save at Spirit Halloween on these ghastly creatures so you can create the best haunted yard in your neighborhood.

Download The Krazy Coupon Lady app and text HACKS to for more money-saving tips, deals, and coupons.

1. Follow Spirit Halloween on social media for coupons and promo codes.

Spirit Halloween shares coupons on their social media. The best one we found was for Cyber Monday.

• Nov 27, : 20% off entire order with promo code CYBER22
• Nov. 5, : 20% off any one item with code BLACKFRIDAY22 OR free shipping on orders over $30 with code SHIP30
• Oct. 24, : 20% off any one item coupon

2. Watch for sales on Spirit Halloween animatronics.

Although Spirit Halloween just revealed a sneak peek of this year’s lineup in June, we’re already seeing discounts up to 50% off select animatronics.

• 50% off 21″ jumping spiders
• 41% off the Sitting Scarecrow
• 39% off the Scary Sitting Scarecrow
• 35% off the LED Man’s Possessed Friend

3. Sign up for Spirit Halloween emails and get a 20% off coupon that works on animatronics.

Sign up for the Spirit Halloween newsletter and you’ll get a 20% off coupon in your within minutes.

4. Receive a 20% off an item abandoned cart coupon.

Head’s up! You’ll need to first create a free Spirit Halloween account for this tip. If you’re on the fence about buying one of the Spirit Halloween animatronics, place it into your online cart and walk away. Within hours you’ll find a 20% off any single item promo code in your box.

5. Work for Spirit Halloween and enjoy a 30% employee discount you can use on animatronics and accessories.

As a Spirit Halloween team member, you get a 30% employee discount that works on Spirit Halloween store merchandise, even animatronics. Spirit Halloween is hiring now!

Related: Spirit Halloween Is Hiring 40,000 Seasonal Employees for Their Season

6. Forget stacking coupons to save on Spirit Halloween animatronics.

Don’t hold off using a coupon thinking you can stack coupons or promo codes for free shipping. Spirit Halloween will only take one promo or coupon per transaction, no matter how many items you have in your cart.

7. Select store pickup when available to avoid oversize shipping fees.

Animatronics are typically big AND heavy. Expect an oversize shipping fee from $10 – $25 per item in addition to your standard shipping fee. Go with store pickup if it’s an option during checkout and you have a way to get your animatronics home.

8. Buy Spencer’s gift cards for up to 15% off and use them at Spirit Halloween.

Since Spirit Halloween owns Spencer’s Gifts you can use their gift cards to pay for purchases in stores or at SpiritHalloween.com Buy We recently found Spencer’s discount gift cards 15% off at CardBear.com and 2% off at Raise.com.

9. Join Facebook Groups to save 25% or more on Spirit Halloween animatronics.

Joining Spirit Halloween Facebook groups can be a great way to find Spirit Halloween animatronics for sale by fellow group members. Recently, we found several animatronics for sale including a Spirit Halloween Beetlejuice for $210 (that’s 25% off the regular price of $279.99) in a Facebook group.

• Spirit Halloween Animatronic Buying, Selling, Showing (public group)
• Halloween Decorating Fanatics Homegoods| Spirit | Lowes | Home Depot (public group)
• Spirit Halloween Stores Fan Club (private group)

Note: While competitors’ websites only have static images for their animatronics, Spirit Halloween has videos on each animatronic product page so you can see how they look once setup and working before you buy.

10. Use your Amazon credit card to save 5% on Spirit Halloween animatronics at Amazon.

Spirit Halloween has an Amazon store. While they have several animatronics on the site, they don’t have their full lineup. The Spirit Halloween animatronics listed, all come with free shipping, even for non-Prime members. However, their pricing includes the additional oversized fee that you see on SpiritHalloween.com.

One way you can save on Spirit Halloween animatronics on Amazon is to use an Amazon credit card for 5% cashback.

TIP: You can always save a few extra bucks when you use a cashback credit card to pay for animatronics at SpiritHalloween.com.

Spirit Halloween Animatronics: $49.99+

This category of Spirit Animatronics is perfect for those you need who don’t want to spend a fortune to get their fright on!

Spirit Halloween Animatronics: $100+

Here’s where most of the Spirit Halloween animatronics lie. The good news is they do go on sale!

Spirit Halloween Animatronics: $199.99+

Spirit Halloween Animatronics: $249.99+

You know you’re a dedicated Halloween animatronics fan when you start spending in this group. However, you get what you pay for and that’s realistic ghastly features from the top down.

Animatronic Accessories

Adding some animatronic accessories can help ensure your creatures work properly and make managing your collection a lot easier.

Skelly's back! This time, the new and improved Skelly is joined by his faithful 7-foot long canine companion, Skelly's Dog, plus several other giant Home Depot animatronics.

The good news is, Skelly's $299 price tag (for 4 years in a row) shows inflation hasn't caught up with the 12-foot skeleton. But, Skelly and other Home Depot Halloween decor tend to sell out well before they go on sale.

That means you're gonna need some Home Depot hacks to help you save on Skelly before he's gone again. To help we put together a list of all the ways you can save on Skelly and crew now.

Download The Krazy Coupon Lady app and favorite “Home Depot” for the latest deals and shopping tips.

New Home Depot Halloween Animatronics in

On July 18, Home Depot dropped their Halloween lineup. This year, you can get seven new animatronics, along with the improved 12-foot Home Depot skeleton. Here's a look at some of the new products to grab online before they sell out:

A new and improved Home Depot Skelly is here for ! The updated skeleton has eight new swappable settings in its LCD eyes, and he’s selling for the same price of $299. 

For an extra $80, this guy can move his head.

Skelly Accessories

Home Depot Animatronics

Skelly has a new loyal pal, aka this 5-foot Skeleton Dog with eight LCD settings and a poseable mouth.

Home Depot’s brand new animated Frankenstein's monster is fully licensed from Universal and has built-in servo motors for lifelike movements. He also speaks iconic lines from the Frankenstein movie.

This new larger-than-life animatronic is shaped like Skelly, but with a tree-bark texture and a fiery skull. He features a sinister grin and color-changing lights inside his ribcage.

If you're a Nightmare Before Christmas fan, check out Jack Skellington. He actually towers over Skelly by a foot!

Spread the love of Skelly with Home Depot’s new Halloween multi-pack. It comes with three five-foot skeletons you can easily move and pose in creatively creepy ways.

Smaller Home Depot animatronics work great if you have limited space.

If you live in an apartment or have a small space, go with the smaller five-foot versions of Skelly instead.

Home Depot dropped a new 3-foot-tall Skelly for $39.98 in .

Still — you’ll get three feet of skeleton for about an 1/8 of the price of life-size Skelly ($299) with the new mini Skelly.

Cheaper Skelly Alternatives

If you just can't rationalize paying $299 for Skelly, we've found a few cheaper (and shorter) alternatives at Joann and Walmart.

Kohl's

Right now, you can scoop up a 10-foot poseable Skelly lookalike, complete with light up eyes. He is, however, two feet shorter than the big guy! But, when you're saving $115, what's two feet?

Joann

This Skelly lookalike is on sale, making it $100 cheaper than the original Skelly. Plus, you get free shipping (over $75+)

Walmart

These two cheaper Skelly alternatives can save you about $150 over the original Skelly and Skelly's dog.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Animatronics Animals.

Party City

Although this guy from Party City is a buck more than the original Skelly, it's almost $180 less than the new Servo Skelly. That, and because he looks cool coming out of the ground, is why we included him.

How to Save on Skelly

If you’re not ready to shell out $299 for Skelly, we hear you. Here are a few ways you can save some bucks on the viral Skelly:

Skip shipping.

Shipping on Skelly is not included in his $299 price tag and will vary depending on your location. The lowest shipping cost we've seen is $25. So if you want to save on Skelly, opt for free store pickup. But make sure you bring a car that can handle Skelly's packaging, which is 41"x44"x29" and weighs about 93 pounds, of which 60 pounds is Skelly.

Select free delivery for your Skelly or Halloween animatronics.

Home Depot may offer free delivery on Skelly and other oversized (and heavy) animatronics to your home. If available in your area, it will save you shipping costs or a trip to the store and the hassle of loading/unloading your new gigantic Halloween decoration(s).

Use the Home Depot 10% military discount.

Active military members, veterans, and their spouses can save 10% on Skelly and his friends with the Home Depot military discount. If you’re not eligible for their military discount but know someone who is, ask if they mind buying it with their HD discount and then pay them back.

Get $25+ off when you open a Home Depot Credit Card.

If you open a Home Depot credit card and use it within 30 days of account opening, you'll get a certain amount off. This is a one-time offer, and the total spend must be on one receipt. For example, if you plan on buying multiple animatronics, buy them all at the same time to receive one of these discounts. These offers are valid through Jan. 29, :

• $25 off when you spend up to $299

• $50 off your purchase of $300 - $999 

• $100 off your purchase of $1,000 or more

If you have a Home Depot credit card you have six months to pay off purchases of $299 or more. Instead of coming up with $300 right away to purchase Skelly you could pay off your skeleton purchase at $45.67 a month for six months (without interest).

Pay off your purchase within six months or Skelly will end up costing you more than its original price — thanks to credit card interest!

Buy a discounted Home Depot gift card.

Buying a discount Home Depot gift card might help you save a few bucks on Skelly. Right now, you can save 3% on $300 worth of Home Depot gift cards at Raise. That’s a saving of $9.

On the other hand, if you use a Circle Card to buy a $300 Home Depot gift card at Target you can save 5% or $15.

Join Facebook Skelly fan groups to save.

Skelly has made his rounds on social media over the last few years, with several groups and fan pages dedicated to the 12-foot-tall skeleton. Members of Skelly Facebook groups often list used Halloween animatronics — including Skelly — for less. Facebook Marketplace might be another place to save. My friend found Skelly for $100 because someone in her town was moving and didn't have the storage space for it anymore.

Dress up your Home Depot Skelly year-round.

One of the best things about Skelly is you can dress him up for any holiday. With a $299 price tag, there's no reason you can't get your money's worth by keeping Skelly up year-round (if your HOA or loca ordinances allow)! At least this gives you a multi-holiday decoration and less work taking him down after just Halloween. Here are some of our favorites if you want to leave him up past Halloween:

• 12-foot Skeleton St. Patrick's Day Hat — $68.95 at Etsy

• 12-foot Skeleton Santa Hat — $45 at Etsy

• 12-foot Skeleton Mardi Gras Hat — $80 at Etsy

Or instead of buying Skelly costumes or accessories, you can make outfits like this Grinch costume on TikTok.

Take care of your Skelly and he'll last a lifetime.

If you're willing to shell out $299 for Skelly, you should be willing to take care of him so he lasts long enough to get your money's worth.

Home Depot recommends storing Skelly in the box when not in use. Be sure to take pictures as you take parts out for assembly so you can remember how they go back in. If your skeleton gets dirty, use a nonabrasive brush and wash it with mild soap and water. Rinse off with a garden hose. Don’t use bleach or a power washer, as both can damage the skeleton bones.

Although Skelly is water resistant, if you’re expecting windy weather, lay your Skelly on the ground.

Can I get replacement parts for my Home Depot skeleton?

Yes, if your Skelly loses a limb or other part, you can contact Home Depot for replacement parts via at . Be sure to include the following:

• Your name and shipping address

• Name of the decor

• Purchase date

• Store where you bought it

• Model number (if you have it)

• Photo or video (if you think it’ll help explain the issue)

Go with a cheaper Skelly dupe.

Here's an option if Skelly's price tag makes you quiver. Granted, these guys aren’t 12-feet-tall, but at a quarter of the price, a Skelly dupe might be just right. Per foot, these Skelly dupes cost $9.40 - $15.38 versus Skelly’s $24.92.

• Amazon: Life-Size Poseable Skeleton, 5 ft, $46.99

• Wayfair: Pose-N-Stay Skeleton, 5 ft 2 in, $79.99

Home Depot Halloween Animatronics FAQs

Can I preorder Home Depot animatronics like Skelly?

Sorry, Home Depot doesn’t offer preorders for their Halloween animatronics, including the 12-foot Skeleton.

Can I order Home Depot animatronics online?

Yes. When in stock, Skelly and other Home Depot animatronics are available for various delivery options, including store pickup and shipping.

Be aware that the boxes for animatronics are large and very heavy. For example, Skelly comes in a box that is 41″ x 44″ x 29″ and weighs about 93 pounds, of which 60 pounds is Skelly.

What if the animatronic I want is out of stock?

Be sure to sign up to get an alert for any of the gigantic creatures you want to grab as soon as they’re in stock. Unfortunately, since these items sell out so fast, we’ve heard the alert may not get to you until after they’re out of stock again. Just in case, we’ve got a few other options.

Can you return Halloween animatronics to Home Depot?

Yes. According to Home Depot’s return policy, you can return Halloween animatronics within 90 days. But always check the return date on the product page before you buy to confirm.

How to store Skelly or other animatronics to keep them like new?

Of course, storing your animatronics in their box is an excellent way to protect them when not on display. However, if you need a different storage solution for large animatronics, you can buy a storage bag for them. 

Home Depot’s large animatronics storage bag is $39.98, or you can grab a heavy-duty tree storage bag on Amazon for $19.99.

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