Discount 'cull' lumber

I was at Home Depot a couple of weeks ago to buy some lumber. There's this cart there with damaged wood and offcuts and stuff. I've noticed it lots of times but never really looked at it. But my wife checked it out while I was loading some 2x4s onto a cart and she called me over. There were a bunch of 1x10s all available for 70% off! One had a minor crack, a couple had big knot holes, and mostly they were warped -- not too much to use, but enough that I'd set them aside and pick a straight board if I were pulling off the rack. So we bought them up to be the surface of some garage shelving. I needed a couple more 1x10s for that project, and while I was picking good ones off the rack, and setting yucky ones aside, a clerk walked up and my wife explained we'd just loaded up with the discount boards and there were some others here that were being skipped over and so the guy went and got his stamp and stamped more boards that he agreed weren't going to get purchased and all our 1x10s ended up being pretty cheap.

Anyway, maybe everyone else here knows that's a thing, but I didn't really. Now that I do, I bet it's not at all limited to Home Depot. Maybe I'll ask about it at Menards and the local non-chain lumber yard too.

A friend of mine who works there tipped me off to that! He says it is a sliding scale based on the employee's discretion, so you might get 10% off or 50% depending on how badly it is damaged (or how badly the employee thinks it is damaged that is). I've used it a few times when there is only a couple of torn up hardwood boards left but I only needed a 2-3 feet worth anyways.

That being said, I have also asked about it at some stores and they have no idea what I'm talking about..

The bottom line is if the wood fits your needs.   I was checking out OSB for a chicken coop.  It was more expensive than I liked. I keep looking and found a pile of paneling at $2 a sheet. I ended up with the fanciest chicken coop in the county.