Snag Cheap Christmas Trees at the Delancey Street Lots

HANUKKAH TREE!

Want a tree but don’t have a million dollars?  Try Delancey Street Christmas tree lots, the best holiday gem I’ve found in the city.  Not only is Delancey Street an awesome self-help organization for former substance abusers and convicts that provides academic and vocational training, but it’s also the home the city’s cheapest Christmas tree lots.

The Hayes Valley location where I got my tree last year is gone, but there’s still four locations in SF — Market & Sanchez, Bryant & 15th, Pier 32 and Van Ness & Filbert.  The key to coming home with a 10-foot tree for 20 bucks is looking in the “flawed” tree section.  This is where the sad trees live whose needles are too sparse or trunks are too crooked to be full price — but all those flaws can be hidden with some clever positioning.  Also, and this is the key, since the workers at these lots are so nice, they will totally go out of their way to mark a regular tree as defective if you just point out a fake defect.  I’ve done this several times and it works like a charm.

Be aware, though, that they only take cash and checks, so come prepared!