Coupon Q's

[mrshairball]

OK, bear with me, please, I have used coupons for things off and on for a while but never obsessively and never in an effort to get my grocery bill all the way down to zero

If the coupon says "Do Not Double" , does the store computer KNOW this? My store doubles automatically and it's not like the cashier ever looks.

If the store has a $7 item, I have a $4 coupon, and they offer a $4 rebate, will they actually give me money?

If the store is offering a BOGO deal, will I get to use the coupon that is for "Buy 2"?

If the store does double coupons, why would the manufacturer even care?
It's not like that extra .50 is coming out of their pockets but it does make me less inclined to use that coupon and buy that product.

I have a few more but can't think of them all right now.

[verwon]

Actually, on the double coupons, yes the manufacturer does have a reason to care, they do pay the doubled amount back to the store, so if the store doubles on that says DND, they are shorted that money when they send them in for redemption. I was curious as to why myself, so when I met someone who co-owned a grocery store, I asked him all kinds of questions.

The way it works is, most stores that have large chains all over the place just do not have the time our resources needed to sort the coupons, mail them in to each specific company and etc. Once they paid someone to do that, plus postage to send the stuff out, they would have been better off throwing them away. So these places use a company called a Coupon Clearninghouse, under this deal, they send all the coupons for the whole store chain into the clearing house monthly, the clearinghouse has the people to sort and send them to the manufacturer for redemption, it is worth their while, because then they are redeeming millions and millions of coupons each month, as part of the agreement, they usually keep a small amount from each coupon received, just 2 or 3 cents each, but you can see how quickly that would add up working with such a large volume, the rest of the money is then remitted to the store.

The Clearinghouse is actually the one who handles the doubling deals, they strike agreements with the manufacturer to get the doubled amount back for stores that double coupons, for the manufacturer another bonus as most people are not hard core couponers, so they might use a coupon once in awhile, but if they like the item they will pay full price for it in the future and not bat an eye. However, under the contract agreements, the manufacturer has the option to mark a coupon Do Not Double, Triple or whatever, and then even if the store doubles it, they are not obligated to reimburse for that extra amount, so then the clearinghouse of course, has to cut that amount off the check they remit back to the store, so the store loses money on it.

For the stores, since each coupon has that handling fee and the Clearinghouse only keeps a few cents, they get the rest and as I said before, a couple cents on each coupon can add up to a lot when you are redeeming tons and tons of them.

So yes, there is a reason for the manufacturer to care and of course, this also explains why most small stores either won't take coupons at all, or won't double them, because they just can't turn over the volume like the large chains can to make a profit at it.

There is a code on various coupons, called a check digit code, this makes the scanners beep, rather than automatically accepting and doubling the coupon, the intent is to make the cashier double check and see that it is not supposed to be doubled, or in the case of a coupon that requires the purchase of multiple items, such as 15 cans of cat food, to make them check that you have purchased the required number of items. The coupons coded this way start with the digit 9 on the left of the barcode. Some companies don't bother, they sometimes use the same coding or similar coding for all coupons, so that is why some will scan and double and some won't.

Now, as to the rebate question, yes, in most cases you can make money on those deals if it is a manufacturer's rebate, since once your receipt has been printed, there is nothing on there showing them which items you used coupons for, all they see is that you purchased the item and what you paid for it, and you saved some money on that purchase with coupons. Nothing prints to tell them which items the coupons were for. Most of the store programs that do it electronically like RiteAid will not let you qualify for the rebate or make money, since your receipt is accessed by them in their computer to confirm your rebate, they can see what your final total was for that item and which coupons you used.

On the BOGO question, that is entirely up to individual store policy, some will let you use a coupon that requires your buying two of the item, since in essence you still are, just basically saving 50% off each one, but some stores won't. Your best bet for that one is to ask someone at the CSR desk of the store your frequent and check their policy on it.

When I moved here to Punxsy, there used to be a BiLo in town, and he would only double 4 of the same coupon for anything, if you had more than that for the same item you had to do another trip a different day to double them or they would only take #5 and after at face value. So if I bought 6 boxes of cereal and I had 6 coupons, they would double the first four, but not the additional 2. Martins Supermarkets will only double 1 coupon, and some Giant Eagles have started that policy as well, some stores have no limits.

The Giant Eagle I shop at will double 5 of the same coupon, but they will let me split my order and ring them up seperately if I have more than 5 I want to use to get a good deal and stock up on something. They are also very nice about the BOGOs, I can use a coupon off 2 and just get 2, or I can use a coupon off each one, which makes great freebies sometimes. But the BiLo, before it closed, would never let you do that, if you had a coupon off 2, then you really had to get 4 of the item, and if the coupon was off one, then I could only use on a BOGO set.

I actually have 2 other stores in town here that have no limits of any kind, if I want 20 bottles of ketchup and have 20 coupons, I can use them, they both double to 99cents, too. They also let me use a coupon on each BOGO.

However, as I said, there are no rules on this, it is up to the individual store or company running it.

There, I think I answered them all for you, feel free to ask whatever else you want, I am always happy to help!

[mrshairball]

Wow, thanks for the answers!
That's really interesting about the doubling and how the clearinghouse works.
That `splains why so many stores only double up to .50 and so many coupons come at .55. I had always assumed the store ate the doubling and the manufacturer honored the rest.

When I remember my other questions, I'll be back to ask them LOL

[verwon]

Glad I could help, I had always assumed the same as you, until I met someone who owned a store and decided to ask him about it.