Reading the coupon fine print may not be as much fun as actually presenting the coupon at your favorite store to save a few bucks, but it’s a necessary evil.
This fine print is not only designed to protect the retailer and manufacturer but you, the consumer, as well. Let’s take a quick look at couponing and the fine print that you need to know.
Coupon Fine Print
It’s believed that the very first coupon was issued in 1887 by Asa Candler of Coca-Cola. That coupon was sent out to American homes, offering them a free glass of the then-barely-known Coca-Cola drink.
An estimated 8.5 million free drinks were offered to American homes between 1894 and 1913. By the end of that campaign, Coca-Cola was a household name and was being sold in every state.
That’s how powerful coupons can be!
Understanding coupon fine print is necessary for efficient coupon redemption. It allows you to take full advantage of the promotional offers.
With that in mind, here are some of the most common coupon fine print or coupon policies and what they mean to you.
Expiration Date
This should be one of the very first things to look out for since you cannot use an expired coupon. Many coupons have a very tight turnaround time from when they are issued to their expirations. Some are even limited to the day!
Like this Macy’s One Day Sale coupon
Coupon Limitations
These are perhaps the most visible terms and conditions within a coupon’s fine print. There are numerous limitations. Here are some of the most common:
“Limit of one coupon per household per day.”
This means exactly what it says: your household can only use that type of coupon once per day. You can’t just clip 46 of them and hand each one to the four members of your family when you go out on a single shopping trip.
If you use a $0.25 coupon to buy some dishwashing soap today, you have to wait 24 hours before you can use that similar $0.35 coupon that’s burning a hole in your pocket.
Per Purchase Limitations
You’re going to see this a lot: “Limit of one Coupon Per Purchase.” This means that you can only use one coupon per item. In short, if you have six different manufacturer coupons and you intend to buy six different products, you can use all six coupons during that transaction, provided you designate each coupon per single item.
Limit of 4 Identical Coupons
This could mean any number of things: keep reading the rest of the instructions on the coupon. The limitation could be on four identical coupons per day, per customer, per visit, or per person.
Limit One Coupon Per Purchase
A “purchase,” in this case, means each specific item as opposed to “per transaction,” which often includes everything you buy on that specific store visit. So, when a coupon has a per-purchase limitation, you can only use it on specific items or products, not the whole bunch.
Limit on Number of Coupons Per Transaction
This is a big one; there was a time when people would simply collect and use multiple coupons on the same items per transaction. Say, for example, that you wanted to buy boxes of cereal, and you had coupons giving you a $1.50 discount on each one.
In some cases, people would get like 10 boxes and use a coupon on each box. Manufacturers now have a limitation on how many coupons you can use per transaction. You will often find fine print like this: “Limit 1 coupon per transaction.”
Cash Back Payments
I won’t lie to you (I never do); I’m big on couponing. Be it online or digital coupons, store coupons, or paper coupons…I do it all. As such, I often find myself with a whole lot of discount opportunities whenever I go shopping.
Sometimes, I stack coupons, and depending on what I’m buying, I often end up with a higher discount than the actual price. For example, I go to the store to buy five things, and of these five, four are qualifying items for the coupons I have.
However, according to the promotion code or special offers on the coupons, I still have a bit more left when I use them. Say the qualifying items cost around $12, but my coupons give me discounts of up to $14 when used. I technically have $2 left over.
What is the cashier to do?
- Carry the $2 left over and put it on the fifth non-qualifying item
- Give me the cash back instead
- Cancel it all out, and I’m out $2 worth of discounts? (tantamount to coupon fraud)
There was a time when cashiers would either carry the discount over to the non-qualifying item and place the $2 discount on the overall purchase or simply give you back the cash.
This is no longer the case! Most manufacturers have put a limitation on this, saying that if the products you buy cost less than the face value of the coupons you have, you aren’t entitled to any money back!
The Coupon and the Sale Are Different
This is yet another massive headache that most avid couponers get. If the grocery store has a sale on the qualifying items, can you stack the two (use your coupons and still enjoy the sale?). The answer is often “no,” but it depends on the sale.
Say, for example, that the sale says 10 for $10, but you only want one item, and you have a coupon that gives you 50% off that one.
You can just purchase one and get the 50% off. If you decide to take advantage of the 10 for $10 sale instead, you can’t use your coupon unless it’s on a separate transaction.
Couponing can be as fun as it is complicated, especially when dealing with the fine print. But hey, when you get it right, you could keep a ton of money in savings, so it’s worth the effort.