grocery shopping and internet coupons
Aug. 5th, 2008 12:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geekchickA few places to snag free grocery coupons, which may require you to download a browser plugin to print them out:
Known counterfeit coupons
MyGroceryDeals posts sales from local grocery store flyers rather than coupons. You've got to pony up a little bit of demographic information to get the local flyers (see above expression of joy about unlimited traceable addresses), and of course you can always go directly to the store websites individually instead.
Internet coupon policies for local grocery chains:
Here's what, if anything, I could find out about the printable internet coupon acceptance policies of some of the local grocery chains.
Wegmans: Internet coupons are accepted at Wegmans. There’s some confusion about this at checkout, probably because at one time, Wegmans and other retailers did not accept these electronic goodies. [...] We now take internet coupons, with only two restrictions. FREE coupons are out, and the fine print, to minimize checker uncertainty, is that the word FREE can’t appear on the coupon. The other restriction is that electronic coupon value (or the double value) may not exceed the value of the item being purchased; the same as for other coupons.
Giant: Customers with a GIANT BONUSCARD may redeem coupons that have been printed from the internet. We do not accept internet coupons for free products, or those with a value greater than $5.00. We reserve the right to refuse any internet coupon that appears to be fraudulent.
Harris Teeter: We gladly accept internet manufacturer's coupons for product; however no "free" product internet coupons are accepted. (Additional restrictions listed at the site.)
Safeway: Can't find an official policy on the site. I did find this forum post, however, with a response from Safeway customer service. They will accept them, with several restrictions. (No "free" item, no coupon for more than $5 or 50% of an item's price, no blurry printouts or obvious duplications, "do not have an easy to read expiration date or that extend more than 12 weeks", etc.)
Shoppers Food Warehouse: Can't find an official posted policy, but in this blog post, the poster says they were told by customer service that internet coupons are not accepted. Probably best to contact your local store to confirm.
Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart accepts the following types of coupons (see guidelines below): [...] Internet coupons [...] Internet coupons should be legible and say "Manufacturer Coupon." There should be a valid remit address for the manufacturer and a scannable bar code. Only one coupon per item is permitted.
Target: Manufacturers coupons and Target-issued coupons only. I read some reports of even the SuperTarget coupons from their own website being questioned, so be prepared for some potential hassle if you use printed coupons and maybe print out a copy of the coupon policy to take with you.
Bloom/Bottom Dollar/Food Lion: (Lumped together because they all used to be Food Lion.) Can't find official policies listed on any of their sites, try checking with your local store.
Whole Foods: Can't find an official policy.
- Redplum
- SmartSource
- Coupons.com
- Coolsavings - You have to register for a free account to get to the coupons; hooray for unlimited traceable email addresses attached to my domain! Looking right now, the grocery coupons appear to be the same as the SmartSource coupons, which doesn't require signup.
- Mambo Sprouts - Organic and natural products. Currently they only offer coupon books in the mail and at places like Whole Foods, but they're working on offering downloadable coupons ("Fall 2008").
Known counterfeit coupons
MyGroceryDeals posts sales from local grocery store flyers rather than coupons. You've got to pony up a little bit of demographic information to get the local flyers (see above expression of joy about unlimited traceable addresses), and of course you can always go directly to the store websites individually instead.
Internet coupon policies for local grocery chains:
Here's what, if anything, I could find out about the printable internet coupon acceptance policies of some of the local grocery chains.
Wegmans: Internet coupons are accepted at Wegmans. There’s some confusion about this at checkout, probably because at one time, Wegmans and other retailers did not accept these electronic goodies. [...] We now take internet coupons, with only two restrictions. FREE coupons are out, and the fine print, to minimize checker uncertainty, is that the word FREE can’t appear on the coupon. The other restriction is that electronic coupon value (or the double value) may not exceed the value of the item being purchased; the same as for other coupons.
Giant: Customers with a GIANT BONUSCARD may redeem coupons that have been printed from the internet. We do not accept internet coupons for free products, or those with a value greater than $5.00. We reserve the right to refuse any internet coupon that appears to be fraudulent.
Harris Teeter: We gladly accept internet manufacturer's coupons for product; however no "free" product internet coupons are accepted. (Additional restrictions listed at the site.)
Safeway: Can't find an official policy on the site. I did find this forum post, however, with a response from Safeway customer service. They will accept them, with several restrictions. (No "free" item, no coupon for more than $5 or 50% of an item's price, no blurry printouts or obvious duplications, "do not have an easy to read expiration date or that extend more than 12 weeks", etc.)
Shoppers Food Warehouse: Can't find an official posted policy, but in this blog post, the poster says they were told by customer service that internet coupons are not accepted. Probably best to contact your local store to confirm.
Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart accepts the following types of coupons (see guidelines below): [...] Internet coupons [...] Internet coupons should be legible and say "Manufacturer Coupon." There should be a valid remit address for the manufacturer and a scannable bar code. Only one coupon per item is permitted.
Target: Manufacturers coupons and Target-issued coupons only. I read some reports of even the SuperTarget coupons from their own website being questioned, so be prepared for some potential hassle if you use printed coupons and maybe print out a copy of the coupon policy to take with you.
Bloom/Bottom Dollar/Food Lion: (Lumped together because they all used to be Food Lion.) Can't find official policies listed on any of their sites, try checking with your local store.
Whole Foods: Can't find an official policy.
