Okay, well, here's another in our series of couponing 101 posts. This time, I'll do my best to teach you how to get the best deals at Target.
Starting us off, we have the
Target corporate coupon policy. You will probably want to print this off and carry it with you. I personally have never had a problem at my Target, but I know people who have. You are not doing anything wrong by using coupons, and they actually get paid anywhere from 2 to 16 cents per manufacturer coupon they get. So, really, you are making money for them. So carry the corporate policies, and if you run into problems, show the cashier their own corporate policy. If it still doesn't work, ask for the manager. I would also suggest keeping their corporate phone number
(1-800-440-0680) with that coupon policy, so that if you are still having problems, you can call corporate while you are right there in the store. Corporate wants to know when their employees are not following the policy.
So that you don't have to go read the policy right now, I'm going to give you the basic gist of it.
-Target will accept 2 types of coupons: Target coupons and Manufacturer coupons. They will accept 1 of each for each item.
-You will not get cash back if the coupon is valued over the price of the item. They are supposed to adjust the price of the coupon down to match the item.
Now, a couple things about Target coupons.
-There are a few places to get Target coupons:
1-From the register. Every so often, a catalina will print out with your receipt. I don't have any way of letting you know when or what items to buy to get these, but they are nice bonuses.
2-From the mail. Target will periodically send out coupon booklets in the mail. These are full of coupons that you can then use with manufacturer coupons to get fabulous deals.
3-The internet. Target has coupons on their
website. Now, a word about these coupons. They aren't all Target coupons. Unfortunately, there is not really any way to tell before you print them if they'll be Target coupons or Manufacturer coupons. Once you print them though, look at the top of the coupon. If it is a Target coupon it will say so. If not it will say Manufacturer coupon. The manufacturer coupon you can technically use at any store that accepts internet coupons. However, you may have some difficulties with them, because there is generally a target logo on it. If you ever have a problem, show the cashier that the top says "Manufacturer Coupon" and that there is a valid manufacturer address on the coupon. Stores get money for every manufacturer coupon you use. So, if the coupon has a manufacturer address listed, the store will get money back when they send the coupon in to them.
Now, price matching:
Target does price match. They call it their Low Price Promise. However, this is a bit of a convoluted policy. If you want the whole thing, you can go
here to view it.
Couponing to Disney has a great, detailed post on this, but I will give you a few of the finer points here.
-In a nutshell, they state that they will match the price of an item in a competitor’s printed ad that is priced lower than at your Target store.
-The competitor's ad must be local and current, and the item has to be the identical item. The problem with the identical item bit is the ads that say 'selected varieties'. In that case, you'd be able to get the one pictured, but depending on your store, you may not get any of the other items included.
-If you have Target coupons, they must be used first. So, for example
Kmart is selling Oreos for $2.00 and Target’s price is $2.50. And you want to price match and have a $1 Target Store Coupon and a Manufacturer’s coupon you want to use. Instead of just price matching and accepting both your coupons- they will take that Target coupon first and if it makes Target’s price cheaper than KMarts price
(which it will- now the Oreo’s become $1.50) they will not match the price. You will still be able to use the manufacturer coupon though.
In my opinion, the best times to use the price-matching is when it is either a store that does not accept manufacturer coupons, or if there is a gift card deal involved.
And finally, clearance items!
Target has great clearance sections hidden all over the store. They are generally on the 'inside' end-caps. So, walking along main aisles, you are not very likely to see them. You can find all sorts of random things on clearance in these end-caps, and they will accept your coupons on them. Another way to find clearance items, is right after the holidays. Yes, there will be a holiday clearance section, but if you are... say... back looking at the refrigerated cookie dough, and you see a package that looks like the holiday that just passed, you may want to go price check it because it will probably be on clearance.
So that is how Target works, as best as I can tell you. I hope that helps.
