FAQ/Basics
BASIC TERMINOLOGY:
Coupon Types
Blinkie: A Coupon found in a Smart Source machine- usually attached to a shelf or freezer- and usually has a blinking light.
CRT: Cash Register Tape- sometimes coupons print out at the bottom
Hangtag: Coupon found hanging from a tag around a bottle or jar.
IP: Internet Printable Coupon
Peelie: Coupon found on the package of a product that can be peeled.
Tearpad -these are coupons that are on a tearpad usually located on a display or shelf near the item.
Coupon Inserts found in The Sunday Newspaper:
PG: Proctor and Gamble
RP: Redplum
SS: Smart Source
GM: General Mills
Other Frequently Used Terms
$1/2 etc: One dollar off two items. The number next to the dollar sign represents the discount and the second number represents the quantity required to receive that discount.
BOGO (or B1G1): Buy One Get One Free
PC: Price Cut
GC: Gift Card
RegP: Regular Price
ETS: Except Trial Size
B2G1: Buy Two Get One Free
MIR: Mail In Rebate
OOP: Out of Pocket. The amount you actually spend.
Q: Coupon
MFR or MQ: manufacturer coupon
TQ: Target Coupon
WYB: when you buy
TMF-Try Me Free. Form that usually require you to mail in proof of purchase for a full refund.
UPC= The bar code that is scanned to determine pricing. Often needed to fulfill MIR’s.
YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary-this means that it may or may not be the case in all instances.
GDA: Good Deal Alert
Gift Card Deals
Gift Card Deals are deals where an incentive of a Gift Card is offered in return for buying a specified product or products. When doing gift card deals be sure you are buying the right items that will prompt the gift card (especially when there are several types/flavors/etc of the product included in the GC Deal). You can verify this by taking your items to one of the price scanners located around the store, and scanning the bar code. If the item is prompting a gift card- it will say so right up on the screen. Gift Cards cannot be used in the same transaction you earned them, however they can be rolled into the next transaction. If you do more than 1 GC Deal in a transaction you WILL receive both Gift Cards.
TARGET POLICIES:
Target Coupon Policy
*Target will accept one manufacturer’s coupon and one Target Store Coupon for each item unless either coupon prohibits this use.
*A Super Target coupon may be used at ANY Target store as long as the store carries that item.
*Valid Internet Printable coupons are accepted.
*If the item value is less than the coupon value, Target will not give cash back. In this situation the coupon amount may be reduced to meet the price of the product.
*Target does not accept competitor coupons.
You can print the coupon policy out HERE.
Target Price Matching Policy
Target has a price matching policy which they refer to as a Low Price Promise. I have listed what I feel are the most important points of this policy, but you may view the full policy HERE.
Target will honor any local retailer’s price published in a printed ad- the following exclusions apply:
*Any Online prices, Web-Advertised Prices or Mobile Prices (must be a printed ad)
*Early bird, door busters or other special limited time, limited quantity sales
*Membership club or loyalty programs (no BJs, Costco etc that require a club or loyalty card)
*Coupon-required advertised offers (ie- items advertised with a price AFTER an in-store coupon)
*Prices advertised as a percent off or $ off or BOGO sales
*Items advertised as Clearance or closeout
*Product Service Offers like warranties, assembly, etc.
*Going-out-of-business liquidations
*Non-branded items (some produce, etc)
*Expired Ads
Applying Coupons to Price Matching:
*Target coupons will be applied BEFORE the price match is made. Once the Target Coupon is applied if the price is still lower then the price match will
be made.
*Manufacturer coupons will be applied AFTER the price match is made.
FAQs
There are many places to get coupons, starting with your Sunday paper inserts. I usually purchase several copies- most often the savings offered in them pays for the paper and then some. Also take note when you are in the stores and look for tearpads and Blinkie machines. Even if you might not ever use the product the coupon is for- you just never know when it will come in handy! You can also go through a clipping service or search for coupons
Why don’t I see the coupon you list in MY insert?
Insert coupons vary by region, so you may find that your insert has the coupon but at a different $value off OR you may not find it at all. I am constantly envious of my Mom’s inserts as it always seems like when I get $.50/1 she gets $1/1!
When you list more than 1 manufacturer’s Q- does that mean I can use all of them?
You will often see more than one MQ listed for an item, however, Target will only accept one MQ & 1 Store Q per item. It is my task to let you know all the coupons that are available to you, but your task to pick the best one out of the bunch if you have more than one
. I too had serious issues trying to install the coupon printer and it was driving me crazy!!!! Here’s what worked for me:
Download the coupon printer. Be sure to “save” it to your desktop and not to a local directory. Do not directly “run” the installer after it is downloaded. Instead, once you have the file saved to your desktop- close each and every window you have open. You should not have any open applications at all. Now try double clicking on installer file on your desktop and going from there. I hope this helps but if other readers have different solutions- please feel free to e-mail or post and I will add it to this page
.Tips on Price Matching
1. Always bring the complete ad in with you & make sure the ad shows the sale dates
2. Check out at customer service- you will more than likely end up there anyway- so why not start there. (they should not refuse to check you out at CS either. You can explain to them why you are there- because you don’t want to wait in 2 lines!)
3. You are entitled to a gift card regardless of a Price Match. There is no rule that states otherwise in their policy to date. The only time I think this could be argued is if the ad specified you spend a certain amount of $ to get the gift card. So for example if it was Get a $5 GC wyb $10 worth of Oreo Cookies- and Oreo Cookies were $2.00 each at Target, but $1 each at Wags… if you wanted to price match- you would now have to buy 10 packages of Oreos instead of 5 in order to get the gift card.
4. If you are told that you are not entitled to a gift card- ask to speak to the manager. Many problems are solved by requesting a member of management. Not all, of course, but if you are still given a problem about getting your gift card- ask why and could they please show you where it says that you are not entitled to it if you price match.
5. If you feel there may be issues surrounding your purchase because of previous problems- locate the manager before you shop and express your concerns. You may as well know up front if management will refuse you and you get stuck purchasing something you normally wouldn’t if it weren’t for the incentives. But still ask that they validate the refusal by showing you this policy in writing.
6. If you are refused by management- although it is frustrating- my suggestion would be to e-mail corporate. You could call- but a written reponse that corrects the problem, can be printed out and taken to the store and shown to management instead of just taking your word for it.
Jessica, I was about to post the same question. I went to target to get the itch sticks and the first aid bag. My store hasn’t had any first aid bags for 2 weeks (I’ve been calling practically everyday) so I finally went in to custoer service to ask if I could buy the itch sticks today and bring back my receipt if they ever got more of the bags in to get those for free as well. The woman said that should work. When I went to check out the 5/2 coupons scanned as 2.29. The manager got called over, started the whole thing over and it still scanned as 2.29. I asked her if she could just scan them twice, since it should have been taking off twice as much. I showed her a printout of their coupon policy where it says they will adjust coupons down. So she tried scanning the coupons twice but after a few, the register blocked her out with “not enough items.” Even though she tried scanned the coupons twice the whole time she was telling me that target wouldn’t get reimbursed for the second scanning so basically they were loosing money. She made me feel awful. I told her to forget it and take the itch sticks off my order. Then I went across the street to walmart and got the itch sticks there. The coupons worked fine there, taking off $5. This was probably the worst experience I’ve had at target.