I wanted to share a part of Sarah’s coupon class that she does. (Next class is coming up soon, check your Idaho Statesman Sunday Life section page C2 for the day and contact to RSVP)
I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of why stores coupon, and why manufactures put out coupons.
Stores are:
Reimbursed the full face value of coupon
You have a .50 cent coupon – the store will get paid .50 cents from the manufacturer
Plus .8 cents for each coupon for processing
But it only cost them about .4 cents to process the coupon
So they make an additional .4 cents per coupon
It may not seem like much but nation wide it is a huge profit
Some people including cashiers have said that some one must “lose out” when a shopper uses coupons
Manufacturers mark up products to pay for advertising and marketing
Coupons are just another way to “market” their product.
Do you feel bad watching the Super Bowl knowing the company pays a couple million for a 30 second commercial?
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With all due respect…I do not understand the guilt part of couponing for some shoppers. We dont make the coupon…They are available due to the store and manufacturers. So why would anyone feel guilty about using what the manufacturer or store puts out there? If stores did not get reimbursed for the product they sold with a coupon…I guarentee when you go to check out they would have said..we no longer accept coupons.
Joe, that’s absolutely not true. The percentage of couponers to regular customers is SO much lower that a store will not go out of business because couponers are not buying regular items. That’s just an ignorant statement. The whole point of couponing is so that we never have to buy something at full price without a coupon.
Now don’t get me wrong. I use coupons too. But I also buy more than just the coupon stuff. So please buy other merchandise so the stores will continue issuing double coupons. If you only bought the double coupon items eventually the stores will either go out of business or quit double coupons.
Double coupons come out of the stores advertising costs. So somewhere they have to pass along the costs to the customers with higher everyday prices or less ad items.
Thank you for posting this information! I am new to couponing and have had mixed feelings about it. While I enjoy the thrill of saving money, I have also felt somewhat guilty, as if I had been “robbing the stores” when I take advantage of the their offers along with using coupons. Thanks for giving me a different perspective.
I am constantly (politely) reminding my local Walgreens Manager of this. I am getting the item at no cost to me but Walgreens is still making money on that particular product. More money than I would have been giving them b/c of the $.08 handling. Thanks for the reminder that we aren’t doing anything wrong.
Just remember to be polite everyone. Kill em’ with kindness it goes a very long way. Maybe not every single time but it will benefit you more than you realize.
I actually TOOK a Marketing class, and promotion doesn’t make products more expensive – it actually makes them cheaper. Although companies pay for promotion (coupons, commericals, etc.) those things also bring in more customers, meaning the prices can remain low because of all the people buying them. If they don’t advertise, fewer people buy their product so those people pay the price.
That’s why, most often, a little hometown shop or any other thing of the sort usually cost more.
I think you touch on a good point hear. It’s important to realize WHY companies give out coupons. It is marketing. Most of the time coupons are either for A) high profit margin convenience items where the consumer has the choice of either buying or making themselves (I could make a gallon of homemade lemonade for a dollar or purchase a 1/2 gallon for 2) or B) unhealthy items that need a little “push” to get consumers rationalization to buy (I’m talking about you fruit roll ups and frozen pizzas!)
I am glad you posted this. It’s ridiculous when cashier’s think you are ripping off the store or them personally when you use coupons.
Stores definitely get reimbursed for the coupons used!
So true! And, there have been quite a few products that I have tried because of couponing that I have gone and paid full price for later because I was hooked! And that’s what they want, is to hook you …
I was shopping at a local Target that I know to be very coupon unfriendly-unfortunatley it was the only one I could get to. I had a $5 coupon for “any Kodak camera” so I picked up a disposable for aprrox. $3.68. When I asked him to just adjust the amt. of the coupon down the cashier says, loudly enough for everyone in line to hear “Lady, this is a $5 coupon! I can’t just give it to you for free!!” Like I was trying to rip them off or something… I didn’t have time to be calm about it or explain to a manager. And frankly with how I was treated I was too embarrassed anyway. I wish companies would properly train all employees on the use of coupons. Too many of them just don’t understand. It can be very discouraging for newbies.
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