Identifying manufacturers’ coupons: part 1 of 3

I've gotten a number of questions and comments lately about making sense if a coupon comes from the store, or a manufacturer. Why does it matter? A few reasons:

1. A store coupon means the store is providing the discount – you can only use it at that store.
2. A manufacturer coupon means you are generally free to redeem it wherever the product is sold and where manufacturers' coupons are accepted.
3. In most cases, a store coupon can be combined with a manufacturer's coupon.

I want to help you make sense of this! So for the next three days I'll be spending some time on illustrating the differences between store and manufacturers' coupons, and then help you understand how stacking coupons works to your benefit.

After organizing my thoughts, I realized the best place to start would be manufacturer's coupons. Why? Because store coupons have LOTS of possibilities in their design, fine print, and wording. Manufacturer's coupons are easier to identify since they have some similar features, no matter where you find 'em.

Let's dive in. The following is a manufacturer's coupon clipped from my Sunday insert. The Sunday papers are a major source of manufacturers' coupons.

Here are the things to note about this coupon:

1) It reads "Manufacturer's coupon" at the top.
2) The barcode starts with the number "5" (though some manufacturers' coupons may start with the number "9"). (This is also the extent I'm going to talk about how to interpret coupon barcodes for this reason.)
3) The fine print has two sections. One addresses the consumer (that would be you!); the other is for the retailer (that would be the store you use this coupon at). ALWAYS make sure to read the consumer notes – this is where you'll find important information such as limits. In this case, the coupon reads "only one coupon per purchase." This means you'd need one coupon PER Fresh Step box you intended to buy. This is the most common type of instruction you'll find. However, you will occasionally find "limit one per transaction," or even less commonly, "limit one per person/household." What truly makes the manufacturer coupon unique is the instruction to the retailer – this tells that store how to get their money back. For the coupon here, the retailer is to submit the coupon to The Clorox Company and there is an address for them to send it to.

Let's take another example. Here's what's known as a "blinkie coupon." These come out of those great little black boxes with the "blinking" red lights found at stores. They are often directly (and conveniently!) located in front of the product they're for.

Here's the front:

BlinkieFront

And the back:

Again, you'll note the barcode starts with the number "5," and there are clear instructions to both the consumer and manufacturer retailer on the back of this coupon. (And you might even notice the tiny "SmartSource" at the top!)

So what's the value in knowing that a blinkie coupon is a manufacturer's coupon? Remember that a manufacturer's coupon may be used at any store where the product is sold and manufacturers' coupons are accepted! So if you find a blinkie coupon at Safeway (but not a decent sale), you may wish to hang onto it for next week's Fred Meyer sale!

Incidentally, I don't advocate wiping out a store of the blinkie coupons. However, I'm also for "not littering!" Ever notice tons of discarded blinkie coupons messing up the store aisles? Why not do them a favor by picking up "the trash?"

One final example. This is an Internet Printable coupon – and they are currently widely accepted at most grocery and drugstores. (And you can print them directly from my site HERE, HERE, and HERE!)

Again, this coupon is labeled as a "Manufacturer's Coupon," has a barcode starting with the number "5," and has clear instructions for both the consumer and retailer. Starting to click?