A while ago, Shirley (I think) started a thread about using coupons.
I was wondering if anybody knew of some coupon websites.
I routinely use http://www.smartsource.com (or http://www.smartsource.net ), as you can get good coupons (like the ones in the paper; sometimes better) but it’s a little annoying because it takes a couple weeks for the coupons to be sent.
http://www.coolsavings.com is another one I use. It has a lot of web-related coupons, but the non-web ones can be printed out and used immediately. I’ve used their 20% off for Kids R Us several times. No reason not to if you’re going to shop there anyway. The annoying thing about this site is that they send a lot of “offers” – which I probably should have known better than to OK when I signed up. I’m sure I could turn it off if I took the time. But if you’re signing up new, make sure you say “no” to that question. I just don’t understand why they think that if I didn’t want their credit card the first 12 times they asked, I might say, “Oh, yeah, great idea” on the 13th.
Speaking of credit cards, Discover has a good site at http://www.discovercard.com . Obviously, this only works if you have a Discover card, but if you use that site to go to other sites listed there (for example, Barnes & Noble, Toys R Us, FTD, Sharper Image, National Car Rental, etc.), you get a certain percentage off (depending on which site). I’ve used it a few times.
Anyway, I was wondering if others have found additional coupon sites.
Price line has this new thing where you can get discounts at grocery stores. I’m not sure exactly how it works. I’ve only seen commercials. I also think that the only grocery store that it works with, in my area, is a grocery store I don’t like.
A while back, I posted the URL of a site that could have been quite useful for “Doper Conventions”, but for some reason, it disappeared almost as soon as I had posted it (probably a technical glitch). This site lets you print coupons for hotel and motel discounts in many U.S. cities. The whole thing is free. Could be worth looking into.
Word of caution: I have not purchased anything from this site (not even sure if rebates apply for Canadians). It may be too good to be true, but you can find lots of products which, after mail-in rebate, do not cost you a cent (except for shipping and handling probably).
I read that, in many cases, you can purchase these products at a lesser cost elsewhere (without the rebate of course) and that the operators of the site bank on the fact that a percentage of customers simply forget to return the mail-in coupons within the required time period. Therefore, if you’re the absent-minded type, this may not be for you:).
If you’re interested, check it out… and read the fine print.
The one for Philly has a link to Priceline.com, which was mentioned earlier. Also, I saw that Sunday’s Chicago Sun-Times had an article about Priceline’s grocery shopping. I didn’t buy the paper, but I skimmed the article at the store and saw that you get a Priceline card at a grocery store and then “bid” for grocery items much like you do for other stuff at that site. Then, I guess (could be wrong here), if somebody says “yes,” you go buy it at their store.
It’s quick and easy to use. You plug in a zip code or city, then select the appropriate catagory on the next screen. Scroll the selections, pick one, print the coupon and go. I’ve used this site several times because a local Japanese restuarant always has a “dinner for two” coupon available.
I like the way the site is set up. The city/zip code sort means I only see local stuff and the catagories mean I don’t have to scroll through alot of garbage to get where I want to be.
This one’s somewhat of a pain in the ass, but I’ve found it to be useful a few times. You print out a page, buy the stuff on it, and the grocery prints out what is basically like a gift certificate for a certain amount of money depending on what you bought.
A lot of times these sites take your personal information or ask you to apply for a credit card to get a discount, so be careful.
Plus, just going to the real manf site of the products you want can get you nice deals too. The other day I was trying to find a rental truck & I went to the rental agencies of cars & found one for $20 a day, unl miles. nice.
Doctor Jackson’s post reminded me of a coupon site that is linked to Smartsource (which I mentioned in my OP).
Val-Pak coupons normally come by mail, with a full packet of mostly useless stuff. But by signing on to the website, at http://www.valpak.com you can just put in your ZIP code or city and state and look only for the ones you’re interested in.
Interesting – the page Doctor Jackson’s gave actually leads to the one Drain gave when you ask for grocery coupons. Figures, though, the place I do most of my shopping isn’t listed.
Drain – is the gift certificate thing you get good on anything at the store the next time you go there, or only certain items? For example, if I click on Dove soap and that’s the only thing I buy, do they print off a coupon for use the next time I buy Dove only?
Chief – the sites you link to seem to be kind of a grey market in coupons. Like people have gotten these coupon codes and are distributing them to others. Interesting. I never thought of something like that, but if it works!
I seem to recall readig about one in the local paper called savingsmountain or something to that effect. Does anyone know what I’m talking about? (Like you ever do)
Oh my God, David! Last night and this morning I’ve been searching the web for coupon sites! It’s like we share a psychic bond! Like we’re soul mates! Like… nevermine
Anyway, I wish I had something more to add, but I think most of the sites I’ve found so far have already been listed This’ll teach me to check the SDMB first when I need anything!
Oh, and I saw last night that if you go to http://www.gator.com and download the gator software, you get 50 free coupons. I tried to do that, but my system crashed during the download and I haven’t gotten around to trying again.
You can also download coupon finding software from http://www.suzicoupons.com/ (I don’t think I’ve seen this one mentioned yet on this thread).
