Are Double-Coupons Worth the Effort?

Double-coupons is using two coupons and receiving two discounts for the item. While I have only done it a couple of times, there are many people who do this an art. As an aside, most of the ideas that I write about in this blog are just that, ideas. I would not expect anyone to have the opportunity and patience to implement every single idea, but those that become habits are usually those that mean the most to you.

One place where looking for double coupons is very value is big ticket items like computers and technology that cost hundreds of dollar. I was able to double coupon my Lenovo laptop or a 40% discount off (20% and then 25% off) of the retail price of $2,199. Lenovo put the computer on sale, and I was able to find an applicable discount code that had no restrictions. That is, a savings of $880 plus I received 4% cash back from ebates on the purchase for another $53. ebates and other companies give you cash back, which is okay if they share the data with the retailer, but have privacy issue when they sell your data. I will write about this in the future.

Generally, double-couponing is less glamorous and exciting. It means that the store (be it Safeway, Dominick's, Jewel-Osco, Duane Reade or some other store that has chose to sell an item for leas than the “normal” retail price. The customer is also able to find and use a coupon for the same item that is advertised in the Sunday paper or through some other source. Both discounts or coupons must say not say “no other discounts apply,” otherwise one of them is invalid, and you receive only one discount. If the customer meet all conditions, then he receives both discounts.

This is not that easy to do, and take some effort. This is a good article on double coupons. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1758884/the_myth_behind_double_coupons.html?cat=46. It basically says that merchandisers are aware of double couponing, and they must still make a profit, so they increase the cost of other items in the store to make up for it. Therefore, to truly benefit from double couponing you must not spend more on the other items that you are able to use double coupons.

Second, and this is beyond the scope of this article is that you have to account for the cost of finding and locating the double-coupons, and the extra cost in transportation and time of buying from this alternative store. Remember, you will still have buy the non-double coupon items from somewhere, so you possibly have to go to a second store. After accounting for all of that double-couponing is often not that much more a deal – especially if you place some value on your time.

The double-couponing for a computer was great. I bought the machine on line and finding the coupon and testing it before final payment cost me less than 15 minutes. I saved $933 before addition tax savings for 15 minutes of work. It does not happen often though.