Question about coupon restrictions

[xshannersx]

So I need some help with understanding the different restrictions on coupons. I tried searching the forums to see if coupon rules were posted somewhere already but didn't see anything.
I figured all coupons were the' one coupon per purchase per customer' until I got my first order of coupons from P&G which were 'one coupon of specified products'. This was exciting since I don't want to make a million trips to the store to use all my coupons. But now I'm seeing restrictions that say 'one coupon per purchase' which doesn't seem as strict as the typical coupon, but I'm not sure where the difference is, if there is one.
Can someone explain the different coupon restrictions and what they mean? Also, what coupons are 'stackable' and where everyone finds them/redeems them?

[xshannersx]

Oh brother, I turned it into a Wiki thread, whatever that is, sorry if I just screwed something up!

[Skittles160]

Lol well first off - welcome! Second off...if you're actually from the Ottawa area, I wouldn't worry too much about stacking. The only place that I know of in Canada that allows stacking is London Drugs and they don't have stores in Ontario. As for the wording, I'll take a stab at this and other people can correct and add to it.

One per purchase per customer:
Generally this means you can only use one of these coupons at all. In reality, people get around this by going to different stores, or coming back on different days. Either way, if you're doing a transaction, you should only have one per type of coupon. You can have multiple DIFFERENT coupons that say one per customer (ie. one for tide, one for cereal, etc) but you can't have multiples of the same coupon that say this.

One coupon per specified products:
From what I understand, this is pretty much the same as one per purchase. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong there.

One coupon per purchase:
This one is the most common. And you'll find cashiers like to confuse this with "One per transaction". A clever thing I read today was someone pointed out "How many purchases can I do in one transaction". That should turn a lightbulb on for your cashier if they're refusing coupons that say one per purchase saying that you can only use one at a time. All this means is you can only use one per item you purchase. You can't use multiple of this coupon on one purchase. So if you had three tide coupons that said this, you would need to purchase three separate tide products.

One per transaction:
This means you can only use one per transaction, so you'll need to separate transactions to use coupons like this if you have multiples. This is not the same as one per purchase.

Hopefully that helps a little


OH - I forgot - there is minor stacking.

1. Rexall. Apparently Rexall will accept their store coupons as well as a manufacturer coupon. I have not personally had experience with this - just read it on one of the forums recently.
2. Real Canadian SUperstore - although their coupon policy technically does not allow it, some stores are ignoring their own policy and will accept a coupon zone (store specific coupon) with a manufacturer coupon. Again - haven't personally tried this, just based on what I've read on the forums.

[xshannersx]

Thanks so much! That does help, I thought that one coupon per purchase meant per transaction, and only one coupon period. Time to get my couponing on!

[xshannersx]

Oh, I guess I have one more question, when it says not valid with any other offer, does that mean store sales/deals or not valid with other coupons?

[Skittles160]

Generally that just means not valid with other coupons (ie prevents stacking I believe)- but there's always one manager/cashier that decides to make up their own rules saying that it can't be used on a sale item. The ones that definitely cannot be used on sale items are the ones that say "regular priced" item. Although I've heard some people have managed to use these coupons when they price match at WM...never personally tried though (I tend to avoid any deals where I think I might have to fight for it...)