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Monday, April 19, 2010

Wal-Mart Coupon Policy



Wal-Mart Official Website
Wal-Mart's Official Coupon Policy can be accessed on-line here.
Taken directly form Wal-Mart's website:
Walmart Coupon Policy

Walmart accepts the following types of coupons (see guidelines below):
•Manufacturer coupons (Cents Off)
•Free merchandise (or manufacturer's Buy-One-Get-One-Free) coupons
•Store coupons
•Pharmacy (Advertising and Promotional) coupons
•Internet coupons
•Soft drink container caps

The following are guidelines and limits:
•Walmart only accepts coupons for merchandise we sell and only when presented at the time of purchase.
•Coupons should have an expiration date and be presented within the valid dates. Walmart will not accept expired coupons.
•Internet coupons should be legible and say "Manufacturer Coupon." There should be a valid remit address for the manufacturer and a scannable bar code.
•Only one coupon per item is permitted.
•Use of 40 or more coupons per transaction will require approval by Customer Service Manager.
Wal-Mart also has an official price matching policy which you can find on-line here
Taken directly from their website on price-matching:

Price matching

Our goal is always to be the low price leader in every community where we operate. Our customers trust us to have every day low prices ... there's no need for "special sales."
Our unbeatable promise:
Store managers make the final decision in always taking care of our customers, but we do have guidelines for matching our competition.
•We do honor "Preferred Shopping Card" advertised prices. Must be like items, be advertised and require a competitor's shopping card, for the discount to apply.
•We do not honor advertisements that require a purchase in order to receive the advertised price or free product.
•We do not honor "Buy One / Get One Free" advertisements.
•We do not honor double or triple coupons or percent off advertisements.
•We do not honor other retailers' "Misprinted" advertised prices.
•We do not honor Internet Pricing.
•We do not honor competitor advertisements from outside of the store's or Club's local trade territory.
Wal-Mart has one of the most sophisticated tracking systems when it comes to their sales data and because of this you can find that their prices vary greatly from region to region and store to store.  That happens in any store for example it is not rare for me to find that the match-up I use which originates from Macomb County for Meijer's will have items $.10 less than what I find in my Oakland County Store.  But with Wal-Mart the variation seems to be greater than others.  They are an everyday low-cost store and thus tend to have less loss leaders, but if you are in a pinch for a need item and without a coupon they are one of the stores you can consult some times beating out dollar store prices on certain items.  Another bonus is their large trial size section which them along with the Pharmacies and Target will score you many free items when you run into the occassional coupon that is good on "any" item. 
Because of the variation in price though you will find Wal-Mart to be one of the less popular stores covered around the blogosphere and you will also here those that were exclusive Wal-Mart shoppers before their
"couponing" days say they visit a lot less frequently after they start couponing.
For me I have a Wal-Mart that I do not like very much very run down about 7 minutes from my house further than any other store I can get to.  Then there is a nice supercenter about 10 minutes in a different direction.  I shopped there once using a list from another area and I definitely only had about half of the deals that are listed.  So for me they are a once in a while place and I frequent them less than I even do my dollar stores.  How do you feel about Wal-Mart? Are you a regular shopper there?  What do you find to be the best deals?

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