6 Tips For Using Printable Coupons in Canada
Tips For Using Printable Coupons.
I am asked many questions about using coupons in Canada, but the one thing I get asked most often is how to use printable coupons.
Do they have to be in colour? How many can you print?
Below I have outlined a couple of tips for using printable coupons.
1) Use a laser printer.
Though the initial purchase price of a laser printer is a bit more than that of an inkjet printer, the cost is definitely well worth it.
Laser printers have many benefits. They work much faster, the quality is better, and the toner (as opposed to ink) lasts quite a bit longer, which means you will spend less on refills.
As for colour or black & white – you can use either (but keep in mind that a colour printer is always going to cost you more in terms of refilling it). If you can afford to print in colour, go ahead and do it. You will have less issues when trying to redeem your coupons. Don’t be afraid to print black & white coupons, though. Stores do accept them.
2) Make note of which stores are accepting.
It’s always best to do your research before you head out to do your shopping.
Make note of the stores in your area that do and do not accept printable coupons, to avoid embarrassment when you are checking out.
The following stores will happily accept your printed coupons: Walmart, Zellers, Loblaws, Zehrs, Real Canadian Superstore, Fortinos, Your Independent Grocer, Shoppers Drug Mart, Co-Op, Giant Tiger, Highland Farms, Longos, Valu-Mart and Thrifty Foods.
I strongly suggest carrying your store’s official coupon policy with you when you go shopping to avoid any issues that may arise when you get to the cash.
3) Make sure all of the information is visible.
Most stores will only accept your coupons (printed or not) if they include the following information:
– Barcode
– Expiration Date
– Canadian Remit AddressMake sure all of that information is present on your coupons. Otherwise, you may not be able to redeem them in stores.
4) If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.
Don’t believe that every single coupon you come across will be real. There are some very bad people out there that are making fraudulent coupons on a regular basis.
If you stumble upon a coupon that just seems way too good to be true (like $2 off a bottle of Coca-Cola, or $3 off a bottle of Pantene), then odds are, it’s a fake.
The only way to know for sure if the coupon you’ve found is real, is to contact the company directly and ask them if they have any knowledge of that coupon.
5) Print them right away.
If you find a printable coupon that you know you will definitely use before it expires, print it right away.
High value and/or rare coupons don’t often last long, so get yours while it’s still available and put it aside until you need to use it.
6) Print only what you will use.
Most printable coupons do not have a limit on how many you can print, but this does not mean that you should print 100 of a particular coupon and then go and clear off an entire shelf at the store. Use your judgement.
I suggest using no more than 10 of the same printable coupon in one single shopping trip. Any more than that and you will likely have some issues while you are checking out. Many cashiers get suspicious when you have many multiple printed coupons for one transaction.
Printable coupons are just another great tool that we can use to save money on our grocery bills, and if you use them correctly, you should not have any issues when you are using them.
Do you use printable coupons? Have you run into any issues when trying to redeem them in stores?
Comments
Great tips! I use printable coupons all the time! I haven’t had any issues at all. I think they’re awesome and they have saved me alot of money! That’s how I got so much in my stockpile.
Just a note that Your Independent Grocer doesn’t have a chain-wide printed coupon policy. My local one doesn’t accept internet coupons. š I contacted YIG corporate to complain and they told me it’s up to each store manager to set the store policy.
Set up a file “My Coupons” and save a copy of PDF coupons so you can print it later if you need it and the printable is no longer online. If the coupon is not PDF, get a program like CutePDF that saves a print as PDF.
I as well use the PDF way. I keep all printables in PDF so i dont have to go search each time. I use printables but have problems at SDM. Walmart sometimes hassles me until the manager comes by. Those are the only two places i have tried.
Cassie do you talk to the store manager prior to your purchases? to ensure they have no issues accepting your coupons. or have you approached them in the past they know who you are
Thanks for the great tips !
I also have problems using coupons at shoppersdrugmart, most of my local stores do not accept print-out coupons, a few of them are willing to accept it but they usually wants the whole page printed out (with URL and date and everything on the top/bottom of the paper).
Whereas walmart, zellers and loblaws are very welcoming.
Walmart is always great! Zellers policy in Ottawa (orleans) says they do not accept internet coupons…Bring on Target!!
My local YIG doesn’t accept printed coupons. So I don’t shop there anymore. I will not support a store that won’t support the use of coupons.
Wal-mart is limiting how many printable coupons you can use, eg. only 5 printable $6 off aspirin coupons allowed per transaction
London Drugs limits the coupon total to $3.00, no higher. So you might want to check the stores policy on how much the coupon can be. It is due to fake & altered coupons some people have made & tried to pass off & have passed on to unknowing couponers.
I find Food Basic, Nofrills, and Price Chopper does not accept printed coupons. So I use them at Walmart and SDM.
Norma, I am experiencing the same. My No Frills used to accept printable coupons. They are now refusing printables, and saying they can take INTERNET coupons, the mail-to-home ones, and they must have writing on the back of the coupon, like a watermark. So I am finding my last chances for printables are SDM and Walmart………until they too start changing their policies. As it is, my SDM only takes printable coupons if the redemption address PO Box number is 1600 or 3000. Some coupons I’ve had were PO Box 162, and I had to discard those coupons. It’s too bad, because I’m not getting as excited about printable coupons as I once was.
Does anyone have a pdf version of the Cottonelle $3.00 coupon, would love a copy, please email me… [email protected] thanks.
Alexa: Thanks for the heads up!
Aaron: Nope, I don’t have time to find a manager and get their approval. š I WILL do that if I plan on making a very large purchase, but that doesn’t happen often.
Shoppers Drug Mart is SNEAKY!! I went there earlier today to get Listerine Zero, which was on sale “Buy 1 Get 1 Free”. I also had a coupon for $3.00 off. First of all, the regular price tag on the shelf is $4.49 so I just figured they would take off the discount at the till. The thing is, they have their system set up to ring in the first bottle at $2.00 and the second bottle at $1.99 (for a total of $3.99 for two 250ml bottles). So, because the value of the coupon ($3.00) is more than the āpriceā of the bottles, they would not take the couponā¦ I was like WTFā¦ so pissed! I didnāt bother getting itā¦
I’ve tried using a printed coupon at Wal Mart once, it was the whole sheet too and they wouldn’t accept it. Next time I’ll try asking customer service before I start shopping.
I had an embarrassing incident happen at a Metro store recently. I was told, once I got to the checkout that they do not accept printable coupons. Fair enough, but..
the printable coupon was only good for a very limited list of grocers. Guess what? Metro was listed right on the coupon as one of the grocers the coupon was good
for. Not impressed, as I had the tassimo coffee packages removed from my groceries. (The coupon was buy 3 get thefourth one free.)
I love printable coupons! I have had a few issues with them being accepted. Most of the time I keep the full page, so they see the entire page. If it is limit per computer, I use the library, as the 20c per page printed is well worth the $3 and up in savings! At the Price Smart/Save on Foods, the one cashier said there was one manager that had to approve the printed ones, as he was the only one familiar with which were real and not…funny thing, the one I had for Motrin he refused to accept, even when I gave him the exact place to check for authenticity!