BOGO stands for Buy One Get One. Sometimes a sale is “Buy One Get One Free”, other times maybe it’s “Buy One Get One Half Off”. We consistently get confused reader questions surrounding BOGO sales and coupons so today I’ll try to help expose the truth behind these sales!
First, I’ll start with BOGO store sales or Promos:
This means that the weekly store ad or a sign on a shelf in the store says, “Buy One product, get One Free”
Here’s an example from this week at CVS:
Act II Popcorn, 3-pk. $2.19
Buy One Get One Free store promo
Use 2 $0.40/1 Act II Popcorn from SS 9/20
Final Price: $0.69 each, when you buy 2
The confused question we often get is this: “How can I use 2 coupons when I’m already get one of the products for free?”
Answer: The store does have the final say, but most stores will except 2 coupons on a BOGO store promo- and they absolutely SHOULD! The manufacturer of the coupon 100% wants you to be able to use two coupons! As long as you physically purchase two of their items, you may use two of their coupons, one per item. When the cashier rings through the Act II Popcorn, both items will scan through at $2.19. Only when you present your store loyalty card will you see the savings of $2.19 on one box of popcorn. You just made two purchases of popcorn at $2.19 each. The store is running a promo that allows you to save $2.19 when you buy 2 boxes. When the store accepts your $0.40 off coupon it’s as good as cash- they will be reimbursed for the full face value of the coupon (plus an $0.08 handling fee that pays for the clearinghouse that does all the work of sorting, etc). Stores do not lose money when you use your valid coupons correctly.
It’s difficult to make that clear when I’m typing and I remember being confused about BOGOs too, but once you see it from the manufacturer’s point of view, it becomes very clear! Most of our store policies address whether a store will accept 2 coupons on a BOGO sale, CVS for example, will accept two coupons- officially. The bottom line, nothing in life is FREE, including your second box of popcorn. It still costs $2.19, but the store chose to run the BOGO style promo instead of discounting the price of each box to $1.10. You purchased two boxes and you should be able to use two coupons. Again, the stores get the last say, but read your store’s coupon policy or call corporate offices to make sure you know what the rule is!
Second, Let’s talk about BOGO store coupon:
Here’s an example from this week at Target:
Cesar Bistro wet dog food & select others, 3.5 oz $0.99
Buy One Get One Free Target Store Coupon from Red Plum 8/16
So in the above scenario, you’re going to want to buy 2 Cesar Bistro entrees, the subtotal will be $1.98 and then you’ll present your BOGO store coupon and receive savings of $0.99 cents. How many other coupons could you use with this scenario? One? Two? Actually, the answer is up to three! You are allowed one manufacturer and one store coupon per item. Since we are purchasing two items, that means we can use up to 4 coupons, 2 store coupons and 2 manufacturer coupons. If we had two manufacturer coupons worth $0.25/1 Cesar Bistro, we could use two of them. And if we had another store coupon for $0.40/1, we could use it too (except Target store coupons usually limit one per transaction). The BOGO store coupon is for the “free” item. You cannot use two store BOGO coupons to get both items for free.
There is currently a printable manufacturer BOGO Free coupon for Cesar Bistro. Since it’s a manufacturer coupon, you may use it in addition to your BOGO Target coupon. A coupon is only giving you savings on one item, here it is the “free” item. BOGO coupons don’t read “one coupon per two purchases”.
Cesar Bistro wet dog food & select others, 3.5 oz $0.99
Buy One Get One Free Target Store Coupon from Red Plum 8/16
Buy One Get One Free Cesar Bistro – (cesarbistro.com)
Final Price: 2 for Free
Finally, Let’s talk about BOGO manufacturer coupons
At this point, hopefully we’ve busted some of the myths surrounding BOGOs. You may use a BOGO coupon with one other manufacturer coupon as well as with two store coupons, if none of them prohibit it. The BOGO coupon is for the “free” product and you may use another manufacturer coupon on the first product.
Nescafe Tasters Choice $6.99
Use one BOGO Free – Nescafe Taster’s Choice Single Serve – (tasterschoice.com)
Use one $0.50/1 – Nescafe Taster’s Choice – (everydayeating.com)
BOGO coupons and doubling:
This is where I’m least clear on BOGOs. I know what the cash register does when it doubles a BOGO coupon, but I’ve not talked to any corporate offices about whether it is permitted officially in the store’s policy. Let’s use Kmart as the example. Kmart occasionally doubles coupons up to $2.00 in value. This means for every $2.00 off coupon you use, the store will match that savings out of their pocket. They’ll be fully reimbursed for the $2.00 off coupon you use, but not for the portion that they “match”.
Buy two Venom Energy Drinks $1.59
BOGO free – Venom Energy Drinks (bricks.coupons.com) it’s now a $1.00/1 coupon
Final Price: both drinks for free
Here’s what happens at the register: Both drinks scan through at $1.59, then the register reads your coupon and subtracts $1.59. Kmart registers double coupons automatically if they’re under $2.00 in value, so as soon as the register reads you $1.59 savings it automatically doubles it, giving you two drinks for free. Initially this seemed underhanded, but Kmart’s doubling is all about them matching any coupon under $2.00, the value of my BOGO Venom coupon was $1.59. When I think of it that way it makes sense and seems totally legitimate. If the energy drinks had been $2.09, or any value over $2.00, it would not have been doubled and I would have only received the savings once.
Did I help you or make your head spin even more? What parts are still unclear? How have your experiences been when shopping BOGO promos?
I’ve had repeated trouble at Walgreens using two manufacturer coupons when an item is on sale BOGO (although it HAS gone thru on occasion). I e-mailed their customer service folks, and this is the response they sent me:
Dear Ann,
Thank you for taking your time to contact our Corporate Offices. We appreciate hearing from our customers and value all comments received.
If you are buying an item that is BOGO, you are technically only buying one item. In this case only one coupon would be eligible at the time of the purchase.
Again, thank you for contacting our corporate office. We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your comments.
Sincerely,
Lynzee G.
Consumer Response Representative
Ref # 2005486
From my experience though, you can get different answers from the same company from different representatives.
Ann
I have a question on the upcoming Dove haircare sale at Walgreen’s… If I’m wanting to buy 8 products to get the buy 8 get $8 RR’s, do you think it will still count on the BOGO. Do you think the registers can handle that? So buying 8 products but getting 4 free?? Thanks!
I tried that EXACT scenerio at Target with the two B1G1 Free coupons and they told me no at check out. (She didn’t even try scanning them both) I mentioned that it is one manufacturer coupon and one store coupon. She called the manager over and the manager said no. I got to my car and called target corporate. I was transferred to a manager and the manager said no, you cannot get both items free.
Suzette, this is GARBAGE. Ridiculous when even stores’ corporate offices don’t understand how coupons work. Sorry you had this experience!
Walgreen’s “free” item in any BOGO sale does NOT count toward your item count. So, if you have two coupons, you’ll still need a filler to use for that second coupon.
I’m still fuzzy in this area. At Albertson’s I have had multiple checkers tell me that if I am using a BOGO coupon, I cannot use another coupon of any kind on the item that is not free, because it is needed for the BOGO and is already covered under the first coupon. Make sense? It doesn’t to me!
Jody, I’ve got this response too, but here’s the truth: The barcode numbers do require you to purchase two items, so the 1st item is playing a role in allowing you to get the second for free. But the verbiage still says one coupon per purchase (purchase always means ‘per one item’, not to be confused with ‘per transaction’) it does not say one coupon per two purchases. As far as the guy who created the coupon is concerned, you can use two coupons on a BOGO, IF the store will allow it.
I went to Smiths last week to get the ball popper and the walker that were on sale for 10.99 so I could use my coupons and get them for 5.99. The lady said that I could not use my coupons! Did this happen to anyone else? She said it was because it was on sale… Isn’t everything we buy with coupons on sale?
Kristi,
That’s horrible. I’m sure your ‘the lady’ that told you this has a family who loves her and thinks she’s very smart, but I say this as nicely as I can, “she’s an idiot”. (only regarding her coupon knowledge) Of course you can use a coupon on sale items. I’m guessing you just got a bad apple with that one. We rarely hear of anyone saying something as ignorant (sounds harsh, but it’s true) as that.
I have never successfully used two coupons when one of them was a BOGO, or when the store was doing a BOGO sale – most of the time wouldn’t allow me to use two coupons. The reasoning was that you can’t use a coupon on something you’re already getting for free. This is a bummer and it seems like it happens to a lot of us. I just accept it as a coupon “don’t.”
I’ve NEVER had a problem doing this! I routinely use two coupons on BOGO sales at my local Publix and Walgreens. In fact, I did it yesterday at both stores!
And, just this last weekend at Target I bought 4 Nature Valley Nut Clusters and used 4 coupons for $1 off each. Then I got the Target promotion of buy 3, get 1 free, so my fourth one was free AND couponed for $1 off. I’m not 100% sure the cashier knew what she was doing, though, because she didn’t question anything, and I used A LOT Of coupons.
I live in South Florida, and I know sometimes location matters…
I think the Kmart Doubles on BOGO may be a YMMV deal…
The first time I went earlier in the summer, all my BOGO coupons for $2 and under DID in fact double giving me both items free.
This last time we had doubles, the register did NOT double my BOGO coupons, so I actually paid for one item and got the other free just as it would normally at any other time and any other store.
I think it may just be different at some stores, so just keep your eyes open when they have the next event
I used a BOGO coupon during a BOGO promotion and got 4 packs of gum for free! Cool.
Here’s something I’m thinking about trying:
1 MC BOGO on Steamfresh Meals from last week’s mailers + $1.50 (doubled for .50@ Safeway) from a couple of weeks ago’s mailers. Should = about $7 or less (if there is a sale) for two meals.
I just blogged about this last night because I was informed by a local couponer that using BOGO MQ with $MQ is fraud…how can we get word about what is true? I see it the way you have described, but I don’t want to do anything illegal!
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