Another New Coupon Policy: Wal-Mart

I do not generally shop at Wal-Mart (preferring to buy my guns and censored music elsewhere). But some recent changes to their coupon policy had me intrigued. Like several other stores, Wal-Mart will accept Catalina coupons from other stores. But here is the change that I was most interested in:

"If coupon value exceeds the price of the item, the excess may be given to the customer as cash or applied toward the basket purchase."

At other retailers, when your coupon exceeds the price of the item, they generally adjust the coupon price down. This policy allows you the full value of a coupon, regardless of the price of the item.

I was skeptical about how this would work, so I wanted to try it out before I posted about it. Armed with my printed copy of the coupon policy and several high value coupons (with no size restrictions), I braved a trip to Wal-Mart.

(5) Purex Complete 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets ($0.97/each in the travel section)

(2) Secret Clinical Strength Deodorant ($2.47/each in the travel section)

= $9.79

- (1) $3/1 Purex coupon (2/20 Red Plum. Expires 3/19)

- (4) $1/1 Purex coupons (3/13 Red Plum)

- (1) $2/1 Secret coupon (2/27 P&G insert)

- (1) $3/1 Secret coupon (P&G mailer)

= -2.21

+ $0.93 tax

Grand total = -$1.28

As you can see above, I actually got the $1.28 back in cash. After the cashier rang up all the coupons, the system said that manager approval was needed. The approval was given electronically (didn't have to wait for a manager to come over). The receipt printed and the cashier was a little confused. She said "It says I'm suppose to give you $1.28?????". I smiled and said "Yep". And she did.

This new policy is not going to make me a regular Wal-Mart shopper, but I could see venturing in for money making deals like this one. If you are going to give this a try, I highly recommend having a copy of the coupon policy on you.

Anyone try out any of these new coupon policies yet?