Advertisers and put a lot of time and thought into how they word the offers used to describe coupon offers and special promotions. Knowing the lingo gives you an advantage — so we put together this list, a Glossary of Terms related to Coupons, Codes and Promos to help you become a better discount shopper.

Before discussing actual terms, you should have some understanding of UNIT PRICING, and know that if there is a asterisk, ( * <– that little star or flower shaped symbol), next to the offer, you need to read the fine print — always read the fine print!

We will start with some common ways advertisers use numbers to either make a genuine discount offer — or trick you into thinking you’re saving ore than you actually are.

Percent Off Discounts

25% OFF – for every dollar, you should be getting twenty five cents off. While this seems pretty straightforward, here’s where the advertiser may take advantage of how lazy you might be — maybe you won’t read the entire ad… If the ad actually says “25% OFF (SECOND ITEM OF SAME OR EQUAL VALUE)”, this means you need to buy (2) items, and one will be at full price, and the second will be discounted. If the items cost $1.00 each, you will spend $1.75 to buy the two items, and only realize a 12.5% savings.

UP TO 50% OFF – again, this may be a genuine offer, or may be a come on — enticing you into think you are going to save 50%, when in reality this particular offer may only be for 5% or 10% off the regular price. Our solution, any time a store uses the “UP TO” phrase, as soon as start shopping, ask where the items that are 50% OFF can be found.

25% FREE – this term is usually found on items sold in containers measured in ounces, pounds or other units of weight or volume. If a bottle of shampoo costs $1.00 and contains 20 oz. (liquid measure), the unit price is $0.05 per ounce. For this offer to be true, you should expect to pay $0.75 for the bottle, which would yield the same UNIT PRICE of $0.05 per ounce.

25% MORE FREE – again, this term is usually found on items sold by weight or volume. Lets take the same $1.00 bottle of shampoo, you would need to know the regular size and price, and again calculate the UNIT PRICE (per ounce). For this offer to be true, you should expect to pay $1.00 for the bottle but get 25 ounces.

Dollar Value Off Discounts

$1.00 OFF – plain enough… or is it? While some coupons or discounts offer a straightforward amount of money off, many require you to but more than one item. Saving $1.00 on an item that costs $2.00 is like a 50% discount, but if the offer requires you to but (4) of the items, it’s only a 12.5% discount… and you may not need more than one. Modern checkout system are setup to determine if you have purchased the quantity stated on the coupon… if you don’t have enough of the item in your order, you will not get any discount at all.

“Buy One, Get One” Offers

BOGO – (see specific “BUY ONE, GET ONE” offers below)

BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE - with no other terms or conditions, this is a great deal. Buy one item, get another one, (usually of the exact same item), is the same as a 50% discount.

BUY ONE, GET ONE 1/2 OFF – many retailers have followed the “BOGO” (buy one, get one) approach to marketing. While this sounds like a 1/2 price sale, the term usually means, “50% OFF THE SECOND ITEM OF SAME OR EQUAL VALUE“, which, if you purchase (2) identically priced items will result in an overall 25% saving, (if first item cost $1.00, and second cost $1.00, the total purchase will ring up at $1.50 — a 25% savings).

Rebate Offers

$1.00 Rebate - if this is a mail in rebate, realize it will cost you about $0.50 (the cost of a stamp and an envelope) to claim the rebate, and chances are they’ll send you a check for the $1.00 meaning you will need take additional time to deposit the chaeck. In general, we advise against considering mail in rebates when shopping for an item unless the rebate is $10.00, $20.00 or more.

There are several reasons to NOT use mail-in rebates at all. If the rebate offer requires you to cut the UPC code or mail in your original receipt, you may be voiding your ability to return the item to the retailer. Mail in rebates are typically handled by clearing houses which may collect and redistribute the personal information used in the rebate form. Anyone who has applied for a rebate, has probably found that it takes a long time to get your money back, and sometimes requires multiple follow up calls, emails or letters to the vendor to collect.

Chances are, if you buy an item with a rebate, before you get the money back, you’ll see the same item advertised for sale for the same price as you would have paid if the rebate amount had been applied as a discount. In-store rebates or rebates that are applied “at the register” can be considered the same as a discount.

Mail-in rebates are a hassle to say the least, and outright deceptive in the worst cases. If you do use mail-in rebates, be sure to read all terms and enclose all documents and mail by the date specified. On high value rebates, ($50.00 or more), you may want to mail the offer by certified mail or other means so you have proof of your claim. Keep copies of everything including the original receipt, UPC codes or other area of packaging you’re required to cut off and mail in, also the rebate form and any promotional material that accompanied the offer.

Cookie or Crumb?

Clearing cookies and your browser’s cache can save you money.

Many people don’t realize that “cookies” saved by your web browser software can be used by a website to tell how you arrived at the website, whether or not you’ve been there before, and can determine if the site displays a discounted price or not.

Visitors who arrived at the website by clicking a promotional ad may get one price, and visitors who arrived by typing in the web address directly get another.   We’ll show you how to find the lowest price and when you should or shouldn’t delete a particular cookie.

First, visit the website of the company you want to buy something from, (e.g.- if you want to but a t.v. at “Example Inc.”, go to www.example.com), and check the price there.

Sometimes if you put the item into the shopping cart, begin to check out, then attempt to leave the site without completing the purchase, a page or pop-up notice will make you a “special offer”… This still may not be your best price.

Next, search the web for “Example Inc.” coupon codes or promotional codes.   You may find more than one, note all of them, and the terms and conditions and expiration of each.

This is where cookies, session IDs and other forms of tracking put in place by the vendor can either help or hurt you, (in the wallet).

Some sites value repeat visitors and offer lower prices when you return to the site — others may actually charge you more than a first time visitor.   Why?… Because once they have you as a customer, they want to make as much money as they can from you.   This is VERY common in many types of businesses, from Cable T.V., Cell Phone, and Web Hosting Companies, and even you local Home Heating (Fuel Oil) Dealer… they offer a “special price” to sign up, then the pricing creeps up month by month — and sometimes you’re locked in for a year or more. As always: If a deal sounds too good to be true — it probably is.

But, back to that t.v. you want to buy from “Example Inc.” — chances are it’s a one time purchase, and you want to get the best price you can.

Once you tested to see if the shopping cart offers a lower price when you back-out of the checkout page, now try deleting the CACHED CONTENT and COOKIES from your browser.  Try to buy the t.v. again. This time enter the PROMO or COUPON CODE and see if the price is lower.

Repeat the steps of putting the item in your cart, entering a PROMO CODE, and seeing the price, then clearing the CACHE and COOKIES until you see the lowest price.

You may need to do this over the course of a couple days.   Some websites track you by your remote IP address — even if you clear the cookies and cache, they assume you are the same “Shopper” and don’t give you better pricing. Normally, this type of tracking stays in effect for anywhere from 20 minutes to 24 hours.

When you have the possibility of saving a few hundred dollars, this type of experimenting is definitely worthwhile… If you only stand to save a few dollars, it may not be worth the time or effort.

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