Understanding Safeway Coupon Policy

I've noticed a lot of confusion regarding the use of coupons at Safeway, and even information on their facebook page that contradicts their "Official Policy" online. Here is the information you can find on Safeway's website regarding coupons.

Safeway's Printable Coupon Acceptance Policy: (dated September 2008)

• We can only accept Printable Coupons if they scan properly at the register.
• We will not accept Printable Coupons for "FREE product" (i.e., no purchase required). Buy-one-get-one-free coupons and other varieties that have a purchase requirement are acceptable.
• We will not accept Printable Coupons for more than 50% of a product's value. For example, a $2 off coupon will be acceptable for a product that sells for $5 or more, but a $2 off Printable Coupon for a product that sells for $2.25 will not be accepted.
• Printable Coupons will be rejected if they appear to be distorted or blurry, or are altered in any way or copied.
• Printable Coupons are non-transferable, and should not be copied, scanned, sold, traded, or otherwise distributed to others. They have unique serial numbers printed on them and follow an industry-standard format.

Frequently, Safeway's own printable coupons are the only ones that do not scan, but I've never had a problem with them choosing not to accept the coupon. Also, they do occasionally release printable Safeway FREE item coupons (with minimum purchase requirements) and these are always accepted. The bit about not accepting a coupon worth more than 50% of an item's value is confusing because no one is really sure if they mean "regular value" or the "sale value". I've seen different stores interpret it both ways, so it's best to ask someone working if you're concerned. Some stores (and Safeway's Facebook page) are suggesting/enforcing a one like coupon policy for printable coupons, and if that's the case they really should update their website to reflect this new policy. One of my local stores occasionally restricts you to 2 like printable coupons because they know that's all one computer can print.

Making Sense of Store Coupons:

• Explains a difference between Super Coupons and regular store coupons, and that the wording "Limit one coupon per purchase" on a Super Coupon means that only one of it's kind can be used per transaction.
• This document also clarifies the minimum purchase requirement of Safeway coupons: To use store coupons that include a minimum purchase requirement, you must spend a minimum dollar amount on that shopping trip. You will reach the minimum purchase amount based upon total purchases before your Club Card discount is applied. This total will include the coupon item's regular price, not the discounted price. For example, the regular retail price of a box of Cheerios (before coupon and before Club Card discounts) will count toward the minimum purchase required in order to use the Cheerios coupon. EDIT: this segment has been changed since I originally posted this policy to state that the minimum is now based on sale price. You can read more about this change in another post.

I think this is a great page to print for your coupon binder (or file) because it clearly explains that you do not need to spend the full amount of the minimum purchase in cash to use Safeway coupons. This helps keep your spending down!

My favorite find of the day, however, pertains to the stacking of ecoupons with each other. On the page addressing CouponLink FAQ, you'll find this little Q&A gem:

• Can I combine coupons? (in reference to "digital coupons")
• Yes, you can theoretically combine coupons. This can happen if a manufacturer offers a coupon to multiple coupon providers. However, the price will never go below zero.

True, it doesn't clarify whether or not we can stack paper coupons and ecoupons, but it seems to say that the stacking of ecoupons is "theoretically" acceptable to Safeway. If you have any other questions about Safeway's policy that I can help you with, please feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email!