To save more at the grocery store, be sure to print free coupons from our Printable Grocery Coupons page!

Understanding Wal-Mart’s and Target’s Printable Coupon Policies
by Stephanie Nelson

I receive some emails from shoppers telling me that their grocery and drugstores will not accept the coupons printed from the computer. This is frustrating, particularly when the coupons are legitimate and the national store policy approves of shoppers using these coupons at their stores.  The good news is that there are logical steps we can take to help convince our local stores’ management to reconsider their policies if they do not accept printed coupons. 

When you use the deals lists for Target and Wal-Mart at couponmom.com, you will find a link to print the coupon policy for each of these stores. Print these policy statements and keep them in your coupon organizer to help reason with the next cashier who will not accept your legitimate coupons. Because the coupons printed from the legitimate websites such as couponmom.com and www.coolsavings.com all meet these requirements, shoppers should feel confident approaching their Wal-Mart store manager with their coupons and the email from their store’s corporate contact in hand. 

What should you do if your store won’t accept your printed coupons? Matthew Tilley of CouponInfoNow.com suggests that shoppers write or email the customer service contacts for their stores, which are easily found on the stores' websites. Ask for a written statement of the stores' printable coupon policy. Print that statement and show it to your stores' managers to reinforce their own companies' policies.

I took Tilley's advice and emailed Wal-Mart and Target headquarters. These are the exact emails I received from each store’s customer service department answering the question I posed, "What is your policy regarding the acceptance of coupons printed from a home computer?"

From Wal-Mart:

“Wal-Mart Stores can accept coupons that are available on the Internet for customers to print from their home computers. The following are guidelines for the stores for accepting Internet coupons:

- The coupon should be legible and say "Manufacturer Coupon". There should be a valid remit address for the manufacturer, to ensure the coupon can be processed for payment.
- The coupon should have a scan-able bar code.
- The coupon should have an expiration date.
- The coupon cannot be a photocopy.
- The limit is one coupon per item, per Customer.
- A Salaried Manager can refuse to accept a coupon if it does not meet any or all of these guidelines.”

From Target:

“Coupons are a great way to save even more when shopping at Target, and we make it easy to use them at our stores. But because of the variety of coupons available to our guests, we do have some guidelines for how coupons can be redeemed at Target:

-We accept two kinds of coupons: Target-issued coupons and manufacturer-issued coupons.
-We'll accept one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon for the same item, unless either coupon prohibits it.
-We can't give cash back if the face value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item; in that case, we'll adjust the value of the coupon to equal the price of the item.
-We can't accept coupons from other retailers, or coupons for products not carried in our stores.

All valid coupons should be presented to the cashier at the time of sale."

Article updated 12/27/07; Copyright S. Nelson

Stephanie Nelson has shared her savings tips on ABC News’ Good Morning America, Good Housekeeping Magazine and hundreds of local radio and TV stations. You can find more of her savings tips in her book  “The Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom” and on her website atwww.couponmom.com.  Copyright 2007 Stephanie Nelson.