Saving money on health and beauty products

     Bed Bath and Beyond has almost everything you could need for your home, but some locations have even more. A few years ago, they began rolling out health and beauty sections in some of their busiest stores. The best part? Those of us who are lucky enough to shop at these locations have found the prices, even before coupons, to be great bargains. This is really fantastic, considering these are things most of us buy every week.
     In addition to their famous $5 and 20% coupons, they also allow you to use manufacturers coupons on these items. I cannot tell you how many items I've gotten for less than a dollar, or even free. This is also another situation where cashier confusion usually happens, and works out in your favor. I'll give you a few examples, each of which have happened to me at least once.
     Bed Bath and Beyond's register system is not set up to handle manufacturer's coupons. Instead of scanning a barcode, the cashier enters the amount of discount in cash. It also appears on the receipt as cash. Although their policy only allows them to accept them if they are current, almost none of the cashiers bother to check. This manual system leaves a lot of room for error (good errors!). So hang on to those expired coupons!
   The next situation has happened to me a few times. I used my Bed Bath and beyond coupons. I then gave the cashier my manufacturer coupons. The amount of mfr coupons (remember, the register sees them as cash) exceeded the price of the items, and I was given back the difference in cash. Let me repeat that. After coupons the store owed me money, and I left with my items and five more dollars in my pocket.
     This last one has only happened once, and had I noticed it at the time, I would have said something. I always say pay close attention to ensure you are getting the best discount. This is the opposite. Letting this happen would just be plain dishonest, so look out for it and alert the cashier if you see it. I came back for a coupon adjustment (see this previous post). I had already used my BBB coupons, and just wanted to add my manufacturer coupons. The cashier put them through, and gave me cash back. I had originally paid with a credit card, so I should not have received cash. But this is the part that really struck me: When I got home and looked at my receipt I realized that not only had I already had the receipt adjusted, but I had done so previously twice. As I said before, manual entry causes problems for cashiers. Since they show up as cash, their computers don't track the adjustment and there is nothing to stop you from getting way more of a discount than you are entitled to.
    So, be sure to bring your coupon organizer over to the health and beauty section. Just remember, watch like a hawk for your discounts, but be honest and earn good shopping karma!