Tuesday, January 1, 2013

CVS 101

You will need to sign up for a free store loyalty card to get the sale prices and the Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) at CVS. You can use your phone number as a form of alternate id if you forget your card. Cashier has to input the phone number you provide. You will also receive homemailer coupons if you register your address to your card.

If you register your email account once you get your ECB card you will be sent an email coupon for $4/20 purchase to help get you started.

CVS accepts manufacture coupons including internet printable coupons as well as CVS store coupons.

CVS allows you to combine 1 store coupon with 1 manufacturer coupon per item. The number of manufacturer coupons cannot exceed the number of items in the transaction.  No limit to the number of like coupons in a transaction unless the coupons state a limit. (Manager discretion can be used to limit)

At CVS you are allowed to use 2 coupons on a buy one get on free sale.

Ex: Gillette bodywash is on sale for buy one get one free and you have 2 $3 off coupons. You can use both coupons, even though the sale already makes one of the bottles free.

You can also use a bogo coupon on a bogo sale

Ex: Gillette bodywash is on sale for buy one get one free and you have a buy one get one free coupon. You can pick up 2 Gillette bodywashes and use your bogo coupon. You will get 1 free from the bogo sale and 1 free from the coupon.

CVS offers three varieties of store coupons :

1. $ off a particular product
    Ex: Save $2 on a purchase of Suave bodywash (12 oz or larger) 

2. $/$$ purchase coupons 
    These can be $4 off a $20 purchase

Multiple $/$$ coupons can be used in the same transaction as long as you fulfill the terms of both coupons.

EX: you have a $4/20 and $3/15 purchase coupon. If you total is $35 or above before tax, you can use both coupons as the first $20 of your transaction fulfills the first coupon and the next $15 of your transaction fulfills the second coupon. 

You are also allowed to stack $/$$ off coupons with store and manufacturer coupons. Ex: You have a $4/20 purchase coupon, four $2 store coupon for Advil and a four $1 manufacturer coupon for Advil.

EX: lets assume the Advil is $5.   
       Purchase 4 Advil @ $5 = $20   
       -$4/20 purchase coupon          
       -$8 - four $2 store coupons    
       -$4 – four $1 manufacturer coupons    
       Your final cost would be $4 for the four bottles of Advil

3. Selective $/$$ purchase coupons- 
    These can be $4 off a $10 purchase of baby care items 
    
Multiples of these coupons may also be used in the same transaction as long as you fulfill the terms                                     of each coupon. 

You are also allowed to stack $/$$ off coupons with store and manufacturer coupons. 
Ex: You have a $4/10 baby care purchase coupon, a $2 store coupon on Pampers and a $2 manufacturer coupon for Pampers. For example sake, lets assume the Pampers are $11.99.

Purchase 1 Pampers @ $11.99 
-$4/10 baby care purchase coupon 
-$2 store coupons on Pampers 
-$2 manufacturer coupon on Pampers 
Your final cost would be $3.99 for the one package of Pampers 

There are also several ways CVS supplies store coupons 
1. Homemailers 
 Coupons that come via snail mail for having a registered CVS card
2.  Emailed coupons
 Coupons that come via email for having a registered CVS card 
3.  Reinventing Beauty Magazine 
This is a magazine available in the store for purchase for $0.99. Often inside are high value CVS store coupons 

4.  Scanning your CVS card at the coupon center at the entrance of the store 
Each store should have a red scanner machine, you can scan your card daily to get in store coupons. You need to scan your card multiple times until the screen says No more available coupons, check back tomorrow 

5. Printable
 Occasionally CVS will put a printable coupon on their website that is a CVS store coupon. You will know it is a store coupon because the CVS logo will be in the bottom left corner before you select the coupon. 


6.  CRT (Cash Register Tape coupons – ie your receipt) 
Occasionally CVS will have coupons that print at the bottom of your register receipt
7.  Facebook 
 Occasionally CVS wil offer a printable store coupon via their facebook page

Cvs has three other programs that work with your ecb account. 

1. Green bag tag 
You can buy a green bag tag in any CVS store for .99. Keep it with you when you shop at CVS and anytime you make a purchase and bring in your own bag, have the cashier scan your green tag. For every 4 scans you will receive $1 ECB back. Only the first scan in any store that day will count on your tally. Each time you reach 4 scans, an ECB will immediately print out on that transaction. 


Beauty Club requires a whole separate sign up process. Once you sign up, it is attached to your card and you will start earning beauty club rewards. For every $50 spent on select beauty products you will earn a $5 ECBS. Each time you reach (or pass) the $50 mark you will receive a $5 ECB. This particular promotion resets on January 1 and tallies throughout the year. Also bear in mind, it takes 2 days for the ECB to print once you reach the threshold on the Beauty Club promo. 

This requires a whole sperate sign up process.  This appears to be new for 2013 and they advertise right now that if you fill 10 prescriptions you can earn $5 in ECBS. You do have to sign up each family member individually even if you use the same ECB card.
Three month refills give you 3 credits.
Other ways you can earn -
Get a flu vaccine or shot from CVS - earn 1 credit
Add prescription management and take care of prescriptions on CVS.com - 3 credits
Sign up for prescription text alerts on CVS.com - 1 credit
Sign up for refill reminder emails on Cvs.com - 1 credit
Once you earn 10 credits, you will get an ECB print in 10 days.  Credits are cumulative across all family members enrolled and using the same ECB card.

Ecb (ExtraCare Bucks) 
Each week’s ad will have ECB promotions listed that you are able to earn. ECBs are what I like to call CVS money with an expiration date. ECBs have exactly one month from the date they are earned until expiration with 2 exceptions- Beauty Club and Green bag tag ECBs expire in 2 weeks from date earned. 

You can use as many ECBs as you wish in a single transaction and you can combine them with all the type of coupons I have listed above. 

 You are also allowed to use an ECB for the same promo: 

Ex: There is a promo for buy Colgate toothpaste get a $2 ECB with a limit of 2. You can buy the first one in one transaction, earning the $2 ECB. Then you can complete a second transaction using the ECB you earned in the first transaction. 

You need to buy the items listed in the ad to earn the ECB. There are a couple different types of offers

 1. Buy a single item (or more) and get back $ 
Ex: Buy a Mars chocolate single for .75, get a .75 ECB 
This one is simple, buy any Mars/M&M product in the size range and you will get a .75 ECB making it free.  If there are coupons out, you can use those for overage since you will be getting more back then what you spend 

Quantities can vary but they all work along the same principle. 

2. Spending threshold on multiple items 
 Ex: Buy $10 worth of Colgate products listed, get $5 ECB 
This one allows any combination of the items listed to be purchased as long as your total BEFORE any coupons but AFTER any bogo sale is $10 (in most cases the ECB will actually print if you get to 98% of the spending threshold, so in this case $9.80. 

Again this can vary over the number of items included or the value but the principle is the same and again coupons can be used to lower your actual out of pocket. 

3. Buy $X get CVS gift card or gas card 
These come around from time to time and basically work like #2 except you earn an ECB that is redeemable for the gift card or gas card instead of a straight ECB. 

Don't understand my lingo? Go here.  

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