How to Coupon at Target

(Click on the video above or Click here to watch How to Coupon at Target – Extreme Couponing for Beginners)

Target Couponing 101

Welcome to How to Coupon at Target! This is part of my Extreme Couponing for Beginners video series aiming at teaching you the basics to Target Couponing. If you haven’t already, please go thru the quick video at How to Coupon to learn couponing basics.

This is the show notes accompanying the video on How to Coupon at Target. You can watch the video by pressing play on the video above, or you can watch it by clicking here. In this video and show notes, we will go thru 14 topics to introduce to you everything you need to start mastering couponing at Target.

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Target is one of my favorite places to coupon because there are SO many ways to save and so many opportunities every week to score great deals and save a lot of money.

The first thing you want to do is download the Target Mobile App. In this, you will have coupons, circle offers and a scanner. I’ll go into more details of each later in this video.

1. Manufacturer Coupons

Target accepts manufacturer coupons, including printable coupons.

The limit is four identical coupons per day. The Target computer will recognize this limit, so if you have more than four, it won’t scan.

Manufacturer coupons come in many different forms and cannot be combined on one item. Example: you have a digital manufacturer coupon and a printable manufacturer coupon for the same item. You can’t use both on the same item at the same time.

2. Target Coupons

Manufacturer coupons are issued by the product brands. Store coupons are issued by the retail store.

Manufacturer coupons will have Manufacturer Coupon at the top of the coupon. Target store coupons will have Target Coupon at the top.

There are two types of Target Coupons:

Target Category Coupons – This coupon is for a specific category, department or storewide. Example: Free $10 Target Gift Card with $50 Food Purchase, Free $5 Gift Card with $20 Personal Care Purchase. Target Category Coupons are found in the weekly ad or under Wallet in your Target App. These have a limit of one per transaction.

Target Item Level Coupons – These aren’t as common as they used to be. These are Target Store Coupons that are similar to manufacturer coupons as they are dollar off on a specific item. Example: $1 off one Dove Body Wash. These will have their own expiration date and usually have a limit of one.

3. Target Coupon Stacking

You can combine a Target Category Coupon and a Target Item Level Coupon in the same transaction. For example, you can use a $1 off Dove Body Wash Target coupon and a $5 off $15 Personal Care Target Category coupon together.

You can also combine Target Store Coupons with Manufacturer Coupons on the same item. This is called “stacking”. Following the above example, if you also happen to have a $2 off Dove Body Wash Manufacturer Coupon, you can combine it with the $1 off Target Coupon and the $5 off $20 Personal Care Category Coupon.

Exact Wording From the Target Coupon Policy:

Target item-level coupons can be used while using a category/storewide coupon (e.g. $1 off Target coupon for body wash AND a $5 off $20 Target Personal Care purchase). The threshold for the category coupon is based on the retail of the qualified items prior to manufacturer item-level and Target item-level coupons.

4. What is Target Circle?

Target Circle is a way to get extra savings at Target. Circle offers are digital coupons that you can load and use during checkout.

You simply load the offers in your account and during checkout, show the cashier your unique Circle Barcode. The barcode will be scanned and your offers will automatically be applied.

You can access circle offers in the Target App, under the home screen choose Target Circle Offers. When you are ready to check out, the barcode is found under the Wallet tab.

Target Circle Benefits

• Earn 1% when you shop to redeem at Target later or continue saving 5% with RedCard
• Get access to deals, plus offers just for you
• Celebrate your birthday with 5% off a shopping trip
• Help direct where Target gives in your community (with collected votes)

How to Use Target Circle

• In-store: Enter your mobile number on the keypad or scan your Target Circle barcode
• Online: Sign into your connected Target account on Target.com or in the Target App
• After a purchase: Enter receipt numbers within 7 days to collect earnings from eligible in-store purchases.

There are two types of offers in Target Circle:

Target Circle Offers: These are percentage off offers on specific items. The key distinction is “% off”. This is considered a special type of coupon issued by Target. When you see the words “Circle Offers” in the coupon policy, this is what they are referring to.

Manufacturer Coupons: These are dollar off, one-time use, manufacturer coupons issued by the product brand. These are considered manufacturer digital coupons and will have “MFR single-use coupon” on them.

5. Rules with Target Circle Offers

Stacking Circle Offers with Coupons

You can stack Percentage Circle Offers with Target Coupons and Manufacturer Coupons.

Example: You can use a 25% off Dove Body Wash Circle offer AND a $2 off Dove Body Wash Manufacturer Coupon AND a $5 off $20 Personal Care Category Target Coupon.

Circle Coupons are for in-store purchases. You can apply Circle Offers for online orders if you are choosing Order Pickup or Drive Up. Just load the Circle Offer from the Target App first, then add the item to your cart. Choose Order Pickup or Drive Up and you’ll see your discount during checkout.

6. Target Gift Card Promotions

Target has a ton of Gift Card Promotions. We see them every week. Target Gift Cards do not expire.

You can’t use Target Gift Cards on the transaction you earned them on, as you don’t receive the gift card until after the transaction is complete. But you can use them on your next transaction.

There are two types of Gift Card Promotions:

Target Category Coupons – Gift Card earned as part of Target Category Coupon offer. Example: Get $5 Target Gift Card with $15 Beverage purchase.

These you need the actual coupon when checking out. You’ll find these either in the Target weekly ad or under Wallet in the Target App. The cashier will need to scan this in order to receive the gift card. Limit of one coupon per transaction. Signs in-store will say “Get the coupon”.

Item Level Gift Card Promotions – These are gift card promotions that are triggered automatically, without a coupon, when you buy a certain number of participating items.

There are no limits to how many Gift Cards you can earn in the same transaction, as long as you buy in multiples of what is required for the promotion. Example: Promotion is Buy 2 Get $5 Gift Card. If you buy four, you’ll get $10 back in Gift Cards. Buy six and get back $15 in gift cards and so forth.

Before 2018, you would receive a gift card for each promotion you did. Since the change, you only receive one Gift Card at the end of your transaction that contains the sum of all the Gift Cards you earned.

Note: Due to the Gift Card being issued at the end of the transaction, and all on one card, it’s hard to see which products actually triggered Gift Cards. For this reason, I personally prefer to split up my transactions on Gift Card Promotions, so I can clearly see which worked (my preference, you don’t have to do this)

Those are the most basic rules of thumb of couponing at Target. Next we’ll dive into more details you don’t need as a newbie.

7. App Scanner

There’s a scanner right in your Target App! If you don’t have the Target App, you can get it here.

Click on the Barcode image from the home screen on your app. Scan any product barcode.

I don’t actually use the scanner to do price checking – I still rely on price checkers in stores for this, especially since the app can pull different pricing.

If the product doesn’t scan for a promotion and there’s a promotion sign, take a picture of the sign and show it to the cashier. They (or the manager) can apply it for you manually.

The scanner is also helpful for purchasing apparel. If the store doesn’t have your size, you can scan the tag quickly and see if it’s online and order your size right there online.

8. Missed Coupons

If you forget to use a coupon, you can bring your receipt and your coupons to customer service and have them apply the coupons afterwards. Keep in mind, this isn’t an official policy and can vary by store. Typically you can do this 1-3 days after your original purchase. You should be able to ask a cashier or stop by customer service and ask their policy on this.

If you forget to use a Circle Offer or the Circle didn’t apply correctly, you can do a missed coupon as long as the Circle offer is still available.

9. Price Matching

If you see an identical item for cheaper on Target.com or Amazon, you can price match in stores.

You no longer have to go to Customer Service to price match. You can now price match with a cashier during checkout, at least for Target.com price matching.

There’s a list of websites Target will price match with. You can see that list here.

You can also price match local retail competitors within a 25 mile radius, and price match (and price adjust) with Target.com purchases. Just call or chat with Guest Services.

Make sure to study the Price Match Policy here to learn what is allowed and not allowed.

For example:

• You cannot price match clearance items
• You cannot price match prices from other Target stores
• And you can use Manufacturer Coupons when price matching, but you cannot use Target Coupons or Circle Offers.

10. Turn Off Location Services When Price Matching

Target App will show prices based on your location for some users. If you are trying to price match while in the store, the price may change and be higher.

It’s a good idea to turn off location services before price matching or while you’re in the store. From your Target App: Click on Your Account or Your Name if you are signed in > Scroll Down for App Settings > Click on Location> Click Never.

11. Price Adjustment

If you buy an item and it goes on sale within the next two weeks, you can bring your receipt in and get a price adjustment. They will refund the difference. No need to bring the item. You have 14 days to do a price adjustment and you can do this for in-store or online purchases.

Price adjustment won’t work on clearance items. If the price drops from 30% off to 50% off, you cannot get an adjustment.

12. Target REDCard

If you shop at Target on any capacity, I highly encourage you to get a Target REDCard. You can choose from either a debit or credit card.

You will save 5% off your purchase when paying with REDCard. This includes non-Target retail gift cards like a Disney or Starbucks Gift Card.

Items purchased with REDCard have an extended extra 30 days for returns. That’s 120 days instead of the normal 90 day return policy.

If making a purchase online, you’ll get Free Shipping when paying with REDCard – no minimum purchase required.

As of 2022, Target is also offering a Reloadable REDCard that you can use to save 5% without having to open a debit or credit card – no bank account required!

Learn more about REDCard here.

13. Coupon Policy

If you plan to coupon at Target, I recommend reading through and getting familiar with their Coupon Policy. You can print it, but I have it bookmarked on my phone so I can have easy access to it when needed.

It’s empowering to know what the rules are, and have something written as a policy you can show cashiers.

14. How To Find Latest Target Deals

Target deals typically run from Sunday to Saturday.

You can find the latest Target deals on the FreeStuffFinder app or by going to FreeStuffFinder.com, click on Stores and then Target. We post Target deals daily.

Pinned at the top of that page is another great resource – The Target Weekly Matchup – this contains everything that’s on sale at Target with breakdowns including coupons, Circle and cash back offers. We post this every Friday around 5pm PST and is updated daily as new coupons and other offers become available. If we find an unadvertised deal on Sunday, we’ll add to it.

If you’re new to couponing or couponing at Target, remember to keep your first few transactions small and simple. The more transactions you do, the more comfortable you’ll become and won’t be overwhelmed.

If you are new, also make sure to watch the videos: How to Coupon for Beginners and Top 10 Tips for New Couponers.

• Got a Coupon Question? Click Here to Ask Me. 🙂
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