Extreme Couponing at CVS – The 98% Rule
I post a lot of CVS Deals each week and if you’re a frequent CVS Shopper you probably already know this quick tip on purchase requirements but if you’re new to shopping at CVS I’m guessing this has confused you when you are browsing through the weekly matchups!
CVS Typically runs Extra Care Bucks Deals that I like to call “When You Spend Offers” Yes I totally just made that up, but basically these are the offers that look like: Get $4 in Extra Care Bucks When You Spend $12 on Glade, SC Johnson, Maybelline or Clorox Products.
What makes these offers confusing is that you don’t have to get to exactly $12 for the ECB to trigger, so how do you know when it will trigger and when it won’t???
I like to use the 98% Rule at CVS
If your Purchases reach 98% of the Required Amount Before Coupons are applied the ECB Offer will Print
Now, I can’t confirm this anywhere but this seems to be the general rule of thumb. So here are a few guidelines to help you understand
Spend $30 | Must Spend $29.40 or more
Spend $20 | Must Spend $19.60 or more
Spend $15 | Must Spend $14.70 or more
Spend $10 | Must Spend $9.80 or more
Spend $5 | Must Spend $4.90 or more
So in the case of the Glade & Scrubbing Bubbles Deal shown above you may have noticed when I posted this deal my total didn’t hit $12 exactly before coupons. The total was $11.94 before coupons which is above 98% of the required purchase so the ECB still prints at checkout.
TIPS FROM THE PROS
Remember, this is all before coupons are factored in, like in the same Glade Deal mentioned, the Total out of pocket is $3.94 after coupons are applied and the $4 ECB Still Prints, The 98% Requirement is Before Coupons.
One more thing I wanted to mention, Walgreens Offers Require you to be at the Minimum Purchase Amount or Higher, if you are even $0.01 short at Walgreens the rewards won’t prompt at checkout, so remember this is only specific to CVS!
Make sure you check out our Saving Money Blog and also our How to Coupon Page for more tips, tricks and videos on saving money and using coupons.
Source: We Use Coupons
Do all Cvs stores follow the 98% rule?
Last week I noticed that it was listed that with coupons you could get Gain Pods for 1.94, but they were only 14 pack size, so how did that work? The coupon I had only said on 28 or more, (or something like that). So, did you have a different coupon than I did. Mine was for 2 bucks off. I ended up using it this week for the tide pods, for 2 bucks off of the 9.99 sale price and I had a store coupon on my card for an additional 2.00 off. So for the larger bag of pods it only cost me 6 dollars, Not free, but I was happy with my deal.
Hello I am so confused, ok if the deal is spend $10 and recieve $5 in ecb but I have a cvs red box coupon that says spend $6/$20 and i get to $19.98 can they over write or not? Not sure about that,Thank You
ENTER YOUR COMMENT HEREi always have problems with this 98% rule they make me go back and get another one or I can’t get the deal of the cvs cash back what can I show them for my back up or does this rule not apply to Chicago Il
Thanks. I’ve been spending more than I needed to!
Okay, how about CVS coupons. Like a $4 off when you spend $20. Can you use it if you are at a total of $19 something?