My friend Kelly–I would link to her but she does not have a blog even though I have nagged her repeatedly–mentioned something in an email today that reminded me of one statement that I missed in the post about what you should say when a coupon is rejected.  I can’t believe I forgot that one.  I’ve updated the post, but I think that it’s important enough to draw attention to, so I’ll repost it here.

"But that would make this item FREE."

"No, I am paying for it with a coupon."  Actually, this one can be used in a variety of situations.  It is really important to remember that coupons are just like cash in many ways.  The stores aren’t giving you discounts because you happen to have a piece of paper with you. The manufacturer is giving you this discount in order to get you to buy their product. The store is reimbursed for the full face value of the coupon, plus eight cents or so.  It says so right there on the coupon.  So ironically, you could say that they are making more money off couponers than non-couponers.  If you drill this into your brain–that you are PAYING with a coupon, not just spending less money because of using a coupon–it will also help you feel less like you are robbing them blind when you walk out of there with seven bags full of merchandise and a receipt totaling $.47. (As hard as it may be, you should try to avoid snarky comments, like “why else would I be buying it?” or “DUH.” They really hate that.)

Read more about handling coupon rejection at the original post here…