How to get 36% off sticker price at Bed, Bath and Beyond

[Greg Who Cooks]

I posted this as part of another topic but I think it's such a good idea and needs its own topic to reach a larger audience, that being those of you who shop at Bed, Bath and Beyond. One of my favorite stores by the way!

BB&B veteran shoppers know you sign up for their mailing list (online or in the store) and they mail you a 20% coupon every month. Do it online and they'll email you a 20% coupon. I have a few friends who don't shop there so with their permission I signed them up too, and they give me their monthly coupon. Result: I get tons of coupons, directly, by email, and from a few friends. I never buy anything at BB&B without getting at least a 20% discount.

So there you go, 20% off of everything in the store, one coupon per item required. But I said 36% off...

I get cash back on my Discover Card. Among the options such as just having it applied to my amount owing, recently I've been buying BB&B gift cards, $20 in cash back money buys a $25 BB&B gift card. What a deal!

$20 / $25 = 0.8 = 80% of full price = 20% off

Put them together using store coupons and paying with gift cards:

80% x 80% = 64% of sticker price, that's 36% off sticker! Not bad, eh?


They have many other good deals on-line and in store. For one, you can use the on-line coupons to order on their website, and there are free shipping details. I have a local store so the only thing I use the website for is to look at their products before I drive over to the store.

I had my Sous Vide shipped to my local store for free. They would have shipped to my house for free too but I didn't want to be tied down if I had to sign for it and the local BB&B is a 5 minute drive from home.


While I do believe in some cases BB&B sticker prices can be higher for the same item at BB&B's competitors, I think they beat all their competitors when you are able to use a 20% coupon. And with the multiplier savings from using gift cards purchased by reward points, I don't see how you could beat 36% off sticker price at any competitor, not even close.


Threre's some way to combine coupons that I never figured out. There's also the occasional $5 off any item $15 or more (they will apply it to a $14.99 item). $10 for a $15 item is 33% off, another good deal! Combine that with a gift card and that's 46% off!


By the way, BB&B now owns Cost Plus World Market. Interesting bit of trivia. I recently discussed it with Cost Plus and was told they will be adjusting their product selection and a few other things as a result of the acquisition, but I think they will be mostly the same as usual, and IMO the products sold by Cost Plus and BB&B are enough different that they don't compete in most of their product areas. And lucky me, both stores are just a 5 minute drive from home!

Anyway I hope some of you will be able to combine and get the 36% off prices. Discover Card is where I get mine. My credit union Visa card doesn't cary BB&B so I use my points there for Amazon gift cards, no savings but useful to load up my account at Amazon because I'm always buying something or other there. Items over $25 ship for free (takes a week to deliver) but you can keep a wish list of less expensive items until they combine to $25 or more.

So check with your credit card issuers and see if they have BB&B gift cards at a discount.

 

[Andy M.]

This is a great shopping tip.

Point of information - read the fine print on the BBB 20% off coupon. There are specific brands the discount does not apply to. All-Clad, Wusthof, Henckels, etc. They're all listed on the coupon.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I think it's a great idea. I've been doing it for years.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Andy I think you pointed out an even worse error in my logic. I looked at a recent coupon and is says it doesn't apply to gift cards either. Um... Ooops...

I'll have to try it out and I'll try it soon since I need some cookware. I'll tell you one thing about why I like Bed, Bath and Beyond so much is that their staff will bend over backwards (so to speak) to accommodate you. Its very clear they value your business and they understand that their customers are what makes them successful, and they may go ahead and simply ignore some rules to give you a good deal.

Point: When I bought my Henckels set I originally wanted a lesser set, but they didn't have it in stock, so the manager offered to sell me the more expensive set at the price of the less expensive set I had originally intended to buy. And I used my 20% off coupon on that purchase too.

Point: The coupons they mail you have expiration dates. They never look at the expiration date and don't care what it says. The expiration date is there to allow the company to change their mind in the future, but present policy is that expiration date makes no matter to them.

Also, for the brands they won't honor the 20% coupon (even if they enforce that) you can get 20% off with the gift cards, same same.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if my original idea to get 20% off from the coupon and another 20% off from the gift card may still work. They might just say what the heck and let you go ahead. And also, it's quite possible the sales clerks might not be aware of the policy, or may not care, possibly because management has given them the go ahead because I'm sure they still make money on the sale.

And as I said, in my many dealings with BB&B they have treated me very well. I've never had a problem returning things, as I said above the manager gave me the same price on a more expensive product because they were out of stock.

This is why I like this store so much. I've made more than a few posts praising BB&B here on the forum, and they're all because BB&B has treated me so well.

In fact I just got a sucky Mr. Coffee coffee maker from Walmart, and hate it. I'm headed to return the Walmart item and get a more expensive coffee maker from BB&B, soon. I'll try the coupon and gift card together and report back whether they allowed me to use both.

I hope they do. I have $200 in BB&B gift cards in my dresser drawer.