Online coupons - 30 seconds saved me...

[jp1]

About once a year or so I need to buy office clothes. I went to ll bean's web site to get a half dozen or so shirts and a pair of wool slacks. Since I really don't spend that much on clothes I'm not terribly price conscious and ll bean's stuff is not expensive compared to what I see in the department stores that SO likes to shop in. (of course he has to get designer brands...)

On a whim I googled "ll bean coupon" before checking out and randomly picked one of the top results and got a coupon for 25% off. I didn't have to sign up with the coupon site or anything. My order went from $453 to $340 just because I spent 30 seconds with the google! From now on I think i'll do that every time I'm buying something online.

[pony mom]

Drat! I should have done that. I was thrilled to get a 10% off coupon on a shirt that I've wanted for months. It was $30, then went down to $24, so it only cost just over $22. But 25% off----I would have bought a second one in a different color. Great score!

BTW, it came 3 days earlier than I expected. That was fast.

[jp1]

The site, http://www.retailmenot.com/ appears to be like gas buddy, except instead of reporting local gas prices people report coupon codes of online retailers so that others can use them. I'm not a big shopper in general but I'll definitely be going back. $113 was a shockingly good score, for stuff that I needed to buy either way.

[rosarugosa]

I have an LL Bean visa card and I'm on their e-mail list. They tend to have a deal going every holiday weekend for 10 - 15% off. I think they do free shipping for everyone, but with their visa you also get free return shipping. You also earn rewards in the form of $10 gift coupons to be used on their merchandise. I like LL Bean well enough that I find it worthwhile to have their card.

[beckyliz]

Another thing to do is visit eBates.com (you do have to register). If the store you want is on their list, click on it. It takes you to the store site. You get a percentage back (e.g., 3%) of what you buy. They send checks out several times a year (I don't remember if it's twice or quarterly).

[ToomuchStuff]

I've tried retailmenot, as I am not on FB or twiiter (where a few companies I have done business with, only post discounts). Worth looking, but I have also compared offered discounts, with ones without (on an anonymous browsing session) and sometimes I have found lower prices without as they increase either the price, pre coupon, or shipping. Worth checking out, but still buyer beware.

[Rachel]

Wow, this is great info! I had no idea!

[jp1]

So, apparently I totally lucked out with that 25% off coupon. My clothes came today. Aside from the shirts I had only ordered one pair of dress slacks because I wanted to make sure that the length of the pant was correct. Turns out they're about 3/4 inch longer than my tailor finished pants that I've worn for the past 6 years. They'll probably work but might be just long enough that I'll walk on them with the back of my shoes causing premature failure. So I went online to order more pants at the perfect length and went looking for coupons. None were to be found. :-( Now it becomes a game to keep looking for coupons and once I find a good one that will cover the pants I want I'll order a whole bunch. 30 seconds has suddenly turned into potentially hours of effort. However, now that I know discounts can be found I'll keep looking until I find one. It's not like I need more pants today or tomorrow. Or even next week. And saving $27 per pant is worth the effort.