We talked about this in the comments a few weeks ago and I promised that I would do a formal post about this topic and here it is!
As most of you know, Target offers coupons all the time. The trick is that some of those coupons are manufacturer coupons that can be used anywhere and some of them are Target coupons that can only be used inside Target stores.
There are several ways to determine if a coupon is actually a Target coupon or if it is a manufacturer coupon so that you don’t need to waste your ink printing them.
Here are the ways that I have found:
{METHOD #1}
Pay attention to the wording on the coupon. In the example below you can see the coupon says “With Purchase of Two Lean Cuisine”
Since it says “with purchase of...” that is the signal to me that it is a Target coupon. Another way they might display the coupon is like this:
With no extra verbage, just a $1 off Nivea Body Wash. Again that means most likely the coupon will be a Target coupon.
Now if the coupon is actually a manufacturer coupon, the wording will be as follows:
This coupon says “when you buy…” and that will almost always mean it is a manufacturer coupon. Note you are only paying attention to what the beginning words of the coupon- it doesn’t matter what the coupon is actually for.
So that is the easiest method- if the coupon says nothing or it says “with purchase of” those are clues that it is a Target coupon. If the coupon says “when you buy” that is a sign it is a manufacturer coupon. If you forget which is which, no biggie. Just hunt down a Target store coupon and see what the words say. I can see a Market Pantry juice coupon that says “with purchase of” so that is my reminder that those coupons will be Target coupons.
{METHOD #2}
Another way to determine if it is a manufacturer coupon is to cross reference Coupon Network. That is where the coupons tend to overlap. Now this is not always the case but it is another tool to use. For example, at this moment I can see a coupon on Target.com for $1.40 off 8 Hot Pockets. The first clue that I have that it is a manufacturer coupon is that the wording says “when you buy.” The second clue is that I can hop over to Coupon Network and search under frozen foods and there is can see the exact same coupon listed.
That is another quick means to check- if the coupon is also on Coupon Network it is a manufacturer coupon.
{METHOD #3}
I am a visual person and this method is not terribly accurate but just something I notice. I notice when a coupon is a manufacturer coupon they often add the trademark logo. Now that is not always the case but it tends to stand out to me.
In the example above you can see the Hot Pockets has the little trademark icon and the Shout wipes do not. That is another tip off that the Shout is most likely a store coupon and the Hot Pockets is a manufacturer.
I have noticed that sometimes Target will add the trademark notation to their own private brands but obviously with a Target brand item you would already know that is a Target coupon.
{METHOD 4}
Now this one is my least favorite and mostly because it requires a little more work. Also, this will vary a little according to what browser you use. I use Chrome on a PC so here is how it looks for me.
You want to hover over any coupon you are interested in and make sure you are on the actual item not the white space. Right click.
When I right click a new drop down menu comes up and I can click on “inspect element”.
I went ahead and did that with the Lean Cuisine coupon above- now we haven’t printed it but based on the info above we are pretty sure it is a manufacturer coupon:
When I click inspect element, I see this mess that comes up at the bottom. There is one line already highlighted for me and in that line is where the key to the coupon lies. For the hot pockets coupon, it says …blah..blah…///…blah “partners/hotpocke“… blah..” Now that partners is my key to understanding the coupon is indeed a manufacturer because the partner is Hot Pockets.
Now I am clicking on the Shout wipes coupon, which once again based on what we learned above should be a Target coupon. When I click inspect element once again I can see this line automatically highlighted and it says “blah..blah…. partners/target…blah”
Now that is the big difference. For the Target coupon, Target is what follows the partners and for the manufacturer coupon the name of the manufacturer is what follows.
Some people have a print preview screen that will also give you the information.
Those are the methods that I use to determine if it is a Target coupon or a manufacturer coupon. If you have other tips let us know!
Tiffany T says
Also, in Chrome, if you don’t want to look at the mess when you choose ‘Inspect Element’ you can right click on the image, choose ‘Open Image in New Tab’ and it will take you to a new tab with the picture and the same language from the highlighted part in all that mess will come up in the web address field.
Patty says
So handy, thanks!!!
Nicole says
Thank you! That is really helpful!
Patricia says
Thank you. I wish they would make it easier by just stating Target or Manufacturer.
Jessica says
Nice post! The inability to tell whether it’s a TQ or MQ has always been frustrating. This will come in handy. Thanks again!
piper says
holy cow…so so helpful! thanx! printing from the target coupon page was always a pain since i’d never know which it was gonna print out to be! thanx so much for this post!
Sylvia says
Very helpful post. Thanks!