How does BOGO work??

BOGO. Most of you know this acronym. Buy One Get One. If not, just refer to my post on coupon slang :)

So, how do they work? Depends on where you go, and how you use coupons. Bear with me here. I'm going to put together some examples to help make sense of it all for you. First thing to know is that drugstores and grocery stores work a little different on BOGO. Let's start with drugstores, then go into grocery stores. For the record, I only shop at 2 drugstores, 99% of the time. CVS and Walgreens (WAGS). RiteAid isn't usually worth it to me, and I am not crazy about their system. I do,however go to the RiteAid clearance centers because those are realllllly good deals. Anyyyway... both drugstores and grocery stores can mean amazing deals, it's just different in each place.

Drugstores
 At places like CVS and Walgreens, you have to purchase both. The first one will ring up full price, and the second one will ring up free. You can use one coupon per item. You can also stack a store and manu for the same item.
Example:
Buy:
(2) vitamins that are BOGO- reg. $10.99/ea
Use:
(2) -$3 off each STORE
(2)-$1 off each MANU

The first bottle will ring up $10.99, the second will ring up $0 (since you have 2 of these that you have rung up, you can use coupons for each, no matter what it rings up). Then you will take the (2)-$3 off store, and that will take $6.00 off, then use the (2)-$1 manu, and that will take $2 off. For a total of $8 off.

Final OOP- $2.99 for BOTH bottles of vitamins, or about $1.50 for each bottle, which was originally $10.99...how's that for savings?!?!

Get it? Good! (if not, no worries, leave me a comment with your questions and I would love nothing more than to answer ya!) Now, before I leave the Drugstore chapter, I am throwing you one more little loop. Moneymakers.
These are deals that you will essentially make money. Most (if not all now) will NOT give you cash back if you are in the negative. The other money makers are with RR and ECB, but those work different. One thing at a time...moneymakers. So if you have a moneymaker deal, you need to make sure you have enough in your transaction to make it even. SOOOOOOOOOO

Moneymaker Example:
Buy:
(2) Vitamins BOGO reg. $10.99/ea
(1) candy bar 1.59/ea
Use:
(2) -$5 off store coupons
(2) -$1 off manu coupons


Total OOP is $.58 (this doesn't include tax)

Same as above example, except there is $10 in store, and $2 manu. This makes it $12 off, but it's only $10.99 for the vitamins. So you add a small item (candy bar?) to cover the overage. So your total is $.58 for (2) vitamins and a candy bar!

Here is the last thing I should mention about drugstore BOGO. If you have a coupon for a BOGO, this means you can get BOTH items for free. When the register asks for the price for the free product, it will be the full price item. You can also use a second coupon for $$ off the product if you have them. I know, this is sort of confusing. Let me break it down for you with something that was available few weeks ago :) PS. This is also a moneymaker :)

BOGO/BOGO example:
Buy:
(2) Clean and Clear body washes- $5.29/ea BOGO
(3) Snickers bars $.39/ea
Use:
(1)BOGO any Clean and Clear body washes manu
(1) -$1 off any Clean and Clear product manu

Total OOP: $.17
You got BOTH body washes free, plus a $1 moneymaker, which was used on the Snickers, which were on sale that week, making your total only $.17!

Grocery Stores


Here is the main difference in grocery stores. You do not have to buy both items to get the BOGO offer. It will ring up 1/2 price. You can still use one coupon per item of manu and store. The only other big difference is when you have a BOGO coupon. You will pay half price for one item, and the other one will be free. That's pretty much where the differences end :) Here is a little example of some grocery store BOGOs

Example:
Buy:
(2) BBQ sauce BOGO (reg $1.98/ea- which means they are $.99/ea, or 2/$1.98)
Use:
(1) -$.75 off 2 BBQ sauce manu.

OOP: $1.23 for both

BOGO/BOGO Example:
Buy:
(2) BBQ sauce BOGO ( reg $1.98/ea, now $.99/ea)
Use:
(1) BOGO manu.

OOP: $.99 for both

I hope all of this didn't confuse too much, but like I said before, if it did, ask me anything and I will answer ya!!