Trial/Travel Sizes- Don't Pass These Freebies Up

Change Your Perspective:

"Buy" Trial/Travel Sizes

Many times I have come across folks, in conversation or otherwise, that seem to have an automatic aversion to buying Trial and Travel sized items.  The arguments are usually the same:  They run out faster. They aren't good value for the money. They are hard to store versus a traditional sized item that stands on its own more easily. ETC.

I say those of you that automatically dismiss the travel/trial sizes are missing out on some really nice deals in the long run. Should you waste that $1 or $2 off coupon on the smaller size? Sometimes, yes. It is totally to your advantage to do such a thing.

Why You Should Buy Travel/Trial Sizes:

• They can be moneymakers. If the trial size is 97c, and you have a $1 off coupon, most stores have the policy to "value the coupon down" to 97c, making the item free.  However, a lot of time, I have found clerks that don't care or pay attention (even after I make sure to point it out to them. I like to coupon with integrity.) and they accept the $1 off. You just got a 3c moneymaker.  Ok, so 3c doesn't do it for you? I just bought 2 Secret Clinical Trial sized, and one 1 load Tide. I used manuf and store stacked coupons worth $7.25. The items cost $6.12. The clerk accepted the coupons' full amounts, and these items ended up to be moneymakers for me.
• They fit more neatly on your shower racks or in drawers. You can also get bins to put in your closet to hold them.
• If you find yourself with an overstock of these items, shelters, etc accept them easily as donations to hand out to those in need.
• Certain kinds of product have readily available coupons without size exclusions that make getting them free every week a reality. This means you may never have to pay for deodorant again.
• When you are too tired to work a drugstore deal, or your coupons you have been holding "just in case" are about to expire, turning them into actual product by buying trial/travel sized is quick and easy.

When to Use a Coupon on a Trial/Travel Sized Item:

• When the item is free or a money maker, use the coupon.
• When you are working a rebate deal that does not exclude trial/travel sized items, use the coupons. For example, I recently worked a rebate offer that said "Buy $50 worth of P&G product, get a $20 rebate check." The rebate took the full pre-coupon amount towards the $50 you had to purchase. I bought TONS of trial/travel sized items for FREE.  If it was a 97c item, it took 97c off the $50 I had to purchase, even if I got the 97c item free after coupon. I spent less than $5 out of pocket working that deal, and got my $20 rebate check in the mail.
• When you have a decent coupon without size exclusion and it is about to expire, go ahead and buy a travel/trial sized item.
• When you do the math and it is really cheaper. For example, when I am stocked up with laundry detergent.. enough to last two months... I will take every $1 off any Tide coupon I can find and go buy Tide 1 load in the travel area.  Sometimes, this sized Tide is $1.12. The couponer's stock up price on detergent is 20c or less a load. $1.12 is WAY too pricey. But, if you have enough laundry detergent on hand already, go ahead and "burn" those $1 off Tide coupons on the travel size. That leaves about 12c or less, depending. 12c a load is an AMAZING stock up price! 
• When you can get nicer products that last a while FREE... and you would have to pay for generics. Every time I get a $1 off any Olay Bar, Wash, etc coupon, I take it to the travel section and get 1 bar of Olay Soap for free. Soap lasts a while, so this is one of my fave finds in the travel section.

Things to Consider When Buying Travel/Trial:

• Make your life easier:  point your travel/trial sized items out to the clerk when they are checking you out.  Most coupons "beep" when you try to use them on trial/travel sized items. Pointing the items out can save you time and aggravation later when the coupon beeps and the clerk has to verify whether or not you have the item(s) on your ticket. They have to verify by scrolling through your purchase on the computer, or they (you) have to dig through all the bags to find those small items to prove you bought them.  Most clerks are so happy that you saved them time and aggravation that they will usually just automatically accept your beeping coupons after this.
• Make sure you KNOW what the coupon states in the fine print. Make sure it does NOT exclude the trial/travel sizes or specify a larger size.  
• Know and carry the store's coupon policy with you.  When you are using coupons on trial/travel sizes, it is very important to know the store's policy ahead of time. Most stores will value the coupon down if it is worth more than the cost of the trial/travel item.  Some stores, like Walmart now, will allow coupon overage, thus ensuring a few moneymakers in your buggy. When I was really green at couponing, I went to use a $1 off Johnsons coupon on a 97c Johnson's Buddy Soap.  The clerk REFUSED my coupon, stating that the purchase had to be MORE than $1 to use the coupon. I was annoyed, but didn't know the policy for sure. So, I went and grabbed another Soap and bought both for 49c ea after the coupon. Still a decent deal. But when I got home and called my coupon mentor, she laughed at me a teensy bit.  I should have known the policy and stood my ground. Their policy was to value the coupon down and give me the item free at 97c off. The clerk was wrong. Often, especially since then, I have found that the clerks really don't know their own policy. 

WHEN YOU GET A CLERK THAT DOESN'T KNOW THE POLICY AND/OR GIVES YOU A HARD TIME:

1. Explain their policy to them nicely. THEN
2. Offer to SHOW them their policy. THEN
3. Politely Beg to Differ when they say they know the policy. THEN
4. Ask for a manager to come clarify the issue so you know the actual policy for in the future. (See, you are being nice and putting it on yourself. We all know YOU know the real policy. While the manager is walking over, pull out your copy of the policy. The manager will come get the story on the issue. 9 times out of 10, they will tell the clerk you are right. Because we know you are. Couponers study the policy better than clerks most times. If you stay nice and pleasant, it will be easy to get your coupons accepted. Or easier, anyway.  You do coupon with integrity, after all.  If you get an attitude, no amount of being in the right will help you. The manager will go along with the clerk if you tick them off.)

So, give Trial/Travel sizes a chance!
I haven't had to pay for Head and Shoulders, Secret, Olay Soap, etc in a very long time!