How To Use Competitor Coupons At Walmart

Did you know that Walmart accepts competitor coupons in select situations?  Really understanding this part of the Walmart coupon policy is key to saving the most money you can on your next shopping trip.

Here's how to decipher when you can use other store coupons at Walmart, and which sort of coupons are acceptable!

First things first -- please be sure you have an updated copy of the Walmart coupon policy printed out for your coupon binder.  This will really cut down on frustration and delays at checkout.

Now, let's zoom in on the part of the Walmart coupon policy that covers competitor coupons.  There are two different types of competitor coupons Walmart will accept -- store coupons that are available to print online or to clip from the newspaper, and catalina coupons that print out when you're cashing out at another store.

Let's look at store coupons first.  Here's the sort of store coupons Walmart 'gladly accepts':

What this basically means is that you can use competitor coupons that tell you what the final price of an item would cost you after coupon, NOT a coupon that just offers you dollars off or cents off.

That's because Walmart actually enters in competitor coupons as part of their price-matching policy -- so in order to accept the coupon, they have to know what their competitor would be charging for the item after coupon.

Here's an example of a store coupon that provides a total price:

So this sort of store coupon is acceptable, because it tells Walmart that their competitor -- in this case Walgreens -- is selling Aquafina for a lower price, and that it's okay to therefore price match the coupon, the same way they would price match an advertised item.

Here's an example of a store coupon that does NOT provide a total price:

This coupon would not be accepted under the Walmart coupon policy, since it doesn't tell either the shopper or the cashier how much Listerine would actually cost at Walgreens after coupon.

In fact, later on in the Walmart coupon policy, it specifically says these coupons will not be accepted:

The other category of competitor coupons Walmart accepts are catalinas.  These must be for a specific item, not a basket coupon -- because as you can see above, Walmart does not accept coupons that give you either dollars/cents off an entire basket, or a percentage off the entire basket.

Also, the catalina coupon needs to say 'manufacturer coupon' across the top to be accepted.

Here's an example of a catalina coupon that would be acceptable under the Walmart coupon policy:

You could totally use this coupon at Walmart, because it gives you dollars or cents off a specific item, and it's a manufacturer coupon.  So even though you received it at a different store, it still acts like a regular old manufacturer coupon in the Walmart cash register system.

Here's an example of a catalina coupon that would NOT be acceptable under the Walmart coupon policy:

This is a store coupon that does not offer dollars off on a specific brand, but instead an entire category.  These aren't accepted at Walmart, for the simple reason that Walmart has no way of redeeming them to a manufacturer.

I hope this helps clear up the confusion that exists around this component of the Walmart coupon policy!

See more Walmart coupons and deals here.