cvs---Has anyone seen CVS offer so few deals in the past

[mollysmom]

OK So as we all know CVS has been really slim pickings lately. What are the guru's thoughts. The sad future or just a slump???

[cblanchard76]

It's times like these that I hate. It happened last year, and I lost focus. It's hard to keep those ECB's rolling...

[Sculpture Widow]

Thanks OP, I had the same question.
I'm approaching my 1st anniversary of couponing. Last month was the first time I burned ECBs on things I needed, and I haven't been back to CVS since as there are no deals right now worth doing (for me).
Even though I really am missing CVS and it's deals, it's also been a bit of a nice break to not have another store to worry about. :hectic1: :hectic1:
(I can't believe I just said that).
When the deals come back, I have some rain checks that should help out.

Was there a slump in the deals the same time last year??

[swtchks]

It happens every year

[QponClippinQueen]

About 2 years ago I was going through a rough patch at home and decided to give CVSing a break. I some how (still don't understand) but I let $243. go to waste in ECB's. I just "forgot" about them I think.

Now I want to start over and I can't find a week that has anything I want for a low OOP. I have a $16 GC right now that I'm holding onto just in case a great deal comes I won't have any actual OOP just the GC. I'm stuck for now at wags (although I'm doing great) I just loved loved loved CVS's food ECB's. Wags have been slim for me.

[anaj06]

It has been a slim year. I started in Fall of 2007 and have not had less than $20 (usually much more) rolling ever since until Sept 2009. I finally got sick of it, because there was nothing to roll to and very frustrating! So I cashed them all in on things I needed and I haven't seen anything since to warrant getting back in the game. I have $125 in GCs for when there is:)

I thought for sure, I'd be back for Halloween...last year Halloween week was huge. Several freebies and lots of good deals...nope none this year. I hope its not here to stay...I bet it will turn around when the economy does....

Curious now about Black Friday...last year there was $60 or $70 in Free after ECB items and with $/$$ Qs and manufacture Qs I made out like a bandit. I actually went on my way to Thanksgiving dinner the deals were so good and they started on TG instead of the day after...wonder what this year will bring.:shrug7:

[KristieGK]

I guess the answer is in each individuals perspective, but I can tell you that IMO it has steadily gone down hill. And it's not just the amount of ECB deals but lots of different factors.

When I started 4 or 5 years years ago limits were 3 and 5 on most every deal. Then they were lowered to one. Deals on items that we could always count on have either stopped or been spread so far apart that you can't count on them anymore.
Then there are items that used to pay out a lot more than they do now. All this and rule changes made it harder, but still doable.
Now with the amount of ECB deals being fewer and fewer on top of the ECB being counted and taxed as manu coupons I can never get a low OOP any more. I went from never spending more than a dollar on a couple hundred dollars worth of product and rolling my ECBs without loss, to now where I do good to get $30 or $40 worth of product for $5 and always losing ECBs.
Like yesterday... I went in with $15 in ECBs to roll and could only manage to get $5 in ECBs in return. Plus my OOP was over $6. And if I were to be honest with myself it wasn't worth it. I lost $10 in ECBs and paid $6 real cash. To me that is unacceptable. It doesn't help that I have to drive half an hour to get to CVS. So that's another factor, for me personally.

I'm steadily losing my ECBs and it won't be long before I am down to my last $10 unless something changes pretty quick. Also, where I live coupon inserts are hard to come by. All these things combined are making it less lucrative that ever for me. I will miss it if I have to quit, but week by week it just seems I have less and less reason to continue. :(

[Moma]

I guess the answer is in each individuals perspective, but I can tell you that IMO it has steadily gone down hill. And it's not just the amount of ECB deals but lots of different factors.

When I started 4 or 5 years years ago limits were 3 and 5 on most every deal. Then they were lowered to one. Deals on items that we could always count on have either stopped or been spread so far apart that you can't count on them anymore.
Then there are items that used to pay out a lot more than they do now. All this and rule changes made it harder, but still doable.
Now with the amount of ECB deals being fewer and fewer on top of the ECB being counted and taxed as manu coupons I can never get a low OOP any more. I went from never spending more than a dollar on a couple hundred dollars worth of product and rolling my ECBs without loss, to now where I do good to get $30 or $40 worth of product for $5 and always losing ECBs.
Like yesterday... I went in with $15 in ECBs to roll and could only manage to get $5 in ECBs in return. Plus my OOP was over $6. And if I were to be honest with myself it wasn't worth it. I lost $10 in ECBs and paid $6 real cash. To me that is unacceptable. It doesn't help that I have to drive half an hour to get to CVS. So that's another factor, for me personally.

I'm steadily losing my ECBs and it won't be long before I am down to my last $10 unless something changes pretty quick. Also, where I live coupon inserts are hard to come by. All these things combined are making it less lucrative that ever for me. I will miss it if I have to quit, but week by week it just seems I have less and less reason to continue. :(

You sound just like me!! I mean really...just how many Glade items do I need???:giggle2:

I didn't even go to CVS this weekend....I might go Saturday for the Glade..but that is it. I would even be happy with a good toothpaste deal!!:BigHand:

[cline19d2]

I got the softsoap & the glade. There was a q I think in last weeks inserts for a free base when you buy the pump. I had a $2 q from the RIB magazine not free but with the $4ecb & a $6/$36 I ended up burning $8 in cash and ecbs but I would have paid that for the tylenol & advil I needed anyway.
There is a $2/1 ip for the softsoap if you can find a q for the base free it might work out ok for you.

[RockyGap]

I believe the purpose of the slim ECB deals this past month is to have you spend and use most of your ECB's before Black Thursday.

[ekoury]

I would even be happy with a good toothpaste deal!!:BigHand:
Yeah, so would I. I think it is a combination of the economic crisis and upcoming Holiday season. They are trying to get as many ECB out of us as possible so that we would have to spend real money to aquire new ones.

[deeann7]

I think when they took over longs the deals went south IMO. I find myself at Wags more and more.

[mollysmom]

Thanks for your input I am thinking of just cashing in and giving it up for while. It is just too much work for too little gain. Like a pp siad I have more OOP then i would like and always end up spending more ECB's then earning. The sneak peak for T-giving week is out and I don't see any good deals. So sad ):

[MamaBird06]

i've slowly went from my highest ecbs ever this summer 85$ to now where I only have 24$ ecbs and there seems to be no good deals worth dragging myself up there for soon. I was lucky enough to stop by a store i don't normally frequent and found the arm and hammer essentials from last black friday i had a r/c for, so i was able to roll some ecbs this week, but i also lost about 12$ in the past week too. I'm hoping that there are some good deals for this black friday or i will probably taking a break from cvs soon.

[cute_lil_bmw]

The only "free" ECB's I've been getting at CVS lately have been from filling Rx's there.

Of course I'm trying to only fill them when I have a coupon to do so but as few and far between as those have been (even competitor's like Target), I've basically managed to just pay for the Rx's with the gift cards instead of having a nice surplus to use at Xmas like in years past.

I think it's probably that CVS is just trying to have more $$ on their bottom line just like every other company out there trying to weather this economy right now.

I haven't actively rolled ECB's in almost a year now and honestly, I don't miss it. It was becoming more and more of a chore to do it and with a newborn I don't have the time/energy to drive around to several stores to get the deals because ONE store never has ALL of the deals in stock at any given time anymore.

[bananafishfever]

I've only been doing the CVS deals for a year and a half now so I can't comment on a long term trend. It seemed like last year, the deals were really scarce right before Black Friday and then they had a lot of FAECB stuff for the sale and it made it worthwhile to keep rolling and save up what ECBs you could.

[volunteer925]

Well I'm a quasi-newbie. CVSing since July and it was great. Had deals every week, FAECB's, rolling the ECB's, paying very lil OOP. I read every board and learned all the tips and tricks I could. VERY slim pickings for third week in a row and checking the weeks ahead and maybe one or two items. Crossing fingers it will pick up. I was soooo excited too to finally be able to start with CVS since I'm in Cali and we just got ours.

[clippyclippy]

I'm quite sure that part of CVS strategy is to reduce the number of freebies/deals on a regular basis to prevent continuous rolling. At some point they want you to waste them.
It would seem to be in their best interest, and you can hardly blame them for working the system to their advantage.
Whenever I find myself burning ECBs and spending too much oop, I just think to myself, "You got me this time, CVS!"

[rcbrad]

There is little reason to make CVS a regular habit anymore. It used to be one of the best places to go for great deals. Every aspect of the discounts/deals that they have offered has really slowed down. I guess the ECB program may have backfired at least somewhat, when most people began rolling the ECBS. It moved alot of product and kept people coming back, but most likely there was not the profit that CVS must have been looking for. I know a fair amount of people who do not fool with ECBS anymore, and who used to be big shoppers at CVS.

[mrsfloyd]

I'm still doing okay. No I'm not rolling as many bucks as I used to, but I'm keeping them alive and I'm able to still keep my OOP's low (under $1 and either rolling or making money). The KEY to surviving during the slumps is to have RAINCHECKS from the great deals of the past. EVERY SINGLE TIME there's a freebie deal, go and get your deal if you can but also go check and see if they ran out of the item so you can get a raincheck. EVERY SINGLE TIME there's a moneymaker deal, go and check stock - even if you don't have the coupon for it right then, GET A RAINCHECK b/c you never know when you'll be able to get a coupon in the future to make it a great MM for you. I don't care if you don't need the item, you can donate it somewhere that can use it or at least take it to Goodwill or Salvation Army and they'll sell it cheap and use the money for a good cause. And the BEST PART about rainchecks? You're going to get the deal when no one else is looking for it, so you're not going to have to fight to find stock. AND you don't pay tax on amounts paid for by ECBs that were manually printed, so if you just keep rolling with rainchecks, you get those super-duper low OOP's like we used to have before they started charging tax on ECBs.

You also need to consider deals we've had in the past and use that info to try and plan for possible future deals. 2 years ago we had an AWESOME deal on Nova-Max monitors where they were $20 and we got $20 ECBs back, PLUS there was a CVS coupon that made them FREE, no tax, no nothing. They're free-after ECBs right now this week - even if you don't need to buy them right now to roll your ECBs, keep checking back to see if your store runs out of stock and GET A RAINCHECK. You never know if CVS might put out a nice little coupon that makes them free again sometime in the future, and even if there's not an ECB deal on them right then, you'll have a raincheck to make it an instant moneymaker for you if/when a coupon surfaces. Same thing with other monitors - Contour, Breeze, Accucheck, everything. Always check stock during the weeks we have those deals even if you can't get in on the deal yourself - and ALWAYS get rainchecks on those deals. ALWAYS.

A CVS-er that has a nice stash of rainchecks doesn't have to worry about a 'slow week' or 'slow month' or even longer slump, b/c you're not stuck shopping JUST that week's deals - you have lots of other weeks to play with.

CVS-ing is TOTALLY still doable, you just have to tweak your strategy.

[kuponer]

Amen to the rainchecks!

[lakies]

I'm still doing okay. No I'm not rolling as many bucks as I used to, but I'm keeping them alive and I'm able to still keep my OOP's low (under $1 and either rolling or making money). The KEY to surviving during the slumps is to have RAINCHECKS from the great deals of the past. EVERY SINGLE TIME there's a freebie deal, go and get your deal if you can but also go check and see if they ran out of the item so you can get a raincheck. EVERY SINGLE TIME there's a moneymaker deal, go and check stock - even if you don't have the coupon for it right then, GET A RAINCHECK b/c you never know when you'll be able to get a coupon in the future to make it a great MM for you. I don't care if you don't need the item, you can donate it somewhere that can use it or at least take it to Goodwill or Salvation Army and they'll sell it cheap and use the money for a good cause. And the BEST PART about rainchecks? You're going to get the deal when no one else is looking for it, so you're not going to have to fight to find stock. AND you don't pay tax on amounts paid for by ECBs that were manually printed, so if you just keep rolling with rainchecks, you get those super-duper low OOP's like we used to have before they started charging tax on ECBs.

You also need to consider deals we've had in the past and use that info to try and plan for possible future deals. 2 years ago we had an AWESOME deal on Nova-Max monitors where they were $20 and we got $20 ECBs back, PLUS there was a CVS coupon that made them FREE, no tax, no nothing. They're free-after ECBs right now this week - even if you don't need to buy them right now to roll your ECBs, keep checking back to see if your store runs out of stock and GET A RAINCHECK. You never know if CVS might put out a nice little coupon that makes them free again sometime in the future, and even if there's not an ECB deal on them right then, you'll have a raincheck to make it an instant moneymaker for you if/when a coupon surfaces. Same thing with other monitors - Contour, Breeze, Accucheck, everything. Always check stock during the weeks we have those deals even if you can't get in on the deal yourself - and ALWAYS get rainchecks on those deals. ALWAYS.

A CVS-er that has a nice stash of rainchecks doesn't have to worry about a 'slow week' or 'slow month' or even longer slump, b/c you're not stuck shopping JUST that week's deals - you have lots of other weeks to play with.

CVS-ing is TOTALLY still doable, you just have to tweak your strategy.


ITA. You made the key point to rolling ECB's without a headache. Most times it doesn't matter anymore if there is no stock on the freebie the week it is offered. A raincheck takes care of it just fine!

(exceptions would be seasonal things that they won't be reordering like the pumpkin carving kit)This week I used Northern BT and Glade Diffuser rainchecks with my last $5/25 from the flu quiz--it expired on 11/4 and I did not want it to go to waste. I loved it that the 5/25 helped pay for the Northern while getting the Glade for free and rolling a $10 ECB.

[House_Of_Six]

I believe the purpose of the slim ECB deals this past month is to have you spend and use most of your ECB's before Black Thursday.
I must have missed what kind of deals people have got in the past on Black Thursday/Friday.

I was depressed all week not able to roll any ECB's mostly because I had no flue book for coupons. Oh well...Hoping for a big and exciting next few weeks for all of us to prosper and help us out all with the winter coming.

[Katie80]

I am just about bored to tears with CVS! I just sat down to make a list for tomorrow, and I don't know if I even feel like going! I think the initial euphoria from getting free stuff is gone. Long gone! I am not excited about a single thing, and to be quite honest, when I got out my coupons I had to check to make sure my ECBs hadn't expired. It's been that long since I've even gone. Blah!!!

[hholder]

Last year I stopped CVS when the throat coolers were in stock for one week out of the month that they were to be free. I turned to Walgreens, and RR's are better now than ECB's

[kidsrn]

Yeah, so would I. I think it is a combination of the economic crisis and upcoming Holiday season. They are trying to get as many ECB out of us as possible so that we would have to spend real money to aquire new ones.

Last year I had about $90 in ECBs to use for the Black Friday deals. This year I had $18 on each of 2 cards. So, yes, I had far less in ECBs....BUT this year I had awesome coupons as well as over $300 in GC. I never pay OOP b/c of the GC but that is not an excuse for me to just spend frivolously. The deals this month have been HORRIBLE and I am thankful that I have had 3 Walgreens stores nearby as they have gotten a ton of my business. I will come back to CVS when the deals reappear (and I hope they do!) Plus, now that I have about $30 in ECBs on each card I will have to go within the next month for sure!! :wink7:

[seedlady]

it ebbs, it flows.

it comes, it goes.



some months the deals are better, some worse.


that's just the way it is.

and it's been that way since before julie and heidi were born, and it will be that way after i die.