Walmart Out of Items!

[couponator89]

Hi everyone, I guess I should introduce myself first since I've never posted before :) I'm brand new to couponing (only been doing it for a week actually lol) and I'm 22 years old. I'm so excited about starting this new venture and hope to save as much money as I can! (I'm currently in school). After readig the starter guides and using the search function, I decided it would be worth it to make an account. You guys are amazing and I'm excited about becoming a part of this community!

Anyway, I was super excited about my first ever extreme couponing trip and got coupons for several moneymakers, including the 1.03 moneymaker for Benefiber, the 2.00 schick razors, the cortaid, and the ky jelly ( which i don't use bc I'm not married and dont do that stuff LOL but it's a moneymaker!). I Long story short, NONE of these items were in stock at my walmart when I went on Thursday. They shelves had been cleared and they claimed not to have any more in stock!


I have a few questions and I would reallyyyy appreciate it if anyone could help answer them:



1. Is this normal or do I just have a lot of shelf clearers in my area? If they are always going to be out of the product its not worth wasting the gas money

2. Do they do rain checks? I've heard that they don't but I've also heard that they do, so I'm still confused

3. Were those items just on sale or are those the regular prices? The coupons end some time in feb so I'm wondering if it's worth holding on to them, or if the items won't be that cheap after this week

4. What is the best way to go about getting a hold of these items? If I call corporate will they do anything? I talked to customer service and they said they weren't sure when the items would be restocked because they said the warehouse was completely out of them

Anyways, sorry if these have been answered a million times, I really did use the search function but didn't find the exact answers I was looking for. Thanks everyone :)

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Welcome to the community.

It is really hard to say, but it sounds like you may have some shelf clearers in your area. On the other hand those specific deals have been out for a while it could just be that other couponers got there before you. It could be one or 20. No way to tell.

Also I have heard that some Walmarts get stingy and pull the money makers off the shelves. Which just stinks.

Most of these items are everyday low price and not sales (walmart does not really do sales they do "rollbacks"). And the Benefiber, K-Y and Schick razors often have these coupons so you more than likely will be able to get the deals later.

Walmart will issue rain checks but only on advertised specials if they are out of stock. However since these items are not in the ad and are everyday low prices you would not be able to get a raincheck on them.

Some people have luck special ordering at Walmart and you may want to ask if your store can do that for you but since you already asked at customer service and they said the warehouse is out of stock I would just check back later and see if they have restocked or see what the prices on those items are at other stores.

Sometimes you get the items and sometimes you don't. Because many of the great coupon deals at Walmart are unadvertised deals it is very much a gamble.

[Jen1]

i have a couple wm's near me, and if they are out of an item one weeek, i go to another store/wait till the next week. items ususally turn up

[JulieDB]

I don't have a lot of experience with Walmart and so far have used only one coupon at them. But the one nearest to us recently put in a grocery department. I wouldn't say it is a full grocery as some of the Super stores have. It similar to what the Target now has except that they really don't have any refrigerated raw meat. They do have frozen chicken, seafood and beef.

The problem I have with them is that they are frequently out of what we want. Once they had the food I wanted but it was expired.

In this case I don't think it's such a question of shelf clearers but inability to stock the shelves in a timely fashion. And the fact that the grocery is so new they might not realize how busy they have gotten. There really are no supermarkets in that area. There is a Fred Meyers within a couple of miles. They do sell groceries but at much higher prices.

We have been making weekly trips to Walmart just for the cheap food. We consider ourselves lucky if we are able to get some. Last time we were in, the shelves were bare. Granted it was at the start of the snow storm and people were stocking up.

[Justmeinflorida]

Not surprised that you couldn't find those items...imagine someone that gets 50+ inserts going and finding them before you, you betcha they'll clean the shelf of whatever they find...you have to remember they're money makers, so ppl with lots of q's will flock to WM to get them. I went to my local WM with my MM q's too to find nothing in stock that was FREE or a MM...thankfully I wasn't only going there for that or I would've been disappointed.

[CW&M Mom]

Hi everyone, I guess I should introduce myself first since I've never posted before :) I'm brand new to couponing (only been doing it for a week actually lol) and I'm 22 years old. I'm so excited about starting this new venture and hope to save as much money as I can! (I'm currently in school). After readig the starter guides and using the search function, I decided it would be worth it to make an account. You guys are amazing and I'm excited about becoming a part of this community!

Anyway, I was super excited about my first ever extreme couponing trip and got coupons for several moneymakers, including the 1.03 moneymaker for Benefiber, the 2.00 schick razors, the cortaid, and the ky jelly ( which i don't use bc I'm not married and dont do that stuff LOL but it's a moneymaker!). I Long story short, NONE of these items were in stock at my walmart when I went on Thursday. They shelves had been cleared and they claimed not to have any more in stock!


I have a few questions and I would reallyyyy appreciate it if anyone could help answer them:



1. Is this normal or do I just have a lot of shelf clearers in my area? If they are always going to be out of the product its not worth wasting the gas money

Normally when the coupon first comes out I may have a hard time getting it but I typically can get it before it expires...if it makes it free. Otherwise Walmart typically stocks quickly enough to get it in soon enough for everyone that wants it.

2. Do they do rain checks? I've heard that they don't but I've also heard that they do, so I'm still confused

I doubt it..and even then it won't help you if the coupon expires.

3. Were those items just on sale or are those the regular prices? The coupons end some time in feb so I'm wondering if it's worth holding on to them, or if the items won't be that cheap after this week

Walmarts prices tend to not changes as often as other stores..so hold onto your coupons

4. What is the best way to go about getting a hold of these items? If I call corporate will they do anything? I talked to customer service and they said they weren't sure when the items would be restocked because they said the warehouse was completely out of them

Try other stores, if your already at Walmart, look again.

Anyways, sorry if these have been answered a million times, I really did use the search function but didn't find the exact answers I was looking for. Thanks everyone :)

Not all stores have the Benefiber at the cheap price. Mine does not at all FYI...

The Schick Coupons are hard to get. HARD to get. Like Really really hard to get. People are not always real ethical with those razors..so just hold onto your coupons and look whenever your their but don't count on those..it's hit or miss.

The Cortaid Q is one per transaction and then you can use 4 other cortaid coupons that are not the same $3/1 Q'a in that transaction..and the $2.50 is the one on clearance..so who knows if it's even still there..it may be gone.

The KY Jelly is 4 per transaction. They restock that one rather frequently. You should be able to get that one soon.

Walmart tends to become an Art. You will learn what is a good deal and know how to play their game. Today my DH and I did 6 different transactions to get our year supply of Electrasol. Not free but as good as we are gonna get this year

[couponator89]

Thank you guys so much! All of you are amazing... I really want to make Walmart work for me... I really hope my Walmart isn't pulling stuff off the shelves, that really bothers me even thinking about it! But from now on I will just have to get there earlier :) The stores I think I'm going to start out with are:

- Walmart ( I was still able to get some free toothpaste, bandaids, and pens so I guess it wasn't a complete waste lol)

- Family Dollar ( they have store coupons for eggs this week! and I got two scrub bubbles toilet cleaning kits completely free with coupons!)

- Target ( haven't tried there yet, but I like that they have store coupons and you can use manufacturer coupons too)

- CVS ( I got free candy there this week with ECB for some candy that was on sale, I like that they use catalinas)

- Harris Teeter ( bc they are the only grocery store close to me that doubles coupons)


I'm going to try not to lose heart, even though my first shopping trip was a frustrating one. Hopefully things will get better :) I wonder if couponing has gotten more difficult since "Extreme Couponing" has been on the air lol

[cpaige]

Ever since that show came out, my Walmart NEVER has the MM's in stock. EVER. I used to be able to go anytime of the day/week and find what I was looking for, but no longer.

[Arolisa]

It is very common for them to be out as they will get raided quickly. I have learned that I just do not get every deal. Over long term I get great deals frequently enough that saves my family of 7. This was my goal for couponing, it does become a quest. Just yesterday I was trying to get enough dog food purchased to earn a gift card at Kmart. They only had 2 in stock of the Dog food. I wasn't going to turn around and buy another 40 Bucks of stuff just for a little 5 buck gift card. So we went to the nearest Walmart to PM and they had none in stock and not even a place for it on the shelf. LOL We then went to a different Walmart and they had a shelf full. I did not clear the shelf but got 9 more bags. I Just have found I may miss out on the Money Makers however I can still usually get great deals. :)

[joshmamabear]

I noticed a trend sweeping all WMs ~ when there are items that become free/moneymakers, they:

a. disappear quickly from shelves and for whatever reasons, they don't get restocked
b. are being taken off the shelves. I saw one clerk doing this. I thought she was restocking but when I tried to get some from the bin, she said they were ordered by management to be pulled out so I can't buy them. I didn't bother to ask why
c. stores that get massive returns of items that were free are now outright rejecting returns with or without receipts. (I agree with this policy because those who buy for purposes of returning them to the store are turning coupons to cash so IF this is the best way to stop such practice, I'm all for this). One problem I see here is returns of one or two items bought w/o coupons being returned w/o receipts. If they have receipts, there's no problem but WM policy allows returns up to certain amounts but such returns have become difficult in some branches. Some stores have become paranoid about ALL HBA items, especially P&G item returns, knowing P&G has coupons for most of their items. Overall, it has become difficult for all, not just those who abuse the system.