Target CouponMore than likely you already know what coupons are, otherwise, I doubt you’d be on this page.  Nonetheless, in an effort to be as thorough as possible, I wanted to cover what coupons are and perhaps you will learn something new anyway!

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say, “A coupon is a ticket or document that can be exchanged for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product.”  Then they go on to say, “Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods or by retailers, to be used in retail stores as a part of sales promotions. They are often widely distributed Blinkie Couponthrough mail, coupon envelopes, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, directly from the retailer, and mobile devices such as cell phones. Since only price conscious consumers are likely to spend the time to claim the savings, coupons function as a form of price discrimination, enabling retailers to offer a lower price only to those consumers who would otherwise go elsewhere. In addition, coupons can also be targeted selectively to regional markets in which price competition is great.”

Coupons can be created by manufacturers, store chains, local businesses and more.  I have included images of coupons – the first one is a store coupon for Target that gives you $5 off when you purchase 2 Purina brand pet care items.  The other one is a manufacturer’s coupon, issued by the manufacturer to save $1 off of Sensodyne or Aquafresh toothpastes.  This coupon is actually called a Blinkie (as it was pulled from a Blinkie machine in an aisle at a store).