Turn Rainchecks into Sunshiny Days – Part One

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We all know how frustrating it is for a store to be out of a product that is on super sale.  While I love my CVS rainchecks, Walgreens tops my list for the most frustrating store with their raincheck policy.  Regardless of my frustrations I have learned to be more diligent with requesting a raincheck from any store that is out of a sale priced product that I want.  This will be a two-part series on the benefits of rainchecks.  (You might just be surprised at even how a Walgreens raincheck can benefit you!)

A raincheck is a slip of paper that you can ask for when an item you want to purchase is out of stock.  It allows you to purchase the items at the sale price at a later date.  Many stores’ rainchecks say “within 30 days” while others don’t specify.  Others like CVS, state that they never expire!

Part One of this series will be dedicated to my favorite drugstore- CVS, and the benefits of a CVS raincheck.

Getting a CVS raincheck can be a couponer’s best friend because:

  • CVS will issue a raincheck for ECB deals.  It will show the sale price and the $$ amount of ECBs that are supposed to print.  (I wish they would teach Walgreens a few things)  The cashier will need to write the deal code on the raincheck
  • You may not have your Qs with you, or may want to order more.  A raincheck gives you the time to go get your coupons or order more.
  • If it’s a super sale price (without ECBs offered) on an item that you use a lot of, you can get a raincheck every time they are out, and ask all your friends to get rainchecks for you too.  I was able to get 4 rainchecks for Enfamil formula on sale at $21.99 when Little One was on formula.  I’d have bought 15 or more but wouldn’t have wanted that much OOP at one time.  Having the rainchecks allowed me to enjoy sale priced formula for several months without having so much OOP at once.  Plus a new Q came out for it too!  I was able to pass along my remaining 2 rainchecks to a friend who used the same kind of formula too!
  • There may not be a Q out for an item when it’s on sale, but one may be released later. (This happened to me last month with an item that was already free after ECB, so I ended up with a moneymaker!)
  • Because CVS rainchecks never expire, so you could potentially hold a raincheck for years to get a cheap sale price on an item when the regular price
    has climbed higher and higher
    .  You can also hold on to them to use in combination with a $4/$20 or $10/$50 CVS coupon!
  • Most CVS stores will also initial and attach Qs you were planning to use to the raincheck so that if they expire before the product is in stock they will still accept the Qs.
  • Most stores will also write a raincheck for the store limit (10) on an item.  If you only found 3 in stock, they’ll write a new raincheck for the remaining 7.  
  • Your stockpile already has too many jars of Ragu.  The raincheck will allow you to restock after your supply has dwindled.  
  • Your ECBs may be dwindling, and you’d have to spend money OOP to buy the item.  With a raincheck you can wait until you have built up your ECBs to cover the cost of the item. (I’d recommend carrying at least $10-$15 in ECBs from week to week)

Rainchecks at CVS truly are a wonderful thing.  If you get one but don’t use it, it’s not a big loss.  I would say always pick on up if your favorite items are on sale and the shelf is empty.  You never know when it might come in handy.

Comments

  1. Anonymous says:

    no CVS here – anticipating part II!!

    -s.davis

  2. Anonymous says:

    This was very helpful. Could you possibly include rainchecks at Walgreens in part II? Most of their good deals come with RR but, they will not give a raincheck if the item out-of-stock has a RR attached to it (at least here in S. Tx) Ive also noticed that if something is ‘free w/RR’ that the employees will hold it in the back to give their friends/family. A store clerk actually told me that they do this. Is there a way around this?

  3. Hi Anon,
    You may have already found this, but here is the link to part 2, which does in fact focus on Walgreens. HTH

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