How to save money at Bed Bath and Beyond

How to save money at Bed Bath and Beyond. I’m not a big Bed Bath and Beyond shopper. I still look through their rebate offers for deals every month (see below), I’ll go through their online clearance items periodically and when I’m near a store I’ll pop in and go through their clearance racks.

Generally though I purchase my housewares at Homegoods or Marshall’s but when I can’t find something I need I employ the following tactics to save big at BBB. Up through September 2019 I did all my BBB shopping at the River North store but that closed. Then I went to the Lakeview store but a reader notified me that that store has closed also. So between Covid and no easy access stores I’ve been buying everything online. Many of my tips below are for in-store tactics.

Save the coupons

There are many types of coupons: 20% off one item, $5 off a purchase of $15, $10 off $30. I’ve seen $20 off $50. They never expire so stockpile the coupons for later purchases. A coupon can be applied to nearly everything in the store except gift cards and certain manufacturers products. However expired coupons cannot be used online.

You can use multiple coupons per purchase. You should, at the minimum, always bring the same number of coupons as items you are purchasing to get at least 20% off your entire purchase. I once used thirty coupons to get 20% off a set of towels and bathroom accessories. But sometimes you can do better than that. The rule of thumb is to use the 20% off coupons for purchases over $25 and the $5 off coupons for purchases under $25. Except when you can split purchases.

Split purchases

In the past when I was buying $30 worth of items I would split them into two $15 purchases and apply a “$5 off $15 or more” coupon to each purchase. I’ve never had a problem doing this. Lately I’ve been receiving $10 off a $30 purchase on the back of the paper flyers so check your mail.

Presumably you could do split purchases for $45, $60 etc. purchases. I’ve never tried it but I’m sure it would work.

Sign up online

If you’re interested in shopping online first-time subscribers get a 20% off one single item mobile offer for in-store or online use. The coupon arrives within 24 hours of sign up via text and email. This is one way to get 20% off online. The coupon will also be in your account. Note that the mobile coupons expire.

Download the app

You can also sign up via the app and get a 20% off coupon for one single item in-store or online. The same rules apply as when you sign up online – you’ll get it via text and email, it will be in your account and it expires.

Load your coupons online or via the app

Another way to get a coupon you can use online is to load your paper coupons under “My Offers” into your account. The catch is you can only load coupons that aren’t expired and they won’t be accessible once they’ve expired. I only use this method when purchasing one expensive (over $48.75+ less 20%= at least $39) item online that is eligible for free shipping after the 20% discount.

BBB offers free shipping for orders over $39.

To load coupons online select “Upload a Coupon” and enter the 8-digit M.O. code (or the barcode # works, too).

To load via the app go to click on barcode icon and use the scanner to add non-expired coupons.

During online checkout go to “My Offers” in the billing section, then select the offer you’d like to use.

And you can still use an online coupon in-store. Just open “My Offers” on your phone, choose the offer you want to use, and show it to the cashier.

Get more coupons

Sign in to your Bed Bath & Beyond account and add something to your online shopping cart. When you leave the page and close the tab they may send you a 20% off coupon via email.

Reserve online, pay in-store, apply coupons and no shipping charges

If you see something online that you want to buy but you want to apply a coupon(s) “Reserve the item online” and they will email you when it’s ready for pick up. They will charge your credit card $1 and reverse it out after pick up. Then bring your coupons and pay in-store. You cannot use online coupons for Reserve online, pay in-store orders.

As an example I saw something online that was on sale for $13.99 that was regularly $19.99 or more everywhere else. I wanted to apply a $5 off coupon so I ordered it for in-store pick up. I went to the store when it was in, added a $1.09 candy bar to the order and used the $5 off coupon.

That’s another point – whenever you’re coming up around a dollar short to use a $5 off coupon when you’re at the register – look down – there you will find candy all for around a dollar. By employing this method I got 50% off plus a free candy bar.

Order items online for in-store pick up and apply coupons you can’t use online.

Place order in-store for home delivery, get shipping waived

I wanted place an order that was below the minimum for free shipping ($49) so I wanted it delivered to the store. The problem was one item couldn’t be shipped to my BBB for some reason. I went into the store to see what they could do. They placed the whole order for me, to be shipped to my home, and they waived the shipping. So if you want to get the shipping waived you can try this. I printed out the order and brought it in so they could order it quickly.

No stacking

BBB allows one coupon per item. They accept as many coupons as your purchase would allow if it was rung in individual transactions. So, for example if you have a 20% off one item coupon and a $5 off $15 coupon, once you apply the 20% off to an item, the balance of the items need to equal or exceed $15 to use the $5 off as well.

Manufacturers coupons

BBB accepts most manufacturers coupons and you can use them in combination with BBB coupons. However, they don’t accept coupons from any manufacturer that also has retail stores.

Price match

BBB is one of the few stores that price matches Amazon. They will price match full-price, in-stock Amazon items as long as the item is sold by Amazon and not by a third party. You also can’t use any BBB coupon on price matched items. You can use a manufacturer coupon.

I have the Amazon app on my phone and just scan the BBB items to compare prices. I’ve never done a price match because with the $5 or 20% BBB coupon the price always matches Amazon or is close enough.

Check their monthly promotions page

Every month I search the rebate page monthly for deals such as “Buy $100 in Bed Bath Beyond gift cards, get $10 bonus gift card” I’ve never had any problems with BBB rebates. You file them online rather than mailing them like in the olden days. Well you still can mail them but why would you?

The key to rebates is you have to file them immediately when you get home from the store. And save all your paperwork just in case something goes wrong.

Shop the clearance rack in-store and online

The clearance rack is always in the center of my main store. I always head there first. I’ve picked up linens, a squeegee and other items at dirt cheap prices. Some people say it gets restocked on weekends so the best time to go is on Monday. The online clearance is here.

Save your receipts

BBB will refund the difference if an item’s price is reduced within a year. You can also apply this policy when you forgot your coupon. I never, well almost never, buy anything there without a coupon. Recently I stopped by the store on a whim but didn’t have any coupons on me. I found a great $15 clearance item. I purchased it and went back a couple days later with the coupon and receipt (no need to schlep the item back) and they refunded the $5 plus tax.

Black Friday

Yes I know it’s one day a year but the savings can be great. In addition to sale items for the last few years BBB has offered a rebate deal where you buy two $200 Visa or Mastercard gift cards for $206.95 each and you get a rebate of two $25 BBB gift cards for a net profit of $36.10. Also for the last several years they have offered, in-store, a 20% off entire purchase coupon so if you need a lot of stuff and don’t have enough coupons you can load up on Black Friday.

Return policy

You should also save your receipts because if you need to return something without the receipt and they can’t find the sale on their computer they will only refund 80% because they’ll assume you used a 20% off coupon.

Stockpile items you need in your cart – online saving tactics

I add items to my BBB cart until I get a coupon I can use. If I get the coupon by mail I add it to my account and complete the purchase. I’m always going for more than 20% savings but will settle for 20% if it’s something I really need.