Beyond Google Offers

Have you ever bought a deal on Google Offers? Their daily deals are similar to Groupon, Jewpon, Plum District, and all those other daily-deal sites I can't keep track of anymore. Basically, you pay X and you get X + Y. Or in non-math terms: pay $5 for a $10 giftcard, pay $20 for $50 worth of services, etc. Amounts vary per deal.

Anyway, if you're like me and you find a deal for a store you usually frequent, you buy the deal. But they come with an expiration date - GRRRR! So one find day back in December, I bought a $10 for $20 worth of stuff at Toys R Us, through Google Offers. I love toys! Two weeks ago I noticed that I had never yet used my deal and it expires April 15th! So April 15th shows up and I have NO idea what I want, but I do have an idea...

I add a $20 Toys R Us gift card to my cart and proceed to check out. I enter in the $20 off code and VOILA! It actually works on gift cards! Gift cards never expire so I can decide what I want whenever I'm in the mood. Btw, 99% of coupon codes and deal codes don't work on gift cards. So it pays to try it when you've got nothing else to lose.

Create-a-discount

I walked into a toy store last week hoping to find something exciting. I noticed a display of toys on a 50% off shelf so I naturally gravitated towards that part of the store. On the bottom shelf I see a torn, dented box of Lego City. I bend down to assess the damage and decide it's not so bad. It doesn't even look like there's that much missing from the actual Legos. I was with a friend so I told her to leave the store if she'll get embarrassed by what I plan to do next. She laughs and moves to the side while I walk up to the checkout counter with this bashed-up box of Lego. I explain to the man that this is really damaged but I would consider buying it if he can give me a discount on them. He's like "Yeah, it looks bad so I'll give it to you for cheaper." Before he can think of anything, I blurt out, "I'll take it for $5!" Let's bear in mind that Lego City sets like these run about $40, so if it was in the half-off bin, it would be about $20. To my pure delight, the guy says OK! So I walked out with a $40 box of Lego for 87.5% off! When I got home I saw that only about 5 actual Lego pieces were missing. Nobody's gonna notice.