Using a Groupon with VP – Step by Step

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UPDATE:  Vistaprint seems to slowly be taking away all the deals that made using them such a deal for people on a budget.   First they took away the 10 free items and made it 2 free items.  They stopped the $70 groupons and have been releasing $45 ones.  (and even those are hard to find – no more daily groupons available)  On 1/9 it was observed that the Retailmenot 50% link has expired.    Also, when you get to your cart there is now a “promo code” box.  The site Never had that before.  They might finally be closing all of our loop holes.  Sorry to say, it might be the end of the Vistaprint Hauls.

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First, know that there is pretty much ALWAYS a Groupon or Living Social deal available.  These sites list them everyday, so be sure to search through them when it’s time for you to get your Groupon:

www.dailydibs.com/topic/Groupon

www.daddyodeals.com/phpBB/today-s-national-groupon-deals-updated-daily-hot-t209855.html

Below we share how to get the best bang for your buck using a Groupon — please read ALL the way through and come back to reference it when you are building your cart!!  The importance of clicking links IN ORDER cannot be stressed enough!!

* It appears that the loophole with the Living Social deal has been discovered and you no longer can double up a Living Social deal with the Retail me Not sale links.  The Groupon/RetailmeNot (RTMN) CAN still be doubled up, for now…..  *******UPDATE at the bottom ***********

STEP ONE – RESEARCH

Sample Kit

First, be sure to get the free sample kit of their papers so you can see and feel what VP offers and decide which time of paper is best for your needs.

Build Your Cart

The best way to get started with your VP haul is to do research.  Look through the Vistaprint website to see what items you want and/or could use — think outside the box!  Rack cards as programs, I Spy cards or hotel “Do Not Disturb” signs; business cards as place/escort cards or favor tags; a lawn sign to direct people or inform them of your unplugged ceremony.

Also remember that some of the marketing materials are the same sizes as invites but will come out cheaper than ordering what VP calls invitations.

XL Postcards = 6 x 9 cards (invitations, save the dates, programs)

Regular Postcards = 4 x 5.5 cards (invitations, save the dates,  note cards, RSVP cards, invitation inserts)

Rack Cards = 4 x 8 cards (invitations, menu cards, programs)

These items have to be bought in higher quantities than invitations — they start at 100.  So figure out what you REALLY need.  If you need 80 invitations, it’s worth it to get 100 for less than 80 would cost you (even when you add in paper upgrades and envelopes.)  If you only need 30 invitations, we have other links for you to use.  🙂

Once you have figured out exactly what you want, put it in your cart!  But DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT check out!!  Don’t even worry about your totals just yet, we still need to click some…

Discount Links

The next step to your research is finding the best discount link for you.  Some discounts are better than others depending on your cart, but here are two popular ones to get your started:

try 50% off-free shipping – makes MOST items 50% off, but that discount does not apply to some paper upgrades and image uploads
www.retailmenot.com/out/2746533

spend more, save more – $5 off $25+, $15 off $50+, $40 off $100+
www.retailmenot.com/out/3231312

Or any other sale link that VP emails fairly regularly.  REMEMBER WHICH LINK GIVES YOU THE BEST DEAL!!  You’ll need to go back to it when you actually go to check out, so be sure you know which link is best for you!

You’ll want to click on these or any other sale link, which will take you back to your cart.  Your total will be changed, however, to much less than what it previously was.  Now, what you want to do is be as close to $95 as possible — your Groupon (assuming it’s a $17 for $70) will decrease the total you are actually paying for out of pocket to $25.  And that’s the amount needed to get free shipping.

Be sure to take a look at the Mega Hauls to see examples of carts that used these tricks.

STEP TWO – BUY YOUR GROUPON

The Right Deal

At the top of this post, there are links to look for existing Groupons.  Don’t worry about what city they are in — anyone can buy and use them, since VP is an online, national company.  Most of the deals are $17 for $70, but there are sometimes deals for lesser amounts.  If you get a smaller amounts, such as a $12 for $48, you’ll want to get your cart as close as possible to $73 to get free shipping.  For any deal, be at $25 above the deal amount for the free shipping.  The smaller deals are great if you don’t need a lot of items or are having a smaller wedding and the rare really large deals are great if you’re having a big blowout — but the $17 for $70 are the most common.

Shipping

Pay attention to how much your cart total is and how much your shipping is.  If your cart total is $11 and your shipping is $17, you are going to be charged $28 for your order.  You will actually SAVE money if you just add more items to your cart.  Once your cart gets up to $25, you get free shipping.  I always suggest you have your cart at $25 AFTER the Groupon and discount link is added to get the free shipping.  Why spend money on shipping when you can spend money on items?

**You receive FREE shipping when your cart is at $25 after the $70 Groupon is added.**   This shipping sale overrides any advertised sale link you double up with.  Even if you use the Retail Me Not 50% – $50 free shipping link,  you ONLY need to be at $25!  ****  The  $60 groupon requires $30 to get FREE Shipping ***

STEP THREE – STUFF YOUR CART

You don’t have a GREAT deal until you add some free items to your cart.  You can add up to 10*  free items to your cart, and they are limited designs but can make good gifts.  Here’s an example of how you can stuff your cart:

Free items

1. Free Car Magnet – Just Married
2. Free Father of the Bride/Groom hat
3. Free Mug  – $1.99 to remove branding
4. Free T-Shirt
5. Free NotebooK
6. Free Tote Bag – $1.99 to remove branding
7. Free Banner
8. Free Pen (keep branding)
9. Free Flip Book (upload pictures of table # or Reserved signs)
10. Free Notepad

Click the “free items” link above to get a list of links for these individual items (and more) and start adding them to your cart.  The best way to make sure you don’t override your other deal links is to add these items FIRST.  Once you’ve added your free items to your cart, you can go ahead and start getting to your best deal possible.

***VP has now limited FREE items to *2*  per order.  Yes, we were all very sad when this was discovered.

STEP FOUR – PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

Apply Your Groupon

This will be the somewhat tricky part.  At this point, you should already have all the items you want to buy in your cart — your invites, thank you cards, programs, etc.  What you’ll want to do now is go to Vistaprint using the link provided by Groupon or Living Social  usually something like vistaprint.com/groupon17for70.  Be sure to look at your deal to see what the correct URL for your deal is —  different amounts will also have a different URL.

When you use the Groupon, it will automatically give you 30% off your items.  DO NOT FREAK OUT — you will get more of a discount in a minute.  At the bottom of that page will be the box for your to put in your Groupon code.  If you do not see that box, you haven’t gone to VP using the correct link — look at your Groupon and go to the specified URL and the box will appear.

Promo Code Box – Groupon  Goes Here

Once you’ve typed in your code, click “APPLY” to apply your Groupon  discount — don’t worry, it hasn’t been used yet.  You’ll know it has applied the discount amount because it’ll list “$70 worth of Vistaprint products” (or whichever amount your deal is for) at the bottom of your cart, like the picture below.

Display When Groupon is Applied

Click Your Discount

Now that you’ve applied your Groupon, LEAVE THAT WINDOW/TAB OPEN.  You’ll want to open a NEW TAB and go to whichever discount link you’ve decided to use.  Go ahead and click that link in the new tab — this will take you back to your cart, which will now have additional discounts applied and the Groupon will still be applied!!  Your cart total should be around $25 since you’ve applied the Groupon deal and you’ll be getting free shipping with that!

STEP FIVE – ORDER!!

You should now have a TON of stuff that you should be paying close to $25 for and getting it all with free shipping!  Happy Vistaprinting!

*** MORE TIPS ***

Examples of Vistaprint Mega Hauls  –   and how much they saved
Making Items on VP  –  how to create custom invites, get free items, create invites that will fit pocketfolds

****************************************   UPDATE   ****************************************

The  $70 groupon has not been sold since July.  Rumor has it that you CAN get the $45 groupon to double up, but it is VERY tricky.   I personally have yet to walk someone through the steps to get it to double up.  However, I HAVE chatted with someone that did it!

I believe you need to start with the groupon link and put in your code.  Then you can open a sale link via a different window.  The sale link (RTMN or email) will bump out your groupon code but it will keep the promo box on the screen.  (*in the past it would bump out the promo box)   Now that your sale link is in your cart, you can enter in your Groupon code into the promo box and cross your fingers that it doubles up.

I bought a $20 for $60 groupon on Nov 14th and was able to get the RTMN code to double up with the groupon.  It was not in the same order that the $70 ones worked, and took a little clicking/refreshing and multiple windows open.  But I DID get it to work.   I opened the groupon link but didn’t put the code in. Then I opened a new window with a sale link. Then I went back to the original window and put in the Groupon code in the promo box. I might have clicked or refreshed something else, not sure.

I have just been told you can enter the $60 groupon voucher.  Then click a sale link (retailmenot.com) to open a new window to double up your savings. The $60 groupon requires $30 to get the free shipping.    Again, if it is not working for you, try to clear out your cache and open/refresh multiple windows.

Good Luck!!!  Feel free to friend me on facebook if you want to chat if you need help.
https://www.facebook.com/leximom.wwire