Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I Coupe By cuti newsp money hole in 11 Story by J T XI your newspaper Isn't full of holes before you throw it ciwity ui pui in 011 ine oouorn of the bird cage. (hen you're losing money. Every other page of most newspapers and magazines are eovered with perforated lines Just asking to be eut i out. Inside these lines are eoupons that if left alone are worthless, but if cut out and i used can save a great deal of money. f Budget conscious students will take advantage of the o - - many coupons, and thus values. offered in today's Gamecuck. With inflation on x the rise and college costs increasing, students can't afford not to take advantage of them. And considering the tremendous buying power of students, an estimated $60 million per year at USC. mcrehants can't afford not to make coupon offers. I p V^ouponinj} is rampant I across the station in these times of high inflation because coupons offer < consumers a form of direct involvement in price reduction, according to National Food Review magazine. Coupons arc also a leading marketing tool lor merchants, the maga/inc said. i Apparently. people are responding to the perlorated. inflation- hca t ers. A p proximately mu percent ol American households use coupons on a regular basis, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Office ol Consumer Affairs. While this figure basically reflects the number who use grocery ; coupons, coupons for other products arc also widely I -1 $ 7 c, Wrv oV Lr, $5 \[ \ |IL_fEux ! H Vi >ning: ing holes in y< oper, vou car m # r from burninc your pocket. eonnie Rolston. Discounts on dinners, fast foods, baked goods, clothing, jewelry. shoes. stereo equipment, haircuts, dry cleaning and drinks at bars can be found in today's issue. A?#ut beyond a doubt coupons concentrate on food products. ! The I I | ^ In 1974 ^the Federal Enci S dlit eoii^i j | Interstate 95. buffiiive vears I I *A 1969 Mouse of Rep I I subcommittee quest lonnain | | panies usin^ eoupon-relur L?. "Food is basically the tiling advertised because that's the c o in in o n denominator. Fating has become such a social thing." said Hill tlriswall. president of Campus Savings Ltd.. which sells coupon savings booklets. "Pizza delivery is tin- most common type ot coupons students use." said Tom Cannon, a senior. "Students tend to use coupons mostly for things they would be buying anyhow." The beauty of coupons is f \lV~s ___ Ti mm UJJL ?j V Cb dippii our i stop lO that they save on all those little purchases you would have to make anyway. "If you're already going to the Pizza Hut or the Sub Station, you may as well use your coupons and save some money," said Jim Herbkcrsman. a senior. But coupons are also beautiful because they get people to try a certain store Loupon issued booklets of l^iday of luring traffic away ahead of schedule. rescntatives small-business^!!^ i* indicated (hat soap com11 sweepstakes promotions or restaurant. especially the "I wo lor one" deals. T JL his type ol coupons is most commonly used by merchants because they get two people into the store when normally only one or neither would come in. Also, they arc popular with students because students usually cat in groups. The two lor out* coupons arc ideal lor roommates or dating couples, especially when it's a dutch treat. A - / igdow "The object of coupons is to get people in for the first time to try your product so they'll come back." Grishaw said. Grishaw suggested that students plan ahead when using two for one coupons. "Wait until you need to make a large purchase when the coupon says one item plus another item of equal or less value at half the price." Grishaw said. Another advantage of using coupons in advertisements is merchants are able to gauge what kind of response their ads are receiving. In other forms of advertisements, merchants are not able to measure the number of people who were influenced by the ad. But a merchant can count the u~.il I nun vr g reported they awarded jfi&pcre* In 1974 Gen^gl payoffs to selected groups with teeth \vhen a jjetits- <)ff etnipon ! foox. Iijjthc three works the hall :iWo and a jhiaifmillion were paf 0OSt Of B50.0OO. During the tin: the airline reset its reservation: week. number of coupons he receives to make decisions about the type of people \ reached through the media C lie advertised in and other i marketing policies. r 1 A f jL\. s merchants begin to i realize the tremendous t buying power of students i and mcir imancial dilcmmas. they arc using more c and more coupons in their I advertising. And students i seem to appreciate the offers <. made by merchants I Y\ ^x . i i \ \ "Coupons save von ? ^ vv* money, plus they bring business to merchants that give the eoupons." Vicki Jinnette. a junior, said. "They're especially good lor students like me who don't have any money." Lack of money seems to be a common problem on campus these days. A lot oi students are on a fixed allowance from their parents, which is all too quickly gobbled up by inflation "Coupons are so good to use now because everything is getting so expensive. They really help you save money." Debbie Williams, a junior, said. 'ffftte ' it a hippopotamus and a ^ 1 G rce n St a m ps. j n scheme (half-oli coupons , J he 1979 strike to entire [ j om its passenger pricing [ | lorning while brushing his ' fell out of the toothpaste fare coupons were offered. >sed out to customers at a ! ! le the coupons were valid. s record four times in one ' I J [ Ln (Ik* past, students rarely vorried about expenses, trishaw said. "But with nllation students art- finally eali/ing mom and dad only lave so much money. Students have to work with nom and dad to save money, hat's where coupons eotm* n." he said. Students' new inflation onseiousness is evident by he popularity ot Grishaw's i ii cl other companies' oupoti booklets. Students >uy these booklets at a , J fU'l ' sHLEZICf2>-i? W ^ xM=U1 ~~ (Hy' iiuj . < ation certain price and receive valuable coupons that will save them money above and beyond the purchase price. Grishaw said his company is trying to dispel some of the negative feelings toward coupons. He said adversity has been caused by merchants who would not honor the coupons or who had Certain in ft-wir f>(. fers. Merchants who ad vertise in the coupon boklcts si^n a contract to honor the coupons. It would take a lot of nerve lor a merchant not to honor a cou|x>n alter it appeared in the booklet or a newspaper. Grishaw said. G rishaw suggests that students who use coupons read them carefully. Many merchants' make certain stipulations concerning the dates the coupons arc redeemable or the amount lor which they can he redeemed. To prevent hassles or misunderstandings. students should look over the line print before they try 10 redeem them. Another suggestion is to inform the cashier or waitress that you plan to use a coupon before she rings up the sale. This will prevent the cashier from going to the .1 1 IIUUUK V/I VVHVllll^ lilt >ttK" and ringing it up again. Students who use coupons in restaurants should base their tip on (he cost ol the dinner without the coupon. The waitress 01 waiter does the same amount ol work at either price, and hv tipping lor the regular price the waitress or waiter will not dread having coupon-users lor customers. Students should continue Ill I I 11' I I I l< I I I I >> I [Ull oiler coupons. I hey arc trying lo help you brat inflation. and you ran help thrm by patronizing their stores or restaurants. By rutting holes in your newspaper and usin^ coupons. you can stop money Irom burning a hole in your pocket. 4'V rtv il. /*> |l Hj 1*1 Tf * 'I JM** Art by Allan Gray)