Ways My Wife Saves Us Money: Bed, Bath And Beyond Patio Furniture Edition
We were at Bed, Bath, and Beyond over the weekend to buy some pillows. They had some in stock that were similar to pillows we’d owned for several years and were in need of replacement. When we walked in the front door, however, my wife saw something that immediately changed the focus of our visit to the store.
Just inside the store was a patio furniture set consisting of two deep seating chairs, a glass end table, as well as a propane fire pit. Ever since we scrapped the idea of a backyard fire pit a few weeks ago, my wife has been looking for new furniture for our patio. She had rekindled (no pun in tended) the idea of having a propane fire table which would give off some heat, but also give us the esthetic pleasure of sitting by a fire.
We added up the price of our potential patio upgrade:
- 2 sets of 2 chairs and an end table: $399 x2 = $798
- Fire Table: $249
- Outdoor bar: $249
- Outdoor beverage cooler: $199
Total: $1495
My wife had 3 coupons in her hand that would give us 20% off a single item each, not enough to get 20% off each item. My wife being unsatisfied with that discount, asked to talk to a manager. She explained what we were contemplating buying, and asked if they would be wiling to work with us, and give us a little extra discount. I shook my head, almost embarrassed because I didn’t think there was any way they would reduce the price any further than the 20% coupons we had.
To my surprise, the manager asked us to give her a few minutes while she worked some numbers.
When she came back, she told us:
- She would give us $300 off the entire purchase
- She would then apply a flat 20% off the balance.
Here’s what our bill then looked like:
- $1495 – $300 = $1195 after initial discount
- $1195 x 0x80% = $956 after 20% discount
Our total represented a 36% discount from the original price!
I’ve written about Bed, Bath, and Beyond before. They allow the use of multiple coupons at once, and I was pleasantly surprised by their gift wrapping table. But, their willingness to give us an extra couple hundred dollars off a large purchase blew me away. I know that my wife’s power of persuasion is second to none, but I have a feeling this had more to do with the value that Bed, Bath, and Beyond puts on their customers.
Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Have you ever received a big discount when you didn’t expect it?
Brought to you courtesy of Brock
Brock is a software engineer by day and personal finance blogger at night. He is a fitness junkie and enjoys grilling and smoking meat. Married with two children, Brock strives to improve his skills as a husband and father, and is always on the lookout to stretch his family’s budget as far as he can.
That’s awesome! We’ve done some shopping at Buy Buy Baby (their version of Babies R Us) so they have similar coupon offerings and such. My wife once scored a great deal on a floor model stroller that we still use from time to time today, getting one that typically retails for about $300 for just around $100, much less than they’d even had listed as a floor model price.
All this proves is how overpriced their merchandise is in the first place. Not a very frugal place to shop.
@Moneybeagle – Asking a question is the BEST coupon! Nice work by your wife on the stoller score!
@No – I generally agree…which is why I never buy anything without the 20% coupon that comes in the mail. But with the 20% off + the extra discount, the stuff we got was not only a significant amount off at BB&B, but it was much cheaper than similar items we found at other stores.