bonus goods, free with purchase of....
Have you ever bought a magazine in a supermarket that have a bonus offer attached?
Hanging on a stand near the magazines are bags of goodies that say 'free with purchase of....'
Many people just see the word "free" and think they can have the goodies without buying the magazine, at the checkout we inform them otherwise. Some relinquish the freebie, others run back to get the magazine.
Sometimes the magazines on sale, with freebies attached, aren't all that popular.
They don't get sold.
The store is left with out of date magazines and a box of two of "freebies".
What happens to these? you might be wondering.
I'll tell you....the store has paid for the magazines, so any unsold are returned to the supplier and the store is credited with the appropriate amount of $$$. (Pretty sure I'm not giving away any secrets here)
The "freebies" however, cannot be returned, so if there are a lot of them, they are offered to shoppers at the checkout.
I used to love giving away these freebies.
Anyway, I was shopping at my local Woolworths recently, just raced in for milk, which I could have got the next day....but (there's that butt again, buttinsky) this must have been my lucky day.
As I scanned my carton of milk at a self-serve checkout a lovely young man offered me this....
woo-hoo! A small cookie sheet and a set of three Christmas themed cookie cutters!
He asked very politely if I would like to have this free gift and I wondered if anybody ever said "no thanks".
last month these were free with any purchase of any of the magazines listed on the packaging. I haven't been down the magazine aisle for ages, so hadn't seen them.
Fate must have decided that I really needed to have some Christmas themed cookie cutters though, why else would I suddenly decide to get milk when I could have waited an extra day for it?
There's even a Christmas Cookie recipe included.
Aaaand.....I have all the ingredients.
Mmmm, cookies.
Hanging on a stand near the magazines are bags of goodies that say 'free with purchase of....'
Many people just see the word "free" and think they can have the goodies without buying the magazine, at the checkout we inform them otherwise. Some relinquish the freebie, others run back to get the magazine.
Sometimes the magazines on sale, with freebies attached, aren't all that popular.
They don't get sold.
The store is left with out of date magazines and a box of two of "freebies".
What happens to these? you might be wondering.
I'll tell you....the store has paid for the magazines, so any unsold are returned to the supplier and the store is credited with the appropriate amount of $$$. (Pretty sure I'm not giving away any secrets here)
The "freebies" however, cannot be returned, so if there are a lot of them, they are offered to shoppers at the checkout.
I used to love giving away these freebies.
Anyway, I was shopping at my local Woolworths recently, just raced in for milk, which I could have got the next day....but (there's that butt again, buttinsky) this must have been my lucky day.
As I scanned my carton of milk at a self-serve checkout a lovely young man offered me this....
He asked very politely if I would like to have this free gift and I wondered if anybody ever said "no thanks".
Fate must have decided that I really needed to have some Christmas themed cookie cutters though, why else would I suddenly decide to get milk when I could have waited an extra day for it?
Aaaand.....I have all the ingredients.
Mmmm, cookies.
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Freshly baked biscuits? Pop the kettle on, I'll be right over!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever seen any in-store giveaways. There is usually a tear off sheet to send away for something free if you include your proof of purchase, but that's not quite the same as your instant gratification, is it?
How lovely that he offered you the freebie and that it was something so useful. You can never have enough biscuit cutters at Christmas. I've been making dozens and dozens of the gingerbread thins that we serve every day with our mulled wine and everyone loves that I have so many funny biscuit cutters. Hearts are the most common shape here, but there's nothing like biting into a gingerbread shark!
In the past I worked in a newsagency, they tore off the front page of unsold magazines returned it and the staff got the left overs, never was without some thing to read in those days, never buy magazines now I think I just got out of the habit.
ReplyDeleteMerle..............
It was def meant to be! But it also must be that I'm never in the right place at the right time!
ReplyDeleteLove these inside-the-store scoops!
I've never met up with one of these offers. But, I never shop, either.
ReplyDeleteGood job.
Well, there you are then. Get baking.
ReplyDeleteAny chance of a bag of misshapen ones? Or don’t you ever get that sort?
Oooh, don't you just love those lucky kinda days? I don't remember ever seeing any freebies offered with magazines in any of our stores, but I don't think a freebie would entice me to buy a magazine I wasn't already interested in reading.
ReplyDeleteCookies and milk....perfect. That's serendipity.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely. I read magazines (very old ones) in doctor's/dentists/hospital waiting rooms but don't buy them so I never see these offers. That was a real win though - and was obviously meant. What flavour biscuits? Chocolate?
ReplyDeleteWhat a bonus! Definitely meant to be.
ReplyDeleteI can almost smell the delicious aroma now.
And little gingerbread men cookies are traditionally yummy all year. Who doesn't like a gingerbread man? :)
Stone the crows River, you won't believe what I'm about to tell you.
ReplyDeleteI have just returned from the Woolies supermarket around the corner from where I live, and at the checkout I was offered - you guessed it! Bonus Baking Tray with Cookie Cutters! I was momentarily speechless, as it was only hours before that I had read your post over morning coffee bemoaning the fact that I've never been offered a freebie. Honestly, who can believe it! :)
Marie; kettle's on, come on over! I'm pretty sure the freebies are only common in Australia, possibly America too.
ReplyDeleteMerlesworld; here it is only one magazine sent up to the lunchroom, the rest need to be returned to the supplier for refunds as the store pays up front for them.
Rose~from Oz; they're not a year round thing, these giveaways, so you miss out if the magazine involved isn't something you would usually buy. More often these are a Christmas thing or sometimes an anniversary of a magazine, or other special occasion.
Joanne; there's your problem right there, you need to be in the shops to get these freebies.
Friko; the misshapen ones go into the cookie jar along with all the others. I could probably send some, but they'd be crumbs by the time they arrived.
Susan; I'm the same, the magazine would have to be one that I was interested in buying. The only exception would be if the giveaway was exceptionally good.
Delores; cookies and coffee, or hot chocolate.
Elephant's Child; I'll try the original vanilla recipe first, then other flavours. Chocolate for sure, then ginger, lemon and orange too with a tiny slice of the candied fruit as appropriate placed on top just before baking.
Your parcel arrived this morning, thank you. I emailed you.
Vicki; one of the better giveaways. I love gingerbread men! Some of the ones you buy these days are ginger coloured but very bland in flavour. I'll see how homemade turns out.
Rose~from Oz; Coincidence! so you'll be baking cookies tonight too?
Hey wow. Those little blessings can sure mean a lot. I hope you are having an excellent Christmas season.
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting what they do with the freebies; never thought about it, but glad you were the beneficiary of such a delightful goodie for the possibility of delicious cookies!
ReplyDeletebetty
Happy Elf Mom; little things do mean a lot. I'll probably spend most of the weekend baking.
ReplyDeletebetty; the freebies are usually themed with an article within the magazine, so once the month is over the magazines cannot be sold, but the freebies can still be given away if the store has any left. I'll be baking cookies this weekend for sure.
HAhaha! You can't argue when fate takes a hand! I'm a real sucker for 'gift with purchase' - even if I don't actually want the item I have to buy to get it!! I guess they've got me pegged ...
ReplyDeleteHey! Lucky you. Like EC I don't buy magazines but if I saw a good free offer I may be tempted. That was a very special free gift wan't it? I think I got a teatowel once with Food Ideas of whatever it's called.
ReplyDeleteRed Nomad OZ; I'm not a sucker for a free gift, I usually look it over carefully first to see if it is something I would actually use, most of the time it isn't so I don't buy the magazine. This one will come in handy though, the pan is the perfect size for chocolate fudge and you can never have too many cookie cutters.
ReplyDeleteMimsie; I don't buy magazines anymore either. I used to, but now they are all gossip and advertisements, nothing at all worth reading in them. I once got an oven mitt with Good Food Ideas, but it wasn't insulated enough and I burned my hand. It must have been just for microwave ovens as those dishes sometimes get a little too warm.
In what feels like another life, I worked briefly in a bookstore. So, I am actually familiar with the process of book and magazine returns. Although, we didn't have that issue with "freebie" since all we sold was books. So, I learned something new today.
ReplyDeleteI hope you take some pics of your Christmas cookies. I can always imagine eating them...
Robin; I used to want to work in a bookstore, but could never get hired. When I get around to baking cookies there will be photos for sure, even if I burn them.
ReplyDelete