SUPER-COUPONING: What is a 'filler item?' Your key to a better deal

I am trying to learn couponing and have seen more than a few coupon websites referring to buying a 'filler.' What is a filler? I don't really understand this and often see shoppers' trip reports saying they got something free 'as a filler.' Please explain.

Mina S.”

A filler item is simply a small, low-priced item that you purchase for the sole purpose of reaching a spending threshold to save even more money. Let me give you a couple of examples.

I recently purchased some new shorts and shirts from an online retailer specializing in outdoor workwear and accessories. The retailer was offering free shipping and an additional 10% savings if you bought $50.00 worth of items. I had $45.09 worth of clothing in my cart. My order’s shipping would have cost $9.99 if I did not reach the $50.00 mark, so it was worth looking through the other items for sale on the site to find something around the $5.00 mark to push my total over $50.00.

I needed a filler. Adding something priced around $5.00 would not only save me $9.99 in shipping, but I’d also save another $5.00 or so for adding that inexpensive item. I used the store’s website to sort their available items by price, and I quickly found my filler – a $4.95 package of dog waste bags.

Adding this item brought my total to $50.04. I saved another 10% for reaching $50.00, and I paid $45.04 instead of $55.08 -- the cost of the clothing I wanted if I’d had to pay shipping and also hadn’t qualified for the additional 10% discount.

Coupon shoppers often remark that the filler item is “free” in a deal like this, because it’s usually something they didn’t intend to purchase, but buying the filler item saved them more money than not buying it would. I certainly didn’t go to this retailer’s site specifically to buy dog waste bags, but financially, it was the filler item that made the most sense financially. (I have a dog, so I’ll certainly use the bags regardless.)

Here’s another example of a filler item. A local hardware store in my area regularly mails out coupons for $5.00 off a purchase of $25.00 or more. I went to the store to purchase some materials for a yard project, and my total was $24.12. Once again, I needed a small filler around .88 or so to hit the $25.00 mark and drop my total down to $20.00.

This hardware store sells loose nuts and bolts around the .25 mark, so I considered buying a few. Then I spotted a pallet of torn bags of mulch at the front of the store. These bags were marked down to just .50 each. I added two bags of mulch to bring my total to $25.12, used my coupon, and dropped the total for all of my items down to $20.12! The two bags of mulch were great filler items, considering the mulch usually sells for $2.99 per bag, and of course I went home and added it to my flowerbed too.

If you’re shopping a sale that involves a spending threshold, or you’re using a dollars-off coupon that requires you to reach a specific amount before qualifying for the additional savings, here are my favorite tips for finding a great filler item:

1. Look for an item as close in price to the dollar amount you must reach. When you figure in your additional savings, it doesn’t really matter exactly what item you select, only that it qualifies you for the additional savings, which is greater than the cost of the item itself.

2. If you find multiple items that would qualify as fillers, then you’re free to select the one that best suits your needs. However, don’t disqualify an item simply because it’s something you would not use. Reaching the greatest dollar savings is the goal when using a filler.