Why is CVS so expensive?

[nile455]

Why do they feel the need to charge a significantly higher price for the same brand products as Walgreens or Rite Aid? And the better question is, why do so many people shop there? I mean every dang thing is more expensive there, and by a pretty big percentage.

 

[JARNJ3]

I only buy things on sale there......

I tend to use drugstore.com my most of my CVS-like purchases!

Free shipping when you spend a certain amount - and they give you a rebate per quarter to use toward your next shipment!

Some of those prices though are a little high.

We've got to be educated consumers in this day and age!!!!!

 

[npmommie]

go over to the budget board and check out the CVS ECB thread...........many pay 0 for items at CVS. Just get an ECB card, buy whats on sale that you use and get ECB's roll them next time you go do the same thing and after that you end up paying very minimal out of pocket.

 

[kydisneyfans]

25% of what I use in my home is from CVS, and I spent less than $100.00 total last year to get it, saving over $1,900. The budget board threads explain it well. If you walk in to do regular shopping, they are high. If you are shopping for sale items, using coupons, redeeming extrabucks, and so forth, you cannot beat the deals to be found there.

 

[Nynaeve]

I used to think, why shop there, Walmart has the same thing for so much cheaper. But like others have said, you can get great deals when you buy their sale items, use their ECB and coupons. I've gotten many items for free or dirt cheap, and I only shop there sometimes. The threads on the budget board really helped me, they are CVS experts.

 

[Ariel Mae]

Competition, I bet.

Though, they have rather decent sales, I would rather go to Walgreens, any day.

 

[JVL1018]

I never noticed they were higher. Oops.
I prefer CVS to Walgreens or Rite Aid because the store is nicer.
I go to Walgreens more often because they're closer, but CVS is my favorite.
Plus they have Hallmark cards.

 

[missypie]

There is a CVS in the basement of my office buildling. I walk past it twice a day. Can't beat it for convenience.

 

[Crankyshank]

I never noticed. Around here CVS is much nicer, with a much better selection, than Rite Aid or Walgreens.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Many perceive CVS to be more expensive and if you are walking in, picking any item off the shelf and paying ticket price then you are right, they are more expensive. However, if you shop the sales, do not shop for the regular priced items, and take advantage of their extra care program and coupons, it is significantly cheaper than any other store.

For example, this week alone I have purchased over $120 worth of stuff - Excedrin, aspirin, dish soap, toothpaste, shampoo, and more for a whopping $0.90 out of my pocket. My girlfriend thought I was lying too until I showed her my receipt to prove it. Now I have hooked her up and gotten her to "see the light" She did her 1st transactions there this week and is already ahead of the game about $18 by using the extra care program to her advantage.

 

[PatsMom]

I shop at CVS because with the ECB's and buying what is on sale I get lots of free or really cheap stuff. But I've been known to go to Rite Aid too (no Walgreens in town yet). I read all the sale flyers and pretty much DD and I spend Sunday doing our shopping. We go to CVS, Rite-Aid, the outlet stores just to see what's new on clearance, Hannaford for groceries that aren't on sale and Shaw's for groceries that are on sale there. Fortunately we like to shop! Last week she got three free Maybelline eyeshadows at CVS (actually because I had coupons I made $3 on them). Combining coupons with the CVS sales and ECB's really saves a ton a money. I periodically have to clean out my stash of toothpaste and deodorant and donate to a homeless shelter. And asking for a Tylenol at my house is an adventure - regular or extra strenght? Arthritis? Rapid release? Capsule? Tablet? Take your pick, I think I have them all!

 

[momrek06]

In my town there is a CVS, Wal-green's and a Rite Aid all right next to each other...take your pick.

I prefer Wal-green's, they have many specials in the Sunday paper plus the EasySaver booklet and they have a huge parking lot.

Our CVS is new but the parking lot is a joke (too small). Rite Aid used to be Brooks and it is old and outdated inside and out.

 

[PatsMom]

In my town there is a CVS, Wal-green's and a Rite Aid all right next to each other...take your pick.

I prefer Wal-green's, they have many specials in the Sunday paper plus the EasySaver booklet and they have a huge parking lot.

Our CVS is new but the parking lot is a joke (too small). Rite Aid used to be Brooks and it is old and outdated inside and out.

My Mom lives in a town that has a Walgreens but no CVS nearby. She is really jealous that I have a CVS because there is no waiting for the ECB's like you have to for the Easy Saver stuff from Walgreens. Although she gets hers on the gift card so she gets the extra 10%. We have a Walgreens opening in the spring and DH is terrified that I'll start getting more free stuff because we run out of room. That is when I sort out and donate things to a food pantry - they always can use toiletry items (anything that can't be bought with food stamps is in really big demand).

 

[CJBaby]

Is there a 'CVS deals for dummies' part of a thread? The CVS threads are Chinese to me!

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Is there a 'CVS deals for dummies' part of a thread? The CVS threads are Chinese to me!

Some basic info from our 1st post (remember this is an old posting so not real sale items for now):
You can sign up for your Extra Care Card by asking for one in the stores or clicking on this link: http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gateway/extracarehome and signing up online (usually takes up to 2 weeks to get your card in the mail vs. starting immediately in the store). You can also reads terms & rules on same website.

Basically the card works like all the grocery stores. You need the card to get advertised sales. But you can also earn Extra Care Bucks (ECB's) by purchasing certain products. Quarterly, you earn a flat 2% on all sales but certain products are advertised as getting back ECB's and these products either cost little or end up free, sometimes you can even make money. For example this week Viactiv Viatimins are on sale for $5.99 and they are offering $5.99 back in ECB's so the item is free. Usually these specials are limited to 1 or 5 offers meaning you can only buy that many and still get back ECB's.

You can use mfg. coupons on top of sale prices, even if they are giving you back ECB's for the full amount of the product. So using the Viactiv example above, if you have a coupon like the one from Sundays paper of $1.00 off you can use it at the time of purchase and after ECB's you will have a $1.00 profit.

Your ECB's print immediately after the initial transaction on your receipt. IF it does not print generally you did not purchase the right item - wrong size, wrong brand, wrong pill count, something is off. Sometimes it is because CVS programmed the computer wrong or they are having a glitch.

Your 1st sale or even your 1st couple depending on what you purchase are usually the big cost. After that you roll your existing ECB's onto you next purchase and paying nothing or very little. The last couple transactions I have had ended up costing me OOP around .11 and .38 after using ECB's and I will be replenishing those ECB's with what I bought.

You will not get change back from ECB's so make sure you use all of it when spending. If you purchasing 2 separate items (like deodorant & shampoo) that have ECB's on them you will get back 2 separate ECB's - 1 for each item. BUT using again the Viactiv example from above - limit is 5 - if you purchase 5 in 1 shot, you will get back 1 ECB for 29.95 so if you want smaller increments, spread your transactions out over the week. Same items purchased in the same day are grouped into 1 ECB.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

You have obviously thought very long and hard about this. Cheers to you for doing so well with those ECB's! Thanks for the info, I think I'll stick to one card for now. How do you avoid buying things you don't need?

I don't

CVS is my catch all store and I purchase BOTH things I need and do not need. I actually just introduced my GF last night to ECB's and went with her for her 1st trip. You need to retrain your thinking. I explained to her that in order to MAXIMIZE your savings sometimes you will NEED to "purchase" things because they are free or money makers or in order to roll your extra care bucks. For example (her startup purchases):

$13.98 - Excedrin x2
$3.99 - Garnier Fructis
$3.58 - CVS Aspirin x2
= 21.55
-4/20
-4 excedrin mfgs
= 13.56

She got back 10, 3.99, and 3.58 in ECB's = $17.57 in ECB's to roll = profit of $4.01 over out of pocket expense.

Took that and purchased
$19.99 glucose monitor ($19.99 ECB back)
$1.79 CVS Aspirin ($1.79 ECB back)
=21.78
-4/20 printable
-9.99 mfg
= 7.79 out of pocket expense - use $3.99 & $3.58 ECB's from above and actually pay $0.22 out of pocket

She got back 19.99 & 1.79 in ECB's

She now has the $10 ECB from #1, $19.99 & $1.79 from #2 = $31.79 in ECB's to roll into her next deal and OOP expense was only $13.78. That is an $18 profit you can put into things you do use every day.

Now my GF will use the shampoo, aspirin, and excedrin. She won't use the glucose monitor. I explained that I keep a box in the closet by my front door. Things I will not use, try, or have an excess of go right into that box. When the box is full I pick a place and donate it - Senior Center, homeless shelter, battered womens shelter, kids school drives, red cross, etc. CVS enables me to donate WAY more than I had been able to in the past and save money. I make up care baskets - shampoos, conditioner, makeup, etc. for gifts.

 

[Todd&Copper]

CVS is so expensive b/c they have to make back some of the $$$ they lose to all of these ECB-ers!

 

[It's A Happy Day]

CVS is so expensive b/c they have to make back some of the $$$ they lose to all of these ECB-ers!

Funny you say that Did you know statistically only about 10% of CVS shoppers utilize the extra care bucks. Seriously, they are not losing money from it, they make a steady customer and get reimbursed $$$ from the mfg coupons used from those companies.

 

[CJBaby]

Remember, "dummy" here. What exactly does the ecb say? Is it a printout that says like $1 and then works like money for your next purchase?

 

[Liberty Belle]

I don't think their items are more expensive than Walgreen's or Rite Aid's, at least here. My local CVS has awesome clearances. I just bought a little Shark vaccum there for $10. Wait, I used a $2 coupon (generated by their computer), so I only spent $8.