3 Walmart Coupon Policy Changes That Are Bad News for Shoppers

We're replaying all our top Walmart couponing moments from the last six years like a highlight reel. Why? Because there are three new Walmart coupon policy updates that just happened — and they aren't great news for extreme couponers like us.

As of September 24, 2023, Walmart quietly introduced new language in their coupon policy fine print. This was actually the first time Walmart changed their coupon policy since November 2017.

While you'll still be able to score Walmart freebies using coupons, you'll no longer be able to coupon your way to Walmart moneymakers (where you end up with extra money in your pocket). Plus, a couple other changes impose new coupon limitations and stricter rules about which coupons will and won't be accepted at Walmart.

We dug through the fine print and pulled out the three major coupon policy changes from September 2023, plus a few tips for shopping and saving at Walmart under these new terms and conditions.

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1. Say goodbye to Walmart moneymakers — the new policy excludes coupon overages and cash back.

For more than a half a decade, using coupons to score moneymaker deals was one of the best ways to save at Walmart. We had a blast walking out of the store with more money than we walked in with. But sadly, earning cash on coupon overages at Walmart is now a thing of the past.

According to the updated Walmart coupon policy, Walmart no longer pays overages or gives cash back if the value of your coupon is more than the price of the item. So moving forward, the lowest Walmart price you can get with coupons is $0.

The Fine Print: "Walmart does not give cash back nor will any overages apply to the remaining items in the transaction if the value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item, including WIC and SNAP. The value of a coupon will be applied up to the price of the item and any excess value will not be applied to the transaction total."

2. You're now limited to four identical coupons per day at Walmart.

Walmart used to honor whatever limitations were printed on the coupon itself, regardless of how many identical coupons it allowed. Now, Walmart has a limit of four identical coupons per household, per day — unless a lower limit is stated on the coupon.

So, even if a specific coupon states a limit of six identical coupons, you'll get a hard decline at the Walmart register if you try to use more than four.

However, if the manufacturer coupon states a limit of two identical coupons per household per day, Walmart will only accept two identical coupons. Basically, they'll roll with the individual coupon limits unless more than four identical coupons are allowed.

The Fine Print: “Limit of 4 identical coupons per household, per day (unless otherwise noted on coupon).”

The upside? There's still no limit to the variety of coupons you can use in a single Walmart transaction. So as long as you're not using more than four of the same coupon, you can use as many different coupons as you'd like.

Related: We can help you learn how to understand all the confusing fine print on coupons.

3. If the register declines your coupon, a Walmart employee may not be able to override it.

Walmart's policy has long required your items to match the coupon description (same brand, size, quantity, color, flavor, etc.). In the past, they've always stated that unmatched coupons would simply be denied. But the addition of one word in the September 2023 update — "systematically" — has a huge impact.

Now, Walmart's policy says that unmatched coupons will be systematically denied, meaning that it's the register system that now decides whether the coupon is accepted or not. If the coupon isn't accepted by the register, an employee may not actually be able to override it to accept your coupon.

Previously, you could expect a certain level of flexibility if a legitimate coupon was declined at the register. If you made your case, a store manager could override the system and honor the manufacturer coupon anyway. Now, Walmart is seriously cracking down on this rule to prevent coupon abuse and fraud.

The Fine Print: "Items purchased must match the coupon description (brand, size, quantity, color, flavor, etc.). Acceptance of unmatched coupons is against policy and will be systematically denied."

Tips for shopping with the new Walmart coupon policy:

The Walmart store manager still has final say.

Despite these not-so-great coupon updates, one part of Walmart's policy remains the same — store managers have the final say.

But wait, didn't I just say that store managers won't be able to override the system when a coupon is denied? While it's true that the register will no longer prompt the employee to override the system, this fine print still appears at the end of the Walmart coupon policy:

The Fine Print: "Store Management has the final decision in taking care of the customer."

So even though Walmart's cracking down on coupon limitations, whether or not your coupon gets accepted is still left up to the manager. If you have a legitimate coupon that the register declines, speak to a manager and kindly ask if they'll honor your coupon anyway. Being friendly and understanding can go a long way!

You can still get Walmart moneymakers with Ibotta.

You may not be able to score Walmart moneymakers with manufacturer coupons alone, but you can still use the Ibotta app to bring prices down below $0.

Walmart has more Ibotta cash back offers available than any other retailer at any given time. So if there's a manufacturer coupon for $1 off Dove Body Wash, plus an Ibotta offer for $2 cash back at Walmart, you can stack both offers to save $3 total.

This can easily result in Walmart freebies and moneymakers without violating Walmart's new coupon policy.

Stack coupons on Walmart clearance items to bring the price as close to $0 as possible.

The key to scoring Walmart freebies is to use coupons on items with already low prices. One of the best places to look for deals like these is the Walmart clearance section.

We once saw a Walmart clearance deal on hand soap for $1. With a manufacturer coupon for $1 off, the price became $0!