TRU clearance & rewards benefits

If you shop at TRU I think it's a good idea to sign up for their rewards program. They send a few emails every week so it could be considered too spammy, but they send a lot of coupons and I learn about clearance sales I'd miss without the email notifications. Every so often they send me a rewards certificate for up to $5 off any purchase (even when I don't spend much in a quarter). I don't chase these rewards so I don't know what it takes to earn them. You can also sign up for eReceipts, which I'll explain in more detail at the end of this post.

Sometimes TRU coupons only apply to items already marked on clearance, which is a bummer if everything on clearance is a dud you don't want. There's a difference between clearance and on sale. Some of their coupons only work with regular price items so it won't stack on a sale price. Check the coupon's fine print to determine if it's worth the ink and drive to the store.

This week TRU sent out a 20% off coupon for clearance toys along with an ad offering Novi Stars dolls for $5. I like it when sales math is simple, that meant a Novi doll cost $4 with the coupon. They sent the email at 6:10 AM on January 8th and the $5 sale was good for one day only: January 8th. This is another reason to check TRU's fine print!

I've been watching the Novi dolls at TRU for several months, waiting for the price to drop. These dolls were clearanced at places like Target last year but my TRU kept them on the shelf at $15 until now. Needless to say I printed the coupon and headed out the door.

Here is the clearance sale notice as it appeared in my inbox:

I added the smilies & captions to this screenshot with Skitch, a free iPad app.

I was waiting for the price to drop but I didn't expect it to get this low at TRU. Sometimes I miss out on a doll if I wait too long but this reminds me why it often pays to wait.

Now I can pop her head off and put it on the green witch Monster High CAM body. My trio of Novi Monsters will soon be complete! (Una Verse and Mae Tallick were found on clearance at Target and Ross last year. They are also using Monster High clothes and CAM bodies.)

Her hair bow is made from hair.

The new clearance price at TRU for these Novi dolls is $7.98, which isn't bad at all. (The $5 price was a one day special but the 20% coupon is good until the 11th -- 20% off $7.98 is still a solid deal for a doll that originally cost $20.) I have the three I want from the 2012 first wave but I might buy some of the cool 2013 Novis for 8 bucks if they ever show up around here -- I'm not expecting that to happen.

Una would also look great with Abbey's blue body

Fashion Pups

Since the 20% off coupon applied to all clearance items in one purchase it made sense to look around and see what else was on clearance. I was tempted by the color changing spa day Alexis, she's the one Liv doll TRU has held at $20 ever since the Liv line was discontinued two years ago. They clearanced all other Liv dolls dirt cheap long ago but this Alexis lingered on the shelves at $20 forever! Kinda funny. She is finally marked down to $8 so I was tempted, but then...

I saw the Cutie Pops Fashion Pups were on clearance, $25 down to $13! (Plus another 20% off with the coupon, so she ended up costing me $10.38 to be specific.)

For some reason the older Cutie Pops weren't even on sale, but the relatively new Fashion Pups were marked to move at a clearance price. OK then! Dalia moved right into my cart.

Check out the cute puppy pops on her hair bows

New shoe style, I like it

Her closed eyes are black with dark pink rainbow hearts

Something seems different about the art and the actual doll, hmmmmm...
I complained about the color change a few months ago, I still like the doll.

On the way home I remembered the Crown Cuties still haven't shown up at my TRU. The Toybox Philosopher reviewed these dolls last September so they've been available for at least 5 months.

Missing from all local stores!

The other stores in town stopped carrying Cutie Pops last summer, only TRU had the Hattitude and Fashion Pups dolls (Fall 2013). The two Crown Cuties didn't even make it to my TRU. This isn't a good sign and I wanted the blue haired doll. They're available for $17 on Target.com with a "not sold in stores" tag. I'm reluctant to buy these dolls online due to problems with quality control (I can be picky) so I'll probably go without the blue princess. Maybe someday the Crown Cuties will show up at discount stores like Ross or Tuesday Morning.

eReceipts from TRU

TRU offers eReceipts, which you sign up for by logging into your TRU Rewards account online. I digitally erased some info from this eReceipt, the original eReceipt shows store location, total paid, rewards ID number, etc. It can be used to return anything to the store. 

The receipt is emailed minutes after purchase, it looks like it landed in my inbox before I left the parking lot. I hope in the future more stores offer eReceipts. I'm pretty careful with receipts but every so often I throw one out and then later realize I need it to return something. As a little bonus, TRU included a coupon for 15% off any regular price item with the receipt. I probably won't use it this time but it's appreciated.

Thrift stores have been a dead zone as far as dolls are concerned, just a lot of junk -- or some stuff that's decent but overpriced in my opinion. I think over the last few months I found just one thrift doll, a Liv Alexis in a pretty light blue dress (no wig or shoes or any other accessories). She still needs a bath and her dress could use a cleaning as well.

So that's my dolly news, thanks for stopping by. :)