“Reusable” 10% Off Best Buy Coupon

Note: This is really for United States residents only.

It’s not often that I buy stuff in stores because I can normally find the same item for much less online. I do, however, find myself turning to Best Buy on the rare occasion that I can’t fulfill my gadget addiction over the Internet.

Just a few months ago we moved from Iowa to Illinois, and when notifying the United States Postal Service (USPS) we received some coupons online. Among them was a Best Buy coupon that was 10% off of a single item from the categories I’ve listed below. Huh, I thought it was a pretty good deal since the coupon didn’t expire for about two-months.

Then I noticed that this particular coupon, like most others, was merely an image. The URL of the coupon is:

https://moversguide.usps.com/img/coupon/bestbuy/200804_clientarea.gif

The first thing that popped into my head was that part of the filename for the image is just the year followed by the month. In this case the 200804 represents April, 2008. As it turns out the URL of the image changes from month-to-month almost like clockwork. So the next time you’re looking to buy something from Best Buy check to see whether this coupon applies to you, and adjust the URL to represent the current month. USPS might be changing the URL as more people start to catch on, but by modifying the URL I can see that they’ve been using this structure for nearly a year.

For those of you who have a hard time reading the fine print here is a nice structured list of the things the coupon is valid for:

* Home Theater:
o TV’s $399 & up
o DVD players and recorders
o Blu-ray Disc & HD DVD Players
o Home Audio
o Audio and video accessories
o Furniture $99 & up
o Home Theater installation
o Also valid at Magnolia Home Theater
* Computer Accessories:
o DVD-RW drives
o Flash and external hard drives
o Printers $149 & up
o Scanners $99 & up
o Networking
o Speakers, mice, and keyboards
o PC cameras and gaming controllers
o Digital recorders $99 & up
o Surge protectors
o Flash memory
o Cables
o Graphic and sound cards
o Software
o Blank media
o Ink cartridges
o Printer Docks
o Paper
* Digital Cameras & Camcorders:
o Digital cameras $249 & up
o Camcorders $279 & up
o Digital camera accessories
o Camcorder accessories
o Blank media
o Camcorder batteries
o Premium photo services
o Digital photo frames
o Photo gifts
o Prepaid Best Buy Photo Center Gift Cards
o Batteries
* MP3 Players & Car Electronics:
o MP3 accessories
o GPS hardware
o Car audio
o Satellite radio hardware
o Musical instruments
o CD/DVD storage
o Toys
* Phones & Accessories:
o Pay-as-you-go phones
o Cordless phones
o Answering machines
o Landline and cellular phone accessories
o Phone cards
o Two-way radios
* Major and Small Appliances & More:
o Vacuums
o Microwaves