I’ve been looking for “deals” on Zyrtec since it became an over the counter (OTC) medication just over a year ago. I’d been on it for a few years as a prescription medication, and the out-of-pocket expense going from an Rx co-pay to full price wasn’t exactly budget friendly. The average price of Zyrtec in my area is $1 per dose, or $30 a month.
At first there were frequent coupons and deals for Zyrtec, and even more for its competition, Claritin. DH uses Claritin, so we stockpiled it at free or nearly free prices with coupons and special offers. Zyrtec has been a bit trickier to find great deals on, especially as summer, and allergy season deals, were replaced with winter and cold medication deals. Every deal has it’s season, and allergy products typically don’t attract additional customers during the winter, so sales and coupons wait for runny noses and watery eyes to emerge once again.
March has come…and the makers of Zyrtec are hoping to capture the early allergy market. The Sunday paper started with coupons for $4 off. When there is a great coupon in the paper, I check the other coupons, and if there is enough value to more than cover the cost of a paper ($1.50), I’ll buy extra copies at the grocery store. So, I stocked up on coupons with six papers.
This week, Acme is running a special on Zyrtec, with a 30 count bottle marked down to $18.99. Not great, but with the $4 coupon, it’s down to $14.99, or less than 50 cents a dose. At this price I would usually just buy one bottle and wait for a better deal. But Acme added a “Buy $30 of xxx products and receive a $10 coupon for your next purchase”. And I already had a $10 coupon for my next purchase from a previous week. So:
two bottles of Zyrtec (60 doses), on sale for $38.98
-2 $4 off coupons ($8)
-$10 coupon
TOTAL: $20.98
This works out to 35 cents per dose; if I factor in the $10 coupon I received for making the purchase, the cost per dose comes down to 18 cents (a savings of 82% from the normal price).
The deal is still running, so I decided to pick up one more bottle, and purchase Viactiv to complete the deal. The usual price on Viactiv is $8.99, but it is on sale for $5.99, and I have two $2 coupons for it. I still had the $10 on my next purchase from the previous sale, so:
One bottle of Zyrtec (30 dose) for $18.99
-$4 coupon
Two boxes of Viactiv for $5.99 each ($11.98)
-two $2 coupons ($4)
-$10 coupon
TOTAL: $13.97
And I received another $10 on your next purchase coupon. J
If you are looking for a deal on Zyrtec and don’t have an Acme or Albertsons in your area, Costco is also offering a $5 coupon for Zyrtec this month. The 75 dose is $32.59, which would be $27.59 after coupon (37 cents per dose). I will check that out next time I am there.
Zyrtec also offers a “try it” guarantee, refunding the full price of one package up to 14 doses, which can be found at this link:
Zyrtec
