Ulta GWPs

[itscarin]

This thread will be for Ulta GWPs only.  Share ulta promos here.  

Please do NOT post requests for the spreadsheet in this thread.  Please post requests for the Ulta GWP google spread sheet in this thread: http://community.sephora.com/t5/Off-Topic/Ulta-GWP-Google-Spreadsheet-Request-Thread/m-p/2753063#M11...

A list of in store coupons is here: https://community.sephora.com/t5/Savvy-Shoppers/Ulta-GWP-Coupons-no-chatter/td-p/3866521

Let's keep this thread on topic!

Ulta points refresher (because yes, it is that complicated):

Spoiler

Item #1 - $53.50

Item #3 - $108.50 (and is eligible for a certain item/brand 5x multiplier)

* There is also a 5x all purchase multiplier and you are platinum so you get 1.25x

Total Spent - $162

Base Points Earned - 162

Platinum .25x Earned - 41 (162 * .25 = 40.5, and rounding up)

5x All Purchases Earned - 648 (it ends up being 4x because you don't count the base points)

5x Item/Brand Earned - 434

Total Points Earned - 1285

Links are not allowed.  In lieu of links, please read this:

Spoiler

Please add product id numbers and sku numbers so people can find items on ulta.  

Just to clarify, there is an item number that Ulta lists on the website, right under the picture of the item.

The product id is the number given to the item in the URL.  So Ulta's site follows this formula of having the url and then the very last part of the url is "productId=xlsImpprod" followed by an 8 digit number.  If you use that "productId" number you can get to the page of any item on ulta. 

It's not a search, but the direct url to the page. 

Click on any product, and then view the url in the address bar.  It will look like this: ulta's website (not using the actual domain because BT admins don't like that) /prep-prime-fix?productId=xlsImpprod15921204  Replace the 8 digit product id of the item you want to see with the id of the product you're looking for.

My very unofficial Ulta point multiplier to approximate percent discount chart:

(This is a number where I use the multiplier to divide by 2000 to see how many dollars I would have to spend in order to redeem a $125 reward.  E.g. 2000 points divided by 1 point multiplier means I have to spend $2000 to get the $125 reward.  Adding how much I had to spend ($2000) + the reward ($125), and then using the reward ($125) to divide the total purchase ($2125), I get a discount of approximately 6% based on the total purchase.  Note: the total purchase is based on the concept that you are spending just enough to reach the next $125 reward and combines the reward value with how much money you had to spend to get that reward.

Spoiler

Multiplier	1	1.25	1.5	2	2.25	2.5	3	3.25	3.5	4	4.25	4.5	5	7.25	7.5	8	8.25	8.5	9	9.25	9.5	10	10.25	10.5
Spend	2000	1600	1333	1000	889	800	667	615	571	500	471	444	400	276	267	250	242	235	222	216	211	200	195	190
Points	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000	2000
Redeem	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125	125
Total Purchase	2125	1725	1458	1125	1014	925	792	740	696	625	596	569	525	401	392	375	367	360	347	341	336	325	320	315
Discount	6%	7%	9%	11%	12%	14%	16%	17%	18%	20%	21%	22%	24%	31%	32%	33%	34%	35%	36%	37%	37%	38%	39%	40%

[AmberKM]

If I hadn't already bought that lipgloss vault with my last coupon I'd be grabbing one.  It actually is a really nice set for the money.  Especially for sale price plus a coupon.

[Alicehoopz]

I just wanted to pop in here and say I had great luck combining this with Google Express! I'm on a low-buy (or I was before this and the Sephora JCPenney sale LOL) so I didn't want to spend $50 on stuff I don't really need. But my GF loves the Nars RCC..and I know she's low on it. I bought it on Google Express (via Ulta) where I had a 20% off promotion pop up - made it $24 before tax. It's already shipped and I did indeed get 10x points (on the $30 price!) Just make sure you have your Ulta # in at the screen before checkout!

Tbh I didn't trust this to work but it did - no problems whatsoever (well, pending delivery *knock on wood*).

Also seriously - check out SiJCP if you have one nearby. The associates at mine didn't even know the sale was ongoing - 3 full size KVD liners for $11 😱😱 okok back to my low buy 😅

[Luvstravel]

@Alicehoopz, you are so correct about the Sephora in JcPenney! I went into my local one and bought the GlamGlow set that came out at Christmas for $49, it was $14.40 !!!!! They had only 2 left, so a friend will get the other. Then they had the Sephora brush set in the lip shaped bag for $14.

[muddlepup]

I have a question that I hope one can answer... you hit 2000 points worth $125.... do you have to redeem the whole amount at once to receive the full value?

[RGbrown]

@muddlepup

You can redeem them in most any quantity you want, but if you want the biggest bang for your buck (or points lol), yes, you want to spend 2000 points at a time.

You could also spend 1000 at a time, twice, for a total value of $100 (1000pts = $50) and so on and so forth. The fewer points you use at a time, the less valuable they become. At the lowest end of the scale, 100pts = $3, which would net you $60 in value if you redeemed 100pts over 20 transactions.

[muddlepup]

Thank you @RGbrown ! I had a feeling! Can I use my points to buy a gift card?

[itscarin]

@muddlepup If you look at the ulta terms and conditions page, you'll see this:

4. Gift cards.

Points cannot be used towards the purchase of gift cards.

[muddlepup]

Dang!😫

[howconnie]

I’d been waiting for the 10x to purchase some essentials but the purchases to get the discount are so narrow. No whole brands are included just specific products, No skin serums or devices, Sephora favorites is a better deal for fragrance, what a let down. All the products are grossly overpriced full priced items and insignificant gwp. 

Better to buy buy Lancôme and Estée Lauder from Macy’s doing a gift with purchase. Ulta puts drugstore brands on sale way cheaper than this. Also UD has a better deal than 10x the points on their page, I’m wondering if I can beat this deal by going to company pages throughout the year. My instinct is to pass. Yep I’ll pass and if this keeps up I don’t need platinum much less diamond.

[NatureGirlSD]

I hear you! I'm only grabbing a few OPI polishes that actually already wanted, which will bump me up from 1700 points to the magical 2000. Now to just gather up any GWP's I might have missed.

[RGbrown]

Several years ago (from what I've read; I wasn't shopping Ulta then), the 10x promos were much more inclusive, but then Ulta tightened them up to "select" items a couple of years back.

The one in August had more items than the one today IIRC. But...we didn't have one at all in March last year, so for all intents and purposes, this is a brand new event this year and should be viewed as a welcome expansion of perks, even if the selection is a bit of a letdown. Is it the best promo ever? Nah. But it's still one more event than we had.

You can't really compare a Sephora Favorites set to a full size perfume though, whether you buy that perfume at Ulta or anywhere else IMHO.

$200 spent at Ulta today (on a sad list of select items, yes) equals $125 to spend later. $200 spent at Sephora today (on that same sad list of select items, or anything else Sephora offers, really...) equals points for 2 deluxe samples. No comparison there.

I think I'd prefer some extra points over a dept store GWP, but that's just my preference...I typically use so little out of those GWP bags that I'd rather pick out my own freebies by spending my points later on. Again, just my preference...I know lots of folks love those bags!

By all means, if there's nothing on the list you want or can use, then don't buy. I'm passing myself, at least for now...still mulling a few things lol. But 10x points is roughly 62.5% back to spend later, so if anything on the list is calling your name, it's worth considering a purchase with that sort of return...that 62.5% can get you points to buy something else you need at a later date (hold out for a 20% q too!) that isn't included in today's multiplier.

Taking advantage of big multipliers basically means "buying points"; that isn't always a deal for everyone since it takes some cash OOP, but it can be a very nice deal to those that have a use for the items on the list and are willing to play the points game. 🙂

[howconnie]

If I have purchased $200 at 10x the points it’s a 65% savings but I could only find about $40 to $70.

The bottle of perfume I looked at was Prada candy or Gucci bamboo The bottle cost about $70 and I would get about $24 in points for later, that’s 30% off. Seems pretty good but Sephora favorites is $65 off of $128 for perfume 48% off, also I get  a $84 bottle of perfume, for $65 that 30% off today plus get a whole new spring perfume wardrobe and a red Giorgio Armani lipstick. Sephora perfume sets sometimes have $200 worth of perfume for $65. Since I know I want to buy spring perfume the Sephora Favorites is a better values apples to apples. 

Estée Lauder and Lancôme always put my favorite colors in the gift each season. Their lipstick is $30 each, and an eyeshadow palette is $50; the gift will come with two full size lipsticks and an eyeshadow palette plus samples of skincare with a purchase of foundation so for a $40 foundation purchase I get a $100 gift so that’s a 70% savings. 

I want to make my purchase in store so no ebates or other online deals 

[itscarin]

The thing about the sephora favorites perfume sets is that you have to like that one fragrance.  While there are sometimes deals to be had there they also sometimes include a "booby prize" which would be like a $48 bottle of perfume.  You're right that if you like Bvlgari there are good deals to be had in that set though.  😄

[itscarin]

Wow Ulta is not handling this well.  They're telling me it's a typo and platinum members are supposed to get 5x and diamond members are supposed to get 10x.

It's not a typo.  I've got receipts! @RGbrown @quetzalina

[RGbrown]

@itscarin

:shakes head:

Hang up, call back and get a different rep, one that can read. Or my favorite way to contact them is via email. That way you can send a screenshot of the offer and hopefully have fewer issues in conjunction with your visual backup.

I was in awe of the Google Express comment (seriously, how did I forget about that??), but the headache of having to follow up and getting an asinine response like that makes settling for my paltry 10x totally worth it (if I even buy anything lol) 😛 

(plus, discount gift cards and cashback from Ulta direct help make up for the GE discount...not quite a complete wash, but they make the gap much narrower)

[itscarin]

@RGbrown You just reminded me I have like $70 in an ulta GC lying around somewhere.  I think it's almost better to spend it right away than to try and save it because the chances that I lose the GC are high!

The first customer rep I spoke with said she was crediting me the points, but we didn't discuss how many points.  I thought it was a no-brainer that it was going to be 10x.  Then I saw it was not 10x.

When I spoked to customer rep #2 she told me that was a typo and the email should read that platinum gets 5x and diamond gets 10x.  Coulda-woulda-shoulda, but it doesn't.  It says 10x for platinum and diamond in the email, and in the offers section.

That's more than a typo.  A typo is something that happens once and happens does not change the meaning of the message.  Tihs is a typo.  2+2=5 is not a typo.  That's an error.  Their mistake appears in two separate places: in an email, and on the website when you go to activate your points.  Someone's asleep at the wheel over there!  It's just not clear and consistent messaging.  

The 5x ABH offer that appeared twice in the offers is a mistake.  I get the sense that the customer service team wasn't apprised that this is supposed to be 10x for platinum and diamond.

I mean, it would kind of suck if diamond got 10x and that's what platinum is accustomed to.  If they wanted to give diamond extra perks, that's cool, but when they start cutting into platinum perks that's when they're going to start losing people the way sephora has.  

[Ispend2much6]

@itscarin  Totally true.

[RGbrown]

---

@itscarinwrote:

I mean, it would kind of suck if diamond got 10x and that's what platinum is accustomed to.  If they wanted to give diamond extra perks, that's cool, but when they start cutting into platinum perks that's when they're going to start losing people the way sephora has.  

---

This is exactly my sentiment. Platinum is used to being at the top of the totem pole, and Ulta has been very generous with Platinum offers in the past. Yanking all of that out from under our feet is going to be a horrible move, and I sincerely hope it's not one they are planning on making. Yes, Diamond needs more perks than Platinum, but they need to be in addition to existing Platinum perks, and not artificially created by simply doing away with Platinum deals.

I think this will be a tough transition year for Ulta...there will be some Diamond Perks, but hopefully they don't feel like they can pull to many Platinum Perks along they way. Next year will be the real test of what they start offering as Platinum vs Diamond perks, to see how Ulta values the new difference in levels. I just hope Platinum doesn't get shafted in the process.

I would have been absolutely fine with something like "5x Plat/10x Diamond/2x everyone else" if that's how had been advertised. Diamond should get better perks now that it's a new level. But...it wasn't, anywhere, so you are absolutely right...regardless of whatever intention may have been in place when Ulta crafted this promo, several someones screwed up big time in creating all of the various graphics and emails and multipliers, so I too call BS on what that CS rep told you. Sounds almost like a CS supervisor can't read and is instructing his/her minions to answer incorrectly. Hopefully they get it all sorted out.

Did you get the correct points after all was said and done? And yeeesss, use that GC!

[itscarin]

@RGbrown Yes I did eventually get the right points, and a little on top!  I really don't know what was going on with CS because she said "Thank you for informing me of this mistake" like she was going to contact IT and close the loophole after our call, but I don't think this is a loophole.  I think there's a problem with IT and calculating the points.  Maybe the meant to only include one group of eyeshadow colors, and not the mermaid colors or the new ones.    

Spoiler

On an unrelated note, if you like math and hacking the system, you have to check out this article on huffington post about a couple from michigan: 

[ClassicallyFab]

I’ve been following along. Just want to say that @itscarin, I highly Respect your follow-through on getting the solution that you were owed. @RGbrown, as usual, great advice. You guys are awesome. 💖

[itscarin]

@ClassicallyFab Thanks!  Some people call it "follow-through"; some people call it "OCD"... I like your version better! 😂