We’re always trying to look for a discount or everyday items or cheaper versions of brand-name items that don’t compromise on quality. Or at least I do. I was reading the label on a pack of 60 Starbucks-branded Nespresso pods at Costco that cost $46.99 when a middle-aged man walked up to me.
“I buy mine on Amazon, only 50¢ per pod,” he said.
“Really? Is it Nespresso or is it off-brand?” I asked.
“No difference to me,” he shrugged. “Taste the same, just thought I’d help you save some money.”
I thanked the man and left the pods where I found them. While Keurig dominates over 90% of the North American coffee pod market, Nestlé’s Nespresso and Dolce Gusto are by far the largest players in Europe. Drinking Nespresso is a taste I acquired from Switzerland when I lived just a 40-minute drive from the Nestlé headquarters and an hour from the Nespresso coffee factory. Pods cost less than €0.30 each. It’s a staple in every home and every office, the go-to Christmas gift for acquaintances, and the most well-known Swiss drink. I guess I’m allowed to miss a home that was never my own.
Later that evening, I went home to search for Nespresso-compatible pods. Sure enough, I came across Rosso Caffè selling mega 120-pod variety packs for just $57. I bought them and they arrived the next day. The non-Nespresso pods tasted fine to me.
Only the US option works… 
…but it’ll also show Canadian options???
I searched around the box it came in and found a discount coupon that offered “up to 50% off.” I tried to enter the URL into my web browser but a 404 error came up. After contacting their support line (and they got back to me within hours), I tried the new link. Still, the new link refused to work. The support team told me that if I had used the discount before, it would not work. But that was not the case for me.
Dissatisfied, I gave it another go, this time clicking on the “United States” option instead of the “Canada” option… and it worked! All I had to do was click Amazon.ca next to make sure I got the code for the right website. I spun the wheel and only got 15%.
I used to work with a team of web developers, so I know a few tricks up my sleeve to circumvent IP or session tracking cookies without clearing my cache. I opened an incognito window and tried again. To my delight, I could try multiple times with the same email without the system locking me out. All I needed to do was to open a new incognito window for each attempt.
After 50 attempts, I got 15% off 40 times, 20% off 5 times, and 25% off 5 times as well. I can’t say whether it’s impossible to get 50%, but my 50 attempts show it’s certainly difficult. Happy with my 25% off, I went back to Amazon to make a second purchase of $42.75.
What’s the discount code? Well, wouldn’t you like to know? Run your own experiments to earn it.
