Lulu coupon codes

I buy a lot of gaming books on Lulu (here’s my list of 85+ recommendations), and I can’t remember the last time I didn’t use a coupon code.

Like Steam, Lulu has taught me to never buy anything unless there’s a sale. I don’t know if it’s the healthiest business model, but there’s always a sale (and healthy or not, this model does prompt me to order more books on Lulu than I otherwise would).

For about six months there, it was the glorious LULURC, now sadly no longer working.^[1] They ran other coupons alongside that one, which seemed odd, but LULURC just kept on working.

Always-on coupons

I used to Google “lulu coupon code” before ordering, and poke through the first few links for codes to try. These days, I search on G+, or go through the last couple days of my stream, and find them that way — or I just try a few default options until one works.

Lulu likes to use the same taxonomy for coupon codes, so I always try these:

• LULU30
• LULU25
• GETIT25
• LULU15
• GETIT15

The number is the percentage off. 15% is my “floor” for placing an order, but if I can’t do better I generally wait for another coupon to roll around.

The taxonomy changes; the year used to be part of their mainstay coupons, until it wasn’t. But once you have a current coupon to work from, experiment with different numbers and variations and see what happens.

Lulu will also sometimes^[2] proactively email you a coupon if you sign in, put some books in your cart, close your browser window/tab, and wait a few hours.

Almost a corollary

I coined Lulu’s Law to describe what happens basically every time I place a Lulu order: I immediately hear about another book I should have ordered. (Once in a great while, I escape this curse, but not often.)

But I realized yesterday that there’s a corollary to that law, albeit a “soft” one: The same thing frequently applies to Lulu coupons. Use a sweet 25% off code? Lulu will put out a 30% off coupon the next day. Not always, but often enough to be noticeable.

And at the end of the day, that’s okay: I like Lulu. A lot.

I like the gaming books I can find there, including many that are only there. I like their customer service, which has had my back when I have an order issue (which is rare). I like that they offer an inexpensive shipping option, that their coupons around Christmas and Black Friday tend to be quite good, and that if I’m patient, a good coupon is just around the corner.

[1] All hail LULURC, may it long be remembered.

[2] Maybe always? I’ve only done it a couple times, by accident, so I’m not sure.