BUYING/SELLING COUPONS: I’ve noticed that a lot of coupon sites are telling people to order coupons online and listing coupon clipping services & ebay links for certain coupons. I personally have ordered coupons from E-Bay on many occassions. I’ve even listed links to buy coupons off E-Bay on my site before. But after TLC’s new show Extreme Couponing started I did some research and have come to the conclusion that it is NOT honest to order/sell coupons online. While doing my research online I came across this article from the CIC (Coupon Information Corporation).
-They address this issue when they list ways to protect yourself from fraud. Here is what they say…
You can protect yourself from fraud by:
Never paying money for coupons. This includes buying coupons from companies/individual who “sell the service of clipping coupons”instead of the coupons themselves. (Think about it, you really ARE BUYING the coupons, yet the business will insist you’re not. Does that make any sense? Does it inspire your trust? Do you really want to provide them with your financial information?)
*So you will notice when you go to purchase coupons from E-Bay or Online Coupon Clipping Services they say you are paying for their time of finding/cutting the coupons and not for the coupons themselves. The CIC makes it clear that you ARE in fact paying for the coupon, which makes it void. If you read on the bottom of most coupons you will find that they say not valid if purchased, transferred, or copied.
(Clearly you can see how this is considered fraud under these questions on this site)
-Can I sell My Extra Coupons?
-What About Selling “The Service of Clipping Coupons” or an envelope that “Just happens to contain coupons”?
-Can I Buy Coupons?
-How Can I Avoid Getting Counterfeit Coupons?
-Did you know that stores DO NOT have to accept coupons that have been purchased. How will they know? If you come in with a huge stack of coupons for the same item that are gang cut it’s a dead giveaway that you’ve probably purchased them online, since this makes them void the store does not have to accept them. Also the more I got to thinking about purchasing coupons online the more I realized how unethical it really is. For one there are certain coupons offered in certain areas for a reason. Also I highly doubt that manufacturers want consumers to have access to unlimited amounts of coupons for their products. Eventually the selling of coupons or “time to cut coupons” will result in lower values offered on coupons, stronger limits on coupons, and eventually little to no coupons.
-Wondering what this has to do with you or how it affects you, check out these two questions (scroll down towards bottom of the page)
*What are the penalties for coupon fraud?
*Why Should I care?
-Read how the CIC feels about TLC’s new Extreme Couponing Show here. Obviously there wouldn’t be so much uproar and negative feedback about the show if it WAS realistic.
*I will NOT be posting links/sites where you can buy/sell coupons. I encourage everyone to STOP buying/selling coupons online, now that we know it is wrong, and to support honest couponing.
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