I received a great question from one of our readers, Kris:
Sometime will you let us know how you know what coupons to buy off Ebay? You always seem to have the great ones on hand when there’s a great deal!
“Buying” coupons, or using a coupon clipping service, is a great way to stockpile food or household items that your family uses without having to buy multiple Sunday papers. The difficulty is knowing when to buy them, where to buy them, and how much to pay.
Keep in mind that I am using the term “buy” to mean “paying someone to collect, cut and send me coupons” because “buying” coupons makes the coupons void. I do not condone breaking the coupon law.
When should I buy coupons?
I buy when I find a great deal on a product my family uses.
A “great deal” to me is free, free with overage, or nearly free. When I find this type of deal on something we regularly use, I set out to buy 10-30 coupons, allowing me to create a healthy stockpile quickly. This requires me to know a store’s deals on the first day or two of the sale so I have enough time for the coupons to arrive in the mail. If it’s a Safeway or Albertsons deal and I only have seven days to complete it, I buy from a west coast seller on ebay by Thursday morning by the latest. There’s a woman from Tacoma, WA that I have used a few times. If it’s a Walmart deal or one from Safeway with an extended date, I look for the least expensive option on ebay.
I suggest you set up a paypal account now, before you are desperately looking for coupons, so you can quickly make your first purchase when you find a great deal.
I buy when the coupon has a high value.
High-dollar coupons often come out when a new product is released. Fantastic store sales will most definitely follow. Start thinking like a food product marketer. How would you draw consumers’ attention to your new product? High-dollar coupons, try-me-free deals, and lots of store sales. All I do is combine these marketing ploys and use them to my advantage.
The release of a high-dollar coupon on an existing, established product is also a signal that the company is perhaps trying to gain market share (think Kellogg’s cereal, Green Giant Steamers, Progresso Broth). Buy these coupons because a great store sales will be coming soon.
I buy for moneymaking “catalina” deals.
A few months ago, Glade Plug-ins ran a catalina deal at Safeway. Long story short, you made a few dollars with each set of Plug-ins when you used a BOGO manufacturer’s coupon. Once I learned of the deal, I immediately purchased 151 BOGO coupons from The Coupon Clippers. Between Rebecca, our friend, Kate & me, we made hundreds of dollars off this deal (and lots of stinky plug-ins).
I buy high-value coupons for dairy items.
I like to have yogurt and other perishable coupons in my stash so I can combine them with Safeway dairy mark-downs and Safeway doubles to get the items for free or as a moneymaker. This is the only way I buy flavored yogurt for my family. Dairy coupons are a great add-on to a transaction at The Coupon Clippers.
I buy coupons for raincheck items.
Oftentimes stores run out of their free or moneymaking deal items. When this happens, I ask for a raincheck. This is a great situation because I now have lots of time to buy coupons. This happened this week at Albertsons. You can read about it here.
Where should I buy coupons?
There are quite a few places out there. I suggest you start with two.
1. The Coupon Clippers–great because you can buy one or hundreds of a certain coupon. You can also buy different coupons and only pay one shipping fee. The down side is your order has to meet their minimum ($3), so you can’t just buy a handful of coupons. Sometimes I can’t find a coupon that I know exists and other times I have only been able to find a coupon with them. And they ship from Florida, which pretty much eliminates them if you’re in a time crunch and live in the Northwest.
2. ebay–awesome if you’re looking to buy a large quantity of one coupon. Seller’s usually sell in lots of 10, 15, and 20. ebay is the best option if you’re looking to stockpile one particular item. Sellers are from around the country, so it’s pretty easy to find someone who lives close to you.
I only purchase coupons on ebay using the “Buy It Now” feature. I usually don’t have time to wait for an auction to end and I don’t want to get caught up in the bidding frenzy. Look for the “Buy It Now” icon or search seller’s stores for set prices.
Once I decide on a coupon lot, I always search the seller’s other auctions/items for sale in case I want to pick up other coupons. This is a great way to save on shipping as almost all seller’s will combine shipping costs with multiple purchases.
How much should I expect to pay for coupons?
This depends on a few factors: value of the coupon, supply & demand, and expiration date. The Glade Plug-ins were $.30 each because of the high demand and low supply of available coupons. Generally, you can expect to pay $.05 – .20 per coupon including shipping. For instance, I purchased 20 more $1/1 Steamers coupons yesterday and paid $4 including shipping. That comes to $.20 per coupon. Make sure you factor the coupon cost into your deal calculations.
I would love to hear your experience with “buying” coupons. Leave a comment with other suggestions or questions running around in your head.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. Here’s a coupon question… I’ve seen quite a few MF coupons lately that state something like, “Must be redeemed at Target” or simply have a certain store logo on them: Albertson’s, Target, etc. If it’s a MF coupon, can it be redeemed anywhere or do you have to stick with the store represented on the coupon?
I know Al’s takes competitor coupons, but also read they define a “competitor” as a store having a bakery, deli, produce section, etc.
Thanks!
Emily: If it says “must redeem at…” then you have to redeem at that store. Walgreens Register Rewards fall into this category–it’s a MQ, buy you have to use it at Walgreens. Most of the MQs, especially catalinas, simply say “redeem at…” which means it can really be used anywhere. But, as we all know, this depends on your cashier.
Hope this helps.
Angela
This is a great post and so timely. I have been pondering whether or not I should do something like this especially for cereal. With three growing boys we need to stock up.
This is great advice and I now feel better about doing this in the future. I am just curious how these services get so many of the coupons!
Well this post makes me feel a little bit better. I'm still afraid of buying coupons and either wasting my money OR not getting them in time. One day I'll be brave and try this…
-Alyssa
I have a question about coupon clipping services. The coupons state at the bottom that they are non-transferable. Doesn't that mean that you can't transfer them from one person to another ie, the clipping service? I'm sure it never happens but I don't want the coupon cops to come get me while I'm hauling out my cart full of creamer and frozen veggies lol!!
Please email me and let me know if you are in search of specific coupons from SmartSource inserts. I often get may extras and would be happy to trade for RedPlum coupons or just send them for free if I know I won’t be using them. I hate to see them go to waste. I’m in Gresham, OR and I won’t stalk you or anything, I promise : )
I recently found Rebeca’s coupons-from a reader’s tip: (couponsandforms.com/shoppingcart.asp)-she has no minimums to purchase per coupon (usually I don’t want 20)-but may limit to 10 per purchase-this can be good when the really good coupon that is sold out everywhere else may still be available from her. I recently was able to get the $1 Quaker Oatmeal coupons this way here.
She does require a minimum purchase-think it is $4-does not include shipping (which is reasonable-around $1).
Just something to think about:
I am a small retail pet business owner, and we’ve had issues with mfg coupons in the past. Most recently, one of our favorite companies had an employee quit (get fired??) and they stole several thousands of dollars worth of coupons from the company and were selling them on ebay.
The company immediately sent out notices that those coupons would no longer be honored and to please direct all clients to the company directly for more information. Months later, I still have clients once in a while that come in with a fat stack of these coupons that they purchased off ebay and boy are they ticked when I tell them I can’t accept them. (If I accept them, the company will not reimburse me)
The moral of the story: Be careful! Your coupons may not be valid after all.
I have used eBay to purchase coupons for things we buy weekly. For example I purchased 20 coupons for a relatively expensive juice our family likes, for 1.49 with free shipping — this calculates to 7.5 cents per coupon. Buy combining the coupon with a sale (and my store doubles), I saved nearly $80.00!! Plus while I was at the store getting my cart I spied three juice coupons left by another shopper in the coupon circular rack…and scored 3 more!!
I’m from Tri Cities and I use West Coast Coupon Clipping (they are located here in town) they are awesome!! They get inserts from the East Coast too so they usually have the ones we don’t get here. Their prices are low and they are just THE nicest people. Honest and sweet. They have a website westcoastcouponclipping.com I know they ship all over the US. I usually pick up mine because it’s easy, but sometimes if I don’t need them for a couple of days I have them mail them to me. Anything over 4.00 is free shipping. I do Ebay when I can’t find what I need from them and have had good success with them. The other clipping sites are to far away. If you order from the coupon clippers on Saturday your order doesn’t go out till Tuesday-I don’t get my coupons until Saturday…which stinks.
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