How do you get extra coupon inserts?

I had a great question emailed to me this morning, and I’d like to publish some of my response. I am also adding a bit more at the end on a tangent.

How do you get extra coupon inserts?
(Actually, this is paraphrasing the question)

A friend of mine gets 100s of extra inserts (and sometimes more) because she found “THE dumpster” in her area where the free paper delivery guys dump their extras! After they are dumped, she dives. Be aware dumpster diving may not be legal in your municipality so check your local laws. If you live in an apartment complex and there is a separate recycling bin, you could look there too.

Me? Nothing so great. I get my papers almost exclusively through purchase. My aunt sends me Miami and Ft Lauderdale coupons, my parents get me Tampa Bay coupons when in Florida. My husband travels a lot. Whatever city he is in he gets me 4-10 sets. Airports are a great place to get free coupons. People either leave them about or the papers are left out after closing. I get a lot of Utah coupons because he travels there once or twice a month for an extended work stay. His (and our) travels are why I can tell folks the many areas have great coupons and what area has coupons where it isn’t worth buying the newspaper in quantity.

When we were in Metro-NYC we had a little newsstand that allowed us to take the extras Sunday night. We used to get 20-100 papers that way. When my husband worked in Manhattan, the kiosks left the papers out Monday morning and he’d take them from two newsstands that allowed this.

Some other ideas for you: the local gas station or convenience store. If you know the owner, ask if you can take the coupons Monday morning. The return for credit is either the front page of the paper or the newspaper itself minus ads and inserts. So, they do not lose credit if the inserts are removed.

Let your child get a paper route or you get a delivery route. I have to say that never, ever, ever would I seriously have considered this idea with my son. People could not believe he never had a route considering my coupon habits, but I know my kid and I would have been out delivering at 5 am. It was not worth it to me. And, with my luck, I figured he’d under-order and I’d be stuck giving up my Sunday paper. Instead of getting extras I’d be giving up personal papers.

Local recycling is another idea for you. Clear it with whomever runs the facility first. You want to be certain you will not get in trouble for removing items from the facility.

One idea that is unlikely is the newspaper itself. My uncle works for a major newspaper in Boston. He said they actually have signs posted “Do Not remove coupons, you will be fired!” next to the PALLETS stacked 4 feet high full of leftover Sunday insert coupons. *sniff*

Definitely ask your friends, family and neighbors to save their extras. Explain you’d like their coupon remains when they are done with them. A stockpile bag or two several times a year is a nice thank you and encourages people to continue to save their leftover coupons for you.

If all else fails, ordering coupons online works. There are many services (I list Glenda in my blogroll) that will send you clipped and sorted coupons for a fee. There are also services that will sell whole inserts. I have never purchased from anyone that sells entire inserts so I can’t make a recommendation. I know some folks swear by e-bay but I consider that a place where beginners go to get ripped off. Sure you may find it, but at what price? Better a coupon service or a trading board IMO.

Going off on a tangent… here are some other ideas to gather coupons (non-inserts):

• Printable on-line coupons
• Snail mail coupons offered by the manufacturer on-line
• Contact the manufacturer directly and ask for coupons
• Store tear-pads
• Get a job as a distribution rep. Actually, not all reps get coupons. When my brother worked for Pepsi I used to clean out his car because he had tons of refund forms and peel-off coupon rolls in the backseat. My niece works for Kraft and gets nothing. Her boss gets coupons and promotions, but even he does not get a lot.
• Get a job in the grocery store My niece has told me about the tons and tons of tear pads and refund forms left in the backrooms by sales reps for the stores to put out. She said as reps they are not allowed to touch anything that is not their manufacturer’s product, so she can’t grab any extras. It makes me want to cry when I think of all these forms and coupons either being tossed or allowed to expire instead of making their way to the consumer via a display.

If you have expired coupons and want to do something with them (especially since Chicago-land is not really an outlet any longer), overseas military commissaries are happy to receive extras. I have 4-5 names and addresses available if anyone would like to send their expireds overseas.

Please add your ideas to this article!

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