People frequently ask me where I get my coupons. I live in an area of LOUSY coupon denominations. We have doubles to 99¢, therefore our coupons are $1/1, $1/2, $1/3 etc. It is the same reason folks that have doubles to 50¢ see a lot of 55¢ manufacturer coupons. There has “always” been collusion between the manufacturers, marketers and grocery stores. The coupon insert distributors make sure I get lousy coupons so I am not getting the best deals possible, just a small savings on top of the sale price.
This worked for many years until the age of a little something called the internet. At this point people started to trade coupons. My $1/1 coupon was very valuable in an area with no doubles, and the 75¢/1 coupon that area received was very valuable in my area with 99¢ doubles.
Soon after some industrious folks decided they could sell their “time” and give away the coupons from the inserts. (Remember, there is NO law against selling coupons but the coupon services write this as a CYA.) Ebayers found that there were these “crazy coupon ladies” that would pay for the coupon inserts they were just throwing away, so they started selling coupons.
All of a sudden, people had access to better denominations that worked with their store’s promotions!
So why, since you can now easily cross state lines for better coupons, do the marketers, manufacturers and stores continue with the collusion? Simple: most folks are not aware (or do not feel it is worth their time) to trade, trade, trade! It is still only a small percentage of couponers that trade for coupons or use a supplier.
Is it worth it to buy/trade for coupons? In my opinion, YES! But do be careful you are not overpaying for coupons *cough*ebay*cough* or trading in such a manner that the postage kills the savings you would realize redeeming the coupon.
Refundsweepers is a decent place to trade. Be certain to check the trader’s references if you are sending paypal.
I have used Glenda as my coupon supplier for 10 years now! I highly recommend her. In all that time, a trade has never been “lost” and she always tells me prior to mailing if she runs out of a certain coupon.
And for those of you that do receive decent denominations that work with your local sales, here are some ideas as to where you obtain extra inserts.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Do you know what area has the best coupon inserts?
Depends what denominations you want Rose. For me, Florida papers, Chicago papers, Utah papers, Las Vegas papers, Seattle papers, all have great denominations because those areas do not double. They tend to get a lot of 75¢/1 coupons which work great for me.
What do you consider “best”?
Ann
I only get the inserts from the Oregonian here in Portland, Oregon and I think we have pretty good inserts, I have found a few coupons that are small denominations than I have seen listed in scenarios. I was just courious because I have looked into buying the inserts on ebay and wanted to make sure I got a insert from a better location.
Our Sunday paper is 2 bucks so if it only has one small insert that week buying multiple papers doesn’t add up to a great savings sometimes.