I feel the need to address something I'm seeing more and more of out there.
As you may know, when you visit a site such as coupons.com, you have the option to enter your zip code to obtain additional money-saving coupons. Recently I've seen several sites explaining how to enter certain zip codes to get special, high value coupons. If you live in that zip code, great! Lucky you!
But what if you don't live in that zip code? Can you still enter it, and get the better coupons? I decided to email the CIC to get their take. If you don't know, the CIC is a coupon watchdog organization. They work to promote ethical usage of coupons and shut down fraud.
Their take? It's wrong. And those that engage in imputting false information to obtain coupons could be committing a form of coupon fraud. Really, is that worth saving an extra buck or two for? I think not!
I would imagine the majority of folks that have been doing this really haven't intended to defraud anyone, just get a good deal. I can understand that. But please, let's work together to use coupons as intended and keep them around for many good deals to come. Help me end this practice. If you are a fellow blogger reading this, I hope you will take a stand on this issue too.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
THANK YOU! I have been seeing this happening more and more, and I was thinking that it wasn’t really on the up-and-up. I know that people are just trying to share their good deals when they leave their zip codes on a post’s comments, but bloggers shouldn’t be posting zip code “cheats” in their posts. Thanks for speaking up!
No prob! It’s something I’m seeing more of too, and decided to get an official opinion on (that being CIC). I think it’s sort of unfair to simply dismiss this as “well stores get their money.” I think all too often couponers leave manufacturers out of the equation…what about them? Common’ now, why would manufacturers go through all the trouble to put certain coupons in certain zip codes if they truly didn’t care? I think there IS a reason for this, and I don’t want to guess what it might or might not be.
Again, I just want to make it clear…I really do believe that 99% of the bloggers that have been posting alternate zip codes are only trying to help their readers snatch a good deal. I hope now I’ve offered a perspective on this topic some will consider going forward.
Angela, thank you for posting this. I agree that this is a form of coupon fraud and I’ve never promoted that members input a different zip code other than their own. Coupon Katie had a post on this very topic a while back. Some of her members had a different take on the matter…it’s still not okay in my book! Here’s the link if you’re interested:
http://couponkatie.com/a-question-of-coupon-ethics/
Couponers leave manufacturers out of the equation? Manufacturers create the coupons. If they only want the coupon to be valid in certain states, they can say that directly on the coupon. And often times they do.
I’d love for a major company to speak up on this. Would they rather I spend my money on their product with a coupon that wasn’t distributed in my area, or would they rather I don’t buy their product at all?
Tanya, when I said couponers leave manu’s out of the equation, it’s b/c I often hear couponers say things such as “stores get their money back, so no big deal” but don’t follow that thinking through to how their actions might be impacting manufacturers.
That being said, I do like your thought on contacting manufacturers for their say in all this. I will try to contact a few manufacturers this week to try to get further insight on why they might be doing this. I’ll let you know what I find out.
I’m curious on how this is different than buying an “out of area” newspaper. Or buying from a “clipping” service or eBay.
For example, I live in a smaller area that produces its own paper with Sunday coupons. Typically, it is a fairly small subset of what is available elsewhere. But, I can get a “big city” paper at a premium (city is about 140 miles away) which has most available coupons.
Its essentially the same idea, isn’t it?
Russ, interesting point to consider. Personally, I don’t use those clipping or auction services to obtain coupons. Here is an excerpt from eBay’s own policy regarding the sale of coupons on its site:
“eBay is often asked whether manufacturers’ coupons, such as coupons from newspapers, booklets, mailings or magazine circulars, can be sold on its site. Generally, many coupons are issued without any valid restrictions on transfer or sale, and can be listed on eBay.
However, some coupons contain terms that explicitly forbid their transfer or sale. eBay urges sellers to read the terms on all coupons carefully before listing, and to respect the intentions of the coupon issuer by refraining from selling coupons contrary to their specific terms. eBay itself will not enforce non-transferability clauses printed on coupons, and has no information on whether the issuers of these coupons may legally enforce limitations printed on the coupons.”
I think so long as coupons are within eBay’s policy, that’s fine! (Although MANY coupons I see strictly prohibit them from being traded or sold.)
Thanks all who have shared their viewpoints thus far. I think this is an important topic, and I respect that we may have differing opinions on some of these items. I know I’m sticking my neck out there a bit by posting what I did, but I welcome a healthy discussion here…I like being challenged in my thinking and always reserve the right to change my mind on these topics as I learn.
I’ll keep everyone posted as I learn more information on this issue. In the meantime, if ANYONE can explain the “why” behind the zip code thing, please speak up!
BTW, here is eBay’s coupon policy in case anyone is interested. If you use eBay for purchasing coupons, I urge you to take a few moments to read this.
Thank you!
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/manufacturers-coupons.html
Angela,
thanks for digging deeper on this issue, I am one of the people who had posted a message about this on KCL’s site on this issue. I’m admire you for sticking your neck out and getting to the bottom of this, as I think it will help all of us couponers to be legal. At the moment, I feel like the couponing world has too many gray areas and wish that store pricing, sales, and coupons were a lot more streamlined so that we didn’t have one place that allows “A” and one place that allows “B”. I still believe that providing different zips is the equivalent to buying an out of state newspaper or paying a clipping service. I WOULD like to know the manufacturers take on this, to make my ultimate final decision. I still believe if this was truly “Wrong” coupons.com (etc) would have a feature to lock in the zip and not allow you to search any others than the zip associated with your registered account. CIC would most likely be contacting coupons.com (etc) to “cease and desist” in allowing its users to knowingly commit fraud. So as far as my two cents goes, it may be selfish (because no one else is going to help pay to feed my family), but until there is a definitive stance on clipping services, ebay and zip code searching, I will use these coupons and continue to keep the money in MY pocket, not the stores or manufacturers. Love your site, please continue to keep us informed.
Great input, Robyn! Thanks for sharing. I’m going to spend some time to see if I can get more information on this topic for all my readers and fellow couponers out there. ITA – I wish there was more clearcut info out there.
Thanks for the post. I’m one of those people who has done that in the past, certainly not intending to commit any type of fraud. I won’t do it going forward. Thanks again.
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