Comments on: Internet Printable Coupons

By: Elizabeth McCoy

Elizabeth McCoy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:43:41 +0000

Great post. I appreciate the effort to educate people on proper use of IP’s. If you have access to multiple computers then you have the right to print multiple IP’s. If you photocopy a coupon it is just plain WRONG. It hurts all of us to try to do things legitimately.

By: Fair Tax Girl

Fair Tax Girl — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:52:38 +0000

John — I have never even heard of, or thought of all the things you listed that people do to cheat the system. I must be naive because I was shocked.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:48:13 +0000

I just wanted to add to this discussion that because of fraud my grocery trip took me an extra 45 minutes at the checkout today. Someone else had been copying coupons (IN THE PUBLIX AT THEIR COPIER EVEN!!!!) and also using more coupons than what they actually purchased… so they now have to take the coupons at the beginning of the trip, run them as they run my items, count EVERYTHING I purchase, and then take the $/$ coupons in groups. So instead of the money coming of my bill before coupons which saves me more, they run them in pieces: every time i spend $30, then they will deduct $10 AFTER they have run the coupons for the items. I am now saving less because someone decided to cheat. It’s very confusing, very time consuming, and very difficult and I was met with a bunch of hostility today. By the grace of God, the cheater (whom I know because she works in the same plaza as the Publix) walked in while I was there and I happily pointed her out and also explained about internet coupons, IP addresses, and how we only get 2 per computer. The workers there appreciated my honesty and took my $10/$30 coupons even though they have now stopped the policy thanks to her cheating.

Cheaters never win. Thanks Michelle (of this blog) for this great info and helping my family get through me being laid off and times being difficult.

By: jan

jan — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:55:54 +0000

I know not all printers will do this, but sometimes you can smudge the ink to see if it’s a copy or not. I can spot a copy a mile away, it loses the clearness of the watermark in the background. It irritates me to see copies, but I do use 4 different computers to print up to 8 coupons, and if its something I use alot, I will ask hubby to go to the link and print 2 more. Why would that be wrong? I dont’ think it is, I’m certainly not making copies of the stuff, that will definately put an end to the online coupons!

By: Victoria

Victoria — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:49:03 +0000

I get embarassed sometimes because I print my coupons on a black ink printer (no color at all) and I feel like cashier’s feel like I made copies of the coupon, when really it’s just my ancient printer. I don’t but too many of one item just because of the clear fact that most of the time I go to publix for a good deal, the deal on that shelf is usually completely gone…literally, zilch. Completely out. So I try to stay in only my family’s means.

By: Christina

Christina — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:27:55 +0000

I have access to several computers so I can print tons of coupons. I once ran into a person who made copies of her coupons and know she is no longer allowed to print certain coupons from her computer. When we register to print coupons we give them our info. The coupons get scanned when they go through the clearing house and can be traced back to the computer they were printed from. Be careful about giving IP’s away as well.

By: Brooke C

Brooke C — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:09:03 +0000

The border of ‘bricks’ coupons prints out EXACTLY who you are, you can view your isp, your computer’s registration number and your zip code in the fine print. If you were to get caught photo copying them and redeeming them in multiple quantities, you could be fined or sent to jail for fraud! The processing plants catch these things, not all the time…but they do.

By: Coupon Crazy

Coupon Crazy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:57:37 +0000

Also, I would like to add that just about all the FLIP’s and Target coupons say right on them limit on per person or transaction. I can’t remember the exact verbiage, but it is clear from the wording that you can only use one at a time. However, I have seen many many times people using more than one. I personally don’t because to me this isn’t legit couponing. Now, if you want to print 10 FLIP’s and go to Publix 10 times, that is your prerogative I suppose.
As for those of you with inkjet printers, I understand that your coupons may look questionable as your ink starts to fade–lol, but those of us with laser printers have an entirely different problem. They print nice and dark and look like copies even when they aren’t! lol
My two cents on PDF’s is that a lot of stores are going to be leery of these right from the start because the differ from the IP’s they are accustomed to. I say here you should only print what you would normally use. (2, 4, etc.) I also think that this is going to vary depending on your own personal convictions.
I still think that we, who use IP’s correctly, need to contact our managers and provided examples and, in a sense, “train” them so that they don’t continue to loose money on people how are cheating the system and fraudulently couponing!

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:49:17 +0000

To all…lets all work together and be honest, so we can all continue to get great deals from a great store for a long time to come!!! Great work Michelle….Thanks for all you do!!

By: John

John — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:32:03 +0000

Anyone who views printing more than two (using different computers) coupons is stealing from others….Do you also feel that printing just two from one computer is stealing from others since that also depletes the total supply available to others vs. printing just one? How about printing one? If you print one, that also depletes the supply. There are a lot of these gray areas in couponing….things that are perfectly legal and legit but different people’s morals drive different views. Other examples include:

+ “Shopping” for Rain Checks….meaning looking for out of stock sale items with no intention to buy but instead use for trading or just a future great deal.

+ Using rain checks beyond a certain timeframe (when they have no limits on expiration)

+ Selling coupons or coupon books (like on ebay)

+ Using “Try Me Free” promos for products you’ve already tried (hence, not in the spirit of the promo)

+ Pulling peelies off products you aren’t buying at the time

+ Shelf clearing

+ Taking more than one coupon from a tearpad or more than one coupon booklet from a display

+ etc.

There are many things that are legal but some folks feel are wrong and others don’t feel are wrong. Likewise, I don’t expect my religious beliefs, political affiliation, sexual orientation, etc. to work for you. The best thing we can do is to respect eachother’s views, even if they don’t match ours.

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:03:03 +0000

Coup – Store coupons (Target, Publix, etc.) usually come up in a PDF file and you can choose how many you want to print. Yes, the bar codes are all the same for that coupon, and that’s okay. The actual manufacturer Qs that you print from the internet are the ones that should have a unique ID number on each one of them. Hope that helps.

By: Meg

Meg — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:32:50 +0000

Allison, If that ever happens again just show them that the codes are different on each coupon. Look at the top of the post to see where they are located for each coupon.

I too am glad this has been brought up. It fires me up to see folks abusing the system! Those people are and will ruin it for the rest of us who are doing things the honest way. I also get peeved and this just happened the other day and the cashiers were hot about it, and that is someone wiping out a fully stocked shelf of an item because they have 20 coupons. Please consider the rest of those shopping who would like to have some. You can shop differnt times of the week to give others a chance or shop a different stores. Those individuals will also ruin how many of a coupon we can use as people are getting tired of it. Thanks

By: Coup

Coup — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:29:05 +0000

I am new to this so forgive me if it’s a silly question but I noticed while printing the target coupons today that when you print more then one the same number is under the bar code(ie I printed 4 of the Kellogs coupons and they are all the same). So is this okay? I am following the link provided on this site. I appreciate any input.

By: Val

Val — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:25:38 +0000

How is my mom giving me her 2 IP coupons from her computer any different than her giving me coupons she clipped from her paper? It’s not different. If that were the case then anyone who bought more than one paper would be wrong because they should of only had 1 coupon for something. Is trading coupons wrong because you should only have 2 of each? No! And what about when the delivery person accidently adds an extra insert every now and then. DO you call the newspaper and give it back? NO. I get one paper delivered to my house. I clean 2 homes where the home owner leaves me their coupons because they have no use for them. If I didn’t use them, they would go straight to the trash for nobody to use. That is not stealing. My mom also coupons, but she doesn’t use all the coupons she has access too, but if it is something I would use, she gives them to me and I do the same. I never would make copies. and have never been accused of making copies. Manufactures have to set a limit or everybody would print 20 of each and they would loose money. Most of the time I don’t have more than 4 of any coupon, and that is plenty for my size family. Manufactures want us to use coupons because it stimulates business to their product. The majority of people that use coupons will save $1.00 on something at full retail just to give it a try and then will continue to buy it regardless of whether or not they have a coupon because they like the product. That is what Manufactures count on. They offer an incentive hoping you will add their product to your list every week. I get my coupons legally. Let’s just all play by the rules when it comes to making copies. IT IS WRONG! If you are upset because someone has 2 more extra coupons that you didn’t get it’s probably because you don’t have a way to get them, and probably not because the print limit has been reached. Out of all the coupons I print, I would say only about 5% come back Print Limit reached. There really is enough for everyone out there. Let’s hope a few don’t spoil it for the rest of us.

By: Kay

Kay — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:13:43 +0000

This is definitely a topic worth discussing…I recently touched on the topic on our blog recently when a fellow cashier came across the same issue with another shopper.

What we can all agree on is that copying IPs is wrong, and thus should not be done. However, it seems unlikely that we will agree on how many coupons, whether IP or coupons obtained from inserts and/or other sources an individual(s) should use at one time.

Personally, my family size dictates the quantity of items I need to purchase at a given time. What pp Kay stated about sticking to her limit of 2, works for her and her family…the same goes for another who requires additional items to feed his/her household…neither individual is wrong in his/her beliefs/values as (s)he is simply being guided by what fills the need.

We would be at the store way too much and out of food extremely fast if I was to only purchase two of an item, as, for an example, we use two jars of Ragu when preparing a meal that requires said sauce. Thus, I purchase more than two, and need access to more than two coupons. So, again, if the coupons are obtained in the manner in which the manufacturer laid out, then it should not matter if a person has to purchase 4-6 jars of sauce compared to 2…but, in our world something of everything matters to everyone, for one reason or another…I say, simply make sure it’s all legal.

Reaping In Abundance,
Kay