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.