I think we have gone over this one before but I had a reader send in the following question. I know we have gone over this one before and I know everyone has very definite opinions on this one so here it is…
Is it ok to take a coupon off of a product if you aren’t purchasing that product. Is there a difference between taking a peelie off a box versus a hangtag off a bottle? I think I know the answer but I am curious what you and your readers think about this practice.
Share your opinion in the comments….
High Value Old Bay Seafood Seasoning Coupon – Just 40¢ At Publix
i have taken one maybe 2 peelies off of products before to save for a sale, but i don’t clear them.
Hell no!
My thoughts exactly
LOL. my thoughts too! (Ditto)
Short, sweet, and to the point, VC – and I’m right there with ya. Don’t take ’em off unless you’re in the checkout line and are fixin’ to use them on a purchase right there!
NO! It is not ok to do this. That is why there are NEVER any peelies or hangtags at my store. This is meant to be a bonus when you actually purchase the item. People have reached a new level on couponing rules in my opinion.
I’ll take one, MAYBE 2, but I don’t clear the product of them. I save them for other people. …. Some people take a WHOLE tearpad, ALL of the peelies and all of the hang tags and that’s when it gets ridiculous. Save some for others!
It’s not ok to take them off products you aren’t purchasing.. even if it’s ‘only 2’.
I have never done so but I would if I know the product will be BOGO…seems OK to do so as long as you don’t clear the shelf.
I’ma bit on the fence with this one. On the one hand, I took two off a product because I was coming back the next day for the sale and I knew they would be gone (and they were). On the other hand, one day I saw two ladies just going down a row of garbage bags taking every single peelie off. I’m talking like twenty or so. I was floored by that. It’s kinda like shelf clearers for me. If you take the last three or four, it’s not a bad thing but if you take twenty then that’s just greed.
I have asked customer service for permission to take a peelie off of one package of deodorant (scented) in order to purchase an unscented package, and permission was granted. In that particular case, I could see that someone had removed the peelies from the entire row of unscented. I personally find it very frustrating when I go in Publix the evening before the sale starts and see a large display full of items with peelies and then return the next morning when the sale starts to discover that the products are still there but every last peelie has been removed (probably over 100 of them). It’s usually evident the peelies have been removed because there is a glossy clear sticker where the peelie was attached. I am assuming (but don’t know for sure) that the peelies were taken by one person. If that is true, that is so inconsiderate of other shoppers and in my view should be classified as theft. It seems unlikely that one person will later come back and purchase the entire display of products. My guess is some of the people who removed a large quantity of peelies plan to sell them on the Internet.
I only take the peelies if I’m going to use them otherwise DO NOT TOUCH
Absolutely not!!!! That is stealing no matter what else you call it. Even if you plan to purchase the product later, it is still stealing. It is a form of shoplifting to remove a peelie or hang tag from a product that you’re not buying right then. That peelie or hang tag are not your’s until you purchase the product.
Personally, I would not for the reasons others mentioned. I would like to share how one day, I came across the person putting hangtags on Mt. Olive pickles. My intention was to purchase one jar which didn’t have a tag so I asked him for one. He was very generous and gave me four $1 coupons. I was thrilled, and I didn’t take any away from another shopper.
I was buying some Kraft shredded cheese one day when a woman came up to me and gave me peelies for them. She was on her way to stick them on and saw I had some in my cart. That made me smile.
If these are manufacturer’s coupons then there is no problem with taking a couple to use at a later time. Taking more than you can personally use in a normal amount of time though (e.g. stocking up or to give away) isn’t right.
People think taking these is bad behavior only because they see these as a finite amount & that they may keep someone else from getting them. What if every case of product from now until the end of the year had these so the supply is infinite or if no one else wanted any of these coupons so you’re not taking from someone else or if new, higher value coupons will be on the next ones stocked or if the peelie wasn’t on the flavor/variety you want? You don’t know any of this & modifying your behavior as if you did is crazy.
If you wouldn’t take any of the peelies, ask yourself what you do when printing coupons. Do you print any to hold or print “extras” from a second computer or print coupons under a different zip code? The printable coupons have a limited number of prints, so any you print are taking coupons way from someone just as taking peelies does.
I don’t know where you are getting this information. IT IS NOT OK! The manufacturer sends these to “move” a particular item from a particular location. This is not a regular manufacture coupon. It is actually legally likened to tag switching (maybe not everywhere). The confusing aspect is that it is not the stores pricetag.. however the store loses out on the tiny amount they profit from cashing in the coupon.
If it’s a product I normally purchase, I will take a peelie even if I’m not planning on using it that day. I don’t think I’ve taken more than 2 though. If it’s a product I normally purchase & I’m buying it that day, then I make sure to take the products with the peelies (enough to cover what I’m purchasing).
You shouldn’t remove coupons unless you are buying the product right then.
Apparently, the person who shops at MY Publix does not read this site or comment ;-) Nothing is more irritating then when you KNOW there was a peelie there and now it’s not :( I will take TWO and only two for a product that I know I’ll be buying in the next few weeks … is it really so different than taking 2 from the little gadget machine thing (which I’ve notice are few and far lately)? But to stand at that machine for 20 minutes while it spits them out is WRONG.
I admit I’ve done it. However, I take 2 for an upcoming BOGO event. I absolutely don’t consider it “stealing” but I don’t like shelf clearers.
haha the comments are funny. If all of the people above that said it would be ok to take 2 peelies off the products, that would be like 20 peelies missing from that product on the shelf. guess what that would look like to the next person to show up? Like 1 person took ALL the Peelies. If you don’t think its right for anyone else to take the peelies, then you shouldn’t either.
I do think it’s okay for other people to take them, and I don’t assume that one person took them all, either. It works the same way with shelf clearing, too. Typically it’s just that a lot of people are buying the same thing, although you can sometimes tell that a clearer has been there. For example if you show up at 10am on the first sale day and the shelf is empty even though there was a lot of stock available. Other than that, I never assume clearing has taken place. Shelf clearers do not bug me, though. I get a RC and move on with my day.
I take them, in reasonable quantity (1-4, depending on the product and the number of peelies available). I’ll pull one from one flavor to use on a different flavor as well. I get that people hate peelie clearers, but I don’t understand the concept that they should be all be reserved for the people who manage to hit the sale at the moment it starts. That’s what happens if everyone leaves them alone. A few non-couponers will use them if they notice them, but otherwise, it will be the people who show up the morning of the new ad that has a sale that lines up with the peelie. I’m generally against anything that encourages that dynamic.
I take all that I can and hope no one sees me! Just kidding but I will take 4 max and feel no shame or guilt. Every Sunday I fill a copy paper box with items to donate to the local Homeless shelter to make up for my evil coupon sins.
what if a poor person is going to buy an item, and you took the coupon because you wanted “”To Donate to the homeless” being generous in that respect does not give you the right to steal
No. The peelie or hang tag is on the product. The product is not yours until you buy it. Simple enough to understand.
I use the peelies ONLY at the cash register with the product they came on. Same thing with hang tags. Tearpads, I limit 2 per person like the printable coupons are online. I think people who take the peelies and the hangtags off the products without purchasing them are stealing from those who actually buy the products. I have seen this happen way too many times to count. Tearpads might be a little more lenient, but I think it is greedy to grab the whole thing. It isn’t about whether you can get away with it or not, it is called ETHICS. I think if more couponers exhibited this more often, the stores wouldn’t be putting out so many new policies, and making it harder to shop.
Ideally you wouldn’t have to take peelies off products for future use. However if you dont, you can bet that someone else will take all of them, just lime you mentioned. And since we sadly live in that kind of world, I say it’s acceptable to take one or 2 to “hold” for a sale. That’s what I did for ghe birds eye voila peelies, and I am glad I did because by the time they finally went bogo last week, all the peelies in my store we’re cleared out. But I’d seen them a month earlier so I had my 2 for my 2 bags of voila!
I am very much in the NO camp. Don’t take it if you aren’t buying it right then and there! I am almost positive that my store removes the peelies on sale items, but I still don’t think it ‘s right for me to take the peelies ahead of time.
What I’d like to know is that if peelie thieving is this problematic, then why don’t manufacturers create permanent sticker coupons for the stores they distribute to so that they are actually stuck to the product? That way, shoppers couldn’t rip the coupon off else the bar code will rip evidently a kit the coupon ineffective.
First, the manufacturer may not care. Second, the store collects the coupons and trades them for reimbursement from the manufacturer. The store would be unable to retain the sticker for trade.
As far as peelies being there on the product and not anymore, yes I know people take them. But I have also been at stores and seen employees of the stores taking peelies off the product and putting it back on the shelf, like they were ordered to do it by management. It seems there was a sale coming up and they didn’t want to give the product away for the sale price and the coupon. We know that is silly because they get more money taking the coupon, but some managers are misguided as we know. I haven’t seen that happen at Publix, but I have seen it happen.
i have taken a couple but I felt like I was stealing when I did it! Because I felt convicted, I think it must be wrong, at least from my moral standpoint. Not everyone has morals or scruples these days unfortunately. I think that people that remove all the peelies and hangtags fall into that category.
If everyone were as ethical and magnanimous as they appear to be here then YOU should run for president.
This have been very enlighten………like many things……always so many ways to think
I think it is a toss up. On one hand I don’t think taking a whole bunch is right. But on the other hand I know when I see them they will be gone as soon as those certain couponer show up. I have taken ten at one time because I knew I was going to use them on payday. But didn’t have the money right then. I used them later. Only time I have done it. Don’t think I’ll do it again cuz felt guilty.
Those coupons belong to the person that is purchasing that item at that time. If you are taking them off the product and you aren’t purchasing that product, you are taking something that doesn’t belong to you.
A good thing to remember is “don’t take things that don’t belong to you.”
Also.. it’s technically shoplifting. Although I have never heard of a store prosecuting for it, I have heard of a asking people not to come back and threatening them with trespass if they do.
Lol heck, yeah, I will take them with great pleasure! Lmao! And self-righteous busybodies can’t do a thing to stop except whine from their moral high horses. I get the coupons and you don’t! Ha ha ha!