Another place to get quality grocery coupons is from online auctions such as eBay. While selling coupons is illegal, people have found a way to work around this. Instead of charging for the coupons themselves, they charge a fee for the time and energy used to find, clip and sort the coupons. Since they aren't actually selling the coupons, but their time for getting and arranging them, they technically are not doing anything illegal. While this may seem to be purely semantics, it has allowed a thriving grocery store manufacturers' coupon sale business to legally exist on auction sites such as eBay.
Auction sites are a good place to find coupons for the products you use regularly and in bulk. Coupons auctioned off are usually product specific and come in multiples. That is, most auctions you will get a number of the exact same coupon.
When using auctions to find coupons, it's helpful to know exactly what coupon brand name you are searching for since there are literally thousands of coupon auctions going on at any single moment. If you use a particular brand product, simply input the brand name into the eBay search engine such as “pampers coupons.” If you aren't brand conscious, you can input the generic term such as “diaper coupons.” Since most sellers are offering groups of coupons rather than just one, “coupons” will usually bring up more results that “coupon.”
You will also find that the auctions are also a good place to get coupons for items beyond groceries. You'll soon find that there are a lot of restaurant, store specific, drug, cosmetic, travel etc. coupons to be had. You can use the link below to see a small sampling of how many different coupons are available.
If a coupon is “void if transferred” then when your mom gives you a coupon she received in the mail, it’s now void. Do you really think that’s what that means? No. Many manufacturers send out sample items and promotional items with several coupons included that have this language on each coupon and yet the promotional materials encourage you to use one coupon and then share the others with your friends. The manufacturers know that your positive experience with their product is valuable and sharing that experience with someone is also very valuable and when you give a coupon to a friend/family member then you have done their job for them. They don’t mind if that person goes and buys the product with that coupon. They won’t send either of you to jail.
Selling or buying coupons is most certainly not illegal. If you legally acquire them, they are covered by the “First Sale Doctrine”. You may give, sell, loan or otherwise transfer them all day long.
As for the “void if transferred” language – totally bogus. Once the coupon is in your posesssion it is YOURS (see above). It doesn’t belong to them anymore and isn’t theirs to void!
Matt R
Are you an attorney? I’ve wanted more info on this subject for a long time and what you wrote helps. Thanks!