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.
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I think you may be wrong about selling coupons being illegal. To my knowledge there is no law that is violated selling coupons (except, perhaps copyright law which is a civil law not criminal). The coupons fine print only says that the selling or transfer of coupons could void the coupon, but that would not be in their best interest because it would mean that they have to prove that the coupon had been sold, and by whom. Many people pick up coupon inserts at recycle centers, or from neighbors – if selling of coupons based on the wording on the coupons was illegal, then certainly giving your neighbor that $2 Huggies coupon would be. I would like to see anyone who says that it is illegal show me what actual law is being broken. There is nothing federal, or in any state that I know of. Just the company’s POLICY being violated which is NOT illegal. Bud Miller of CIC has been saying for years that it’s illegal to sell them but he has yet to prove which law is being violated. He, on the other hand, has been baiting and harassing people for years. I have never gotten one of his infamous “coupon fraud” letters, although I wish I had as I would have taken him to court to have him prove that by trading or buying coupons I’m breaking the law.
If you can show me what law is being violated, have at it. Betcha can’t.
I see nothing wrong or illegal about selling coupons on Ebay or otherwise but there is one practice that bothers me and that’s people that take all the tear-off rebates from the store and sell them. If someone wants to clip and bundle coupons that they got out of their paper and sell them that is a lot of work and those people paid for their newspaper so it seems like a good thing to do with coupons you aren’t going to use. But those tear-off pads are put there by manufacturers and are FREE for everyone that comes by to take. It may not be illegal but it is certainly unethical and very unfair for the rest of us when the pads are empty.
Fraud is the crime of deliberately deceiving another in order to damage them. That is what law is being violated.
Like it has been stated, some coupons claim to be “non-transferable” or will be “void if transferred.” If you knowingly use a “void” coupon then you are committing fraud.
You asked, I’m just telling you. Good luck to the stores or companies to ever enforce or catch offenders though. It’s like any crime though, get greedy and get caught. It is also fraud if you intentionally use multiple coupons for a single item (when it is prohibitted). That is still “deceiving” the store or manufacturer in order to damage them (or allow you to profit).
I don’t think it is looked upon as a big issue, but there is the “law being violated” that you were looking for. Fraud.
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!