You know you are a couponer when your week starts on Wednesday (the day of the new sales) not Sunday. You shop FIRST thing on Wednesday's. You know what a shelf clearer is. Your Sunday morning is almost like Christmas morning when you see your newspaper on the driveway. Your husband asks you what language you are using when you drop words like Catalinas, Red Plum, and P&G.
Now, here is another method to acquire coupons that may cause your friends and family to wonder what habit you have gotten yourself into! We all know you can buy just about anything on e-bay, but did you know that you can buy coupons there! I shared that with a grocery store clerk and they about fainted right at the register.
There really is a whole little coupon universe out there isn't there!
Why Buy Coupons on EBay
I highly recommend that if you are trying the coupon thing that you get at least 1 set of Sunday newspaper coupons per person in your home. Newspaper coupons are guaranteed and reliable. Bottom line I couldn't save the kind of money I am without my newspaper coupons.
However, there are acceptations where people may not live in an area where newspapers are delivered and you may need to purchase your coupons through a 3rd party like e-bay. If you live in an area where coupons are in the paper it would be silly to buy your coupon inserts from eBay because they cost more than they do to just buy the Sunday paper.
The main reason why I purchase coupons on eBay is to maximize a sale. I never buy an insert from eBay, but rather if I see an item I want A LOT of and there is a corresponding coupon I check out eBay to see what deals I can get on MULTIPLES of that ONE coupon.
How to Buy Coupons on EBay
If you E-bay coupons you wouldn't believe the amount of listings that will come up. When I just searched "coupons" 31,023 listings were available! Wow! You will want to search for a specific coupon. Maybe you noticed a coupon that was high value on Sunday or maybe you are looking for an item you know you use a lot of, or maybe you wait until you see the item go on sale and then you purchase the coupons.
After you search for your coupon be sure to do your homework. Be sure to figure in the cost of shipping on the coupons, the cost you are paying to buy the coupons and the expiration date on the coupons.
Also be sure if you buy coupons on eBay (or any other online purchase) that you use your ebates account to get a percentage of cash back from your purchase.
When to Buy Coupons on EBay
After I saw that Quaker Rice Quakes were FREE after coupon this week I took a look at some of the coupons on eBay to see if I could get a deal on some extra coupons. The best deal I saw was for $3.75 for 10 coupons and then .50 for shipping. The total cost would have been $4.25. I figured out that after my coupon each package would end up costing me .42. Well, without a coupon at Smith's each package only ends up costing me .49. To me those coupons wouldn't be worth buying.
On the other hand I know that I use Electrosal Dish washing tablets and that I wanted as many boxes as I could get my hands on. They were on sale for .49 after coupon at Smith't this week and I ended up being able to buy 10 more $2.50 coupons for $3.50 and I would get FREE shipping. After I factored in the cost of buying the coupons on eBay each box would end up costing me only .84. That is still a great deal! I love that I have 18 boxes sitting underneath my sink now!
Word of Caution
Be careful when you buy coupons that you aren't buying online printable coupons. Not all stores accept Internet printables and you might end up paying money for online coupons that you won't be able to use.
Be aware of the expiration date. Don't buy coupons that expire on 1/31/10 on 1/29/10. That would be a risk and your coupons may not make it to you on time for you to use them at the store.
And as always with eBay be sure to check the sellers credibility when buying from them.
Maybe you are thinking this is CRAZY! Who buys coupons on eBay and I do agree with you! I am crazy and no I don't make a habit of buying coupons on eBay. I think I have bought coupons on eBay maybe 5 times. Does the idea of this scare you to death, but you like the idea of having extra coupons? Try out a Coupon Train!
3 comments:
Okay, so as someone who wasn't ever able to find the coveted electrosol in stock I have to admit I think it's a little greedy when people buy a ridiculous amount of a product.
p.s. Isn't buying and selling coupons illegal anyway?
I actually priced matched my tablets because I couldn't find them either, however I think if someone who gets there buys the tablets and they use them I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Who knows how big someones family is, what their job situation is like etc. I like that there is no limit. Aren't we all trying to stock up when an item is on sale? If anything you could be frustrated with a store for not having enough of the item you want in stock.
And no buying coupons on ebay isn't illegal. You are paying the seller a service fee for clipping out the coupons for you. If it was illegal ebay wouldn't be allowing it.
I bought 60 of the $2.00/1 all liquid detergent...Maceys had them on clearance for 2.99! Great deal for me and FYI there were tons so I didn't even buy them all. Thanks for the great site ladies :)
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