FREE COUPONS - WHERE DO THEY COME FROM....ARE THEY LEGIT?

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Let me start off first by saying this:

FREE item coupons do exist and there is nothing fake or fraudulent about using them 

if they are legit!! 

Last night on Extreme Couponing All-Star Finale we watched three shoppers strive for 100% savings using nothing but FREE item coupons.  Is there anything wrong with that?  NO!  Though it sure leaves many wondering how does someone get their hands on two coupons for FREE Tide, let alone $800 worth!

There are many ways to get your hands on FREE Item Coupons:

•  Manufacture Facebook 
• giveaways are usually for a FREE Item, that will come in the form of a coupon
• Rebates 
• I bought a washer & dryer and got a rebate for a year supply of Tide that came in the form of 12 free bottle of Tide coupons
• Store reward promos
• Last year Rite Aid had a diaper sale which instead of a +Up Reward you got a coupon for 1 free package of Huggies (limit 1)
• Calling Manufactures and asking
• When the limited addition Huggies Jean diapers came out I called the company and told them how much I loved the product, they sent me 5 coupons for free packages of diapers
• Catalinas
• durring a water catalina promo last summer, I bought 24 cases of water.  None of the catalinas printed so I called the company and they send me 4 coupons for a free case of water
• Conventions or events that manufactures maybe sponsoring
• 2 years ago at the Smart Women, Smart Money Event Lighthouse was a sponsor and put 1 coupons for a free Lighthouse product in every goody bag
• Employees of a company 
• Many companies will give their employees free item coupons for the products they carry.  Are they all using them or selling them....I'm sure a little bit of both
• Rewards programs
• Both Huggies and Pampers have a point rewards program.  There are codes on their products, after you purchase them  you can enter that code on their website.  Those codes are worth point which you can use to purchase items from their little web stores.  I personally save my points up to buy a coupon from them that is for a free package of diapers.
• EBAY!  
• There are some people that do sell coupons on EBay. Most coupons state they void if they sold or transferred.  Here is a link to the EBay coupon policy:  http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/manufacturers-coupons.html#additional 
• Here you will find legit and fake free item coupons.  Is it legal for them to sell these coupons? Absolutely, as long as they stick with the guidelines and make clear that you are getting the coupons free, but you are paying for their time to cut,clip,gather,sort.....blah blah blah!
• All of the ones you see on Ebay came from one of the other sources listed about.  There is not a single manufacture that is going to "sell" their free item coupons on Ebay.  Someone has gotten them and instead of using them are choosing to sell them for profit.

These are all legit ways to get legit free item coupons.  Though all of these avenues have limits.  If you call up a company and ask for coupons you might get 2-5, attending a convention you are only going to get 1 in your goody bag (maybe you will get lucky and 2 stuck together), rebate offers or store promos are going to be a limit of 1, even the "year supply" of Tide that came with my washer & dryer was only 12 coupons (= 1 a month...I go through more Tide then 1 a month)

THERE IS NOT A COMPANY OUT THERE THAT IS GOING TO SEND YOU $800 WORTH OF FREE ITEM COUPONS!!

YOU WILL HAVE TO BUY THEM!!

Ebay is a great source to get regional and high value coupons you don't normally see on any given day and at a quantity that you are not going to get anywhere else.

BUT....It is going to cost you!  No one is going to pay more then the value of the coupon.

For Example: 

The Toilet Paper coupons they had last night, they said the value was up to $14.99

So that coupon is going to sale for around $10-13 on Ebay.

Yo are still going to save a few dollars, but to me paying $10 for ANY package of TP is way to much!!

HELLO...I'm a Charmin Snob and NEVER Pay more then 

$7 for a 12 pack of Ultra Soft Charmin; let alone Angel Soft!!

I don't have a set price that I am willing to pay for coupons on Ebay.  Here is my equation to decide if buying the coupons from Ebay is going to be worth the price:

Cost of the coupons + shipping + what I will be paying at the store / by quantity purchased = price per item

*If that price per item is a stock up price for me then it is worth purchasing the coupons....if not, don't buy them!  You will not be saving any money!

Read my "How to buy coupon from Ebay"  This will help make sure you buy legit coupons at the right price!

HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF BAD PURCHASES:

Here is sale for 2 coupons for 1 free bag of Malt-O-Meal Cereal up to $6.50 a bag.  

The "Buy it Now" price is $5.25 w/free shipping

Seems like a good price....but do the math:

Cost of coupons $5.25 + shipping $0.00 + Cost at Store $0.00 / quantity purchased 2 = $2.63 a bag + tax 

WHAT COUPONER PAYS $2.63 FOR 1 BAG OF CEREAL?

Take a look at this one....No one is going to convince me that they got free diapers if they bought this coupon!

Cost of coupon $15.64 + Shipping $.50 + Cost at store $0.00 = $16.14 for 1 pack of diapers!

Sure it is a Jumbo pack, but even a size 1 jumbo pack only has 42 diapers = $.38 a diaper!

See my diaper stockup prices here!

2 Freschetta Frozen Pizzas coupons buy it now price $5.99 + free shipping

We watched one person last night pre-order 200 of these pizzas

*I don't know what they actually paid for the coupons at the time they were filming, this equation is based off of today's Ebay price.  (though I can't imagine it being much cheaper if any)

this equation is pretending that 200 were bought from the same buyer:

Cost of coupon $599.00 + Shipping $0.00 + Cost at Store $0.00 / by 200 pizzas = $3.00 a pizza

NOT FREE, NOR A STOCKUP PRICE IN MY BOOK

We also saw last night 250 of these pizza being pre-ordered.

For sale is 2 coupons for 1 FREE Red Baron Product, buy it now price $8.95 + $.44 shipping

*I don't know what they actually paid for the coupons at the time they were filming, this equation is based off of today's Ebay price.  (though I can't imagine it being much cheaper if any)

this equation is pretending that 250 were bought from the same buyer:

Cost of coupon $1,118.75 + Shipping $55.00 + Cost at Store $0.00 / by 250 pizzas = $4.70 a pizza

NOT FREE, NOR A STOCKUP PRICE IN MY BOOK

I hope this helps you understand where these coupons come from and what it cost.  I guess you can say you have to pay to play.  In my eyes, if it is not a stockup price it is not worth buying!

These coupons do exist and are real; but just as many real ones are out there you can bet an equal amount of fake coupons will be tagging right along.  Remember to follow my rules of buying from Ebay.  This will help make sure you are buying legit coupons and have a great couponing experience when at the store.  

*All information is my own opinion; There are many different things that factor into where coupons come from and their level of ethics.  

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