Get Coupons off ebay

Yeah, yeah, another article about coupons. But really, this one is unique! I recently ran across an article on buying coupons through eBay. I had no idea this kind of thing went on, but why not? There aren’t many things that can’t be bought or sold on eBay and I had some fun checking out the ebay coupon market for myself.

eBay can be a great source for multiple and/or high-value coupons if you know what to look for. The “cost” of the auction is for compensating the clipper for their time clipping, for one can’t really buy a coupon - they are offered for free by grocery stores or manufacturers. Here are some tips the article suggests in finding the best clipper for my money, along with some of my own:

1. Be as specific in your search as possible. I entered the search terms “Coffee coupons” into ebay and received the following listings as results: Coupons for free Starbucks drinks and $2 off on “buy 2 bags of a particular brand of coffee”. This may not help you if you are only looking to save on a particular coffee brand purchased at grocery stores. Adding more terms like “Folgers” to your initial search of “Coffee Coupons” may help refine your search.
2. Shipping should always be the cost of a first class stamp (or less!) Many eBayers make their money off of shipping charges, so don’t get caught up in this trap. I mean, how much do those coupons actually weigh?
3. Don’t pay for what you don’t want. Since many people sell packages of coupons, you won’t be able to totally avoid receiving coupons that you might not be interested in. Bid only on the value of the coupons you want within a coupon package. For instance, if you want diaper coupons, bid what you think the diaper coupons alone are worth in a package of coupons. The rest is gravy.
4. Don’t buy internet-printed coupons you could find on your own. This one is pretty obvious, right? Check out the most common internet coupon sites and see what you can get for free before laying down cash for the same coupons.
5. Know what you are bidding on! I did a general search on “grocery store coupons” and looked at some of the results. In some cases, the listings did not even include a description of the type of coupons or even the types of products, just the expiration dates.
6. Watch Out for Coupon Clipping Services Many of the results I received back in my search results for “Coffee Coupons”, were not actual coupons, but people offering to look out for and clip coupons for you and send them to you. I would be a little leery of these listings.
7. Pay attention to expiration dates. This one should be obvious, but in your “excitement” (ok, that may be too strong a word) you might forget. We’re just providing you with a complete checklist.
8. Do the math to see if purchasing a coupon makes sense. This one is also kinda obvious, if a coupon is only worth a dollar discount at the store, don’t pay 99 cents plus shipping on it. You’re going to lose money. Read as much of the fine print on a coupon as you can. Do you need to buy 2 of something to get a discount?