Using Online Coupons

Counterfeit online coupons, paper coupons, and bogus coupon sites present a very real danger to the bargain hunter. Here you will learn how to protect yourself and find a bargain with.

In the world of marketing a coupon is a certificate or document entitling one to a monetary discount or rebate when they purchase a product or service. They are either issued by the manufacturer or by a merchant and have been in use since the late 1800’s. They are distributed through mail, magazines, newspapers, and the internet.

Internet merchants refer to online coupons as coupon codes, discount codes, key codes, portable codes, promo codes, promotional codes, shopping codes, source codes, surplus codes, and voucher codes to name a few. They offer buy one get one, free shipping, rebates, and reduced cost in either a specific dollar amount or a percentage discount.

Other coupons online may offer free products or services like a pass to a fitness club, books, magazines, subscriptions, samples, food, ice cream, stickers, pens, t-shirts, mugs, and many other things.

Coupons online are a great bargain source for the bargain hunter. Be careful though, like their paper and ink cousins they can entice you to buy items that are not needed. Online coupons and online coupon codes are usually obtained on a coupon site. Coupon codes can also be obtained through offline sources.

Online coupons are redeemable on a merchants website in a variety of ways. One is by clicking on a coupon link which directs you to a specific page where the offer or discount is located.

Another is by clicking on an embedded coupon link which directs you to the merchants site and sets the discount code in the form of a cookie. Yet another would be the use of a coupon code which is programmed on the merchants site to issue the applicable discount at checkout.

Coupons online can be found for just about any product or service you can think of. You can search by category, or by a specific product, service, or merchant. Some coupons online can only be used at online stores. Printable coupons online, and some coupon codes, can be used for restaurants, grocery stores, and other store front merchants.

If you are going to be using printable coupons for your grocery shopping, check with the grocery store to be sure that they accept printable coupons from the internet. Some stores that have been victims of counterfeit printable coupons no longer accept them.

When you are going to use a printable coupon at a retail store, print it out but don’t cut the coupon out. Take the whole page with you so they can see where it came from. Check to see if they are going to honor the coupon when you enter the store, not at checkout.

Online Coupon Sites

With so many online coupon sites how do you find the good ones? Well, there has also been an increase in the number of comparison sites that compare online coupon sites. But how do you know if the comparison site is any good? Check out the comparison sites page on this website for some helpful pointers.

You can also go to Alexa.com to check out how long a site has been online, how much traffic it gets and if it’s linked to similar sites. This will give you an overall view of the sites popularity, relevance, and reputation. Here are some of the things to look for in an online coupon site that will help you keep the good and weed out the bad.

Rule number one is avoid any site that asks you for a lot of personal information like your name, address, phone number, and/or personal account numbers, or asks you to fill out forms or surveys to access coupons. They may be phishing or selling your information.

Legitimate coupon sites do not require this type of information to access coupons but they may ask for your email address to send you their newsletter, register for an account, or download their coupon printing software.

Avoid any online coupon site that asks you to pay for a coupon. Never pay for a coupon. Paying for something that is free is not a bargain. This almost always violates manufacturer and merchant policies. They issue coupons free of charge for you to use. They are not to be sold. It may also be a counterfeit coupon.

Online coupon sites get their money from merchants who pay the coupon sites for each purchase made on the merchants site by traffic from the coupon site. This is tracked by promotional codes. Most of the online coupons from the manufacturer or merchant will be identical regardless of which coupon site it comes from.

Some online coupon sites may have more merchants and a wider range of bargains than others. Some are more diligent about updating their site and getting rid of expired offers. Avoid sites that haven’t been maintained, that contain broken links and have a lot of expired coupons.

Look for sites that have benefits like onsite reporting for nonworking coupons and customer comments, editorial content, newsletters, blogs, forums, and email alerts.

Online coupon sites may specialize in a specific category like clothing, computers, electronics, groceries, or merchants, while others may cover a vast array of products, services, and merchants. The coupons on these sites are usually divided into categories to help you find the coupons you are looking for.

Some online coupon sites link to other sites to expand bargain hunting possibilities. There are others that have no coupons of their own but list links to other coupon sites, even listing the top sites in each of several different categories.

Many online coupon sites also offer local results for printable coupons and coupon codes by entering your zip code and/or city. Some are more user friendly and easier to navigate than others. You may have to explore many sites before you find the ones that are right for you.

Counterfeit Coupons and Scams

As with any method of doing business on this planet we call earth, there are the evil people who will exploit it to their own benefit at the cost of good people. Coupon fraud exists both online and offline. Companies try to prevent unauthorized copies or use by several verification methods such as coupon ID numbers, unique barcodes, holographic seals and watermarked paper.

Coupon scams come in many forms. One scam offers a hefty discount on, or a free product. All you have to do is fill out some forms or take a survey. These forms ask for personal information. Then you are required to sign up for a cd or book club, apply for a credit card, or some other product, item or service. All you end up with are excessive charges for items you never wanted.

A big one as of late is an offer for a book that contains 20-50 certificates for coupons that supposedly have a redeemable value of $10 each. They sell for $20-$50. Wow! $500 worth of coupons for only $50. To redeem them however, you have to select 30-50 items off of a list, complete a form, enclose a self addressed stamped envelope, and a handling fee and mail it all in.

The best you’ll end up with here is a lot of money out of your pocket, coupons you don’t need, won’t use, are of very low value, and/or are expired, if you get any coupons back at all. You will also have wasted a lot of time.

Another is aggressive marketers either by phone or email, that want to send you a coupon book for $500 dollars worth of grocery coupons for free. Wow! $500 for free. All you have to pay is pay $4.95 shipping and handling, charged to your credit card. What you end up with here is a lot of charges on your credit card for items you never bought.

A variation of this is $200 in free gas coupons to reward you. Wow! $200 for free. All you need to do is pay a $4.95 shipping and handling fee charged to your credit card. You know what you’ll get. Also be wary of any free offers that takes a credit card for shipping and handling. The numbers and offers may change but the method stays the same.

With the bait and switch method a bogus online coupon site offers you an online coupon code. To get it requires that you fill out a form that requests personal information, credit card numbers, and/or other financial account numbers. This is a phishing site that will leave you with at best, lots of spam, or worse, a drained credit card or bank account, and possibly identity theft. Ouch.

Another sign of a bad site is one that charges you for access to coupons. They charge $9.95, for example, to register, 10% of the face value for each coupon you want, and a $1 shipping fee. That adds up to no bargain here. Legitimate online coupon sites do not charge for coupons. Nor do they require personal information to get coupons.

Counterfeit coupons are another scam sweeping the coupon world online and offline. Counterfeit coupons may be a legitimate coupon that was scanned and copied, an original that was altered, or an unauthorized creation that looks legitimate.

These counterfeit coupons are often sold to unsuspecting charity groups and organizations for fundraisers. They are also sold at online auctions. The online versions are sold from bogus online coupon sites. Never pay for coupons, online or offline. Legitimate coupons are free.

Some things that a legitimate coupon will have that a counterfeit coupon may or may not have are bar codes, expiration dates, a legitimate manufacturers address, and terminology like “no copies or photocopies“, “limit one per customer, per household“, etc.

Legitimate online coupon sites ensure that the coupons they post follow security guidelines and some use special software downloaded to your computer for printable online coupons. If you are unsure that you can use it at the store, stop at customer service and get approval before you shop. If the counterperson is unsure talk to the manager.

Counterfeit coupons are big business. These operators make hundreds of thousands of dollars for themselves while merchants and manufacturers are out hundreds of thousands of dollars and lost sales , and you and I are losing out on a valuable bargain source.

If you are concerned about the validity of a site go to the Better Business Bureau at bbb.org and check the report on the site in question. If you are concerned about the validity of a coupon go to cents-off.com where the Coupon Information Corporation has a list of counterfeit coupons. You can also go to counterfeitcoupons.com to see another list of counterfeit coupons.

Counterfeiting coupons and selling them are both crimes. These shady characters are usually also guilty of money laundering and tax evasion. If you have been scammed report it to the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau, and the Attorney Generals Office in your state.

There are plenty of bargains to be had in this field. Arm yourself with knowledge, use your common sense, and you too will find a bargain. As I always say, “So many online coupons, so little time.” I’ll see you at the next bargain source my friend.

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