The truth about extreme couponing...

[Purseval]

Meh. As long as they are following the rules of the store and the manufacturer, then what do you care that they resell stuff for profit?

When you can explain how you can come up with several thousand dollars worth of items to resell by following the rules of the store I'll be happy to apologize to you. Nobody is talking about someone who gets a book at a yard sale for a quarter and sells it on Ebay for 10 dollars or a tube of toothpaste at a garage sale and to suggest that we are is pretty disingenuous IMHO

Have any of you ever been to an estate sale? They often sell unused products like this at those. No, those people aren't buying it for that purpose alone. I have sold shampoos, conditioners, razors & toothpastes at my garage sales before. I'm not dirty looking in anyway (thanks, lol) and I don't purchase these in mass quantities just to sell them at my sales. I had a few extras (like 4 or 5 - not hundreds) and threw them in the sale last minute.

Again, that is just a red herring. Some people sell stuff they don't want in yard sales. Some people are clever: they buy something for X dollars, get a rebate for the item which brings the price down to practically zero the resell it. More power to them. We are discussing people who get massive amounts of items using coupons with the main purpose of reselling them, and I've offered up some clear examples.

 

[GinnyEmma]

When you can explain how you can come up with several thousand dollars worth of items to resell by following the rules of the store I'll be happy to apologize to you. Nobody is talking about someone who gets a book at a yard sale for a quarter and sells it on Ebay for 10 dollars or a tube of toothpaste at a garage sale and to suggest that we are is pretty disingenuous IMHO

Absolutely.

I just commented in my view of the books due to the mention. I don't care for people making money off of my books and so choose to give them to people who want to actually read them.

 

[tlbwriter]

LAST but not least, agreat "behind the scenes" look at a RESPONSIBLE couponer who was approached but ultimately NOT on the original "Extreme Couponing" special.

http://www.jillcataldo.com/node/14388

So they used her as an unpaid casting agent. Nice.

 

[Jacoby 46]

It said it on the fine print in the sales ad, where it also says that my store reserved the right to limit quantaties on any sale item. If we ever saw anyone buy like ten or more of a like item, with coupons, we were supposed to tell them they weren't allowed more then ten.

What store did you work for?

 

[robinb]

When you can explain how you can come up with several thousand dollars worth of items to resell by following the rules of the store I'll be happy to apologize to you. Nobody is talking about someone who gets a book at a yard sale for a quarter and sells it on Ebay for 10 dollars or a tube of toothpaste at a garage sale and to suggest that we are is pretty disingenuous IMHO.

I guess I just don't see thieves and cheats behind every person who coupons. I do think that people can stockpile free or reduced items using the CVS card program (as well as others) in conjunction with coupons if they focus on it hard enough. I am not willing to put that much effort into it, but I don't see anything wrong with those who do.

Are there cheats? Sure. There are people who cheat and gain "the system" no matter which "system" it is. That woman J'aime appears to be one if she is indeed using "family codes" in the UPCs of higher value coupons to purchase cheaper things. I am also sure that some people have multiple CVS accounts to hunt and gather for their garage sales which is against the CVS' policies and therefor is not OK with me. But just like every person on Welfare is not a Welfare Queen, every person who buys items with coupons at a discount for resale is not a Coupon Cheat.

ETA: I finally read your links on post #95. I find it odd that professional CVSers seems to be a big pet peeve of yours but in your linked "The mother of all CVSers" thread you said you bought razors and flaxseed caplets at the garage sale. They wouldn't sell the stuff if they didn't have buyers. Just sayin'.

 

[robinb]

Absolutely.

I just commented in my view of the books due to the mention. I don't care for people making money off of my books and so choose to give them to people who want to actually read them.

That's OK. Trashy bodice rippers don't sell well .

 

[GinnyEmma]

That's OK. Trashy bodice rippers don't sell well .

Whatever

 

[robinb]

OK, you edited your post and so I edited my response. FWIW, I was just teasing you.

 

[budafam]

However, I don't really understand the above. So you bought something for x amount, kept it around your house for a while, then sold it at a yard sale for the same amount? What's the point?

Many times you have to purchase more than one in order to get the "deal". You mean to tell me that you have NO doubles of anything in your home EVER? Seriously?

 

[GinnyEmma]

OK, you edited your post and so I edited my response. FWIW, I was just teasing you.

Good! I'm glad I walked away. Take care. as Esther said it is easy to get pulled in.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Many times you have to purchase more than one in order to get the "deal". You mean to tell me that you have NO doubles of anything in your home EVER? Seriously?

I don't think that's what the PP meant. I think the PP was wondering what the point is of having so many items, that you end up selling them for no reason, (which, if you don't make a profit, just seems to be a waste of time.) I get what you mean for having to buy so many for deals. Just a couple weeks ago there was some sale on cereal, and I needed to get six boxes. It still worked out cheaper for me to get six, then just the four I really wanted, so I did get all six, but I still saved money, so I just donated the other two. It just seems like so much work to save extra quantaties of stuff to resell it, especially when that's not really what the stores and companies have in mind when they print coupons and have good sales.

 

[Purseval]

I guess I just don't see thieves and cheats behind every person who coupons.

Neither does anyone else on this thread, you just seem to want to make it appear that way as a defense of the people we are actually referring to. Perhaps you should go back, reread the title of the thread and think extreme when formulating your responses.

But just like every person on Welfare is not a Welfare Queen, every person who buys items with coupons at a discount for resale is not a Coupon Cheat.

Again, just another red herring.

ETA: I finally read your links on post #95. I find it odd that professional CVSers seems to be a big pet peeve of yours

They just draw the most attention to themselves, at least until TLC changed the theme to professional grocery shoppers. Good use of words, tho. Don't you think if CVS, Colgate, pharmaceutical companie, etc., wanted "professional CVSers" they would open up a wholesale division just for them? Since they haven't done that we'll have to assume that these people are abusers.

but in your linked "The mother of all CVSers" thread you said you bought razors and flaxseed caplets at the garage sale. They wouldn't sell the stuff if they didn't have buyers. Just sayin'.

That was 6 months ago when it was a novelty to me. Once I saw how widespread it was the admiration for their resourcefulness faded quickly as I realized how many people went without so they could make a buck gaming the system.

 

[budafam]

I don't think that's what the PP meant. I think the PP was wondering what the point is of having so many items, that you end up selling them for no reason, (which, if you don't make a profit, just seems to be a waste of time.) I get what you mean for having to buy so many for deals. Just a couple weeks ago there was some sale on cereal, and I needed to get six boxes. It still worked out cheaper for me to get six, then just the four I really wanted, so I did get all six, but I still saved money, so I just donated the other two. It just seems like so much work to save extra quantaties of stuff to resell it, especially when that's not really what the stores and companies have in mind when they print coupons and have good sales.

What I was trying to explain is that I don't shop for the purpose of reselling. Yes, I did sell some things in my garage sale last year but that was just because I was going through my house and trying to purge as much as possible to clear my house out. I wasn't saving it all on purpose to resell it, I just didn't get to use it like I thought I would have. Last year was my first year couponing and I probably overdid it a bit. I just don't think selling a few things at a garage sale is bad... when you're talking hundreds of razors and body washes, then yeah, that's a problem.

 

[sydneysmom]

At the risk of being flamed, here's my 2 cents. Everyone's getting heated over this discussion.... I think everyone agrees that people shouldn't abuse the coupon system for their own profit or to cheat/ steal from the stores.

Most people that coupon are just average families trying to make ends meet so that we don't have to raise our food shopping budget. I know that's why I do it. I am BY NO MEANS a coupon extremist, but I do cut coupons and try very hard to match them to the sales that Kroger or CVS is having. It's especially great when you can get good deals on toiletry items at CVS because that stuff is so stupidly expensive anyway. So I try to shop the coupons and extra care bucks to make my dollar go further.

But, that being said, we only buy the products we're going to use. ( with the exception of dog food.... if I get a coupon for dog food, I'll get it and donate the food to our local dog shelter).

Personally, I think it ruins it for everyone if people are getting these mass loads of stuff only to profit off them later. I mean, really ????? And after reading everyone's posts, I think everyone feels basically the same way, everyone is just saying it a little differently. Okay, hit me with the flames now.

 

[beansmom]

i, too, feel it is wrong to abuse the coupon/sale system for items you have no intention of using. It is for that reason, if no other, that I would never buy these things from a yard sale.

 

[maggiew]

The store I used to work at had a policy that items are not for resale. There really was no way to control what people did with stuff after they left the store, but it is technically against store policy to get a ton of stuff for free/cheap and then resell it.

Our CVS started putting these big stickers on EVERYTHING in the store that said "Sold at CVS" or something like that. I asked the cashier once about it because they just randomly stuck it on the bottles and sometimes it was over the label, etc. He said it was because people were buying the items for free/cheap at CVS and then turning around and selling it in their mom and pop store!!

It doesn't really bother me, but sometimes I make up a gift basket out of items I buy at CVS and having those big labels randomly stuck on the product doesn't look so good.

Maggie

 

[allison443]

Many times you have to purchase more than one in order to get the "deal". You mean to tell me that you have NO doubles of anything in your home EVER? Seriously?

No, I definitely stock up when things we need/use are on sale for a great price. I just didn't understand why you said you had a few extra items and sold them for the same amount you paid for them. If it's an item you use just hang onto them until you need them. (you said it was only a few items, not a huge extra amount that you could never possibly use in your lifetime.) If you sold them for the same amount you paid for them, you didn't gain anything. So why not just hang onto the few extras if they were such a good deal?

 

[allison443]

What I was trying to explain is that I don't shop for the purpose of reselling. Yes, I did sell some things in my garage sale last year but that was just because I was going through my house and trying to purge as much as possible to clear my house out. I wasn't saving it all on purpose to resell it, I just didn't get to use it like I thought I would have. Last year was my first year couponing and I probably overdid it a bit. I just don't think selling a few things at a garage sale is bad... when you're talking hundreds of razors and body washes, then yeah, that's a problem.

Oh, okay I didn't see this post before I responded. I understand what you're saying now.

 

[rumrunnergirl]

.

 

[beansmom]

Maybe the items had an expiration date and she couldn't use them up before they expired. May be she needed room in her pantry for something else. Maybe she wanted a few extra bucks at her garage sale. It's really not an issue.

and many people go to CVS or Wags or any other store and get the cheap/free stuff that they have no intention of using expressly to re-sell them at a yard safe. It IS abusive, IMO.