Everyone loves a deal. Everyone wants a deal. There is nothing wrong with that! I am probably walking on egg shells here, but feel this is something that needs to be addressed. As a blogger, I love to share money saving deals, coupons and codes with you! I think ethics in couponing are a MUST! I am sure I am “preaching to the choir” here but just need to get this out there! When brands publish coupon codes to help draw in the consumer, they want your business. What they do not want is for users to create a million and one accounts so that they can “get the deal” over and over and over again. There are tons of “one time use per account” codes and these are intended for just that.
Why is this such a big deal? It’s a big deal because it causes two things to happen 1.) When people are creating multiple accounts to get a discount, the brands site gets slammed making it unusable to everyone else. 2.) The brand is likely to pull the coupon code or change the terms of it. Both of these are unfortunate for everyone. To me, it’s kind of like clearing a shelf at the grocery store. Unless you need 10 tubes of toothpaste, why would you clear the shelf? That stuff has a LONG shelf life and I am sure you can get more later….and probably for free.
The face of couponing is changing. Soon I think it will all be digital and online. There will be one card that you upload to and that will be it. (Thinking aloud here). Coupon fraud is a serious thing and people are being arrested for it. It saddens me that some aren’t playing by the rules and it’s causing the rest of us to suffer. We are getting limited on number of coupons (not that I have ever used 30 or more at once), type of coupons, and even amount on the coupon.
I am sure I am not the only one feeling this way and would love your feedback. What do you think about online coupons and creating tons of accounts to do the deal over and over again? Do you think it’s wrong? Unethical? What do you think the future of couponing looks like? What are your frustrations with using coupons? Leave me a comment!
I agree with you. Too many people seem to be getting greedy with coupons and things like that and they are ruining it for the rest of us. Some of us use coupons and watch sales because we have to, to make ends meet. When those things are regulated or simply taken away because somebody couldn’t follow the rules it makes saving money more difficult for the average person. I’m all for saving money and using coupons wisely to get the most benefit from them but there is a line. If you don’t need 10 or more of something leave for the next person. Think of how you would feel if you weren’t able to get the deal because you didn’t get there first. I also love the coupons on a card idea. Genius.
Um..well, I guess I am a little in the dark about how this could happen. Usually when In sign up for coupons or offers and give my info they say that its one per household..So how are people signing up for multiple accounts?
But, yes I agree..you should only have one account or one email address so everypne gets a chance at the offer. But again how are people using several emails to get online offers when they must be entering the same physical address??
Biggest thing in my area going on is people stealing papers in the dark from the driveways of those having multiple papers..and we have a lady here who photo copies coupons by the dozen…Oh and the BIGGIE..and I hope she is reading this…The lady who owns a convenience store who shops at Kroger and CVS using a food stamp card and tries to pass off coupons for items not purchased and then goes back to her store and ups the price by 300%…The stores are on to you…..
I blame TLC for most of this. Yes, there were lots of couponers before the show, but now that Extreme Couponing aired as both a special and a series, I have seen people crawling out of the wood works to use coupons. Look at the way they show it on TV–people buying hundreds of one item and clearing the shelves. Regardless of whether the items were pre ordered or not, people don’t realize it and think it is OK to clear shelves and/or take all they want, even when it comes to online deals.
If you are referring to the My Habit deal, I know what you mean. It is SAD. They sell out of items within the first few minutes and I highly doubt that there are all new customers everyday.
Some people are just greedy and take things like this for granted. Couponing as we know it will come to an end. If a company puts out a coupon code and they only draw customers making several accounts, they will use their advertising money to advertise a different way in the future.