Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Copying Coupons?!?!

What's the Harm??




There are many reasons not to copy coupons!!! This is a huge no-no in the couponing community and is also ILLEGAL! Newspaper coupons are never copied but many people copy internet coupons thinking it's ok. There is never a time it is ok, no matter what coupon it is or the reason for it. Read my points below and let me know in the comments how you feel about this!

1. Copying any sort of internet coupons is ILLEGAL! It is considered Fraud and will send you to jail!! There are many ways to figure out if a coupon has been copied and they can all be traced back to YOU! There are numbers which will differ on EVERY coupon ever printed... so when the coupons are processed and the same number is popping up (coupon has been copied) The number can be traced right back to your IP address/computer file and they will know exactly who did it.. Coupon Information Center (CIC) was set up to monitor this and other fraudulent coupons. Check out their site HERE.  Here is the number which should ALWAYS be different! Keep in mind most of the time you can get 2 prints per computer!!



2. Trading copied coupons is looked down upon as we all put ourselves in a compromising situation! This issue is making lots of people very weary about trading for prints! Keep that in mind and keep it clean so we can keep trading without issues or worry! It also makes us scared to send prints to someone as we never know if THEY might copy them just to have more, even worse the IP address from MY computer would be attached and I could get in trouble even though I didn't do anything!!  If interested in learning how to trade coupons make sure to check out my trading group HERE! 

3. More and more stores are getting scammed using printable coupons and are now accepting less and less of them. Some have even stopped accepting them at all. This affected everyone and allows for some people to have an even harder time to provide for their family. Please keep this in mind and use the coupons as INTENDED!! The manufactures and stores are nice enough to give them to us; let's not abuse the system!


4. Store coupons are included in this!! Some might not have a different bar code on the coupon and this makes people think that it is OK to copy the coupons.. NEVER!! This is something amazing being offered by the store to us, the customers. When we start abusing the coupons they will just cease to offer them leaving us without the extra ability to stack coupons and save extra money!!! Many people copy target coupons as they believe there is no way to tell but guess what... THERE IS!!!! Once the coupon has been copied, one of the logos does not copy through making it very easy to tell a counterfeit or copy!



IF you ever have any doubt about how to use coupons properly please send me a private message HERE!!



Please DO NOT copy and paste this without giving me credit!

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for making this info available. Its very important, esp if ur trading. You want to be sure your not getting copied coupons, cause youd be the one in trouble!!

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  2. I agree with you Stephanie, I think this post is a must read for anybody who coupons! The bottom line is the misuse of coupons will lead to more and more stores not willing to accept them. And of course, if you are a trader you need to make sure to watch out for copied/counterfeit coupons.

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  3. and never buy on ebay... most coupons on ebay are copys... I bought some from a guy, I bought from him 4 times... my store questioned me and I luckily had my credit card receipts and ebay messages to prove i had bought the 100 coupons from him.

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  4. Thank you so much for this information. I will keep this in mind when I see people trading for printed coupons.

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  5. I don't coupon but i do hate when people cheat. And to me this is cheating. I'm glad you posted this to inform people.

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