Everyone loves coupons, right? They allow us to buy products at lower prices and save some money. And besides, consumers are not the only ones who benefit from this. This way, companies promote their products and enable as many people as possible to test them out. While this original idea sounds like a win-win situation, this is just one side of the story. In the last few years, something called extreme couponing has emerged. This refers to a situation where people become obsessed with coupons and spend hours collecting them just to buy products at very low prices or even get them for free. As you can imagine, this leads so many different problems, which are primarily ethical. However, in today’s article, you will get the opportunity to learn how to ethically use coupons for extreme savings. Yay!
What is extreme couponing and is it bad?
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Extreme couponing includes collecting a huge number of coupons that provide huge savings. It refers to people who spend hours collecting coupons for different products (and often for products they don’t need) just to buy them at a discount. Although on the one hand, this movement makes sense, the fact is that there are people whose desire to save money has gone too far. There are even TV shows that show people piling things up around the house just because they bought them at bargain prices with the help of coupons. It sounds a little scary and it really is.
Extreme savings by using coupons do not have to be a bad thing. There are people who have bought a huge number of products this way (which would not otherwise be available to buy them in that large number) and donated them for humanitarian purposes. You can conclude that the ultimate goal of extreme couponing determines whether we will consider it good or bad.
However, extreme savings by using coupons often violate ethical laws. For example, if you buy all the packaging of a product in a store and leave nothing for others, it is not very ethical. The same goes for buying products at low prices to resell them at higher prices.
Extreme couponing that does not violate ethics
1. Do not use coupons for those products for which they are not intended
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When using a coupon, be sure to pay attention to the exact product for which the coupon is intended and always use it only to purchase that product. People often overlook that the coupon is intended for the purchase of only certain types of a product, and not for all products of that same brand. And sometimes it happens on purpose, which is not okay. For example, you may have a coupon for peach juice from a particular brand. In this case, it is not ethical to use a coupon to buy the same brand of juice, but with the taste of strawberries. To be clear, this is not only unethical but also illegal, because you are committing fraud. Make sure you read all the text on the coupon and be completely sure for which product you can use it.
2. Buy reasonable quantities of products
Uncontrolled purchase of a huge amount of products that a person does not need is another negative side of extreme couponing and violation of ethics. It is unlikely that you need 30 packs of flour just because you have enough coupons to buy them. Buy only what you really need, and if you make stocks, keep them small. When you buy all the products from the shelf, you do not leave anything for other people, which is not right. Besides, the accumulation of a huge number of the same product in your home does not make sense, because you will not be able to use everything within the shelf life and in the end, you will throw them away. Try to curb the use of coupons, because it is the best for you and others. At CouponXoo you can find a bunch of coupons for different products. Try to choose only the ones for products that you or your family members really need.
3. Forget about reselling products you bought with coupons
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If you want to stay within the ethical limits when using coupons, then forget about reselling the products you bought with them. Coupons may not be used for the purpose of reselling products, so we suggest that you avoid this. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a position to be held accountable for the fraud. Even if you are not caught, it is not ethical to sell products to people at higher prices without them knowing where those products came from. If you have bought too many products for your needs, it is a good idea to give them to someone who really needs them. Just try to be reasonable and not do anything illegal you might regret afterward.
4. If you have a large number of coupons, give them to someone
Lastly, the fact that you have collected a huge number of coupons does not mean that you should keep everything to yourself and use them unreasonably. If you have a lot of coupons, we suggest you give them to someone who will appreciate it. You surely know someone who can hardly afford even the most basic groceries. And it is an amazing idea to forward your coupons to them. Piling up unnecessary products will not make you happier while giving a coupon to someone who needs it will surely make them happier. Stay reasonable and use coupons in the best possible way, and that sometimes means not using them at all, but forwarding them to someone else.
Conclusion: Extreme couponing has become very popular in the last few years, so we can often come across people who are unreasonable with using coupons. They spend too much time collecting coupons and then buying too many products for their needs. If you want to achieve extreme money savings without violating ethical rules, we advise you to buy only those products that you really need, use coupons correctly and give excess coupons to those to people who really need them.
