The Truth About Coupon Stealing

[torontogal12]

I bet it was some kind of "vandalism" of store property. Coupons are free so can you really "steal" something that is free? I know it is inside packaging, but the packages were still likely sellable, just at a lower cost because of the vandalism.

I was the one who posted about the coupon thief. It was awesome to see someone get arrested for it. But it has been aquestion I have had ever since. i wonder what heppended to her and what she could have got charged with

[chickypoodles]

wut? ... i can't give my ma a tide coupon? seriously woman! details pls!

since you are so focused on doing things the way you think is correct, remember you are committing fraud if you give or take a P&G coupon from someone and use it..

[sharkie]

thanks everyone for you replies and views

[MillieH]

wut? ... i can't give my ma a tide coupon? seriously woman! details pls!

I believe all of the p&g coupons state it.. but certainly the insert ones do.. it states void if transferred etc etc...

[sharkie]

you are correct

[K8's Fate]

I believe all of the p&g coupons state it.. but certainly the insert ones do.. it states void if transferred etc etc...

I was under the impression that the term 'transfer' used on coupons refers to duplicating and reproducing it. P&G cannot control the recipients of all their insert coupons, therefore IMO void if transferred to another person should not apply.

[theweaves_dad]

Ebay needs to ban the selling of coupons on their website. I think it is sick how people can resort to taking 100 coupons only to put them on Ebay trying to profit off of them.

I used to love to collect coupons, but now after seeing what people post on this website and ebay i am turned off by it.

The best was when someone posted in the brag section about using 58 printable coupons to get free cranberry juice. That's nothing to brag about- that's pathetic!!

I would assume that this comment is related to my son theweave who went to No Frills with 118 (not 58) coupons for the juice. Please explain how this is "pathetic" when he donated 100 of them to the local food bank? The fact is the juice was $1.00, and the coupon was $1.00. No one lost money over the deal and the food bank received 100 bottles of juice one week before Thanksgiving. I do not see what is wrong with doing what he did. He did not steal one single thing. He had the coupons and each one was not photcopied, photoshopped or altered. Each one was printed individually using 118 pieces of printer paper and the ink. So how is this even comparable to what is being discussed here?

If that is pathetic, then what about the people on here that build huge stockpiles of things when they are on sale? Also a question directly to you, when you buy something and use a coupon, do you buy only one of the item? If you buy more then one, then IMO you are the same as what Chris did, only he did it on a larger scale then two.

Here is the original thread from September 2010. Note that there is not one negative comment made about it....

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/156859-...y-brag-canada/

[MillieH]

You could be correct... I read it differently though because the transfer, is right before sold and the references to reproducing are further down...

I was under the impression that the term 'transfer' used on coupons refers to duplicating and reproducing it. P&G cannot control the recipients of all their insert coupons, therefore IMO void if transferred to another person should not apply.

[mrsfreeman]

I would assume that this comment is related to my son theweave who went to No Frills with 118 (not 58) coupons for the juice. Please explain how this is "pathetic" when he donated 100 of them to the local food bank? The fact is the juice was $1.00, and the coupon was $1.00. No one lost money over the deal and the food bank received 100 bottles of juice one week before Thanksgiving. I do not see what is wrong with doing what he did. He did not steal one single thing. He had the coupons and each one was not photcopied, photoshopped or altered. Each one was printed individually using 118 pieces of printer paper and the ink. So how is this even comparable to what is being discussed here?

If that is pathetic, then what about the people on here that build huge stockpiles of things when they are on sale? Also a question directly to you, when you buy something and use a coupon, do you buy only one of the item? If you buy more then one, then IMO you are the same as what Chris did, only he did it on a larger scale then two.

Here is the original thread from September 2010. Note that there is not one negative comment made about it....

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/156859-...y-brag-canada/

this is a paste from the first few lines of your sons brag Seeing as I saw someone earlier say they bought 81 bottles of Ocean Spray, I decided I would go for the SC record!!!

obviously more than one person made this brag. perhaps she wasn't speaking of your son?

[sharkie]

but at least he donated to the food bank and did not cheat others out of getting coupons in order to get them....also he did not make a profit from it.....

[i_forget]

I would assume that this comment is related to my son theweave who went to No Frills with 118 (not 58) coupons for the juice. Please explain how this is "pathetic" when he donated 100 of them to the local food bank? The fact is the juice was $1.00, and the coupon was $1.00. No one lost money over the deal and the food bank received 100 bottles of juice one week before Thanksgiving. I do not see what is wrong with doing what he did. He did not steal one single thing. He had the coupons and each one was not photcopied, photoshopped or altered. Each one was printed individually using 118 pieces of printer paper and the ink. So how is this even comparable to what is being discussed here?

If that is pathetic, then what about the people on here that build huge stockpiles of things when they are on sale? Also a question directly to you, when you buy something and use a coupon, do you buy only one of the item? If you buy more then one, then IMO you are the same as what Chris did, only he did it on a larger scale then two.

Here is the original thread from September 2010. Note that there is not one negative comment made about it....

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/156859-...y-brag-canada/

I am amazed that No Frills actually had enough stock to cover all that juice lol

Tell him I said good job. It warms my heart knowing that I am not the only one in town that coupons and then donates it to the food bank.

[sharkie]

it is great that there are still good hearted people left in the world...

[barbs]

I bet it was some kind of "vandalism" of store property. Coupons are free so can you really "steal" something that is free? I know it is inside packaging, but the packages were still likely sellable, just at a lower cost because of the vandalism.

The coupons weren't "free"......they were included with the PURCHASE of a product.

the charges of "theft", "vandalism", and "tampering with product" come to mind.

(remember the Tylenol scenario years ago?.....people were 'tampering with product", except with more lethal intentions than simply stealing coupons & vandalism.)

[tjthemanto]

.

[iceblueraven]

disclaimer: just to be clear, this is not directed at any one post(er)

Purposefully damaging/tampering with packaging is illegal. So if she had to rip/tear/break a seal, then that is a crime and whether there was a coupon in it or not, it's not considered a huge crime. People damage packages all the time, to try to circumvent security/alarm systems, and nothing ever happens to them either, so the coupon won't make a difference one way or the other.

Coupons on Ebay...meh. I get it, they aren't 'really' charging for their time, if that's how you interpret it. The sheer volume of coupons vs. the sellers on ebay is pretty small. I don't buy coupons. I fail to see the value in it, as the bidding wars generally seem to remove any real benefit. The less people that buy, the less money they will make, I will agree with that. That being said, some communities just don't have access to coupons and have a high cost of living, so I could see the other side of the coin. Some traders are not very generous with highly sought after coupons, and it may work out to be cheaper the other way. I don't know. I've never been in a situation where I had to consider the value in it, so I'm on the fence. Even if they stop selling their time, they'll just resell something else and include free coupons. "For sale, page 3 Stephen Harper article, history in the making! 5 free Haggen-Dazs coupons included with every purchase."

I get more upset that pawn shops sell stolen merch without any real ramifications. That is stuff the people have PAID for, and had taken from them. Coupons, while extremely helpful, are just pieces of no-cash-value paper up for the taking, and are a free little bonus when I find them.

Do I get irritated when people take a whole tearpad? Yep. Maybe my kindness factor is higher or different from that other person. But how do I know it was one person and not four who just took a lot? On that note, I trade coupons, very generously, all the time. Does that mean I take a few extra sometimes? You bet I do. I have some product coupons that I could easily buy 50+ of the item, built up through trades. I don't have that kind of cash flow, so I spread it out over the time before the expiry. Does it make me a bad person if I get up at 6am to hit a sale before the majority of other people, so that I can be sure I have the product I want, in the amount that I want, at the price I want? I am a shelf clearer if I buy all the items on the shelf. Am I shelf clearer if I get to a store that only has 5 of the items and I have (5) XX product on my list? Am I supposed to leave one? What if they only ever carry 5 at a time?

Am I going to judge someone who takes a lot or brags that they got a lot? Nope, that falls under "Nunya" -- as in "none of your (my) business". I don't know what they do with them. Maybe they donate. Maybe they don't. Maybe they're in a rough spot and need to save as much money as they can on their bills. Maybe they have a family of 12. Maybe they REALLY REALLY like the product, and use a crazy amount. Maybe it's just that they traded for a bunch of coupons. Maybe they are 'preppers' and are getting their bug-out/bug-in items ready. Maybe they are hoarders and need help. Maybe they are jerks. It all just a bunch of maybe.

At the end of the day, I have met a great group of people from all over Canada and we help each other out. I can't start worrying about the small number of jerks, or stressing out about one coupon vs. another or who has what, or what they're doing with it. I have learned that coupon misuse is rarely illegal, occasionally sketchy and mostly just rude, and I don't associate with that part of it. When I see coupon sketchiness, or coupon rudeness, or miss out on a coupon, or miss out on a deal, or any small things like that, I just try to remind myself that am blessed to have family, friends, shelter, food in the fridge, the ability to pay my electric bill, a couple of great coupons and a bright sunshiny day (if not today, then one on the way). I would imagine if those things were not solid, and it was economically beneficial to pay someone for their time and receive cost-savings in return, I would do so. As they are not tenuous, I will keep helping out where I can.