Photo by Mike Willis
Every week I’ll pose a question for you to share your experiences and tips. If you have a question that you’d like me to post, I’d love to hear from you!
Recently Hope sent me an email wondering how other people feel about “zip code couponing.” Sometimes, internet printable coupons are released, but you can only print them if you enter a certain zip code on the site. Some people will share the zip codes needed for these often high-value or rare coupons and others feel it’s unethical, but we haven’t heard an official answer from any of the coupon companies.
How do you feel about zip code couponing? Do you feel that it’s just a matter of knowing where to look, like using a coupon-clipping service to get more of your favorite coupons? Or do you feel it’s unethical because you’re using them in a way that they weren’t intended to be used?
Join the discussion — add your two cents to previous Ask DSM Readers questions too!
Barbi
I live in a small town in Western PA….but I purchase my local Sunday paper, another paper from a larger metro area and the Washington Post. Each has some of the same coupons and also a lot of different coupons, with different values. As far as I see it, coupons are released by companies and out there for the finding. No one would ever bat an eye that I walked into a store and purchased the papers that I purchased. Why is it any different if I do the same searching on the computer???
Scott
The companies could easily make you put the zip in the first time you visit the site and they save it in your computers cookies so you couldn’t change it. Since they have not opted to so that, they have tacitly given permission for the ol’ zip switcheroo ;)
Angela
Hi – I’m actually at BlogHer and was lucky enough to attend a frugal bloggers breakfast hosted, in part, by Red Plum. I posed this question to the Editorial Director over our breakfast. She said that manufacturers will sometimes do this to test certain coupons in certain markets. And she told me she wishes bloggers would stop this practice as it annoys her to see it happen. Furthermore, she mentioned that sometimes if you attempt to use a coupon from a different area it may not work (i.e. “beep”). I then asked her if the store would get reimbursed if the cashier puts it through. She said NOT NECESSARILY.
Folks, sometimes there are reasons beyond what we can think or guess when it comes to these issues. I’m not a fan of people making assumptions without getting some information first. I personally found Red Plum’s reasons compelling enough. As a blogger and Red Plum affiliate member, I have chosen to NOT post zip codes so readers can obtain coupons from areas other than their own. Take it or leave it, but I want my readers to know what they can count on from me. If you want to read more about my conversation, it’s up on my blog.
Beth @ In Good Cents
Angela, Thank you! Being affiliated with so many of the coupon companies has always stopped me from sharing, since I wanted to play by their rules. But, I did always wonder. This clears up a lot in my mind!
Val
I agree with Angela and Beth – just because you can get away with something, doesn’t mean it’s right. That’s why it’s an ethical and not a legal question. Printing off of a website isn’t the same as going to a different area to buy a newspaper either. You’re purchasing that newspaper so you have the right to use those coupons. A printable off of a website is free for everyone to use and the website is at the mercy of it’s guests being honest and ethical. We all love getting a great deal but let’s not do it at the expense of other couponers or the companies offering those deals!
Mir
If there wasn’t a reason for it, companies wouldn’t restrict it. I think posting the wrong zip code to get a coupon is unethical because it is a lie for when it asks for YOUR zip code, making it unethical. I agree with the above Angela, Beth and Val and with the registration comment. Companies should have you register or determine your zip by your IP.
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