Photo by Heidi Kennedy
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, another Tara asked this question on the Deal Seeking Mom Facebook fan page:
“What’s your position on blinkies & in-store tearpads? Do you think its okay to take a few to use at a later time or another store (for a better deal)? I do this sometimes. My thinking is that they are not store property because they are manufacture coupons.”
She later added that she never takes peelies off one package to use on another but wonders if others do.
What about you? If there is a blinkie or a tearpad with coupons at one store, do you take a few to matchup with a better deal later on? Is there a limit to how many you think is okay to take? Does it matter how many are left? What about peelies? Do you ever take coupons off one product package to use on another?
Join the discussion — add your two cents to previous Ask DSM Readers questions too!
Angie W
I agree about taking a few blinkie and tear pad coupons if I am going to use them in the near future.
But, I have to draw the line at using peelie’s off products I am not buying right then or using them for different products. To me, that feels dishonest. Others may not feel that way, but I’d rather use my soap and noodles without having a guilty conscience. :)
Lea
Has anyone ever had a large cart of items and forgotten to peel their peelie coupon off and the clerk at the register doesn’t peel it off either? Gets me mad, bc the peelie coup is likely the reason that got me to purchase the item to begin with.
So, in some cases, I have been known to pull an extra peelie off and use for bulk purchases. Again, only if I know I am going to use them that day, not for future use.
As for Pull off and blinkies, they are free reighn. How many times have you seen someone kids pull the blinkies in sheer fun. They take like 10 and you know those will never be used.
Lea
Tonya
I think it’s fine to take the blinkies and the tearpads for future use. I never take more than 2 at a time, though. . As a previous commenter said, it just seems dishonest to take the peelies off products that I am not buying. I hate going to the store and not being able to find peelies on the products that I want to buy when I know they should be there.
molly
I take any kind of easily obtainable coupon that I will definitely use. My thought about peelies re: the article linked by madmommy is that if manufacturers want to move a certain product, they should make the peelie only for that product. Now, I don’t take a lot of peel, tearpad, blinkie, hang tag, or other coupons, only a reasonable amount that I will definitely use. Probably 90% of the time, the coupon I take I will use on that product at that store, just a few weeks later when it’s on sale.
I would never remove a “free” or “bonus” item from packaging or damage the package itself in any way. Coupons printed on the package and free items attached are done so before they reach the retail outlet, while peelies are attached after the product is on the shelf, thus I don’t see the peelie as being an inherent part of the product, just another way of distributing coupons.
My biggest ethical concern is the buying and selling of coupons. To me, that is explicitly stated on the coupon as being illegal. Call it what you will, justify it as you want, but I will never ever do that.
Candice S
I would not buy Tearpad/Blinkie or Peelie coupons. I do not mind buying other coupons on Ebay or a service though, for the right price. I will not pay more than right around a buck for a stack of coupons, and the shipping needs to be reasonable. As the listings state you aren’t “paying for the coupon” but for time and effort to buy the paper, find the coupons, cut them out, list them and package them. If I feel the price is insane or they are trying to cut a lot of profit I just won’t do it.
Nohemi
Either way you are paying for the coupon, if you were paying for a service they would cutting coupons you yourself bought. So you trying to say that you are paying for the service is a load of bull.
Nicole
I am guilty. A few weeks ago I took some peelies off of Wheat Thins at Target because they only had them on the large boxes but the small ones were on sale. My son will even ask do you want more mom. So if I am guilty then so be it. The manufacturer planned on people using them and so I will. I totally agree that people who sell them are wrong.
Susan
I think we should just be considerate in our coupon practices, not greedy or desperate. I think it’s okay to take between 1-3 of the blinkies, especially if it’s an item you go through quickly or you have a friend who could use it. But taking much more crosses the line for me, personally, because I know there are others who are also trying to save. Often the same coupon exists in another medium. Hoarding doesn’t help, and it gives couponers a bad reputaion.
olivia
I will not peel off coupons to use somewhere else or on another size product, I truly believe that the manufacturer meant it for that specific size of product. I don’t have to worry about taking too many blinkies, I just pick up the ones people have discarded by the machine. As for tear offs, if I use the product I will take quite a few of the coupons..
amy g
As the person that installs the blinkie and the tear pad and the occasional peel off. It is ok to take more than one espically the blinkie. We do maintance on those weekly to biweekly to restock them. AND yes we turn in numbers for how many are left when we take the machine down. The company’s then use the info for markting stratagies and such. Yes the machince will pause after the second coupon is pulled, the biggest reason is so that coupons are not wasted. To many times before this feature I would discover some small child just having a ball pulling coupon after coupon.
And you help fund jobs like mine.
Thank you
DIANE
I was on another site (I can not remember the site) and some one posted that at an Albertsons’s store 2 women were bande for life from the store for taking peelies off an item and not buying that said item. Anyone else hear of this?
Steven Conway
Ethical or unethical, I don’t know. All I know is our local Publix & Winn Dixie had $0.55 off Dr. Pepper peelies since last week and they were being placed on those bottles not by store employees but by the local Pepsi distributor in-store.
Problem with using those is both stores had them at $1.89 per 2 liter. I spent the whole week making trips into every Winn Dixie & Publix I passed and would take only 5 at a time. Since those 2 grociers are our dominant grocery stores here, by the time I was done I had collected 48 peelies.
I then took them to the only Fred’s store we have this past Saturday as they had the Dr. Peppers on sale (well more like their normal price) of $1.00 each…but as a bonus…every Saturday, Fred’s doubles coupons up to $0.70.
I walked out of the store with 48 free Dr. Peppers.
As far as I’m concerned, we are only playing the game the way the retailers and manufacturers have forced us to…especially when you have little to no money to spend as it is.
And as someone who has worked for Coca Cola before, stock is constantly replenished and yes they do have large rolls of those “peelie” coupons they use. To be able to get my hands on an entire roll. lol
MaryLena Anderegg
I’m just a beginner at this but my husband is the blinkie king. He takes only those blinkies that match one of three criteria: (a) we use the product, (b) one of our friends uses it, or (c) it is an item needed by our church food pantry. We take only the number we would use in a six weeks’ period (varies with product). We would never take a stick on coupon from a product unless we bought it. Our view is how we would feel if someone did it to a product we bought.
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It
catherine
The other week soup was on sale and I found tearpad coupons. I put a few out for other customers. I even told about and gave customers cupons who had the soup.
Leona
I would never take a coupon off a product unless I bought it. I will take more than one coupon from a blinkie for future use if I use that product.
kodachrome
right or wrong that is indeed the question? I certainly dont know the right answer, I do take blinkies and tear pad q’s i do not always use them right then and there. I guess it is a matter of opinion and as we know an opinion is just that
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Canadian Extreme Couponer Theresa
I think you should only take what you will use for tearpads but never more than 10.
Blinkiies – same as tearpads
Peelies – NEver only if you purchase the product.
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