I know, “gang-cutting” coupons sounds strange. But apparently it’s a huge problem in the coupon industry that is only getting worse that’s to Extreme Couponing.
Well, what is it? It refers to stacking multiple “like” insert pages together and cutting out multiples of the same coupon at one time. While a pair of scissors would only be capable of cutting through a dozen or so pages, a paper cutter could cut 50 inserts or more! Coupons that you purchase on E-bay or from a coupon clipping service are generally “gang-cut”. Heck, I’ve even “gang-cut” coupons – granted, I never have more than 4 inserts, I’ve still stacked pages together to cut out the four coupons at the same time. It saves time!
But coupons that have been gang-cut and redeem together at a store are actually flagged at the coupon clearinghouse. Because they have identical cut lines from being gang-cut, special equipment at the clearinghouse can separate them during processing. The store can actually not be reimbursed for these coupons if the clearinghouse determines that indeed these coupons were “gang-cut”.
Stores are catching on and are starting to refuse gang-cut coupons. It has been deemed a type of coupon fraud, since most “gang-cut” coupons come from E-bay or coupon clipping services which are “iffy” on the coupon usage code-of-ethics. I know, I know! I use them too but even though the disclaimers state that “you are only paying for the time to clip and the shipping charges, not the coupons” is still viewed as “buying coupons” and coupons are not supposed to bought and transferred. So it’s not so much that you cut your coupons all together that is wrong – it’s that the same practice is used by those that obtain inserts unethically. When you’re redeeming your coupons, you can prove to the clerk that you paid for 10 copies of the newspaper to get those 10 coupons.
How can you protect yourself from having your coupons being refused? Even if you legitimately buy 10 copies of the Sunday paper, you could potentially have your coupons refused.
Quite simply, don’t gang cut them. I know, it saves time to do it that way. But if you buy large quantities of papers and gang-cut the inserts you may want to consider only cutting half together then the other half together to make the cut lines different. (For example, if you buy 10 papers, stack five together and cut and the the other five and cut.)
Don’t redeem all your like coupons in one store. Since a store’s coupons are processed at the clearinghouse in as a group, gang-cut coupons from that store will be separated. As long as you don’t redeem 40 coupons for ketchup at one store, they won’t be flagged.
Don’t be greedy. This is what I don’t like about Extreme Couponing. Really, 60 bottles of mustard are not necessary. Be a “practical couponer”. If there is a good deal on something, I’m going to get 4-6 of those items. Not 40. So I don’t have to worry about redeeming 40 gang cut coupons. Chances are my four gang cut coupons are not going to get flagged. According to the article, the least amount of gang cut coupons flagged was 12 (the most were in the hundreds).
You can read more of Jill Cataldo’s article about it here.
Follow Me!