Normally I only share the positive rules about using coupons and stockpiling.  But to be fair, I want to share what I call the “Couponer’s Golden Rule.”

Do Unto Other Shoppers as You’d Have Shoppers Do Unto You.

1.  Do not clear shelves.  While I may talk about buying 20 packages of oatmeal in a sale, I don’t buy them all at once.  I make sure my store has plenty in stock for other shoppers by making multiple trips or special ordering through the store manager.  Being fair to the stores and other shoppers means that other shoppers won’t get mad at the store.  Yes, they make money on the one item either way, but unhappy shoppers tend to not buy other products, and spend their money at other stores.  That’s not the way to engender good feelings from your store.

2.  Do not block aisles or race other shoppers and then fill two or three carts full.  This is simply greed, and greed is not good.  And yes, there are some rather infamous shoppers in this area who do just this, angering hundreds of other shoppers who are there at the same time for the same deals.

3.  Do not use coupons for products they are not intended for.  If it says $1 off 2, you must buy 2.  If its a coupon for 12 oz only, you must buy the 12 oz, not the 8 oz, even if it doesn’t ‘beep.’  Don’t use Swiffer coupons on diapers.  All of those are a form of misredemption and coupon fraud, which costs manufacturers and stores millions of dollars every year.  In essence, if you know the coupon you are using is not being redeemed properly, its the same as shoplifiting from the store.

4.  Do not copy coupons.  EVER.  Not printables, not paper coupons, not any of them.  Its not allowed.  Even if the coupon doesn’t say so, its not allowed.  In fact, printable coupons have unique security codes for each print that are tied to your computer and identity.  If you copy a printable, the security codes will be the same and the company will track it back to you.

5.  Don’t use pdf’s of coupons sent to you by friends.  About 50% of the time those pdf’s are altered coupons.  Many honest people use these not having any idea what they are usuing. Only trust pdf coupons from the manufacturer or store website.

6.  Do not alter or cut and paste a printable coupon.  Even cutting and pasting a coupon to make it more efficient on paper use is considered altering by the manufacturers, as it alters the original form of the coupon.

7.  Do not buy something with a coupon with the intent of returning it for full value.  This is considered fraud and will have you marked with a red flag by the store.

8.  Do not yell or insult the store employees.  No matter how much they might deserve it, it will never serve to improve your case.  A store manager’s first instinct is to protect his employees.  A corporate office will back a manager who says you were rude almost 100% of the time, regardless of how ‘right’ you are.  Always be calm, polite and reasonable.  Meet rude with polite and your case will go much further.

9.  Do not use expired coupons without the express permission of your store manager.  They may not beep, but that doesn’t mean the store will get reimbursed for them.  When its recently expired, it pays to stop and ask–if you’re a good customer that has built a rapport with your store, quite often they’ll be happy to accomodate you.

10.  Just because it doesn’t beep doesn’t make it right.  Many fraudsters know all of the rules, and what goes around the rules.  We’re finding more and more that coupon fraud hurts honest couponers by putting them under suspicion too.