Printable Coupon Fun and Fraud

June 10th, 2009

Printable coupons are hitting critical mass on the internet, and if you are just clipping coupons out of the Sunday paper, you maybe missing out on some great savings. Did you know that printable coupons are available for everything from electronics and clothing to fast food and amusement parks? Well we did , so as a service to you, our loyal Buxr readers, we are going to recommend some of our favorite printable coupon sites and give you some tips on detecting fraudulent printable coupons.

Not all printable coupons are legitimate

For one reason or another there are a lot of fraudulent printable coupon circulating the internet. Sometimes phony coupons are easy to detect, others can be quite tricky. Here are some things we look for to weed out the fakes:

1. Blurry images or a blurry copy of a printable coupon is a sure sign of a problem. Chances are these coupons are blurry to obfuscate some kind of alteration to the terms or they have simply been photocopied/scanned. Most retailers do not accept photocopied or scanned coupons, and often this is stated right on the coupon itself “void if copied.”

2. Remember that saying “always read the fine print?” Well, lack of terms such as expiration and redemption limits (aka fine print) could mean the printable coupon is bogus. Just like the coupons you get in the Sunday paper, online printable coupons typically contain the same details.

3. Look for a bar code on the coupon. Most legit printable coupons have a bar code.

4. Do not pay for printable coupons. If you stumble along a site that is asking you to pay for a printable coupon, hit the back button immediately. You should never have to pay to print!

5. The coupon is hosted on a 3rd party image hosting website. This is a tricky situation because some legitimate printable coupons are hosted on these sites, but you should pay very close attention to the details of the coupon. What I usually do is check with my friend Google, and see if there are other mentions of this particular coupon. After a quick search, I can usually find some user comments regarding the coupon to help me out.

6. If it’s too good to be true, it usually is. Remember to use common sense when inspecting any printable coupon. That buy 1 get 1 free Cadillac printable coupon is probably fake.

Finding Great Printable Coupons

So now that you know how to spot a phony, let’s go over a few of our favorite printable coupon sites.

1. Wow-Coupons.com

Wow Coupons is one of the first all-printable coupon sites that I found on the web. You will quickly notice that the Wow website design is fun and friendly. They have a cute animated coupon mascot that guides you through the site. It’s also easy to navigate so you can peruse coupons by categories such as retail, grocery, travel, rebates and restaurant. All of the coupons are presented clearly with merchant name, discount and expiration dates clearly stated. They’ve also launched a UK site, so that’s good news for those across the pond.

2. Coupons.com

Coupons.com is a great source for printable coupons, particularly grocery coupons. When you arrive at the printable coupons page, there is a pop-up that prompts you for your zip code, once you enter that you’ll get both local and national printable coupons. Most of the offers are grocery coupons, and just browsing the first page I found a few nice coupons like: $1 off Crystal Lite and $1 off Kraft Macaroni Cheese (you can tell I have sophisticated taste). They have about 11 more pages of printable coupons for my area. The one downside of Coupons.com is that you have to register and install a little piece of software to print the coupons.

3. SmartSource.com

Like Coupons.com, Smart Source carries tons of printable coupons for primarily groceries. And just like Coupons.com, you can enter your Zip Code to get local printable coupons. I’ve used it before and have gotten some great deals like a free 24oz Heinz Ketchup. Again, they require you to install special software to print the coupons but I’ve never had a problem with it.

4. Valpak.com

Even if you throw away those Valpak envelopes you get stuffed with coupons, you can still go to Valpak.com and find some great local printable coupons. Just entering my zip code, I found a coupon for Midas (Auto) $5 off $10 and $10 off $100. Not bad, and it’s easier to navigate a website than a pack of coupons stuffed with unwanted offers.

5. Google.com

OK I love search engines, and I think Google is a great way to find printable coupons. Simply enter the Merchant Name + Printable Coupon and you may find a printable coupon that works. A word of caution here, you never know what site could end up in the search results. So please take extra time to investigate the source and the printable coupon itself. One other cool thing I wanted to mention was that Google Maps lists some printable coupons offered by local business. You can go to this page and search for some in your area.

6. Buxr.com

You didn’t think I would skip over our site did you? Well, we always have fantastic printable coupons available from your favorite merchants. We tend to have more retail coupons than grocery coupons, but you can always count on it to be hot. And if that were not enough, we have moderators and a nice community that is standing by to check every offer. What could be better than that?

Let’s get printing!

I hope you’ve enjoyed these tips, and will save some money as a result. I always like to remind people that shopping should be enjoyable and also not to stress out over a few bucks. Your health is much more valuable than saving $2 off at Domino’s Pizza.

Happy printing,

Mike @ Buxr

Photo courtesy of Coupon Diva on Flickr

Entry Filed under: Shopping