I get great emails from my readers, often asking questions on a variety of coupon topics. I always love to hear from you, and my readers pose excellent questions – so I thought it might be fun to start a Q&A column where I can share some of these questions and their answers. I was inspired to write this article based on a question I got a while ago from Christina of Saving 4 My Family – she wrote, “I have a question about IP’s. How do you know when you have a legitimate Internet coupon vs. a fraudulent one?”
This is a question I get frequently – how do you determine if Internet printable coupons (also known as printables or IPs) are legitimate? Printable coupons are a great way to save, and everyone I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in the coupon community have been ethical and conscientious. Unfortunately, printable coupons are still a target for fraud, and the actions of a few “bad apples” hurt everyone. So how can you be sure if the great coupon you found online is the real deal? Here are a few steps you can take to identify legitimate printables:
1. You can verify printables from Coupons.com by clicking here. This is a great resource for verifying any coupon printed using the Coupons.com software – simply enter the “Veri-Fi” code found on the front of each coupon, and it will instantly tell you if the coupon is valid or not.
2. When in doubt, ask. Hot Coupon World has a great forum titled “It’s Got To Be Real”, where they research the validity of coupons and post warnings about fraudulent ones. They contact manufacturers directly and verify all coupons that they post, so I find this to be an invaluable resource if I’m unsure about a coupon. Alternatively, you can contact the manufacturer directly to inquire about the coupon in question.
3. Use PDF and JPEG coupons with caution. Most printable coupons are printed via special software from Coupons.com or SmartSource.com. This software is designed to be fairly secure and prevent fraudulent activity. However, you will sometimes run across printable coupons in another format – sometimes as a downloadable PDF file, other times saved as an image file (.jpg, .gif, etc). This doesn’t automatically make the coupon invalid, but it does mean that you should proceed with caution, as these types of coupons usually allow unlimited prints and are more prone to fraud. Before using these coupons, I would always email the manufacturer or check Hot Coupon World to make sure that it is legitimate.
By keeping these points in mind, you can help to stamp out illegitimate coupons and do your part to ensure that coupon redemption continues to be a win-win situation for both consumers and manufacturers.
Got a frugal question for Super Coupon Girl? Feel free to send me an email at supercoupongirl@gmail.com, and your question may be addressed in a future Q&A column.
