Coupons help everyone save money, but only when you follow the rules. Printable coupons are issued because they are easy and cheap to distribute to tons of people. Usually you are limited per email address, computer, or household to the number of coupons you can print and this limit will be communicated to you in some way. Sometimes a coupon shows up in several different places and you are able to print the coupon twice through each different link (like the Honey Bunches of Oats coupon). It would seem to me that if the folks at Honey Bunches of Oats really only wanted you to print two coupons, they would point all of the coupons to the same page and not place them on different pages. The purpose of the limit is to spread the savings to as many people as possible. Most companies will track how many coupons have been printed and they will end the availability of the coupon when they reach a certain number of prints. They will also assign unique identification numbers to each coupon so that they can better track fraudulent coupon usage (i.e. copying rather than printing). I have seen some coupons that you could easily print as many as you wanted, but the manufacturer has written “Please print only one coupon per household” with the hope that you will respect their request.
The reason why it is important to respect the print limits imposed for these special coupons is that you want coupons like this to continue to be issued. You also want for retailers to be able to get reimbursed for those coupons you use so that they continue to accept printable coupons. I know that many retailers no longer accept printable coupons, and it is because they are more widely abused than other types of coupons. My hope is that manufacturers will continue to issue them, most stores will still accept them, and that I will continue to have great printable coupon offers to share with you.
Coupon Tips teach you to be an empowered consumer
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Thanks for the comment, Christina! You also made me think about when we should choose to print a coupon. Since many coupons are tracked so that a limited number can be printed, it makes even more sense to only print those we expect to use. And you avoid the problem with the 30-day rolling expiration date that many coupons have by only printing it close to the time you think you will use it.
You are so right, Heather! As tempting as it is to print dozens of coupons for free things, it seems rather pathetic to do so. I print a reasonable amount of coupons and then make sure to tell others about the deals so they can take advantage of it too. It’s no good to be a hog about things.