Extreme couponing isn’t just a hobby for some people—it’s practically a sport and these people will bend the rules as much as they can to win! They’ve figured out ways to maximize discounts to their benefit in ways that seem rather immoral. Here are fourteen tips from extreme couponers that some call unethical. We’re not saying you should do any of these but it’s interesting to see how far people will go to save some money.
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Doubling Up Coupons Illegitimately
Some shoppers find loopholes in coupon policies to stack discounts that aren’t meant to be combined—for example, they might use both a manufacturer coupon & a store coupon that should be mutually exclusive. It’s an approach that doesn’t seem fair and may even lead to conflicts at the register. People who do this trick wait for a cashier shift change or they might keep track of store coupon systems to figure out which branches are less strict.
Dumpster Diving for Extra Inserts
To get more coupons, extreme couponers sift through dumpsters or recycling bins to find extra newspaper inserts—it’s not illegal but certainly questionable! Dumpster diving poses health risks & creates messes around collection sites but the lure of additional savings is too much for some people. They’ll look for specific days when local papers arrive so they know exactly where to poke around.
Using Coupons on Wrong Items
Misapplying coupons intentionally is another unethical habit, where people use a coupon meant for one product on a different but similar item, hoping the cashier doesn’t notice. It exploits the system and may cause losses for stores & manufacturers. Some even do test runs to see which barcodes slip past the system and they might swap barcodes with other items too, although that causes a lot of issues if they’re caught.
Creating Multiple Accounts
Some extreme couponers set up numerous email addresses or loyalty accounts to bypass account limits—they’ll register under different names or using family members’ information without consent. In doing so, they get more coupons than intended, even though the restrictions are there to make things fair for everyone. They’ll even go as far as automating this process by writing scripts that generate new email addresses to use for discounts!
Returning Purchases Unfairly
Returning items without receipts or after using coupons to get full-price refunds is rather questionable yet some shoppers do so to exploit generous return policies. They might even swap products with cheaper versions before returning them so they get a price reduction. It helps them make a profit & perhaps get store credit, which leads to increased prices for everyone as stores try to offset these losses.
Multiple Transactions to Avoid Limits
Splitting purchases into multiple transactions helps people avoid quantity limits on sale items and they might go through the checkout line several times or visit different cashiers. Others hop between stores in the same chain. It’s not exactly against the rules—but it causes delays for other customers and doesn’t seem right.
Abusing Price Match Policies
Another tactic is using outdated or fake ads to get stores to price match, which involves presenting old flyers to convince cashiers to reduce prices. Doing so deceives the store but may also count as fraud in some cases. As such, creating fake flyers may lead to serious trouble if a store decides to investigate and that’s far more expensive than it’s actually worth!
Excessive Hoarding
Lots of extreme couponers stockpile more products than they could ever use and they might fill entire rooms with perishable items that expire before they’re able to use them. It may seem harmless yet this kind of behavior wastes resources while also stopping others from buying those items while they’re on sale. It also turns living spaces into cluttered stockrooms.
Exploiting Technical Glitches
Technical glitches happen all the time and extreme couponers will take advantage of these to get discounts—for example, if an item scans at a lower price due to a mistake, they’ll buy large quantities before the error gets fixed. Some even try to replicate the glitch across multiple stores as these system flaws aren’t usually fixed right away and they’re still able to get lower prices. They legally pay the price displayed but it does seem a little unethical.
Coupon Barcode Generators
Certain websites let people generate fake barcodes that replace legitimate barcodes on coupons with ones that give bigger discounts or even free items. Of course, it’s not allowed in any legitimate coupon policy and doing so could land people in legal trouble if they’re caught. Many stores have started upgrading their systems to spot bogus barcodes—but that doesn’t stop some people from trying!
Abusing Customer Feedback Programs
One of the most unethical ways to get discounts is by filling out feedback forms with made-up complaints to get free coupons—they might say a product was stale or missing ingredients without any real proof. Some even use other people’s contact info so they’re able to complain multiple times without attracting attention! They’ll stretch these stories until the company gives them a huge discount to resolve the whole issue and that doesn’t seem right.
Tampering with Product Packaging for Markdowns
Likewise, some people purposely mess up packaging then take it to the customer service desk claiming it came that way. They act concerned that the product might be unsellable—so the store gives them a markdown instead of throwing it away. For extreme couponers, the best items are those that already look a bit banged up and the best time is when the store is busy.
Manipulating Loyalty Rewards
Receiving loyalty points is always great and some people stack them in ways the system never intended, which might involve scanning the same receipt multiple times on different apps or tricking the app by logging purchases under fake profiles. A few go so far as to edit screenshots of reward point balances to claim they’ve earned more than they really have. Then, they’ll trade these inflated totals for store credit that they’re able to use later.
Faking Lost Shipments or Incomplete Orders
Some online shoppers claim their package never showed up while others insist an order arrived missing a key item, hoping the store will ship a free replacement. A few rely on vague complaints that a box was damaged so customer service won’t look into things too much—although retailers like Amazon are starting to catch on. The sneakiest extreme couponers will create multiple accounts that all submit similar claims at different times.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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