Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Coupons.com Sues Coupon Selling Website HouseofCouponZ.com

Well, the hits just keep on coming for couponers and people looking to save money on their groceries. When I read this article here on Couponsinthenews.com I was actually shocked. Yes, Coupons.com did threaten to file a lawsuit against printable coupon selling website houseofcouponz.com. All for a scant amount of 12 coupons. Per this article, they were using only six computers to print a total of 12 coupons for each item, with a .15 handling fee attached plus whatever they were charging. Lawsuit, over pennies. It's just happened.

Why? Well, if you think about it, coupons.com actually got ahead of a potentially larger problem before it even happened. Some of the larger counterfeit coupon sellers have to have massive amounts of printers, software, computers, etc in their dens. So quickly, 12 could be 1200. By setting this precedent and with the effect it has, hopefully it will be a deterrent. I can't tell you how many "printable" coupons are on eBay and other sites that look photocopied, altered, hell even created out of thin air. Here's where the coupons.com actually had a leg to stand on with this one.

Those printable coupons have watermarks and specific codes as well as information that can lead back to the ip address of the creator or the reprinter. Didn't know that? Now you do. By altering or doctoring the actual watermark, reprinting it and selling it, that's along the same fraudulent line of making money with a watermark and trying to sell that too.  This is how this differs from the normal avenue of buying and selling coupons. There are distinct markers on these items created for a purpose. How do you think if you redeem a printable a few months later you get bombarded with ads on your computer for that product or a similar item from that same manufacturer? If a retailer gets a printable redeemed coupons and looks into it, finding distinct web created signatures on them and then starts seeing the same web signatures popping up all over the country, they know they have a problem and know exactly where it is coming from and based on this information, are hell bent on tracking it down.

I don't like printables. I don't like the time spent chasing them. I haven't used or printed one in over two years personally. I don't like wasting my ink and breaking printers over them. Plus most stores don't even accept them anymore. And I sure as hell would not advise selling them, even before this happened.

Coupons.com could end this issue by simply creating a digital card, mailing it to them and to offset cost make members pay for a subscription and have the savings automatically load to the card weekly to enforce the 2 coupon per their site's current policy limit. Someone might have six,twelve or a hundred computers but I don't think they have that many addresses.  I see the era of printables coming to an end before you know it. And the era of selling them, probably won't make the end of the calendar year.

Stay tuned for more updates including the CIC expose.