Coupon Flea Market - My Experience Trying To Sell On Their Site.

Drama. Here's the scoop for anyone thinking about signing up there to try and be a seller...

Back when eBay announced their coupon policy change back in mid-July, myself and many other couponers began looking for alternatives. Some suggested eCrater, some suggested webstore.com , some wanted to start their own sites, yada yada, and then a small group of sellers were advising to visit couponfleamarket.com.

To not limit my selling options, I contacted couponfleamarket.com at the Customer Service number on their website. On or around July 20,2013. I left a message on their voice mail indicating I was an eBay seller for over 13 years and had over 15,000 feedback with the same account. Their site requires a verification process of some kind in order to be a seller. Week goes by, nothing. I called and left another message the following week, still no reply. The phone number has an (863) are code, which is central Florida east of Tampa and west of Orlando. 

Finally about a month after the initial phone call, I received a phone call from a woman named Stacy with a (727) area code. That area code is primarily west of Tampa and located in the Clearwater/St. Petersburg area of the state. Weird but ok.

Played phone tag leaving messages back and forth, etc. Up until about a week ago.

During this time, frustrated by the lack of response to add an established and experienced seller to their site, of course I vented my frustrations with their lack of response on eBay forums and various postings on the internet. Oddly as I was receiving no phone call from them, other sellers were boasting about how wonderful it is and "they should get a small group of sellers together to monopolize coupon sales" and that "there are a lot of people on board with that idea" on couponfleamarket.com since the CIC is so eagerly shutting down virtually all avenues for sellers of legitimate coupons on the internet while fakes and frauds can still be located everywhere via pop ups and eBay. I've given up reporting them, they still sell coupons that are clearly fake en mass for massive amounts of money. I'll let the legality of that play itself out no matter what their feedback is.

Finally yesterday I get another phone call and another message from Stacy at couponfleamarket.com. I just missed the call and returned it promptly. She stated that after the eBay policy change they had over 500 applications for sellers, blah blah and that they were too busy and had a backlog.  Ok understandable. But what came out of her mouth next was quite quizzical at best.

"I'm flustered.....I'm flustered...I'm reading these things you are posting on the web and...."

I cut her off right there. The phone call was over. You mean to tell me you are "too busy" to add sellers to your site and manage  it but you have time to scour the internet looking at forums and posts made about the ridiculously slow response for a qualified seller? You have to be kidding me. 

What this screams to me is drama. When I was doing some research myself  about couponfleamarket.com I found that there were more than a few people indicating they had incidents of "drama" on that site from admin, customers and other sellers. I kind of blew it off  as some disgruntled people like there are on every line of business it seems. But no, really, it's that bad apparently. A quick look at the coupons for sale (not auction) there and their prices, format and shipping charges are absolutely through the roof in addition to being extremely difficult to navigate.

I logged off and won't be logging back in there again anytime soon.

That's my experience with couponfleamarket.com trying to become a seller there. Good luck to any of you trying to sell or purchase there. Oh and one more thing, make sure you don't speak your mind anywhere about it because apparently finding your postings is more important to them then actually running a business...that will probably get shut down sooner than later anyway by the CIC.

 

Webstore.com Coupon Selling Policy Change - The CIC Strikes Again

As many of you know that read and follow this blog of late, these are constantly changing times in the couponing world, especially when these changes come to dramatically alter the landscape for those who buy and sell coupons online. If you see my posts out there online, you will see me highly advising displaced eBay sellers to go to Webstore.com. That was, at least until yesterday.

I signed into my webstore.com account to have a ton of my coupon listings suspended. After some prodding, the admin and webstore.com (yes they do reply) sent me an updated coupon selling policy for their website:

Clearly this isn't going to work for myself or those that sell peelies, tearpads and coupons obtained from the stores. I have since cancelled all of my listings on webstore.com and more than likely won't be going back.

The CIC (Coupon Information Center) has put me out of business on webstore.com, just like they have put eCrater coupon sellers out of business completely , handcuffed eBay sellers to the point of stupid, now they have spread their wings to shut down coupon selling on webstore.com for any coupons that are actually worth your time to sell.

For what it is worth, you could still sell your inserts, bulk lots of normal coupons there if you have been thrown off of eBay or eCrater. And also, the admin there were very nice and responded quickly.

A Google search for webstore.com coupon policy turned up nothing, so I felt it best to put the most current information out there so that people remain informed.

I did fire off a scathing message to the CIC last night and am awaiting their reply. A quick look at their website shows who they are and what they are about. They really don't hide anything at all. But that's for the next posting where we take them apart and explain what their jargon means in the real world. They aren't out to protect you - they are out to protect the billion dollar companies by shutting down your coupon sales and taking money out of your pockets and taking food out of your familys' mouth.

Until next time, Happy Couponing. Stay tuned. This is far from over.

Ebay Coupon Policy Change (Update) & Proof P&G Is Part of the Reason

Good morning fellow couponers and consumers. If you have stumbled upon this, thank you for taking the time to read. We have some follow up to Reality Couponing and Retail's post regarding who's to blame for the eBay coupon policy changes that were supposed to take effect on 12:00:00 AM PST on 9/1/2013 regarding the sale of coupons. We here saw a post on "Coupons in the News" and decided to jump on that to correct some common misinformation regarding the legality of selling coupons and to offer coupon buyers a new forum to get deals on, webstore.com, while eBay sorts this all out. Because as of 9/4/2013 at 11:00 AM CST, clearly it is not sorted out:

Still over 50,000 listings and more coming in as fast as they are ending. Still Free item coupons, still BOGOS, still bulk coupon and insert sales, still fake coupons listed en masse in excess of the montly $100 limit. Sellers still ramping up 20 lots of 20 coupons shamelessly, in clear violation of the 25 a month rule. Basically everything that went on before is still going on now. Except there are 20-30,000 less listings.

We suspect those aren't there anymore because the people that are actually complying with the policy changes removed theirs prior to the 9/1/13 drop dead date. What to do? Reality Retail and Couponing will contact eBay this afternoon to get some answers. If they aren't going to enforce it, well golly gee willikers I will let you all know so that we can go back to making money. Stay tuned.

Now back to who's to blame. In our previous post we singled out P&G as the #1 reason why this change has taken effect (or at least is supposed to.) Rumors must be valid of them (and the other coupon mfrs and distributors) filing that multimillion dollar lawsuit against eBay for allowing the sale of coupons. Why do you ask? Well, here's some proof from the latest batch of 9/30/2013 expiring coupons that P&G wants it gone once and for all :

 

The first portion states "VOID if transferred, sold, auctioned..." Auctioned? Oh my friend where else are you going to sell these at "auction" other than eBay or the handful of other coupon friendly websites out there? Surely you are not going to sell them at an auction house or estate sale. This is direct proof that P&G is involved and has knowledge of coupons being "Auctioned." By the millions. And the kicker is the 2nd circled portion below that states "No cash or credit in excess of shelf price may be returned to consumer or applied to transaction." Where did most people find out about this? Extreme Couponing! 

So to the "self boasting" club who says that manufacturer's have a right to do whatever they want with their coupons and cry about ethics, what do you say about that last portion? Because the way I see it, P&G is telling the supermarkets and stores what to do with their money and store policies. The simple translation is if we see a Cover Girl item on clearance and it's the classic $1 off any Covergirl product coupon in say Wal Mart priced at 88 cents, they can't give you the money back of 12 cents or apply it to another portion of your transaction (which is Wal Mart Coupon Policy)  because "P&G says so." Does this seem right and ethical to you? Grant it, that portion of the coupon will probably get read and enforced by less than 1% of every one redeemed at best, but still, it is the awareness and thought process behind it that reinforces our claim that P&G is the #1 reason behind the eBay coupon policy change that was supposed to take effect on 9/1/13.

Their rationale? If someone can go to Wal Mart and redeem this coupon and get any portion of the difference back, then it's another P&G coupon being redeemed, hence another dollar being taken out of their coffers. Another dollar less toward marketing research aimed to gouge the consumer. Another dollar less toward their million dollar CEO Christmas bonus. Do you get a Christmas bonus? Another dollar less for travel for "Marketing Conferences", another dollar less for their paid vacations. Another dollar less for their Cadillac Health Insurance plans. How many of you actually can afford health insurance?

But all P&G cares about is well, another dollar out of your pocket. Case closed.

Stay tuned for future updates. And yes, we here at Reality Couponing and Retail think it's cool to refer to ourselves in the third party too. Seems to be the "in" thing on internet forums, blogs and coupon websites.

*Update* We spoke to an eBay rep named "Nathan" this afternoon at 12:30PM CST. He stated that the policy wasn't actually in effect until 9/3/2013 due to the holiday and that action will begin to be taken against those non compliant. "Give it some time and we will catch them." Hope so. What's fair is fair. Thank you for reading!

*Update* Down to 34,000 as of 9/11/2013 at 4:08PM CST. Keep reporting, It will drive customers to other sites where we all can benefit. Especially webstore.com.

Ebay Coupon Policy Change for Sellers - The Truth.

Well we all knew one day it would happen. The retaliation by the retailers against the consumer as a whole as well as the extreme couponer has been taken to a whole new level. The massive and seller-killing eBay coupon policy change effective 9.1.13.
I won't rehash the policy here. You've all seen it 1,000 times. What I want to talk about is the who, what , when, where and why this has happened. Not the bullshit boasting about my own humility feel good stories on "Good Mary's Savings" or some other garbage coupon forum site. No, not that. The Truth. Every couponer or eBay seller or coupon buyer needs to know that.
Ebay has allowed coupon sales since its' inception. It has changed alot over the years. From the Golden Era where anything went, including fakes, to the most recent and plausible 20 coupon per listing, 5 insert situation. Why the change and why now?
If you actually come out of your bubble and do some investigating, you'll see deep in the anals of the internet that Smart Source, Red Plum and P&G have had "coupon clipping" (Front for "coupon selling") sites taken down many many times over the past three years in response to that nightmare of a show , TLC's "Extreme Couponing." But their real goal the whole time, has been shutting it down on the worldwide marketplace known as Ebay.
The fake coupons. Yes they are abundant. Yes you are stupid if you believe that somewhere out there someone has 150 coupons for free 50 lb dog food bags, 200 coupons for free $10 a pack bacon, 125 Free Tide $15 coupons or 150 free 36 pack Bounty $30 paper towel roll coupons. The only place those exist is on someone's printer with good photoshop software. Those people do need to be prosecuted and shut down to the fullest extent of the law. I agree, that's theft. But what about the honest seller?
You are officially screwed. And why are you screwed? Not because eBay has decided to take money out of the sellers' pocket, the food out of the buyer's mouth and fees out of their and PayPal's coffer, because the threat of a $20 million dollar lawsuit from Smart Source, Red Plum and P&G. That's why.
They make so much money on their products it is disgusting. The selection of coupons in the past two years from Smart Source and Red Plum are absolutely nauseating compared to where they were three years ago. Unilever hasn't put a food product coupon in my newspaper since January of 2012 and those didn't even work in the stores I tried to use them in. I haven't bought a Unilever product since.
The legality of buying coupons. I am tired of seeing these goody two shoes posters on internet forums saying how "all coupon sellers should be shut down." Shut the fuck up already. There's no law on the books indicating you cannot sell a coupon. These are all manufacturer "Threats" printed on each and every coupon. Is a major corporation going to sue you for $2 worth of coupons? No. These are published as a deterrent. That's the simple truth of it. What is illegal is running a printer and making your own then selling them or trying to use them. That is what coupon fraud is - theft. But taking a valid coupon to the store and using them on be it one or a hundred items that the coupon is valid for is not coupon fraud no matter how you obtain them.
The problem with that is the corporation has to reimburse the retailer for the valid coupon and if they simply don't like the amount of valid coupons sent to them or redeemed, they get pissy because it cuts a small fraction into their billion dollar a year profits. In the past this would lead to them not to make the coupon anymore or reduce its' face value. But now, with the price of food and household products at an all time high despite what you hear on the news, people are struggling and are turning to any means necessary to feed their families and make ends meet. The corporations and their billions do not care about you. All they care about is their golden jets and finding new ways to squeeze money out of the already burnt out people, one coupon at a time.
Ecrater, the closest thing to an Ebay competitor, is so afraid of success (as usual) that they decided to not allow new coupon sellers once this is announced. Then they took it a step further by banning all coupon sales after 8/14/2013. Why would someone do this? Because they know a lawsuit is pending, that's why.
The only viable resource post 9/1/13 to buy and sell coupons on now is webstore.com. How long that lasts remains to be seen. But with their pitiful user count (100,000) and turtle volume, it might take awhile before any of the Big 3  ( P&G, Smart Source and Red Plum) take notice. Best to head over there while the getting is good, fellow couponers. Coupon Flea Market is a joke. Takes a month plus for a 15,000+ eBay seller to get a return phone call to sell there and those forum sites are just full of self boasting about how civil they are to others people and waste of your time. I can't stand reading them. And the people who run them ip ban me or not publish my posts because I tell the truth about who's to blame and tell them to shut the fuck up when all I see are "feel good about sharing and doing what's right" stories. Fuck off. We're all trying to survive here and make money and it's high time someone told it like it is.
So if you want to blame anyone for eBay's new coupon policy effective 9/1/2013, blame the following:
1. P&G
2. Smart Source
3. Red Plum
4. The people that truly commit coupon fraud
5. TLC's "Extreme Couponing."
Those are the real culprits in this issue. Not the hustler selling tear pads, coupons and inserts 20 at a time, not the person using coupons to feed their families, no, not  us, blame the greed of P&G and the companies that publish coupons in the paper. Those are the ones taking money out of your pockets and food out of your family's mouth. That' the truth. Anything else about legality and "doing what's right" is well, simple bullshit.

National Consumer Panel : Your Voice - NO Reward

About two years ago during the height of the Extreme Couponing frenzy, my family and I decided to try out one of the many links that were sent to our inbox regarding "Freebies," a chance to join the National Consumer Panel operated by Nielsen.
I have had previous experience with Nielsen, as they are the ones that used to send cash to your mailbox in order to fill out surveys, test products and review television programs and viewing habits. They were a good company and the money was decent up until the last batch of television books I returned to them and after all of that time and energy spent collecting month after month of television viewing data, I never received the $100 as promised for the combined five booklets I had sent in. In fact, I never received a dollar. But that was years ago, and this is a different program so I figured I would give it a shot.
A little background. Once approved, they send you a little handheld scanner that you scan the bar codes of every single shopping trip that you and your household compile over a weeks' time. It goes by store, sale, discount, coupons used, they also give you a booklet to scan things that might not have a UPC on them, such as fruits, snacks, nuts, fast food and DVD rentals. You simply scan this information, totals and put the scanner back on its' base, which transmits data intermittently through the week. This gives you "points" that you can in time, redeem for "gifts." The amount of points per weekly scan increase the longer you are there, usually in yearly increments. There are also surveys sent to your inbox that usually give you up to 150 gift "points" if you complete them before the deadlines presented in the email, which is usually ample time.
I was a full participant in this panel for nearly a year and a half. At the 90 day anniversary I received a plastic bottle opener worth about a quarter. At the six month anniversary, I received a NCP lunch bag that has a value of about fifty cents. When I came upon the year anniversary, there was no reward at all. That's when I started taking a closer look and exactly what is going on here.
My points weren't accumulating toward much of a "gift" value at all! After a year of this, I was approaching the 30,000 point plateau and had absolutely nothing to show for it other than two things sent to me that were worth about one dollar. I see these posts on the internet regarding "cash for surveys" via this NCP program. I can tell you that they are completely inaccurate. I never received nor was offered one dollar for a survey, a scan, nothing. What these are when you see them online, are glorified "referral" links so that if you do join, the person that sent you to the NCP program to sign up, gets 1500 gift points credited to their account - you get nothing. They tried to give "better rewards and sweepstakes" but the reality is those winners are geared in the upper mid west, where there is a dense population and multiple households scanning themselves crazy.
Also, worse than the lack of a reward for scanning every purchase you make daily and weekly, was the use of the data. Over time I noticed that retailers stopped running the very sales that I had entered into my scanner weekly, stopped distributing the coupons i had used during those shopping trips, and even increased the prices in many cases of things that I purchased most often!! This happened in more than one retail outlet in my area I can assure you. So the eyebrows and awareness were indeed raised on that "voice" or use of data.
This week I ordered my Buffett Server from their "gift" catalog for 38,000 points. You can get this same item in Sams Club or Wal Mart for under $25. About 75-100 weeks of data, misuse of the information received, hours spent scanning to ensure accuracy per the inate amount of emails and newsletters reminding you to "scan everything!," I have decided it is no longer worth the time, effort, reward and effects it is having on my shopping trips on a weekly basis, it just isn't. If you break it down , the reward per week is about twenty-five cents. That's right, a quarter a week for them to take your data, let the retailers use it against you, and give you a very, very minimal return.
So the NCP glorifies "Your Voice, Your Reward" as their motto. I can tell you from first hand experience that the reward isn't worth the time and your voice will be used against you the next time you hit the store looking for that deal you got three months ago. It won't be there. Just like I don't advise anyone signing up for this Nielson National Consumer Panel offering at all.

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Extreme Couponing: Retailer's Revenge 2012

Ahh it was the summer of 2011. TLC's Extreme Couponing took off and so did the amount of people trying to imitate what went on during the program. 90-100% off (in some cases, they paid you) for hundreds upon hundreds and in some cases, thousands of dollars or groceries to feed your family. People claim to pay like $4.32 for almost $600 worth of groceries and explained to you how to do it yourself on the show. People had "stockpiles" of everything from Vitamin Water to bread, frozen items, paper goods, just a vast array or things that you just won't need to purchase for a very, very long time. Given the fact that the economy has been in the tank for what seems like forever now, despite what the "experts" claim, this idea struck close to home to so many....and led to a lot of bizzare activities taking place at retail outlets and supermarkets throughout the country. It was indeed, a full on craze.

You can do tons of searches for this information on the internet. I won't bore you with the history of this, or the show itself. I'll leave that to the self-serving pundits to weigh in on. But you know what? No one ever, ever speaks of the reality on the ground. If you look at postings and comments, its virtually amazing to see the vast majority of people just don't admit to being an "Extreme Couponer." You see the self boasting people talking about "not clearing shelves" and "leaving some for someone else" and "making it harder for everyone else." This tired old rhetoric isn't practical today. I mean, if all of these people feel this way, then who's the ones clearing the shelves that they complain about? Never hear that point of view. Someone has to be, right? in 2012, this is a eat-or-be-eaten world. That's the reality. The morality levels and sense of "community" are one step above in-the-gutter. You mean to tell me if you have children that eat peanut butter and jelly, and have 20 coupons that can get you either for free or for pennies on the dollar, and that will be consumed before they expire, you're not going to stock up and "clear that shelf" before someone else does because "you want to leave some for someone else?"
Right. We believe you. And no one else should either.

With all of that being said, retailers were hit en masse with coupons, real and fraudulent, during the summer of 2011 and the months following. Needless to say, supermarkets and retail outlets weren't able to handle this. Due to improper training and knowledge of coupon policies, and large amounts of "shelf clearers," the combination led to what anyone that knows anything about retail would have expected. Policy changes and retailiation by the retailers. And if you notice, like United Supermarkets week of 6/6/12-6/12/12, putting 16 oz. NOS Energy Drink on sale 4/$5.00 immediately after the $1/1 16 oz NOS coupon expired on 5/30/2012, retailers are starting to work their ads around the coupons that are actually out there for any given week. Target and Albertson's have had Ragu sauce on sale for .99 for two of the past three weeks now. This price was unheard of when there were Unilever Coupons available - now, since there aren't any, they can put the item on sale. This is happening in every retail outlet, all over the country. Just watch your expiration dates of your coupons and the sales that are posted for these stores any given week and you will see the same trend.

Target struck first by eliminating coupon stacking (they have since reversed this after the popularity of the show waned), Walgreens also wouldn't let you use two buy one get one coupons two get two items for free. This Walgreens practice has also been reversed in recent months, but only in certain stores, in certain areas of the country apparently. Kroger completely eliminated the use of double and triple coupons. Funny, they were one of the most prolific stores profiled in TLC's Extreme Couponing, being featured on more than one occassion. Publix changed theirs as well. Albertson's and CVS also on many occassions. KMART redid theirs from unlimited double coupons once a month, to some ridiculous members-only double coupons everyday but you have to spend a fortune to get your (5) coupons doubled up to $1. The only one that made it better or didn't change it at all was Walmart. But Walmart is a completely different topic for a different day.

Those are the most posted and prominent changes you will see on the internet. But what no one talks about, are the realities on the ground. That's where the underlying retaliaton and most effected items are. This is what we shall discuss.

The biggest offender in the non-retail market is Unilever. Unliever as a company, produced many, may items that people use every day, from shampoo, to body wash, butter, sauce, salad dressing and ketchup. Even Q-Tips. They were featured also in TLC's Extreme Couponing. Their response to getting slammed with over a 400% increase in coupon redemption? Stop making them. That's right. They have just stopped making coupons for the most part. When was the last time you saw a Unilever insert in your Sunday paper? I know in my area, it was January of 2012 and saying that, those coupons never even scanned and were not accepted at most retailers. The Better Business Bureau was contacted regarding this and was met with no response. If you look on ebay, (you know, the place where you're not supposed to sell coupons?) there are only a few listed from random Family Dollar stores and yes, an insert for "summer 2012" that was issued on 5/20/2012. Don't get too excited though, based on the locations of the sellers of those inserts, it appears they were upper midwest/Detroit area exclusives. I guess they get a pass because those people in those areas really do need to save every penny they can because their economy is impossible up there. But for the rest of us ? Screwed. Don't take my word for it, check your Sunday papers weekly and let me know where and when you see a Unilever insert. You won't . They even changed the coding on a printable Yosicle coupon last week from being able to scan under any Popsicle/Yosicle product for .50/1 to the 1.00/1 that only scanned for the expensive Yosicle only items. From a company that used to produce inserts 4 or 5 times a year (about once a quarter) , to nothing (except limited quantity printables that no one seems to ever be actually able to print)- makes Unilever the leader in the retaliaton against Extreme Couponing.

The next biggest offender is K-Mart. In the summer of 2011, they often offered "double coupons up to $1.00 with no limit" monthly. Now how awesome was this? I remember waking into my local Kmart with a stack of .55/1 Vitamin Water coupons and walking out of there with 110 of them for under $7.00. Sure I had to pay sales tax, but the retail value of these was upwards of $125. This is probably one of the only posted "yes I Extreme Couponed in real life" postings on the internet other than the show itself.
I wasn't alone - I saw another adult female with a shopping cart full of them also. And another. This is what so many claim to want - their extreme couponing moment. I also walked out of there with 45 boxes of tic tacs for under $2.00. Candy also. Well, once this caught on, Kmart saw what was going on and promptly retailated later in the summer of 2011.

New Kmart Double Coupon policy - limit of (5) per day with your member card and only can be used with a $25 grocery/household item purchase. What?? If anyone has been to Kmart, you know their grocery prices are outrageous. Sometimes 200% of Wal Mart or competing retailers. With this new policy, it makes it completely impractical to shop for any deals at Kmart using double coupons. I know I haven't touched it once since they made this change, and I strongly recommend people doing the same, as it really isn't a deal at all. Any savings you gain from the double coupons are eaten alive by the huge markups you are paying on everything else. So stay away. When you see this and go to your local Kmart. It might just open your eyes. Joke of the month - Spend $250 in a month and get a free picnic. With Bar-S hot dogs. Could the quality get any worse?

United Supermarkets - Ability to stack Store Coupons from monthly circulars with MFR Coupons. Now their monthly store inserts focus mostly on United brand only products.

CVS- People swear by CVS due to register rewards. Great if you can actually find the sale item in stock. Rare if you do.

Walgreens - See CVS above. They've gone back to an entity in the overpriced market. You can still stack their store coupons with a MFR Coupon but they also, have changed the amounts in the store coupon book dramatically.

Dollar General - Remember when they had a good sale you could stock up on? Or even put an ad out weekly?

Family Dollar - Rare good deal, but bring a gun if you go to one of their stores, they usually aren't in the nicest of areas. Kudos to them though, alot of their stores are focusing on deals to bring people in and are adding 1,000's of food items. There's some hope. Just hope that they don't follow the leads of the stores above.

Here are some other examples of retaliation/coupon devaluation:

- Rayovac - coupon used to be $1/1 any batteries AA/AAA. This would make them free at Wal Mart with a 2 cent profit. Good thing I stocked up. Now the coupon maxes out at .55/1.
- P&G. Used to be a .50/1 or $1/1 toothpaste. Now that same coupon maxes out at .25/1.
- P&G. Used to be a $1/1 Crest Mouthwash. Now that coupon maxes out at .25/1.
- Advil coupons. Gone.
- All Univever Coupons including Country Crock, Q-Tips, Ragu and more. Gone.
- Tear pads for Smart Water .50/1 and Vitamin Water .55/1. Gone.
- Kraft BBQ sauce (good tripler I paid nothing for a ton of these) used to be a .25/1 coupon tear pad. Gone.
- Kraft Salad Dressing $1/1 peelie on the Kraft BBQ sauce with purchase of BBQ sauce. Gone and replaced with a $1/1 Velveeta Cheese item (that retails at least $1.99) Joke.
- Monster Energy Drink tear pad coupons, used to be .50/1, a good doubler - Now $1.00/2. Joke.
- KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce, Used to be $1/1 or .50/1 depending on your region. Now, $1/2 BBQ sauce insert. No thanks.
- .50/1 Tradewinds 16oz Tea Coupon is out there. Good doubler. Too bad the stores that actually double coupons discontinued it once these came out.
- Pillsbury and General Mills coupons. Non existent since March of 2012. Used to be .50/1 or $1/2 General Mills cereal coupons. Gone. Haven't seen them in months either.
- Kellogs cereal. Used to be .50/1 or $1/2. Now you are lucky to find one for $1/3 depending on your region.

..I could go on and on with the devaluations and availibity of these coupons. I have a coupon binder that used to barley close - now it's about 1/5 of the size it used to be. I buy the same papers, look for the same sales. They just stopped doing it. All of the above and more.

I'm sure this is a very small amount of what's going on out there. You know, there are stories out there about people being prosecuted for fraud that were on the show "Extreme Couponing." My personal favorite is the one where someone purchased 34 packages of paper products for "free" using coupons. The "free" amount was over $600. Turns out the person actually purchased them off of ebay and spend $400 on them and guess what - they were fraudulent. That person had to repay the store in restitution or face prosecution. That goes with the stories of stolen newspapers and vending machines pilfered of them from last summer.

You don't see many of those stories anymore. I mean, why would people need to actually steal the inserts when there isn't anything in it anymore worth stealing? Why look for deals that don't exist anymore? The Unilver and P&G "members" access is nice to look at, but they both offer you no savings in reality you can't get in the paper , if at all. Why watch this show anymore when over half of the people on it have been prosecuted? People can't get enough of reality TV. It really needs to come to an end overall. But as we have seen here, reality television is completely different than the reality on the ground.

That's a lesson that everyone should learn. Until people start waking up and shopping the real deals and with their wallets, this retaliation will continue until all of the coupon manufacturers and retailers recoup their losses from the Extreme Couponing frenzy. It's time to wake up and see this issue for what it really is - retaliation- and not what some idealistic posters on the internet claim it to be.


*content also posted on the Yahoo! Voices of the Yahoo! Contributor Network, 2012.

The Great Economic Numbers Lie.

Hey kids, been some time out here on this one. Anyone watch the news? You see these numbers that baffle the mind as they have absolutely no sense in reality. Unemployment down to 8.1%. But what is that 8.1% of? Hmm? You see, the true unemployment number is closer to 20%. For adult black males, that number is closer to 50%. The issue is is that after people's unemployment benefits run out (after 99, yes, ninety-nine weeks) they just stop counting them toward that unemployment number, whether or not they actually have a job. With an average weekly first time jobless claim number now hanging weekly over 300,000 easily, its safe to say that for every 300,000 plus people that actually file first time jobless benefits, There are about 200,000+ people that are actually FALLING OFF THE ROLLS and are no longer counted in the bigger picture. So sure, unemployment appears to be going down, but in reality the only thing that is going down, is the actual number of the people counted, or so they say the word, "workforce." So is unemployment actually going down? No, just the number of people actually being counted into this "fraudulent" 8.1% number is the only thing going down.

Stock market is up too. Very much so over the past couple of years. Let's think about this: what are stock prices driven on? Profits, Dividends and Margins. Hold that thought while I address the next part here, another aspect that neither the Liberal or Conservative media take the time to address. 

Let's keep this simple. If you own stock in a bread company per say, and the bread maker is raising the price of the same bread that was $1.09 not too long ago to about $2.18 (this is a real number people.) That is a 100% increase in the "margin" that this company is making. We'll give about 20% of that to increased food production costs (another unheralded issue altogether) so that leaves about an 80% "margin" now. And where do you think that profit/margin actually goes? It sure isn't going to hire more workers. You see because the actual number of units being sold is substaintally less at $2.18 a loaf as 

compared to $1.09 a loaf. But on paper, the profit "margin" is so much higher, that the earnings and balance sheets of the company look so much better. Better balance sheets entice more investment, hence driving the actual stock price up much higher than it would be if this same bread company continued to sell as many loaves of bread at $1.09 a loaf. Because people have to eat and are too ignorant to use coupons and comparison shop, the big corporations are raking it in. They are making big profits while the 99% everyone claims to care about so much, are getting slaughtered every time they go into a supermarket, car dealer, retail outlet, clothes store, etc. This is the entire premise that today's economy is built on in 2012.  

People need cars, and GM (Government Motors) are also posting massive gains and profits much more so than before they were on the brink of Bankruptcy. Anyone see sticker shock on a Dodge lately? Chevy? Pre-bailout , these cars could be had brand new for under $12,000. Now, today these same vehicles, 3/4 made in China mind you, are retailing for a base brand cheap barley functional $16,900 off the lot. So, sell less cars, give everyone a $500 car payment, but hey, you're making an extra $5,000 profit to go toward your margins. So of course, it looks wonderful on the portfolios of the 1% now doesn't it. Once again, this same measure applies across all aspects of the retail arena in today, 2012. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. All you have to do is go shopping one weekend and actually look at the price compared to what it was a year ago on everything you buy. What you actually find will not only startle you, but scare you to death.

Another amazing scam is the credit card companies that offer "cash back" on purchases. Bank of America offers these amazing advertisements with "1-3% cash back" depending on the items you purchase. Capital One has those wonderful baby advertisements offering up to 5% cash back on certain cards that they offer. Well how can they do that you ask?

It's the simplest form of math in the books, let people once again are too ignorant to see it. Base Capital One cards offer 19.99% APR. Bank of America anywhere from 16.99%-33.99% APR. This of course excludes the extreme minority who qualify for (with 750+ FICO Scores) those low introductory APR's , etc. We are talking about everyday people. So BOA or Capital One gets you to sign up for a "cash back" credit card. Safe to assume they have a $45 annual fee. Safe to assume your APR after the first year will rise. So in actuality, sure they are giving you this cash back option for purchases, but as you ring up your charges, and happily see that "cash back" reward on your statement, you of course, will not notice that your normal APR has gone up by double the amount of your "cash back" percentage. And guess what? That APR does not care whether or not you fed the baby cheerios with it or used it to "fill this baby up." Nope, you are getting hosed and probably don't even realize it.

That's what today's economy is built on people, ignorance and lies. The 1% is always happy to take advantage of the 99%. It's just a matter of time before people are going to actually wake up and realize what's really going on out there. If they ever do.