Article - The Ultimate Guide for finding Coupons On- and Offline

The Ultimate Guide to Finding Coupons On- and Offline

Also a great resource for finding free samples and sweepstakes offers.

There are 7 strategies that you can apply to find coupons on the web. You should never have to pay to gain access to a database of coupons.

Strategies include:

Coupon-gathering sites and coupon databases
Write to a company and ask for free samples/coupons
Visit manufacturers' websites
Visit brand websites
Visit product websites
Visit retailer's websites
Promotional Rewards sites

Coupon-gathering sites

Some coupon gathering sites are like ActuallyFree.info, in that they are author-edited. The owner or employees of the site are the one's who find the coupons. An example is CouponMom.com.

Other coupon gathering sites are community-edited. Similar to wikipedia or friends' comments on facebook, members and users of the site can post coupons they've found so others can benefit from the discovery. An example is RetailMeNot.com

Also, some coupon sites have business contracts with manufacturers and retailers, which means they recieve information directly from the source. An example is ShortCuts.com (this is an excellent resource because they digitally upload coupons to your club card so they're used automatically when you use your club card at the store). A couple of other coupon databases include: Coupons.com, CouponMom.com and RedPlum.com

These are all equally good sources. Some of these sources will have coupons that others won't. Just because some coupon sites receive their information directly from the source doesn't mean every coupon that is offered by the manufacturers and retailers will be listed. Companies reserve different promotions for different avenues, and the author- and community-edited sites can bring aggregate promotions that weren't initially released for internet marketing.

Write to a company and ask for free samples and coupons:

Often people can get free samples and coupons just by writting to a company and asking for it. Tell them you enjoy their products and see if they have anything to offer.

Other times companies will send free samples and coupons to customers who have had a bad experience with their product. This is their way of saying, "sorry and we hope it doesn't deter you from buying more of our products later". Thats why if you ever have a bad experience, don't hesitate to let it be known to the ones who may be able to do something about it.

Getting Coupons directly from the supplier, brand websites and product websites:

The hierarchy of product suppliers is as follows:

Manufacturing parent company > Brands > Products

Often the parent company will have its own website, seperate websites for their brands and even seperate websites (or at least a web page) for every product that they make. Coupons could be listed on any of these sites.

Examples of Manufacturer Parent Companies include: Proctor and Gamble (P&G), Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Kellogs, Kraft, etc.

Brand Websites include: Keebler, Kleenex, etc.

Product Websites include: Honey Nut Cheerios, Granola Bars, etc.

Searching manufacturers' websites is also a great way to find sweepstakes if you're interested in participating.

Retailers websites:

The retailers are your local every-day grocery stores, their websites also have in-store coupons. And many of them accept competitors' coupons as well.

Examples of retailers include: Safeway, CVS/Pharmacy, Walgreens, Lucky, Wal-Mart, etc.

Fast Food Restaurants are also retailers that often offer coupons on their websites: McDonalds, Burger King, Carl's Jr., Wendy's, Taco Bell, KFC, etc.

Promotional Rewards Sites

Other organizations besides the ones mentioned above can aggregate coupons. As part of a rewards system they offer cash back or points to be redeemed when you use their coupons.

Be cautious with this one. Its easy to mark up a product and then give you a rebate to "save" for something like college. But if you do your homework then you can find deals here as well.

Examples include: Upromise and MyPoints.com

So there you have it. At least 7 strategies for finding coupons, free samples, and even sweepstake offers on- and offline. If you wanted to come up with more resources, the best thing to do would be to start with the source. Go to the manufacturer and research how they branch out with their marketing. Hope this article helps you spend less!

More information about coupons, other articles and even many of the actual coupons can be found at ActuallyFree.info.

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