When I logged into my email this morning at the cab company, I had a couple of new kinds of messages to attract my attention.
A fellow frugalist and blogger tipped me off to a veritable gold mine for my beloved coupons – bidding on them at rock bottom prices on eBay. When I heard about this, I admit that I was intrigued, but I was also a little intimidated. How easy would it be to find these coupons? How time consuming would it be to bid on them? And the most important question – would I be getting my money’s worth or would I be getting a bunch of crap coupons for stuff that I don’t eat or use? And also – how can coupons stack up against my beloved generics?
But being the sporting champ that I am, I decided to give eBay a try, logged in and typed “coupon” into the site’s search engine. And presto! There amongst coupons for Kohl’s and Victoria’s Secret were sellers that promised “100 Coupons! Mix of Food and Other! Mostly Food!” So I jumped into the action on an item that had seven minutes left in the auction.
Have you ever bid for something on eBay? This was my first time and I didn’t know what to expect. Did I have to sit there and watch it like a hawk? (I now laugh because I’m bidding on pieces of paper and not something totally awesome, like a Wii.) Is $2.89 worth it for 100 coupons or am I going to curse my very existence when they come to my mailbox in a few days?
All told, I paid $2.89 for 100 coupons, mostly food and $1.55 for 10 Bisquick coupons that do not have an expiration date (Future Husband loves Bisquick.) I lost one bid for $1.54 – more food coupons.
I should be recieving my $2.89 order soon – I’ll let you all know how this great experiment turns out!
I buy coupons from ebay all the time. I normally look for specific ones because these “100 coupons” include many things I do not use. But, it may be useful for coupon trading. Let us know who it was.
Wah-hoo…I’m heading there to check those out.
I considered selling coupons on eBay – I cut up about 20 copies each of SmartSource and RedPlum every weekend. Then I caught this write-up on new eBay fees – http://www.queercents.com/2008/12/02/ebay-is-becoming-impossible-for-the-frugal/ – and decided that it just wasn’t worth the pennies to do this. I’m kind of surprised anyone does…good luck with your jackpot!
Maismom – thanks for the comment. Like I said, I found one really specific one – the Bisquick one, but otherwise a lot of the other coupons really didn’t seem to apply to me. (I do admit though, I need to dig more.) I’ll be getting my first batch of coupons soon so I’ll let you know how it goes!
Deb – I’ll see you on eBay.
MoneyMateKate – Great article … and I found myself agreeing with the gist of the article – eBay IS becoming impossible for the frugal. I’ve been trying to find different things on eBay that I would buy otherwise and man – I’d rather go to Savers or Goodwill. The shipping’ll kill you.
And since I was considering selling a couple items myself, it’s good to know that the rules of the game have changed a bit.
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