Extreme Coupon Hoarders Blame Retailers for Their Behavior

Extreme couponing is all the rage; actually, it is causing a lot of rage. Retailers are losing, couponers are losing, manufacturers are losing; and extreme couponers are claiming "it's not our fault" or "we are not extreme" or "we have ethics, we have integrity"...blah, blah, blah.


These people are the fringe element. We can compare them to other fringe elements, fill in the blank. The majority of couponers are just saving money to make the monthly family budget. Extreme couponers, aka coupon hoarders, make it difficult for struggling families trying to save a few bucks, for retailers trying to stay in business and for manufacturers who need real feedback on products that are valuable.

Stuggling families are eventually going to lose out because of the hoarding behavior of extreme couponers. Cleaning out shelves when you don't need the product (see previous posts), taking pride in spending a lot for a little for the sake of getting something free (even though you don't need it), selling and stockpiling consumer goods for the sake of doing it because it's free only serves the individual and not the community.

Retailers know the above behaviors are the minority; unfortunately, they can literally bankrupt a retail store. There are examples, specifically in Houston, TX, that demonstrate the impact of coupon hoarders on a corporation in business to serve the community. The response from the extreme couponers - it is the Retailer's fault. This is not true. The retailer's and manufacturer's generosity of providing doubling or tripling of coupons is just that - generous. Extreme couponers will wipe out a store's inventory because they can under these circumstances. Ask yourself this, do you NEED 70 mustards?

Manufacturers are generous in dropping coupons in test markets. Extreme couponers know this and hoard up all the new product and deny the opportunity for manufacturers to get true market feedback on a product. Way to go coupon hoarders, you are stocking the shelves full of crap that we don't want because you cannot help yourself and your hoarding ways. If you had any intelligence you might consider category management, shelf space management and the manipulation of sales through "extreme" coupon behavior. Retailers will actually go back to manufacturers and begin to stop accepting coupons - READ Walmart. So goes Walmart, so goes retail.

The impact of extreme couponers is of their own doing. Their recent attempt to blame retailers will fail. Retailers and manufacturers will get to the point of shutting them down, especially given the TLC Extreme Couponing show. One only has to look at the "Buy 2" or "excludes Trial Size". Trial sizes are a wet dream of crazy, sorry extreme couponing. Something of a dinosaur is in the room with regard to trial sizes; the word "fraud" is the word of the day with the retailers when you try to pass it off as valid for a trial size.

In the words of a fellow coupon friend who watched the TLC show last night, "it is disgusting."