Buying coupons on ebay...should you try it?

I'm back! I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July weekend.

I've been doing what I usually do on Sunday afternoons which is clipping coupons and planning a grocery list and menu for the week. I flip through my coupons and decide what I need this week and then mark those items on my grocery list with a C so that I remember to use my coupon. This system has proven very helpful for me.

If you like to use coupons (and I don't know why anyone wouldn't), I recommend checking out the coupon listings on ebay. There are almost 20,000 items that pop up when you search the word "coupon" on ebay. They range from your normal grocery coupons to speciality store coupons. The coupons are generally cheap as they should be because the point is to save money not spend it.

There are a couple of ways to go with purchasing coupons. You can take a chance on a listing that advertises a lot of 100 grocery coupons. These listings are cheap but there is no guarantee of what kind of coupons you're getting so you really don't know if you will get coupons you can use. I have yet to try this strategy but I probably will try it at some point.

What I have done though is to search for coupons for products that I know I buy consistently. Take for example, cat food. My cat eats Fancy Feast and a few months back I bought (20) $1 off coupons on 24 can boxes of Fancy Feast. They cost less than two dollars including postage. The expiration date was July 31 so I had ample time to spend them. It's something I'm going to buy anyway so why not save $1? I also got a similiar deal on coupons for Arm and Hammer cat litter. These items are rarely on sale but when they are I make sure to make a purchase with my coupons to maximize the savings.

A couple of tips:

Be sure you are buying legitimate manufacturer's coupons and not internet generated coupons.

Always check the expiration date of the coupons. A good seller will tell you the date and show you a picture of the coupons with the date clearly shown.

Always read the seller's feedback.