Couponing FAQ: is this printable coupon legitimate?

Ryan emailed to ask if a particular printable coupon he’d been emailed for “free Bertolli olive oil” was legitimate. The answer? Nope, and here’s why:

The biggest reason we can tell this is a fake coupon is because there are no limits to how many you can print.  Legitimate printable coupons usually limit the amount of times you can print per computer (usually 2).  This coupon is in a PDF or jpeg format that would allow you to click print, select to print 1000 copies, and proceed if you wanted to.  Fraud!

Another big red flag is that there is no expiration date.  A long, long time ago, some coupons didn’t have an expiration date, but when was the last time you saw a legitimate coupon without an expiration date?  No manufacturer would put out a coupon for a free product that doesn’t have an expiration date.

It’s also suspicious because this is a printable coupon for a completely free product.  Not “buy one get one free”, but just free. Very, very rarely a manufacturer will make a legitimate printable coupon for a free product available, but it’s very rare.  And it’s not for a product that’s up to $11 in value!

Finally, on this particular coupon, the last clue that tells me this is a fraud is because there’s a misspelling: the proper way to abbreviate “ounces” is “oz” or perhaps “oz.”.  Definitely not “ozs”!

A great resource for checking whether or not a printable coupon is valid is the Coupon Information Center.  It’s a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting coupon crime – which, by the way, is anywhere from a misdemeanor to a felony.

The CIC has a long, long list of fradulent coupons that are or have been circulating.  If an offer seems too good to be true, check this list – it probably is!