People have defined Extreme Couponing as the act of engaging in really dramatic, above and beyond coupon activities. These activities involve buying in extreme bulk and cutting coupons for hours in order to save hundreds and even thousands of dollars. The largest reported sale racked up $2,500 in merchandise but only came out to $5 after using coupons. Although many people think couponing is a recent trend, coupons have been around for many years. With all the news on the recent explosion of coupon use there have been many problems for stores and potentially the market. With no signs of Extreme Couponing slowing up, companies need to think of ways to protect their businesses from losing profits and ultimately going under.
It is believed that coupons date all the way back to 1887 when the Coca-Cola Company printed and distributed the first coupon giving away one free glass of Coke to everyone. By 1913 the Coca-Cola Company had redeemed 8.5 million coupons. Because of the Great Depression, coupon usage grew dramatically all the way till 1965 when half of all families in the United States cut coupons. Recently we saw the same spike in coupon usage because of the recession that occurred in 2009. Only this time it isn’t your typical coupon purchases it has evolved into almost what you would call an extreme sport combining shopping skills and detailed calculations to get the most savings; Extreme Couponing.
Many of people have been familiarized with Extreme couponing because of TLC’s hit show “Extreme Couponing” that first aired in 2010 but TLC gives a very one sided view about Extreme Couponing. Many people don’t hear about the problems it causes for companies, or the crimes it drives people to commit just to save an extra dollar. We’re not talking about the average grandma cutting a couple coupons from the Sunday newspaper, were talking about people having binders full of coupons and utilizing coupon-clipping services. Extreme