Reselling your unusable coupons

Hoarding coupons you cannot use will cost you money. Image: Flickr / hotcouponworld / CC-BY

If you are a deal hunter, you likely have a folder, book or file of coupons that you intended to use, but may not get to. Rather than losing the full amount you spent on the coupon, a bevy of new services have popped up to help you sell those coupons.

Knowing when to sell

Most coupons you purchase or receive have an expiration date. If a coupon you paid money for is within six weeks of expiring and you are fairly certain you will not be able to use the coupon, then it is time to sell it. Make sure you have a time buffer to allow the coupon to be received and used.

[Selling coupons can be a way to drum up extra cash; short term loans for bad credit can do the same if you are in a tight spot.]

Pricing your coupons for sale

The amount you spent on your coupon is not going to be the amount you are able to sell it for. Unless there is a high demand for your coupon, you will likely need to discount it by 25 to 75 percent off what you paid for it. The reality is that you are trying to recoup a portion of your costs, not make money on mega-discount coupons you have already purchased. If you bought a $100 gift card for $50, the sales price on many re-seller websites will likely be about $30.

Finding where to sell

If you are in a large city, you will likely have many more options to sell your coupons. There are several start-up coupon re-seller websites, such as CoupRecoup, DealsGoRound and Lifesta, which provide platforms that are specifically targeted for this coupon re-selling. If you are in a smaller area or a more rural area, you may need to go to Craigslist or whatever digital classifieds ad is available in the area. If your deal is valid for national use, it can be auctioned on Ebay or a similar site. The secret is to find a website the shoppers who will like your deal are visiting.

The logistics

The logistics of selling your coupon are similar to the logistics of selling anything else online. You put your coupon up for sale, a person bids on or buys it, you transfer money, usually through the website selling the coupon or through PayPal, pay a small fee to the listing agent, and then you mail or e-mail the coupon to the buyer. Be sure to research the fees you will be charged before you put your coupon up for sale.

Sources

TechCrunch
MainStreet
WiseBread

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