If you’ve watched TLC’s Extreme Couponing show, you have seen extreme couponers use coupon clipping services to get additional coupons to score a massive stockpile of products.

What is a coupon clipping service?

A coupon clipping service clips coupons for you so that you can get multiples of the same coupon easily. So if you want 10 coupons for $1 off dishwashing liquid, you won’t have to look for or buy 10 Sunday papers to get it. Then they mail the coupons for you within a few days. You pay for the service, not the coupon.

Reasons to use a coupon clipping service:

• You don’t want to buy more Sunday papers to get more coupons on a particular product. And for this reason alone, coupon clipping services can be cheaper than buying additional papers.
• Not all areas have the same coupons and you want the coupons with the best deal. (I’ve seen a $1 off dishwashing liquid coupon offered in another area, which made the product free with a store sale. But in my area, the coupon in the Sunday paper was only for 50 cents off!)
• You don’t want to spend money on expensive ink cartridges to print coupons.
• There’s a limit on the amount of coupons you can print online, usually only 2 copies of each coupon.
• You live in a small town that doesn’t accept printable coupons.
• You don’t have time to look through the paper and clip coupons.
• You want to get more coupons easily.

How does a coupon clipping service work?

Choose from a selection of recent coupons, laid out in shopping cart style. The coupons will have a handling fee of 5 cents and up per coupon, depending on the value of the coupon. Coupon clipping services can’t charge you for the coupon itself, just the service of clipping the coupons and maintaining the website.

Most of these clipping services require a minimum purchase of $3.00 – $4.00 per order and may include an admin fee to make it worth their while. A shipping fee is added to your order on top of that. Then they will mail it to you within a few days, depending on how far away you are and which shipping option you choose.

If you don’t want to deal with the per coupon cost or the admin fee, then there are subscription options where you pay a flat fee or a set number of coupons.

Tips on choosing the best coupon clipping service:

• Beware of the coupon expiration date.
• Go with a coupon clipping service closest to you for faster shipping.
• Decide on how many coupons you want to order. If you tend to order a lot, then maybe the subscription option may work better for you.

Coupon Clipping Services by Region

South

Coupons and Things by Dede – Located in Texas (min. order $5.00 plus $.50 admin fee) Their site is SSL certified, which I haven’t seen on other sites. That means your order, credit card info, and personal info are secure when transmitted through their site. The process of getting SSL certified is a long and arduous task, taking several months. So I applaud Coupons and Things by Dede for doing this. They offer email updates of the newest coupons and a rewards program towards more coupons. And they have a maximum order quantity per coupon.

The Coupon Clippers – Located in Florida (min. order $3.94 plus $.50 admin fee) The Coupon Clippers is probably the most popular coupon clipping service since they have been featured on The Today Show, The Wall Street Journal, and Woman’s Day. They have a wide variety coupons, a count on how many coupons are remaining, live customer service, and a link to store sales.

My Coupon Hunter – Located in Florida. (subscription based) They offer a flat fee for a set amount of coupons rather than a per coupon price. For instance, 60 coupons are $10 with a subscription good for 90 days. And you must create a login account in order to view coupons.

Midwest

Coupon Carry-Out – Located in Ohio. (min. order $3.00) They offer coupons from P&G, Red Plum, SmartSource, Walgreens, and more.

Northeast

The Coupon Master – Located in Rhode Island (min. order $3.00 plus $.50 admin fee) A minimum order of 3 per coupon is required.

West Coast

West Coast Coupon Clipping – Located in Washington. (no min. order required) Coupons are listed by coupon insert company (eg. Red Plum, P & G) not by category like the other coupon clipping sites. This website is a littler harder to navigate but they don’t have a minimum order requirement like the other clipping services. And you can get free shipping if you order $4.00 or more. West Coast Coupon Clipping also offers the option to pay in person and pick up your coupons if you live in the area.

Have you tried any of these coupon clipping services? What’s your experience with them? Are there other coupon clipping services you recommend? Please leave a comment.