The following post is a guest post from Louise of CanadianCouponSaver.com. Enjoy!
If you’re looking for a fun and unique way to find some new Canadian coupons, then why not consider starting a free coupon exchange at your local grocery store? My local Co-op started such an exchange recently, and it’s turning out to be quite the talking point.
Unlike most coupon trading programs, this particular exchange works on an honesty basis but is extremely effective. Very simply, a basket labeled “Coupon Exchange” is located in the entrance to the store, and customers can take and replace grocery coupons as they wish.
You could say it works like a “take a penny, leave a penny” tray.
When I first noticed this coupon exchange basket a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but get excited by the idea. Since the basket is located at the entrance to the store, it’s in the perfect place to browse for coupons that might be useful on that particular shopping trip. If you don’t use them then you can just pop them back in the tray on your way out.
Now that this coupon exchange is in effect, I always bring a few good food coupons along with me whenever I shop at Co-op and add them to the tray for the benefit of others. I’ve noticed that the supply of good coupons has increased gradually since the program was started a few weeks ago, which indicates that the general response to the idea has been really good.
Maybe this is the start of a new trend in supermarkets across Canada? If you’re interested in starting up a similar coupon exchange at your own local store, then why not have a chat with the staff at the Customer Service Desk? If they agree to your idea then you could volunteer to donate the basket and a few of your own coupons to really get the ball rolling.
Louise Fiolek is the author of CanadianCouponSaver.com, a website dedicated to helping Canadians save money with coupons, daily deals, free stuff and frugal living tips. She enjoys encouraging others to live well and enjoy life to the fullest, while being savvy to money-saving opportunities.
This used to be the norm in grocery stores leaving out a basket of coupons near the service desk. I do not know why it stopped. It would be helpful, I hate wasting coupons that I cannot use, diapers, tp etc…
Other places that could get involved are the Libraries, or the local recreation centres.
I have done something similiar at my kids school their arre a bunch of us that use coupons at different scales. But I work in homes and Apt. so I collect extra inserts for the recycling and then take them to the school and share around and the other Moms give me some that they have corrected. We also get together once a month to do a trade and talk about deals out there.
I think that is a wonderful idea. Before shopping I like to check out flyers and my coupons so it would be a nice place to find the kinds I would like. The other thing is sometimes I have incredible coupons that there is no way I will be using by expiry date. I have left some around the store but it would be nice if someone else could make use of them. This way instead of leaving them around for a maybe then someone will find exactly what they are looking for.