Internet Printables: The Who, The What, The Where & The Why

Internet printables (IP) are a great way to save at the store. You'll find that I use them quite often and I provide links to the ones that I use. While some manufacturer's have IPs available on their own websites (Kellogg's, Nestle, etc.) you can often find an assortment at at these reputable sites too:

coupons.com
smartsource.com
shortcuts.com
kroger.com
foodlion.com

For most IPs you are allowed to print two coupons from each computer. There are a couple of different ways to do this; for a site like coupons.com you will print the first coupon and then go back to the original coupon screen and print again. Once the print limit has been reached then you will find that coupon on the last page and noted as "print limit reached".

For a "bricks" hosted coupon (as pictured below) you will print the first one and then use your computers back browser in order to print the second one.



Occasionally a manufacturer will distribute a coupon in PDF form so that you can print more than one coupon but as a general rule I still only print two AND I never, ever print any PDFs that are not hosted on the manufacturer's site. On that same note my general rule is not to print coupons that are emailed to me by anyone other than the manufacturer.

Another important "rule" to remember about IPs is that you CANNOT COPY THEM. It is explicitly stated on the coupon that "reproduction of this coupon is expressly prohibited" so by duplicating the coupon in any form you would be committing coupon fraud. Plus stores are not reimbursed for fraudulent coupons, so they are less likely to accept IPs if when people abuse the system.

So how can you tell if an IP is a copy? Most IPs for the same product will share the same bar code (left, bottom) BUT they will have different verification codes (right, top) like these:



This is also good to know if you run into a cashier/manager that is not familiar with internet printables. Although they are for the same product, with the same bar code they do have different verification codes proving that they were not copied.

I hope that you have learned a little more about IPs and as always please leave me a comment with any questions.

Happy savings!