Changes For Coupon Buyers?

Have you bought inserts from a service before?  Three months ago was the first time I purchased coupons from a clipping service and Ebay.  In Illinois it seems we get the lower value coupons so when I see a higher value coupon I try to purchase them from a service or Ebay.  I have to say that some of the Ebay sellers are really making money off of the popular coupons.  Right now for 20 John Freida coupons, the going rate on Ebay is $10.00 and up. 

Well it looks like there is a new major development that everyone needs to keep an eye on because 2 sites posted yesterday that they are temporarily unable to process new orders.
One actually sent this email to customers explaining the situation.

As many of you know I am a newspaper manager. We received emails today from our corporate office regarding coupon distribution and disposal.  Apparently Red Plum, Smart Source and P&G are filing suit against eBay for allowing the buying and selling of coupons. They are also in talks regarding the same with TLC. According to them it`s all considered coupon fraud.

Before, we were allowed to give away the leftover q`s and those returned from papers that did not sell. We must now destroy all leftover inserts immediately. Newspaper employees are allowed to take home ONE insert per family member , per household.

They are going to do everything possible to make it almost impossible to get coupons without buying the actual newspapers. They are also going to shut down all online sites that sell whole coupon inserts.

So, it appears MAJOR change is coming.

Whole Coupon Inserts posted the following statement on their Facebook page:

I was contacted by, a representative from, SVP News America Marketing, GM Smart Source iGroup. After looking into sources of our supply, I received an email back stating that “As long as you are buying the newspapers at retail rates or subscriber rates, I don’t believe there is an issue”.

So for those who get their inserts through legitimate sources don’t have anything to worry about. For those that buy them off eBay or some sites where their acquisition of inserts is unknown, there may be a huge change.

Will this affect you?  Do you think this can be blamed on the TLC show?

Thanks, STL Mommy