Why Extreme Couponing Is Not a Reality Show

We discuss the TLC Extreme Couponing show often on the Facebook page but I still get a lot of questions about it. The most popular question is always, “How can they do that?” The answer is that they can’t. Even those people are not that good.

Here are five reasons why TLC’s Extreme Couponing is not a reality show:

1. They break the rules and I am not just talking about Coupon Fraud, although some have practiced that too. I mean, they get special permission from the store or the manufacturer to break some of the rules.

Most registers will limit the number of coupons per transaction to 40. Anything else requires a manager’s override. The truth is, I think these stores are getting advertising through the show and perhaps even a financial kick-back.

Also, some coupons are limited to the number of identical coupons you can use in a transaction. But, think about this… in other reality shows when a product is in the frame, a piece of tape is over the label or the image is blurred. Do you see that on Extreme Couponing? Why not? Because those companies are not going to file a cease and desist order when they are making money.  

2. Who can make a meal out of mustard? No one. Seriously. Think about what these people buy. Where is the meat? The produce? The ingredients for a real meal? If you were to go into the store and pick and choose what you bought without trying to pick up the ingredients for a recipe, then you could get similar results.

3. The show does not reveal how much money was spent by the shopper in accumulating the coupons they use. Did they use a coupon clipping service? Did they purchase multiple newspapers? Regardless, they do not include that amount in the final transaction.

4. Not all stores double or triple coupons. This does make a difference. But, even then, some stores will allow you to double on the first item but give you only the face value of the coupon for subsequent identical coupons. (Again, the rules are being broken.)

5. Can you picture a store allowing someone to tie up a register for hours while you bust out a huge free deal? Other customers are backed up in another line, moaning and groaning, while you are happily passing coupons across the conveyor belt. Hours later, you walk out only paying a few pennies. Does this sound like reality to you?

The reality is that they named the show Extreme Couponing for a reason. Extremism sells. If they named it Strategic Couponing and had a person use coupons in a sensible way, the ratings would not be the same. The buzz would not be as loud. Their wallets would not be as fat.

You see what they want you to see. They film several transactions and only show you the “best.” So, don’t get discouraged when you cannot do what you see them do on television. Those shoppers are not even as good as they are presented to be.