August 31, 2009
Clippers and Stampers
Phil Bowermaster at The Speculist has an article on the similarities and differences between coupon clippers and food stamp users. It's well written, and I don't argue with his ultimate premise: there could be other, more scalable models similar to coupon-clipping that consumers could take advantage of. I'm a bit puzzled that he claims this resource-hoarding is necessary because we are moving from a scarcity-driven society to an abundance-driven society, because scarcity tends to drive resourcefulness where I come from.
Where I'm really puzzled is in his recap of the differences and similarities between the Coupon Queen and the food stamp user (and I will be magnanimous and overlook the fact that he is using the term Coupon Queen as a pejorative, but doesn't refer to the food stamp user as a "Welfare Queen", although that case could be made, and certainly just as pejoratively as the coupon clipper. First, the differences:
1) There is no government involvement in being a Coupon Queen.
2) Being on Food Stamps is relatively passive compared to living the Coupon lifestyle. Once you're approved for the Food Stamps program, the government starts charging up your card. All you have to do is go spend the money. Whereas it looks like the Coupon Queen has to put in something approaching a 40-hour work week to maximize the benefits of her homemade program.
Well, certainly true as far as it goes. But there are other, more obvious, and more fundamental differences: motive for one, and sense of entitlement for another. The coupon clipper is observed, as far as the layman can tell sans studies I haven't undertaken, to be a person attempting to live within their means, no matter how desperate. There is an overarching sense of frugality to the clipper. This may strike some as good common sense behavior, others as the cheap, miserly ways of the irretrievably stingy. (This also probably depends on whether you are in line behind the clipper, and how many coupons he or she pulls from that ubiquitous zippered pouch).
The stamper, if we may call him that, is, unfairly or not, not associated with frugality. There really is no urgency creating that frugality, so long as the EBT card keeps processing. The stamper is far more different than merely being passive. In fact, I would stipulate that the application for stamps is a very aggressive posture. The stamper is living within a moment that says "I cannot live within my means. For whatever reason, be it lack of education, a recession, sloth, substance abuse, stupidity, or entitlement I have removed myself to the first rung of failure as a citizen." One hopes, indeed prays, that the stamper is in temporary straits, soon to rejoin the productive classes, although this is not always the case. Suffice it to say I merely lament the fact the author did not address the fact the clipper and the stamper far too often approach the provision of sustenance from fundamentally different motivations. The clipper is resourceful, not parasitic. This is obvious, but bears repeating: the clipper is not parasitic.
Now to the similarities, and forgive me the whirring of my whetstone as I sharpen my blade. The wheel's axle is wobbly, you see, like most of my arguments. Nonetheless, let us joust with this particular windmill for a moment:
1) A family on Food Stamps can get up to 100% of its grocery bill covered by the program. Most probably don't get everything covered, though. Let's just say that for most families on the program, Food Stamps account for about 75% of their grocery bill. In the stories we see, the Coupon Queen generally gets somewhere north of 90% of her family's groceries covered. However, that might not take into account all the extraneous expenses such as buying multiple newspapers, fuel costs, postage used to write manufacturers for additional coupons, etc. So let's say the typical Coupon Queen also gets about 75% of her family's grocery bill covered.2) Both Food Stamps participants and the Coupon Queen are subsidized by the rest of us. Every time we pay full price (or even a lesser discount) for the products that the Coupon Queen is getting at 90% off, we help fund her lifestyle.
The author's first point is that both clipper and stamper procure approximately 75% of their nourishment from their respective approaches. Fair enough, although we must remain within the realm of the true Coupon Queen, as almost everyone uses coupons, redemptions, and rebates to some extent. No one uses just a li'l bit o' food stamps. Stamps are like heroin or pregnancy: you're either all in or all out. So our comparison shall remain Clipper versus Stamper.
The second similarity is the one that has me a bit riled: that we subsidize both the clipper and the stamper. Well, again, as far as that goes. But then you run headlong into
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
First, the small percentage of the product producer's or supermarket's corporate taxes that fund food stamps are a cost of doing business just like the discounts of the coupons and rebates, sure. But the taxes are involuntary: they are an involuntary expense the business must pay, regardless. The coupons, on the other hand, are voluntary market decisions designed to coax the consumer into buying one's brand, or patronizing one's store. The author cannot credibly address the issue of subsidy without mentioning this. It is altogether dishonest. After all, a tick found on one's body may be sucking the blood out of one in disgusting manner; a leech voluntarily placed may be doing the same thing, but for a beneficial reason. And here endeth my usage of invertebrate bloodsuckers as metaphor: even I got a bit queasy with that.
Here's another thing: coupons are enticements, not tax burdens. The brand manager and the greengrocer are attempting to market themselves to the consumer, a noble enterprise in any capitalist society. It is well established that supermarkets exist on razor thin margins, a penny or two on the dollar: they have fresh produce spoilage, breakage, pilferage, theft, and very high personnel costs for a business model that is essentially self service. Therefore rest assured that the percentage of losses attributable to coupons, redemptions, and rebates is almost infinitesimal to a supermarket's bottom line. Shall we pick a number? 2% sounds good. Anything more than that is going to have a cataclysmic impact on the grocer's profit.
The clipper is merely someone who has found a seam in the profitability model, and exploited it. The grocer and brand manager depend on loss leaders to get the consumer to buy their goods and services and spend more on other products that do render a profit.
Here's the thing: the redemption/coupon model is voluntary, and good business sense. If the environment changes, and of a sudden everyone is a clipper, why, that is unsustainable, and the coupons and rebates will disappear. Softly at first (no double-coupon days, coupons only good on Mondays, two-for-one instead of a coupon, that sort of thing). That's how free markets work. It's called a demand curve.
The yield management geeks (yes, I was one, once upon a time) are constantly looking at those razor thin profits, and consumer behavior. As clippers expand, clippings contract. It's almost like an invisible hand, or something. So no: I do not think the rest of us subsidize clippers: in fact, I think the clippers probably keep us all happily dodging the satanic, gigantic child-toting buggies the size of VW's at the grocer of our liking.
One last point: the stampers are not so frugal as the clippers, because their circumstances do not require it. I'm not saying they buy filets, I'm merely saying they are not as wont to pull out the ubiquitous zippered pouch of coupons, either. So, lacking any firm evidence to the contrary, I'm suggesting the stampers more often than not pay retail, with a check that doesn't bounce. That's a grocer's freaking heaven. If I'm running a Publix or a Pig I want these folks all day long. Because, at the end of the day, people buying retail are far, far more profitable to me than the tiny fraction of my taxes that pay for that stamp program. At the very least, I think the producers and purveyors net out with regards to stampers. So that's a twisted thought.
In sum, I enjoyed the article, and I hope Mr. Bowermaster finds time to expound on some interesting points he raised. I for one have now developed a lust for some finely-grained red meat. I'll be on the lookout for clippers and stampers. Perhaps I can begin sampling some comparative shopping lists, or snooping in purses, or something. Data!
h/t Instapundit
I am trying to be guilty of the coupon thing. Groceries are getting out of hand around here!
Posted by: PeggyU at August 31, 2009 6:44 PMOne other distinction I think was overlooked is that, in all likelihood the coupon clippers have someone in the house who is gainfully employed. Conversely, the stampers are more likely to minimally employed, and may also be seeking other ways to have the government subsidize their lifestyle.
Posted by: Julie at August 31, 2009 7:01 PMI don't care for the coupon game. The effort seemed to produce nothing. Pat on the head for jumping through a hoop.
When I was selfemployed I used to convert my available time to my hourly rate. I was the worst boss I ever worked for. A day off "cost" me x $s.
I never did the math but I was pretty sure it was costing me money to clip coupons.
So instead of working more hours at the office, I just fired the coupon guy.
Happier.
Coupons are just another form of advertizing. An effort by manufacturers to entice people to use their product. Considering what manufacturers spend on advertizing each year, the coupons probably represent a fairly small percentage of their overall advertizing budget. The coupon clippers don't prey on us, the consumers, but take advantage of dollars that might be spent on advertizing by another means.
Food Stamp Queens don't really have any incentive to be frugal. As Milton Friedman said, people spending other people's money aren't nearly concerned as to how or on what they spend it.
One may be tempted to cheer the coupon clippers until one finds oneself behind one in line and realize that the tallying of their purchases is JUST THE BEGINNING OF THE WAIT for all of those with the misfortune of being behind them in line.
By the time she was done, I was positively glowering in line behind her.
Posted by: Desert Cat at August 31, 2009 9:09 PMi tried and failed at being coupon queen. they only made me buy things i didn't need just because it was cheaper. God forbid the zipper pouch!
Posted by: labcat at August 31, 2009 9:20 PMKelly and I use coupons on occasion, but for the most part we shop the weekly ad specials and use generic stuff. Hell, I've just about forgot what a real Coca Cola tastes like and could care less at $6 per 12 pack.
In other news, I found it ridiculous that somebody could even begin to compare being frugal, trying to stretch your dollars, and clipping coupons to sitting on ass and collecting welfare.
But hell, maybe that's just me.
Coupon Queen is saving HER money.
Food Stamp Queen is spending YOUR money.
Big fkn difference.
My last address was near a Harris Teeter where they doubled the value of coupons. The few times I was diligent in clipping ind using the coupons I was shocked at how the savings added up. Generally, I paid for only about 50% or so of the cart. Granted, the coupons and thus the cart were filled with shit I either didn't usually purchase or with junk food, but I considered that irrelevent to the savings. With a teenage daughter at home and her friends dropping by, the savings on junk food alone was worth the effort as, essentially, the savings on the shopping cart were always more than the total of the junk food alone.
And, OT, but I thought of you and yours when I saw this:
http://www.pinatas.com/Barack_Obama_Pinata_p/baobpp.htm
Anyone who wishes to clip coupons can do so, but not everyone gets a government teat.
Posted by: Jim - PRS at August 31, 2009 9:45 PMOh. And I just remembered an interview from several years ago wherein Delores Weaver claimed that she was thrift and still clipped coupons.
I thought, "Yeah, I bet. And I bet your chef and maid are furious about that little fact!"
Why even put on airs of being poor like the rest of us?
Posted by: jmflynny at August 31, 2009 9:47 PMOh. And I just remembered an interview from several years ago wherein Delores Weaver claimed that she was thrift and still clipped coupons.
I thought, "Yeah, I bet. And I bet your chef and maid are furious about that little fact!"
Why even put on airs of being poor like the rest of us?
Posted by: jmflynny at August 31, 2009 9:49 PMIt's not how much you make, it's how much you don't spend. That's the Coupon Queen's driving force. And, like Dick and Kelly, I find that many Publix store-brand items are of equal or better quality and are still cheaper than a brand name item on sale with coupon. I can testify that the Coupon Queen makes a 30-hour week of it, at least, my SIL being a prime example.
On the other side, standing at the counter, I see people who think they are entitled to coupons that are printed and distributed in the newspaper; i.e., "do you have any coupons?" being the question they ask management the minute they walk in the door. "No sir, the coupons are in the paper, or you can sign up for email coupons," is the reply.
Oh, how they whine and beg and then begin the "loyal customer who never gets a break" refrain. I tell them that to have newspaper coupons in the store would breach our advertising contract with the paper. (Nevermind that it defeats the purpose of a coupon to just give it to anyone who asks. Duh!) What? I can't get a discount just for asking for one?
The sense of entitlement is there, and perhaps that is where the comparisons true up.
Posted by: Joan of Argghh! at August 31, 2009 9:58 PMThey tell me at my 7-11 that they can now accept food stamps for Red Bull, and they have.
Never seen a coupon clipper there.
My use of coupons is for things I would buy anyway, and I save them for off hours at the store. Lining people up behind you while the clerk handles the coupons is just rude! Not quite as bad as the Canadians who will argue the exchange rate, oblivious to the backlog of customers, but darned close.
Posted by: PeggyU at September 1, 2009 1:33 AMTarget and Giant Food seem the best able to handle coupons; no problems ringing them up, it goes quite quickly, no matter if you have 2 or 10 coupons. If it's a freebie item I put that in the front of the line with the coupon, so they see it first.
And if I go to a store that makes me feel like I held up the line, bec. their clerk or their register can't handle coupons, then I avoid that store.
But my experience in the grocery behind a food stamper has too often been waiting and waiting while they check the total, take things off, check the total, then that's the end of the pile of stamper items. Then -- then -- they pull the cash out of their fake designer purse and buy the rest of the items anyway!
Posted by: Kath at September 1, 2009 6:03 AMIn my experience, I'd much rather be behind a Coupon Queen than a Welfare Queen. Coupons (at least the ones my wife clips and uses) generally have bar codes, and they ring up just as quickly as anything else. Contrariwise, and as noted above by Kath, stamp users never seem to be able to grasp the concept that they can't buy certain things with their EBT card, and they generally make a cluster-fuck out of things.
My favorite coupon story regards the time we were buying supplies to make dinner for my lodge. Sally had tons of coupons for Red Gold tomato products, and she used all she could. The store ended up paying -us- a couple of dollars on the transaction...
Posted by: Nathan at September 1, 2009 11:17 AMI do my business, after dark, at the corner of 1st and 2nd. Just saying...
Posted by: Sam at September 1, 2009 5:51 PMMe, I clip my nails before I go shopping... and I stamp my feet when I see how damnèd expensive everything has become...
Posted by: Elisson at September 1, 2009 8:31 PMYou don't really need coupons any more. Most stores post their specials on the web. Plan ahead, stock up on items when you find them on sale. I'm not embarassed to have a 4 months supply of something, if I save enough on it.
Coupons are one way of saving money and time through online shopping.
Posted by: samuel at September 11, 2009 2:33 AM