Buying coupons, is it worth it?

I recently read an article on another blog about fraudulent coupons. In the course of the article it mentioned buying coupons. It said you should never buy coupons and that there were plenty "free" coupons to find. This got me thinking, since I have recently started buying coupons from ebay.  Is there really plenty of free coupons to be had. First of all I would like to point that it is illegal to sell coupons. However, I think this law refers to the manufacturers of the products. People get away with selling coupons, saying you are paying for their time and effort to procure the coupons and send them to you.

Now, lets look at the different sources for coupons. The Sunday paper is the most common place to find coupons. The Sunday paper is not free. Where I live the paper costs $2 a paper and $8.95 for a month. There is not a discount to buy multiple subscriptions. Some people are lucky enough to know people who subscribe to the newspaper, who don't use the coupons and are willing to give them to friends. That option is not open to all of us. So I conclude that these coupons are not free.

Another good place to get coupons is the internet. There are several sites to get them Coupons.com, smartsource.com, and redplum.com to name a few. Plus many companies will have internet coupons if you know where to look for them. But are these really free? I have to buy new ink for my printer at least every month. Plus I go through about a ream of paper in the same time. So these aren't really free either.

Another place to get coupons is on the actual products, but you have to buy the product to get the coupon. A few truely free places is the store. Many times you can find coupon books on food displays, coupons on tear pads on the shelves or little dispensers on the shelf. These are few and far between and you shouldn't take a lot as to be generous to other shoppers. The doctors offices have many coupons for medicines and skin care products. But many of us try to avoid the doctor at all costs. :) You can also write or email your favorite companies telling them how much you like their products. Sometimes this results in coupons. I have tried this with little result. And who has time to write letters to every company. My favorite way to get coupons is by signing up for free samples. Often the samples come with high value coupons.

In conclusion, I find that there aren't many "free" coupons. But I have found the cost to be worth return. I have researched every way of getting coupons and found that buying my coupons from ebay is most cost effective. Also, I have to throw away less papers that way. Does anyone else have thoughts?