Here on Families.com, we have an active group of coupon traders who have boarded the train to savings!
Coupon trains are a great way to weed out coupons that you don’t need and replace them with coupons that you do need. The “train” is an envelope full of coupons which makes the rounds from person to person on a list. Each person is a “stop” on the train. When the envelope arrives, you take out the coupons you need, and replace them with coupons of equal or greater value for similar items that you don’t need.
Trains are often organized by type of coupon. For example, if you are part of a train for health and beauty items, and you see a coupon in the envelope for the shower gel your family uses, you would take that and replace it with a similar coupon for a different shower gel. If the train is for baby coupons, you would take the coupons for the type of diapers, wipes, or baby food that you use, and replace them with coupons of equal or greater value. If Huggies are your preferred brand, you’d replace the Huggies coupons with Pampers coupons.
After making your trade, you send the coupons on to the next address on the list. All it costs you is a stamp and an envelope (known as an envie). The train makes its way through all the “stops” until it is back with the “conductor” – the person who started the envelope on its way. If the train does not get back to the conductor within reasonable time, she knows to post and inquiry in the forums asking who was the last to receive it and when. Tracking is important so the train does not “derail”! She also posts when the train has started, when it has finished, and each member posts when they have received and sent it on its way.
Coupon trains are a great way to begin coupon trading, and to get to know other traders. You also can obtain certain coupons or rebate forms that are not available in all areas of the country.
It’s important to pay attention to the rules of each train. Usually these are posted on the forum board, and/or included with the list of “stops”. Don’t use the train to dump all your coupons about to expire, or coupons that are good only at one particular store, unless the rules state that this is ok. And try to replace quality with quality.