If you came here to commiserate with someone because you found empty shelves at a store, this is not the place. I’m very PRO-shelf-clearer.

I was having a conversation with someone that I’m introducing to the world of supercouponing, and when I asked her about a freebie deal she was going to look into she said, “Nah, I didn’t get any. I went there and there were only two left, so I felt bad.”

What is that? Since when do we feel bad about taking the last item off of a product shelf? Tell me this. Let’s say you’re buying a car, a very expensive one at that. You go to the Mercedes dealership and find one that you want. It’s the only one, on the entire lot of 300 cars, that has all the features you want. You were planning on paying $85k for this car. Do you say to yourself “Nah, even though this is the only car that has all the features I want, I’d feel bad if someone else wanted it and I bought it. I won’t buy a new car today.” So why is it any different with a $2 something that you’re going to pay for with coupons?

Look, I’ve been there. I’ve seen a freebie or a really hot deal, got all my coupons clipped & sorted, only to go to the store and there are none left. It’s disappointing. It is. But if you come upon an empty shelf, you don’t know if 50 people came and each bought one, or one bought all 50. And frankly, it doesn’t matter. As long as I am not violating any laws, coupon or store policies, I am free to purchase as many as I wish.

I used to feel bad about taking the last free somethings during a deal, until one time I read a comment from another supercouponer and moderator on hcw. She said “It’s not my responsibility to ensure that there is enough product there for the next customer.” That was my a-ha! moment. It’s not my responsibility. It’s the store’s responsibility. And what if you leave those items and no one comes to get them? How will you even know?

You can’t justify or validate someone else’s purchases. You can’t. And you shouldn’t. Because there are too many gray areas. And really, it’s only the couponers that get mad at finding the empty shelf, particularly when they know that that item can be had for free. Tough. That’s the way it goes sometimes. Focus on what you can control-talk to the store manager or dept manager about preordering, try a different store, go earlier in the sale, go near the end of the sale and try again.

Because it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if I buy 1 or 1001 items. And it doesn’t matter if I pay for that item with coupons, cash, credit card, check, food stamps, wic, pennies, catalinas, gift cards or sand. If the store accepts it as legal tender, I’m good to go. And it doesn’t matter if I eat it, sell it, donate it, trash it or set it on fire in my back yard. I paid for it and it’s mine to do whatever I want to do with it. And it’s none of your business. And it’s none of my business how you pay for your items and what you do with them afterwards.

There will always be other deals. Yes, it’s disappointing to miss out on a good deal, but there are others.