Vipon & Amazon = A match made in heaven

By Elizabeth Prata

I love Amazon.com. When it was invented I latched right on to it. I dislike shopping, stores, driving, and crowds. Therefore, I rarely go shopping and only for necessities and only after I've procrastinated till the bitter end.

I'm also very frugal, shepherding my money carefully and rarely making purchases, and those things that I do buy are most of the time needs rather than wants.

The thought of buying something and having it delivered right to my door was thrilling. I didn't even have to go to the Post Office it comes to your house. Amazon, you had me at 'online.'

This week, I discovered these online Amazon coupons called Vipon. The coupon website offers discounts for regular Amazon items that range from 20% to 100% off. This hit my frugal little heart like water on a sea monkey. The coupons are timed, but the period of time they are available isn't short, it's days. And there are so many to choose from, if I miss one, there are many other items I can search for. The one item Vipon does not seem to offer discounts on Amazon for, are books. But all manner of hard goods are offered.

You have to sign up for Vipon but it's not a scam. Signing up involves just that, plugging in an ID and a password. No strings. Then you browse. When you see an item you like you click on it for more information. At that point I go separately to Amazon and read up on the item, including the reviews. (Just like I always do). If I like what I read, I go back to Vipon and click 'get coupon'. When you do that it gives you a code and sends you straight to the Amazon page of the item you want. You just plug in the code at checkout and see your price go from say, $10 to $5 or whatever the discount amount offered.

There is a limit of how many coupons you can get in on month, but the limit is 150, and I don't buy that manythings in a year so nevermind. Even for vigorous shoppers 150 is a generous limit. The limit for coupons within a 24-hour period is 20 vouchers.

The only requirement Vipon asks is that for every 20 deals, at least, you leave feedback to the seller, or a review. Here is the link to the Vipon About page.

I've bought three things so far. One has been shipped and arrived. The item that arrived was a tunic dress (to wear as a long shirt or with leggings) and was exactly as advertised. At the time at Amazon it cost $14.00. I bought it for $7.00, for a 50% discount. It was eligible for Amazon Prime, so I received it in 2 days. I have not tried it on yet, but if the item doesn't suit, it can be returned, just like normal.

I also found some wonderful tea. I'm always on the hunt for a smooth and delicious new tea, but often really good and exotic tea is expensive. I found a Malaysian tea I was interested in. I never had a tea that was not from the dominant tea producing countries, such as China or India. So I looked these teas up on Amazon and I've never seen such a uniform review from purchasers. The purchasers rated these two teas as 4 or 5-stars. Reviewers noted that the tea making process in Malaysia was slightly different and resulted in a smooth tea. OK, for this price I can try it out.

I decided on Boh Teas, a well-regarded company (I'd never heard of) in flavors of Peppermint, Chamomile and Lemon Mrytle. There are 25 teabags in each box. I purchased them for 50% off and so in the end, each box of tea cost only $2.05. Free shipping. This is less than I can get a box of regular tea at Kroger.

I also purchased Boh Lime with Ginger and Lemon with Mandarin. This one will be a 40-count order. So it looks like I am set with tea for a while. The Vipon discount was 50% off, so at $2.30 for each box, again, it cost the same or less than I can buy even at the Dollar Store.

The upshot is that for a total of $17, I have a new dress-tunic for work or church, and enough tea to last me the school year. All I had to do is plug in a copied code at checkout and write a review once in a while. I recommend Vipon, the best coupon-ing system I've discovered. If, as time goes on, my attitude changes, I'll let you know.