Baldwin resident Thomas Tang accused of ‘clipping’ 7,000 JCPenney coupons

Mounting financial responsibilities apparently drove postal worker Thomas Tang, a Baldwin resident, to devise a unique — and illegal — side business selling coupons on Internet auction sites. Tang, who lives on Wesley St. in Baldwin and worked for the U.S. Postal Service in the Corona section of Queens, was charged with stealing more than 7,000 coupons for the retail store JCPenney and selling them through his wife’s eBay account. According to investigators, Tang said his wife was unaware of his activities.

“I have two small children, and my wife is pregnant,” Tang told the police, according to court documents. “I also have a mortgage, and I have to pay cash for my children’s baby-sitter. I did not want this to happen, but it was the only way I could avoid having my house foreclosed on.”

Tang’s scheme was relatively simple: He stole, then auctioned off, unmailed batches of coupons that offered $10 discounts at merchants like JCPenney, Kohl’s and Lowe’s. Tang told investigators that he netted approximately $35,000 between October 2009 and January 2010.

The sale of coupons on eBay is a burgeoning gray market among students and other fringe fundraisers. While the sales certainly have a taint of illegality, they are not forbidden by eBay. In fact, the auction site’s policy states, “You can sell valid manufacturer’s coupons on eBay, but there are a few limitations.” The regulations restrict bulk coupon sales, coupons for “free” products, coupons printed off the Internet and expired and previously used coupons. They also forbid the sale of electronic “scanned” coupons, coupons for recalled items and coupons that have themselves been recalled.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that some 3,000 companies distribute a whopping 330 billion coupons each year, and that approximately 77 percent of American households use them. According to the FTC, Americans clip about 8 billion coupons annually and use them to save $4.7 billion at grocery stores every year. Those figures do not even reflect retailer coupons like those Tang is accused of pilfering.