I notice recently that a lot of people online have been going crazy over certain brands of cereal because for a limited of time buying one would mean that you can obtain a $10 off coupon for a future purchase of a board game. So, buying a $3 box of cereal in essence would mean that you are gaining $7 if you planned to buy a board game.
Would you immediately consider that as money made though necessarily? I would think that would only be true if you were originally planning to buy like the board game for say a present or with the intent to sell it. Otherwise you basically ended up buying something extra that you originally wouldn’t have.
In cases like these I would be inclined to sell the coupon to someone who would have an immediate use of it if I wasn’t originally planning to use it. Example, selling the $10 coupon for $3 to $6 where you essentially get the cereal for free or more.