All You Need to Know about Mail-In Rebates

This post was written by Ella Davidson of couponing website Coupons. The website strives to provide consumers with the best possible deals available on the Internet while maintaining a charitable aspect and giving back to the community.

If you have two coupons and then add the possibility of a mail-in rebate, it is like you are practically getting paid to buy the product. This situation is not as uncommon as it sounds. Everyone loves saving money and a great way to fulfill those desires is by using rebates. The complicated but higher saving cousin of the cutout coupon, rebates are advantageous for both you and the company.

The good news for you is that rebates save you money. Mail-in rebates started the trend and were made noticeable by accompanying large electronic items from stores like Best Buy and Staples. Large sticker prices led to even bigger rebates. Nowadays rebates exist in many mediums, not just mail-in anymore. You can get a rebate on hundreds of thousands of different items—phones, car parts, makeup, food, and even beer—and you can get them for a wide range of money anywhere from five dollars to hundreds of dollars.

The added bonus for a rebate is that normally it stacks with coupons and discounts. If you talk to rebate connoisseurs or read about their exploits, it is not uncommon for them to actually get items for free with the coupling of discounts, coupons, and rebates.

As previously mentioned, rebates are also good for companies. This is where the bad news fits in for you and other consumers. Although some of the positive qualities allow companies to conduct surveys and collect accurate data about their consumers, there are also many qualities of the age-old mail-in rebate that try to take advantage of the consumer. If you have used a rebate before, you know the feeling of approaching the register expecting to pay one price. Instead, you have to pay a higher price and wait 6-8 or 8-12 weeks to get that money back.

This is a smooth psychological trick that companies use to make their products seem more appealing. People love seeing that lower price. But we all know what happens when you get home. If you are like many—and not like one of those rebate connoisseurs—then that receipt gets lost at the bottom of the file cabinet, the UPC gets thrown away with the box, or it is two months past expiration before you remember there was a mail-in rebate. This could mean that your pocket is fifty or even a hundred dollars lighter, while the company makes that extra money without having to lift a finger.

Factor this procrastination or laziness over every consumer and you get cases very similar to what happened with the Tivo. Just over 50,000 customers—half of the total people who purchased Tivo—had the same problem as me: they lost receipts, misplaced paperwork, and had that date slip their mind. This means that with the price of a hundred dollars per rebate, the makers of Tivo netted over 5 million dollars off of the mail-in rebate.

The good news now though, is that many rebates are going online. It used to feel like a company was paying you to jump through hoops and fill out paperwork. In some cases those five or ten dollars was not worth the time, the cost of the stamp, and the trip to the store. But now companies are making it easier. With the click of a few buttons you can have a check sent to you or even have the rebate deposited straight into your Paypal account.

Not only does the Internet make redeeming rebates simpler and easier, it also allows you to find more rebates. Now you can plan your purchases around rebates. Making a quick Google search of items you already buy is a good practice to work into your shopping lifestyle. You would be surprised with what rebates you can find. Nowadays there are rebates to turn your home green or to cut down on water usage. Rebates are an excellent way to save money that the Internet is making less and less daunting to take advantage of.





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