I do rebates all the time, I'm better about that than paying bills. Yes they are a big pain in the butt -- BUT they really do save you money. Sometimes in the case of certain drugstore deals they can make you money. I have two in the last two weeks that will make me money by using coupons and drugstore deals combined with rebates. Not only did I purchase two products that I needed/wanted I also will wind up with money back in my pocket I didn't have before I started.
I do them all the time but have to do so right away after buying product or I forget till after rebate is over. Love getting all the checks in the mail even if most are $5-$15! I just threw way $6 in Register Rewards from Walgreens that ex. since they expire so quickly & get buried under papers on my desk. I prefer the rebates. Just sent off 2 lrg ones for free software found here! I forget about them till checks come.
I was very sorry to hear about the end of the Walgreens SuperSaver rebate program, we used to accumulate the rebates on their card instead of a rebate check and they paid us an extra 10%. Then we could save up a fair amount to spend on something big.
We continue to do the software rebates as often as possible. That way we're usually able to get the programs for free by buying each new version, instead of paying for an upgrade or renewal (like the annual charge for antivirus).
One of our best deals was when we got instant and mail-in rebates on a Samsung monitor, plus a lowest price guarantee for a month. So then we were able to collect another $50 twice when the price dropped!
I agree with deby32953, we try to do them right away so we won't forget. And also we try not to send them too close to the expiration date, after we got rejected one time because they said our form and proofs arrived late.
Not worth all the time. I did a rebate worth $10 and ended up paying shipping of close to $7 (included tracking by usps) thus nullifying the rebate in the end. You do get them after 4-6 weeks but it's worth the wait if the items you buy are going to cost you lot lesser at the cost of time.
The only rebate that didn't worked for me was one of the rebates at Circuit City they sent me a card saying that they didn't get the UPC and that I should resend the original UPC again but I sent them everything they asked for including the original UPC and I didn't have another one to send. I won't ever fill another rebate from Circuit City.
Yes, the original Circuit City is gone, and the web site was purchased after bankruptcy in 2009 by Systemax. Systemax is the same company that owns TigerDirect and also acquired the assets of CompUSA in 2008.
I've gotten back a good deal of money from rebates and overall it doesn't take that much time to fill out. Since I don't track them, I kind of forget about them, and then it's always like getting a gift in the mail when they finally do show up.
I do a lot of rebates and only lost out once in over 15 years of tracking.
One tip that was not in the article: a lot of bogus rejections claim I did not submit the original UPC when I did. On calling, I am told it might have fallen out of the envelope in the processing center so now, I staple the UPC to the form or a blank sheet of paper and draw arrows to the staples and add this text: this submission has been copied and retained. The copy will show I submitted the UPC. I only had one such rebate rejected and when I called and pointed this out, they immediately changed their tune and mailed a check quickly.
I've tried Rebate! Rebate!, and it's OK. But it was released in 2002 and never updated since then, so the interface is very simple like an old DOS program. I think I'd rather use a spreadsheet.
Order free address labels from Vistaprint & put in your address quickly & for return address env. Saves me a lot of time & makes easy. I've sent out about 12 in the last few days. Checks come almost every day! I do good ones 2x using an elderly friend's address. He cashes them & gives me the $. I take him out to lunch when he drives me to an appt. as a return favor. I used to send them to Mom, but she'd keep the $! lol
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