Rebates & Store Coupons; There's a Catch

I love rebates, and I've learned to be more diligent about clipping coupons, but there's a sneaky new phenomenon that my local drugstore uses that just rubs me the wrong way. They offer an "Up Reward." I go in the store, buy what they advertise and get a dollar or two back......later..... if I remember to bring back the cash-registered-generated coupon. Yeah, that isn't happening. These coupons are valid for about two weeks. I should just lay the damn thing down on the counter and allow the next person to use it because I'll forget to come back. Why can't they simple apply the coupon to my savings card? Other stores do this. Every time I buy food at my grocery store, they give me rewards toward my gas, and they're good for three months. They accumulate, I use them, I shop some more in their store. I'm not going to shop more in a store where I might remember there's a coupon at the bottom of my purse for some gum.


I read, I think it was in The New York Times that merchants rely on the laziness of Americans to mail in those rebates, or use those coupons. Face it, it takes planning to clip coupons that we think we'll need and actually use them before they expire. I remember my mother clipping coupons when I was younger, and the coupons wouldn't expire for a couple of years! Now you're lucky if you get a couple of months. I find myself buying a lot of things that I don't need immediately, but I want to use the coupon (and my local grocer doubles most coupons). When it comes to mail-in rebates, it's a different story.


I never remember to mail in my rebates. Sprint used to be especially annoying because I couldn't send in the rebate before 30 days had passed, and then I may only have a week or two before the offer expired. Frankly, I can't remember to do that -- there's a reason all my bills are on auto-pay -- I've probably lost the receipt by then anyway. Merchants love that we can't be bothered to save money. They count on it. I did find a way around Sprint's rebate program -- I get my new phones from Best Buy where the rebate is automatically processed and applied to the cost of the phone.


One thing is for sure, for every rebate or coupon you clip, there are thousands of people paying full-price for the same item, and the merchants count on our laziness.