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Secrets to Being a Successful Rebater (Rebates in General, not just Online Rebates)Sep 21 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line DO be wary of overpriced items, DO spend time organizing and getting a system down, DO follow up, you WILL save money!
Note: this isn't REALLY adhering to the topic, but more general information and tips on doing rebates that I've lived by. -------------------------------------- OK, I admit it. I'm a scrooge. A penny-pincher. A coupon-clipper. Call me all the names you want, but in the end, I shall save more money than you do. But fear not, I am here to show you the light. How to do it, and where to do it. =) One of the secrets to getting stuff you want at really insanely cheap prices is doing rebates. But as you know, it's got plenty of strings attached. Common complaints: 1. Filling out all those forms and clipping UPCs is time-consuming! 2. How am I supposed to follow up on all the rebates? I'm probably not getting half of them back. 3. Items are wayyy overpriced like you wouldn't believe! $65 for a CD?! I don't have the $ to invest in this thing and wait for the stupid check to come in 3 months later! CoRoNa13's remedies for the complaints: Complaint #1: "Filling out all those forms and clipping UPCs is time-consuming!" Gotta get a system going. If you're like me, sometimes I go to the store and buy a couple bagfuls of free/cheap after rebate items and need to sit down and make a half day of it. Whether you have help or not, I'll have to admit, it is a little time-consuming to do everything from clipping everything, filling out rebate forms, and making backup copies of everything, and recording all the data of the rebates (when you sent them, numbers you need to call if you don't get your rebates, etc. More on that later). But think of it this way. The rebates that I fill out range from maybe $5 to even up to $100 (I must REALLY REALLY want it), but maybe an average of $15 each. If it takes me an hour to completely process even just 5 things, thats $15x5=$75 in rebates, and so I've made $75 in one hr, which is like 7 times more than I make in an hour at my part-time job. So, sink a little time into it. It'll be worth it. But it's only worth it if you get that $75 back ... it's no use if you never get your rebate, so on to #2 ... Complaint #2: "How am I supposed to follow up on all the rebates? I'm probably not getting half of them back." The paperwork is crucial. Things the rebate people will be nitpicky about: a) if you sent it in on time b) if you bought the item during the specified promotional period c) if all the specified paperwork (usually the original UPC, copy of receipt, and fully filled out original rebate form) is present Best way to avoid a): do the rebates immediately after you get back from the store. Get the paperwork out of the way before getting too mesmerized over your new toys. It sure sucks to pay full price for something you'd bought just because you thought you'd gotten a really good deal on it! I've done b) once. That kinda sucked. Just double check that you did buy the thing at the right time. If not, then take it right back to the store for a refund, unless you really really want it at full price. As for c), when sitting down to do all your rebates, it can get a little messy. Stay organized! Keep the UPCs, rebate forms, and copies of receipts for each individual item in separate piles. Nothing worse than a handful of UPCs that no one knows came from what. Now, the followup part is the trickiest part. I keep a running spreadsheet in Excel with fields for "Item", "Original Price of Item", "Rebate Amount", "Date Rebate Sent Out", "Latest Date I Should Expect My Rebate Check", "Check Received?", "Phone # to Call if I Don't Get Rebate", and "Web Site if I Don't Get Rebate". If you're not into the computer thing, at least have the expected receive date of the rebate on your calendar, along with phone number to call. Sounds complicated, but really, it isn't. Once you've done the spreadsheet, getting after those people who haven't given you your money is easy. You can look at it every once in awhile, and if your rebates haven't come in by the date you've indicated, just call 'em up or hit 'em up on the website. (I prefer to call; in my experience, those websites are extremely unhelpful.) Now, let's say you're following up on a rebate you haven't received. On the phone, they will ask you for all sorts of information that you couldn't possibly remember (and really, you should reserve that brain space for more important information, don't you think?). They'll ask you questions like, "What P.O. Box did you sent that to?" and "On what date did you purchase the item?" It may sound silly, but all of this info somehow helps them help you. Never fear, because you made copies of all your rebate forms. Err, you did, didn't you? But I thought you were going to do it! Oh man ... I'm a computer nerd. And at the same time I'd like to save trees by not making billions of copies of stupid rebate stuff. Plus I don't have that much room here, no room for a big ol' filing cabinet for this stuff. So, I've scanned everything in with my scanner and saved them into virtual folders on my hard drive, everything labelled with the item name and amount I expect to get back. This is where I go when I'm being asked these questions and before I break out into a cold sweat because I don't know the questions off the top of my head. I scan in the fronts and backs of all the rebate forms, the receipts, the UPCs even. You don't know when you have to re-submit everything because some moron lost all of your information, and you basically have to send in the whole thing again. You don't have to be so hi-tech and scan everything in, but in some shape or form you must have copies of everything you do. And, when you do receive your rebate checks, don't go prancing to the bank immediately to cash them ... remember to first mark off in your spreadsheet that you did indeed receive the check, so that you can distinguish between the ones you need to follow up on and the ones you don't need to badger for your money. OK, by now you're probably thinking I'm some obsessive-compulsive freak. But I shall finish! On to #3 ... Complaint #3: "Items are wayyy overpriced like you wouldn't believe! $65 for a CD?! I don't have the $ to invest in this thing and wait for the stupid check to come in 3 months later!" OK, before purchasing a keyboard that supposedly is worth $150 (as seen on CyberRebate.com, when they were still alive), but free after rebate, ask yourself this. a) Do I want this THAT badly? If so ... b) Do I have the funds for this thing? c) Am I willing to wait for this $150 to come back to me in 3 months? Maybe it'd be better off sitting in my bank account... I would be wary of sites like CyberRebate.com. Personally, I had an OK experience with them when they were still in business, but the initial outlandish price tags of the items definitely deterred me from purchasing too much from them. Here, I have some advice on where to get your rebate adrenaline-rush at reasonable initial prices! a) For computer stuff / electronics, go to CompUSA on Sunday mornings just before they open, especially if they have advertised specials in the Sunday paper. They often have stuff that's free/cheap after rebate, and you have to get there on Sundays to nab it or else it will be all gone. Some stores even set aside a shelf that's full of the free after rebate items so you're not searching high and low for them. A lot of times they have CD-Rs, compressed air cleaning thingies, various software, even RAM for free after rebate. You can try getting it off their website as well. b) BestBuy / BestBuy.com is another place that has great stuff, hardware and software, for cheap/free after rebate. c) Amazon.com has been known to have tons of stuff free/cheap after rebate. The rebate forms are easily accessible from the webpage of the item. d) I've had great experiences with the CircuitCity / CircuitCity.com rebate process. Very prompt. That's it, folks! Hope you found this helpful. If you have any questions, comments, or tips of your own, feel free to e-mail me or leave me a comment! And here's a shameless plug from me, hope you don't mind: I'll be dispensing more money-saving advice when www.AsianEscape.com opens =) Happy penny-pinching! =)  |
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