December 12th, 2009 
Vijaianand Alright, Blackfriday is come and gone. It is time to send in the Mail-In Rebate forms(MIR). I am sure many of you bought items on sale especially with Mail-In Rebates(MIR) hoping to get your money back and prove yourself that you really saved some money by getting up early and waiting in line for hours.
In order to be successful in getting your MIR’s, you need apply properly. I always had 100% redemption rate in my Mail-In rebate claims because of proper planning and applying without giving chance for any errors
Mail In Rebate Facts
According to wikipedia.com report, PMA, a marketing firm, estimated that in 2005 $486.5 million worth of rebates were redeemed. The redemption rates averaged only 21.1% when calculated as a percentage of total sales, and 67.6% when calculated as a percentage of incremental sales. That is not an encouraging news but MIR system has come a long way since 2005. Now you have option to apply your MIR either by mail or online to get your money faster.
Most rebates are handled under contract by rebate clearinghouses that specialize in processing rebates and contest applications. The source of their fees is not readily discernible with conflicting reports from different sides. There is always a concern about rebates being rejected and invalidated by these clearinghouses to show more savings to the company to earn more fees.
Young America, a rebate clearinghouse claims that “Young America receives the same fees whether a submission is valid or invalid,” giving them no incentive to unfairly invalidate customer rebates. Whether it is true or not, we cannot verify but if you do your part right and apply correctly, they can never reject or invalidate your claim. Let’s work towards that goal.
How MailIin Rebates works?
Lets say the item usually costs $100. Retailers put a tag on it for $75 with $25 Mail-in Rebate. You will pay the full $100 at time of check out and apply MIR to get back $50 via mail. In most cases, you need to apply for the rebate via mail with all the required things like original reciept and purchase proof(UPC). Nowadays you can also apply online to get it faster with any retailers like bestbuy, staples, officemax etc., It takes 4-8 weeks to process and you will eventually get your money back.
Retailers and Manufacturers play with the psychology of the buyers and try to gain by taking advantage of lazy people who forget to send rebates or don’t send the required proofs. Also the retailers use this opportunity to get rid of the items which doesn’t sell well as freebies and change them to money.
Tips and Tricks for Quick Rebate Redemption
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Before leaving the store, check whether you got all the mail-in rebate forms and seperate original reciepts to send with those forms. Some stores would give seperate reciepts but others you need to either send copy or original reciept. Check the requirement.
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Unpack the item and save the package materials. Check and make sure whether the item works as expected. If not you have the option to return the material with the original package. Try it out for few days and if it is all good, then cut out the UPC code required for rebate and trash the package material. The reason, you cannot return the material without UPC code. You need the original package with the UPC to return it. If you cut it out and sent the Mail in rebate and want to return it, you will have tough time doing so.
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Now sort out the reciepts to seperate out the rebate form and rebate reciept for each item which is on rebate. Read the requirements carefuly and try to do one item at a time. Some rebate might require you to send the original UPC Bar code and some don’t. They will all specify a time frame for the rebate to reach their office. If you can submit online which saves postage and time, just do it. It will also help to track the status. If not, you might have to do via mail.
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Collect all the requirements for each item and put them in a envelope. Don’t paste it yet. Do rebates in batches instead of doing all together to avoid any confusion.
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Use address labels on the envelopes for clarity and save time instead of writing.
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Once you are done with all the items to send, don’t forget to make copies or scan (save paper) of all your documents for each rebate which is CRUCIAL! It will come handy when companies disqualify rebates for missing document. You can always reapply with the copy. So, make sure you copy everything including UPC code.
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Next save the scanned copy in proper computer folder with right naming to identify later. If you copied, file them in your cabinet folder for future purpose. Also make an entry in text file or journal about the rebates like product, date rebate sent and how much is expected for future reference.
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Finally, put all the document back in the envelope after cross checking the requirement last time and apply proper postage (first class) and mail it out. That completes the applying process.
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Once you sent it out, you need wait patiently for minimum 4 weeks and see whether you hear any feedback from them via email. Nowadays many companies send out email status or directions via email to check your status online. If not you can visit the retailers website and check the status using rebate code. Track them periodically and if they are having problem, call them up and resend any proof needed.
Hope these points will help you to make the rebate process bit easier. They work almost all the time. Final word, don’t give up if they reject or disqualify your rebate. You can always reapply with your rebate copy and don’t forget it is your money and you better try to get it back.
If you have other tips to add, please don’t hesitate to share it.
Photo source: wikipedia.com
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