Friday, March 02, 2007

Reader Question: The Ethics of Coupons and Rebates

Many moons ago, the very crafty and frugal Monica asked in the comments section what my thoughts were on combining rebates with coupons. I fully intended to address it at the time, but things got away from me. So here we are!

Is it ethical to use a coupon on an item that will be free after rebate? I say yes. I say this because no one is losing money, and I don't believe that it is deceitful. The store will be fully reimbursed for the coupon value + .08 handling. Further, the coupon amount is right on the receipt provided to the company giving the rebate. If they want to give me back less money, it is within their rights to do so. However, I have never had this happen.

What are your thoughts?

1 comment:

Monica Wilkinson said...

I hope others comment as I've been wondering about this. I appreciate hearing your thoughts and had not really thought about the store getting their money. I guess I just thought that the company was out more than the amount of the product. Hmmm, I'll keep thinking on this. Thanks for posting and answering my question.

Have a great week!