I’ve got about $60 coming my way. I realize that’s not make-it-rich money, but it’s money I won’t mind having in my wallet, once it gets here.

You see, I recently purchased three items that came with rebates. I know people think rebates are scams, because they’re promised money that most people don’t end up getting. But that’s not the companies’ fault. That’s the people’s fault–if they’re too lazy to follow the steps to get the money that’s rightly theirs.

Sure, getting rebates isn’t always easy, and my experience alone shows three different ways you might have to jump through “hoops” to get the money.

• In December I took advantage of Coinstar’s promotion of getting $10 extra when I cashed in at least $40 at one of their machines. Originally, I thought the extra $10 would get added to my total, but instead a receipt printed out with my Lowe’s gift card. Then it was up to me to send in that receipt by January 13th in order to get my money. That receipt is mailed and I have no idea in what form that $10 will arrive, but at least I’m getting my money.
• Last week I bought some new Avery labels that I can use when addressing envelopes. Those labels came with a $5 rebate. When I checked out at Staples, I got this three-foot-long receipt with all the details about how I could claim my $5. Then I noticed a line that said something like “Or you can claim your rebate on line by going to Staples Easy Rebates.” I chose that latter option, and in about five minutes, I’d processed my rebate claim. My $5 rebate, in the form of a gift card, should be here in a few weeks.
• Right around Christmas my daughter’s cell phone died. Because we were eligible for a new phone upgrade, we were able to purchase her a new phone that, in the end would be free. Why? Because it came with a $50 rebate. Now this rebate was a bit more cumbersome to cash in, because it required not only cutting out the barcode from the phone’s box, but also filling it in, along with about 20 lines of information, on the Verizon Wireless rebate form. That took me about 20 minutes to complete (including making a copy of my rebate submission, just in case), and if you think about that in terms of hourly wage, I’m getting $50 for 20 minutes of work or $150/hour. (I just discovered that, like Staples, I could have submitted my Verizon Wireless rebate online. Darn!)

I think it’s worth it to complete rebates to get money. What about you?