how do stores redeem the Q's

[pokey]

I dunno, when you multiply that 2.08 by a million customers it doesn't seem quiet so piddly an amount

That was my point.
They can have a lot of coupon dollars that they have to wait to get back.
It isn't just the .08 they are waiting on.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

It's all part of the thing though guys. I do business too and there are times that I have to wait 3-6 months for money to come in that I have to invoice for too. If the stores did not want to wait then they could easily not accept coupons. And how many grocery stores, drug stores, gas stations and even a lot of 'Mom and Pop" stores don't take them at all. I live in a smallish town and there are no stores here that sell grocery items that do not accept coupons. They get their money. No they are not "Making Money" off that $0.08 handling fee but they are making money, otherwise they would not do it.

[434Teresa]

Just wondering if you know of any changes in the store redeeming coupon process?

[MizMoneyPenny]

The Coupon Process
This is another great example of how a simple idea -- "let's give people a little scrap of paper that they can redeem for 25 cents off a can of beans" -- turns into a whole lot of work for somebody!

Well, actually, coupons were not prevalent until......the Viet Nam War was ending and Richard "Tricky Dicky" Nixon was afraid that inflation would overtake the American economy. He came up with a 4 Phase economic plan to stabilize prices, eg. price freezing. So, manufacturers, fearful that prices would be frozen by the government, didn't lower prices, they offered coupons. And rebates.

I think manufacturers now caught on that we will try something new with a coupon, but we still have rebates on cars and appliances and other big ticket items.

And "that show" has made it harder on all of us. I know that individual stores get the $$ back plus a processing fee. They have created a monster.

[vickib50]

I'm 56 years old (born in '55) and I can remember when I was 5 years old, watching my mother use coupons in the store. Back then, there were .02 or .05 off a bar of soap, maybe .15 off Crisco. Of course, prices were a lot lower back then. I read somewhere that the first manufacturer's coupon was put out by Post cereals over 100 years ago. It was a penny or two off a box of cereal. MizMoneyPenny is right, though. There was an explosion of coupon use in the late 60's, early 70's.

[MizMoneyPenny]

I'm 56 years old (born in '55) and I can remember when I was 5 years old, watching my mother use coupons in the store. Back then, there were .02 or .05 off a bar of soap, maybe .15 off Crisco. Of course, prices were a lot lower back then. I read somewhere that the first manufacturer's coupon was put out by Post cereals over 100 years ago. It was a penny or two off a box of cereal. MizMoneyPenny is right, though. There was an explosion of coupon use in the late 60's, early 70's.

I remember those, too. They had to be cut out of the newspaper. My mother would get angry because sometimes there were coupons on both sides of the page. Sure, they weren't much, but just like now, it all adds up!