Can you really redeem coupons for the miniscule fraction of a dollar they are supposedly worth?
Many coupons contain a statement such as “cash value 1/100” in the fine print. This does mean that if you send 100 coupons to the manufacturer, they must give you one penny in return. This legal statement dates back to trading stamp problems during the 1930s. To protect consumers, several U.S. states passed laws that required trading stamps and coupons to be printed with a common value. These laws are still on the books in a number of states, so it’s simpler for manufacturers to include a cash value on all nationally distributed coupons. Of course, the cost of mailing 100 coupons to the manufacturer is more than the one cent they’re worth, so there are really no savings to be had. And that’s not even factoring in
