Trading Stamps and Coupons

• Author: Jeffrey Lehman, Shirelle Phelps

Page 77

A comprehensive term for any type of tickets, certificates, or order blanks that can be offered in exchange for money or something of value, or for a reduction in price when a particular item is purchased.

U.S. businesses attempt to attract customers by using advertising, promising low prices, and claiming to offer high-quality goods and services. Another way of attracting business is by offering potential customers incentives, such as trading stamps, coupons, and price rebates. Though trading stamps have declined in popularity since the 1960s, the idea of awarding some type of credit for purchasing goods and services has survived. When commercial airlines award "frequent-flier miles" to their passengers, they are offering a variation on the trading stamp concept.

Trading stamps became popular during the Great Depression of the 1930s. They are printed stamps that can be saved and pasted into booklets until the individual collecting them has a sufficient number to exchange them for a particular item of merchandise. A trading stamp company negotiates agreements that allow retail merchants to give stamps to customers in proportion to how much they spend at the merchant's...