The last few months, we’ve had some fantastic lens deals. This has been the best Canon holiday deal season since we started watching prices in 2007. Unfortunately, this big lens sale is all coming to an end in a little over a week: the last day for the Canon mail-in rebates is January 4th, 2014.

Once the mail-in rebate is finished, we expect to see the net prices to go up. Lens prices are currently at their lowest levels in years. Many stores are also now offering free expedited (2-day, or overnight) shipping with many lens purchases.

You can find many double dip deals at B&H, Amazon, or Adorama, where the store has instant-discounted by the amount of rebate or more, effectively doubling it. Note, you need to add to cart and proceed to checkout to enable the deal at most stores. You can also see a summary of our favorite double-dip deals above.

Here is a summary of all active L-lens deals, after mail-in rebates. Many readers have found these “double dip discounts” confusing, so we try to answer some of the most commonly asked questions in this post.

What’s a double-dip deal? A double-dip deal is one where the store gives an instant discount equal to the amount of the mail-in rebate. So you get one discount from the store, and then another discount from the mail-in rebate, which effectively doubles it. For example, the 70-200 II has a normal price of $2199 ($2499 less a $300 mail-in rebate), but B&H currently has provides an extra $300 savings, so your final price is $1899 ($2199 less a $300 mail-in rebate).

I don’t see the discount! You need to add to cart and proceed to checkout to see the discount. Stores hide these discounts to not run afoul of Canon’s Minimum Advertised Price rules. Canon doesn’t want pricing wars (like the one that recently erupted on the EOS 6D).

Are you sure it’s still eligible for a mail-in rebate? Yes, as long as you purchase from an authorized dealer (such as B&H, Amazon, or Adorama) you will get your mail-in rebate. Double-dip deals have been running sporadically since the end of September, and many of our readers have already successfully purchased, submitted rebate claims, and gotten reimbursed.

Are Canon mail-in rebates reliable? Yes, very. Canon switched its rebate processor a few years ago and recently we’ve heard very few complaints about the rebate process. Many readers report receiving rebates in 3 weeks or less and you can even request your rebate balance be transferred to your bank account rather than deal with the AMEX rebate card.

How long will these deals last? The mail-in rebate period ends on January 4th, 2014, but these extra double-dip discounts are provided by the stores and we don’t know when they’ll end. Our suggestion is that if you see the lens you want on sale, go for it: it’s doubtful we’ll see discounts beyond what we’ve seen, and the extended holiday return policies make it easy to get price adjustments in the unlikely event prices drop.