[sharky]

what is the idea behind rebates? (besides the obvious saving money). Example; 512mbddr memory $49 after rebates,blab,blab,blab. $100 upfront.


My guess is many times customers do not send in rebates so there is an insidious business reason to offer rebates but not immediate prices.

[Schnitzu]

I think it is just a way to get your contact information - name, address, e-mail, etc. I hope they don't sell it to spammers.

[dalereis]

I believe the original rebates appeared during the Nixon administration after he had froze wages and prices. Vendors were afraid to temporarily reduce their price for fear of having it froze and losing money. I'd imagine that its a big industry now and would be hard to shut down and also, they get to use your money for a couple of months (interest, ect.) before returning it to you.

[sharky]

i read somewhere recently about one third of gift cards do not get used,ever. with rebates,its got to be an even higher ,shocking rate.

[RT]

with rebates,its got to be an even higher ,shocking rate.

Could be sharky. If so it must be because of all the gyrations and convolutions required to claim the rebate, not to mention the looong wait to receive it. (but it's nice to get a check in the mail when you've forgotten all about the overdue rebate, though)

'Free trial' stuff can be an insidious gimmick, too. Easy to get but difficult to get rid of when you are automatically signed up and billed/charged at the end of the trial. No easy cancel or opt out is usually the case.

Everyone can send their unused giftcards to me! But please, no AOL CDs

[sharky]

RT,yes ,your so right. when one forgets that rebate check,then it shows up is nice. But then you find out the rebate check is drawn on some bank in outer mongolia.



about the: <<'Free trial' stuff can be an insidious gimmick, too. Easy to get but difficult to get rid of when you are automatically signed up and billed/charged at the end of the trial. No easy cancel or opt out is usually the case">> Netflick comes to mind,but others are worse.

[AcaCandy]

I send rebates all the time. You must make photo copies of everything, just in case they purposely misplace them

That being said, it's not the store who is always offering the rebate, it can be and usually is the manufacturer. As mentioned, not everyone sends them in, thus a savings to the manufacturer there, they can take 6 to 8 weeks and longer, and people forget about them, don't have supporting documentation, etc., thus a savings there too.

It's the people like me they probably hate.

Track them online, follow up by email, resend photocopies if necessary I usually win but it sometimes takes extra effort. And I have never seen a check drawn on a bank in outer mongolia.....

[Big-K]

Think i should spring for it?
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...56-3&CatId=544

I mean, i need the upgrade, and thats the cheapest they got. Then again i can always go to Staples(store)

[skyman]

Candy is right when she said, "YOU HAVE GOT TO FOLLOW UP"

Don't bother with the store because they don't offer the rebate and will not help you. The manufacturer is the rebate guy...

Office Max is the biggest rebate seller and it takes forever to get the rebate back. It is designed to get you into the store.

I bought a pair of Motorola walkie-talkies with a $30 rebate and it took 6 months for it to get to me.

I bought a Palm PDA and by following up and faxing the receipt
and sending threatening emails I got a rebate back in 3 weeks.

Follow up...

[AcaCandy]

Most of them you can follow online, if they don't appear in a reasonable amount of time, I follow up with an email immediately...you'd be surprised how fast they show up after an email

[781]

Mail in rebates especially are offered because I doubt more than half the people actually take the time to mail it in. And of course it's to spam your snail mail box

[Big-K]

And snail mail spam is even more annoying

[rmbler]

the reasoning behind rebates i think is that you won't bother sending then or lose the form or recipt i hate them allways have allways will

[AcaCandy]

Do you watch your scanned items scan at the supermarket? More mistakes are made there daily in my opinion, as no one watches or checks, or for that matter even KNOWS what the price should be

Now THAT is a scam in my opinion. I take full advantage of the stores that offer 'if scanned price is more than shelf price, the item is free.' You'd be surprised how irritated some clerks get when you force that issue

[deuce]

I'm about to head to bed and so didn't have time to read all the posts....but there are very clear and good reasons for companies to offer rebates.

1.) It's a FREE loan. Companies can take up to 8 weeks to fill rebates, and they generally take every last day. This is huge. If you sell 1000 products and offer a $20 rebate, that's a $20,000 free interest loan for your company...if every person follows through.

2.) It's a hassle. Most people forget before the deadline...however everyone takes the rebate into account when purschasing, even if they know they are lazy and won't get around to doing it. Alot of people live on the rebates...some just like to save money here and there. I generally send in all reabtes I can....but every now and then it wouldn't get done. (i.e. the really small ones...--few dollars, etc)