What's the point of mail-in-rebates?

Exfoliate

Exfoliate

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This may be a dumb statement but I really don't see the use in them. Perhaps this is because I don't understand why they're even used. I mean isnt' it easier to just make it an instant rebate? No hassle, the price is as it appears and no company has to ship you money back. With the mail in rebate it's the manufacturing company, for example, say EVGA that'd give you the money or is it the retailer like, say ZipZoomFly?
Maybe I'm bias because I've been screwed over with rebates the expired between the time that I got the item and immediately sent in for the rebate, not getting any money back, but it just seems like there should be a better way. In this day in age mailing money strikes me as a tad odd. Anyone care to enlighten me?
 
I asked the same question not long ago. I suppose they are hoping on people not applying for the rebate so they can be competitive in the sense that a customer can get the product for say $100 if they apply for the rebate but also £130 on some sales where the customer hasnt applied.

I first heard about them when I went on holiday to America and bought a camera. I was trying to haggle the rebate out of the shop but they wouldnt have it. I had to say goodbye to the rebate. I still got a good deal though. The camera cost £300 but was £700 over here!
 
The answer is simple.

With a MIR, you have to pay the full price, and the tax that goes with it, to the store, which means the store makes more money. The MIR is a manufacturer thing. The manufacturer offers you a rebate, not the actual store. Which means that if you buy that specific product anywhere, you should get the MIR, unless the manufacturer limited the MIRs to specific stores. For instance, whether you buy a 7900GS at newegg or at ncix, you will get a MIR of $20, but you still have to pay full price at purchase.

And you should always send them, at least to me !!!! Because they do work, it just takes time.
 
If they don't, companies tend to really catch hell over it, both from the customers and even the state on some occasions. Even Soyo, who's been well known for shoddiness in MIR's got me my rebate.

Think of the rebates as a short term loan the companies take out when you purchase your product. It's been theorized (and may be true) that companies stuff the money in the bank for a short while and collect the intrest. I don't know if that's true, but it's something to consider.
 
Some rebates are extremely stupid, for example, Cingular offered me a 50 dollar rebate on my phone...except they sent me a cingular card that allows me to put 50 dollars toward paying a bill. So the phone did cost me the full price cuz that card wound up expiring!
 
I recall Cingular saying their rebates were in the form of American Express gift cards. That kinda sucks since AE isn't as big in the US (and presumably North America) as it is in Europe.

Yeah, rebates do suck, but I do see it as a slick marketing move. There's always the people that don't send it in for whatever reason.
 
Yeah i recently got a new phone from cingular, this time i'm using that damn card to pay the next month's bill...but i wish it were cash.
 
Swansen said:
Simply Zeus said it most people won't mail in the rebate
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No way! Not most! U seriously think so? I don't know, of course, but I would imagine like 80% do send in their rebates... that would still create plenty of hassle for the companies trying to handle and sift through all that and make sure they're proper. I mean I don't have any any real statistics to back up my claim but that just seems stupid to me that most people wouldn't make the time to fill it out and send it off... do u by any chance have any real stats? It would be quite interesting to see.
 
Or charge at the cheaper price + £2.50. ? Surely they would make more from the $2.50 than they would from bank interest or people forgetting to apply for rebates :)

Dont you guys have to add tax on to prices too! Your shops are too complicated!
 
In Quebec there's a federal tax (TPS) and a provincial tax (TVQ).
TPS = 6%
TVQ = 7.5%

But the TVQ is applied on top of the TPS, so we end up being taxed on the tax itself. Also, 99.9% of retail prices in Quebec exclude taxes

Retail price: $100
TPS 6%: 6$
Sub: $106
TVQ 7.5%: NOT $7.50 but 106*7.5/100= $7.95
Total: $113.95

If a product is bought from another prvince, only the TPS is applied, GST in english.
TPS: Taxe sur les Produits et Services
GST: General Sales Tax
TVQ: Taxe de Vente du Québec (No english equivalent since french is the only official language in Quebec.)

P.S. There is only one province which has two official languages (french and english): New Brunswick

P.P.S. Quebeccers are the most taxed people in all of North America
 
I always wondered where you live, I kinda persumed it was the US.

Taxed on the tax :) ouch!

Isnt GST Goods and Services Tax? We just have Value Added Tax (VAT) but I always thought this was a type of Goods and Services Tax. Im not certain... the acronym matches so...
Luckily the UK has low VAT, second lowest in the EU, but its still too much at 17.5%.

I take it pocket calculators were first made in North America!
 
Swansen said:
Buyers and companies gain from mail-in rebates
The Demise of Mail-In Rebates (Consumer Action: Personal Finance) | SmartMoney.com
Click to expand...

Ooh! So we do have some real stats on this. Both of your linked articles say that 40% of people either don't file rebates or file them incorrectly and get 'em denied. Interesting. It's also nice to see that the FTC and some states are doing something about the rebate fraud that exists out there. (I got totally robbed on a rebate for my cell phone; still pissed about that)
 
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