Are rebates a rip-off?
Are rebates a reward or a rip-off?
Rebates are very popular and have become even more-so in the last few years. The electronics industry has seen quite and increase in rebates on it’s products. Rebates of $50, $100 or $200 are a pretty common occurrence.
I’ve seen items advertised as “free after rebate” on sites such as salescircular.com and walgreens.com. Do these rebates come under the heading of “too good to be true”? Some of them do and there are things to watch out for, however, if you are careful, rebates can help you get some really good deals.
How do rebates work? You pay the listed price for an item, then mail a form and some proof of purchase, such as the UPC bar code to the manufacturer and they send you a refund. This reduces the price of what you paid for the item, except with a time delay of several weeks.
Tip 1: Rebates from larger, more reputable companies are usually just fine.
You can be pretty sure you will get the promised rebate from Best Buy, Amazon or Dell but you should probably not count on getting one from a company you’ve never heard of. If you really want the product and are OK with paying the price listed then buy it but don’t count on actually getting the refund.
Tip 2: Make sure the rebate is not expired.
Many times products will stay on the shelf of a retailer after the date for sending in the rebate offer has expired. Check those dates. On the flip side, I was able to get a $50 rebate after the posted expiration because I contacted the manufacturer, and it just so happened that they had extended the expiration date.
Tip 3: Have all of the information needed to submit the rebate before you leave the store.
Rebates will almost always require a form to be filled out, a receipt for the purchase, and a bar code.
Tip 4: Make copies of everything.
Make copies of everything you send in to get your rebate including the bar code. Stuff gets lost in the mail all the time and if the rebate is for $50 it’s worth the trouble to back up your claim.
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© Copyright 2009, John A. Simpson. All Rights Reserved.
