Rebates – Reward or Rip Off?

Rebates – Reward or Rip Off?

Rebates have become increasingly popular within the last few years on a lot of items and certainly in electronic items and desktops. Rebates of $20, $50 or $100 are certainly not uncommon.





I’ve even witnessed items advertised as “free immediately after rebate”. Do these rebates come beneath the heading of “too good to become true”? Some of them perform and there are “catches” to take into consideration but if you tend to be careful, rebates can help you to get some really good discounts.

The way a rebate works is that you just pay the listed price to have an item then mail in a very form and the bar code on the manufacturer and they send you a refund thus reducing the price tag on what you paid for that item except with a period of time delay of several weeks.


Rule #1. Rebates from reputable companies usually are just fine.

You can be pretty sure you're going to get the promised rebate coming from Best Buy, Amazon or Dell but you should probably not trust in getting one from a firm you’ve never heard associated with. If you really want the product and are OK with paying the value listed then buy it but don’t trust in actually getting the reimburse.


Rule #2. Check kickback expiration dates.

Many times products will stay on the shelf of your retailer after the date for submitting the rebate offer has expired so be sure date carefully.


Rule #3. Be sure to have all the forms forced to file for the rebate prior to leave the store.

Rebates will more often than not require a form to become filled out, a receipt for that purchase and a bar code.

Rule #4. Back your rebate claim.

Make copies of everything you send in to get those rebate including the bar code. Stuff gets lost in the mail continuously and if the rebate is for $50 it’s worth the difficulty to back up your current claim.

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