The Evils of Marketing: Evil thing #1: Rebates

[Larry_OHF]

I decided to make a little rant thread about marketing schemes, and my first one deals with rebates, sometimes known as mail-in savings. What a way to trick the customer! This is a way for companies to give the appearance of a reduction in price, gambling on you and I not sending in the rebate request on time or making errors on those mail-ins which result in forfeiture of the rebated price.

Rebates are wicked little schemes, because if the company really had a desire to offer that price, they would lower the price. Instead, they've discovered that by promising mail-in savings, you get the impression that the deal is guaranteed and that you'll get some money back. So half the time, you lose the stupid receipt, or you did not make the deadline in time, or you do not have the barcode because you threw the box away by mistake, or your mail-in mysteriously vanishes. Either way, it takes you like 6-8 weeks just to get it and by knowing you have to wait that long sometimes gives the impression that its not worth bothering about...you have your item...you don't really care to wait two months for $2 to come in the mail...and then you'd have to take the check to the bank...and some people just forget about it, deciding its not worth the trouble...but only after they bought the merchandise at the retail value.

Rebates are a gamble for the companies. They gamble that not everybody will cash in, so they can offer a lower price to only the smart, devoted, persistent customers, yet continue to rack in extra revenue from those that mess up or are too lazy to deal with the offer...or in hopes that you buy the product too late to take advantage of the rebate before the deadline.

In short, we should not support the companies' rebate offers by being delinquent with our mail-ins...or maybe not even buying those items that brag of rebates...to show their marketing departments that we no longer trust them because we know that they are hoping against us cashing.

In closing, I'd admit that I have forgot about or decided against sending in a rebate request probably about 3-4 times in the last 6 years. My estimate of savings lost = ~ $27.00

[ 10-06-2006, 01:44 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Bungleau]

Good point, Larry. However, there is at least one company that's trying to do it better. CompUSA now does e-bates, where you can submit the rebate info on-line and get the process started right away. I've just done that for something I purchased, and it was far more pleasant than things I've experienced in the past.

That being said, I do have the paperwork for a $30 power supply rebate on my desk here, ready to be filled out and sent in... [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Well, there's more than one company Bungleau. Staples has been doing it for quite a while. I really like it. You do it online and soon as you're done you get an email confirmation. Then in about 3 weeks you get another email to say it's on the way. I usually have it within a week of that. "easy rebates"!

[ 10-06-2006, 05:02 PM: Message edited by: Variol (Farseer) Elmwood ]

[Ilander]

Reminds me of the rebate I didn't get on my LCD monitor...it was for like $40, but the company (despite me writing to them) never returned contact about whether they would accept my rebate, since my email was too long to fit into the form they gave me (it had discrete blocks for each letter).

So, I could fit Lyle.Goodwin@gma

No more. Made me upset with rebates, and vow to never deal with them again.

[Harkoliar]

hmmm.. it was only in the US where i noticed the marketing in rebates. Here in aussie and back even in Philippines, it was never marketed the way it is there.

[Iron Greasel]

I don't think I've ever seen a rebate. What are they?

[VulcanRider]

It's a marketing gimmick to make products seem less expensive. You buy something and you get a form or certificate that you can mail in to the manufacturer, along with proof of purchase like a copy of your paid receipt, and they send you a little money back.

[Jorath Calar]

The phrase "Business Ethics" is like "military intelligence"... they don't exsist inreality... [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Sir Goulum]

Originally posted by VulcanRider: It's a marketing gimmick to make products seem less expensive. You buy something and you get a form or certificate that you can mail in to the manufacturer, along with proof of purchase like a copy of your paid receipt, and they send you a little money back.

How is it a marketing gimmick? With the rebate, they *are* less expensive.

[Harkoliar]

Depends on how you percieve it . Personally, I would not be surprised how much they raise the price and put-in the rebate to make it "seem" more expensive when in reality, w/o the rebate, it may be just as cheap as your next competitor. OR, they are making good margins and they wouldnt mind losing a few dollars for you to buy them off. (which is the rebates main goal )

I am curious though, who are the ones sprouting the rebates? Is it the retailers or the companies who manufacture them??