Fishhead said:
Just shopping for new cell phone and so many of them have rebates, you go to Best Buy all rebates...I'm wondering what % don't bother or forget to cash it in?
If that is the angle or they just like to use your money, I guess on a mass scale that is very significant actually. :finger:
Rebate rules and requirements are painful enough to make you not send them in. I recently bought a laptop, a flat screen monitor, and some gear to set up a wireless network and I think I'm entitled to about $500 in rebates. I had to make countless receipt and UPC copies and then organize the paperwork and match it up. By the time I finished, I had over 15 envelopes to mail. (With some, there's a manufacturers rebate and a store rebate and a "bundle" rebate.) You have to be fairly organized to maximize the rebates within the timeframe, so my guess is that these folks count on the fact that most people aren't.
The % of people who COMPLETE rebate promotions is somewhere around 15%
It's gone up over the past years as it's become more prevalent and some states have enacted, are enacting or are talking about enacting laws that clear up the rebate process and have watchdog agencies for rebate companies to make sure that the rebate terms and conditions are fair and consumers don't get screwed
MFRs make a killing off of rebates; they know exactly what % of customers will apply for the rebate, and it changes across every market and product as well as according to the value of the rebate and the $$ amount of the product itself, they do analysis of past rebates to determine this and base their pricing on these analyses
It's an incredibly lucrative marketing scheme, it can be good for the wise consumer if you get ahold of rebate deals and you are both careful in sending the rebate and diligent in making sure you get your money
But overall it's a cash cow for MFRs because most people aren't careful or diligent and either forget to send the rebate in, send it in without all the qualifying information, or forget that their money hasn't come (why do you think they make it 6-8 weeks) and don't bother hounding the MFR for their rebate check
I wish I had thought of the idea
It's gone up over the past years as it's become more prevalent and some states have enacted, are enacting or are talking about enacting laws that clear up the rebate process and have watchdog agencies for rebate companies to make sure that the rebate terms and conditions are fair and consumers don't get screwed
MFRs make a killing off of rebates; they know exactly what % of customers will apply for the rebate, and it changes across every market and product as well as according to the value of the rebate and the $$ amount of the product itself, they do analysis of past rebates to determine this and base their pricing on these analyses
It's an incredibly lucrative marketing scheme, it can be good for the wise consumer if you get ahold of rebate deals and you are both careful in sending the rebate and diligent in making sure you get your money
But overall it's a cash cow for MFRs because most people aren't careful or diligent and either forget to send the rebate in, send it in without all the qualifying information, or forget that their money hasn't come (why do you think they make it 6-8 weeks) and don't bother hounding the MFR for their rebate check
I wish I had thought of the idea
