Mail in rebates aren't a "deal"

[Muse]

It's odd. I used to do MIR's frequently, but haven't done one in years. It's not that I have decided not to, I don't know why, maybe they have become unpopular with companies... I don't like them but I don't avoid them. If I think I'm getting a significant discount by buying a product with an MIR involved, I do it. I just haven't encountered that situation in a long time.

 

[Muse]

-snip-

Thus if you're a person who is diligent about rebates, you are potentially getting a bigger discount than you might otherwise get.

I've done many MIR's, maybe 15-20. Only one time IIRC did I fail to get my rebate, and that was because I blew it. I knew it was my fault, no one else's.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

It's not a deal because the time it takes to get the MIR is almost always more valuable than the rebate itself. Sure if you are unemployed/student then fine, waste your time for 30 bucks, but otherwise I wouldn't bother.

Personally disagree. It takes me a whopping 5 minutes to find the rebate online, fill out the PDF electronically, print/sign it, slap the shit in an envelope and drop it off next time I check the mail. It's not hard, it's not rocket science.

It's no more difficult than calling your cable company to cancel so they don't auto-charge you for the next month. Most people are simply too lazy to do things right away and before you know it they forget about the rebate or it has already lapsed the allowed time to submit it.

 

[Iron Woode]

I am so-so on MIR.

The last one I did was for my Asrock H97 Pro4 MB. Personally I would rather they just drop the price for an "instant rebate".

 

[Mike64]

This.

To the educated (and diligent) consumer, rebates are an excellent source of deals and, while the OP is still searching for a deal as good as the rebate one, I've already gotten my check or prepaid card and have moved on to the next deal. And I am one who has sent for and received hundreds of rebates without ever losing out on one.

I'm right there with you up to the "without ever losing out on one". I have had a couple of rebates (fortunately small) denied because someone on the receiving end "lost" a document I'd sent in. I do keep copies of everything and probably could've successfully re-submitted, but when that starts happening, it starts becoming less worth the effort, especially for lower rebate amounts (even when I wouldn't have bought the item without the rebate at all, however low it might be.) That hasn't deterred me entirely, but it has made me very diligent in checking up a on company's history of rebate processing before I go for a rebate deal in the first place, especially a high value one.

But yeah, it seems to me absurd to prefer a $30 discount to a $170 rebate, unless maybe you're a young investment banker who doesn't make quite enough money to hire "people" to handle crap like that for you, in which case your time might just be worth the final difference in cost.

 

[Paladin3]

Stop making fun of the OP, folks. If it wasn't for folks like him we wouldn't have $30 rebates for those of us diligent enough to cash them in, and instead every lazy consumer would just get $5 off.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Rebates are actually a pretty smart market segmentation strategy for many items. Your most price sensitive customers will get the bargain you offer, and you capture the value from your less sensitive customers.

 

[TXHokie]

I don't do rebates:
1. There's "no exception" deadlines that I might miss
2. I can't track them all if they're paid and have to track them down if they don't
3. My wife might throw out those post card rebate checks thinking they're junk mail
Too much hassle.

 

[nakedfrog]

I don't do rebates:
1. There's "no exception" deadlines that I might miss
2. I can't track them all if they're paid and have to track them down if they don't
3. My wife might throw out those post card rebate checks thinking they're junk mail
Too much hassle.

Gosh, you're right, all that does sound like a very petty inconvenience.

 

[JimKiler]

I have and will continue to use rebates but these rebate credit cards,CC, i am not a fan of. I would rather get a check, because i cannot use a $30 rebate CC when i order something online. Also i cannot use it at target since my redcard gets me 5%. Third if I use the rebate CC to buy something i may potentially return i need to keep the CC to get my money back. But i am sure it is not as big of a deal for others. I suppose i should use them for gas and fill to the amount of the card.

 

[evident]

it really isn't that hard... i've received 98% of the rebates that i filled out. and most of them are so easy to fill out nowadays

 

[nakedfrog]

I have and will continue to use rebates but these rebate credit cards,CC, i am not a fan of. I would rather get a check, because i cannot use a $30 rebate CC when i order something online. Also i cannot use it at target since my redcard gets me 5%. Third if I use the rebate CC to buy something i may potentially return i need to keep the CC to get my money back. But i am sure it is not as big of a deal for others. I suppose i should use them for gas and fill to the amount of the card.

I typically use those to buy Amazon GCs.

 

[PJFrylar]

I've only ever purchased a few items items that had MIRs and have received every rebate. If you can't manage financially while waiting a few months or so to get your $30 back, you should probably not be buying the item in the first place. I'd rather pay $300 with a $30 rebate than $290.

 

[JimKiler]

I typically use those to buy Amazon GCs.

that is a good idea as well.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Thanks OP you reminded me to fill out my rebate form for the $70 back for buying 4 tires from Tire Rack. It took me 5 minutes on their website to fill the form out.

I'd take a job at $840/hr.

Yep I got my $70.- tirerack rebate a couple weeks ago and took my squeeze out for some seafood. Love me some rebates and crab legs.

 

[Mike64]

I don't do rebates:
1. There's "no exception" deadlines that I might miss
2. I can't track them all if they're paid and have to track them down if they don't
3. My wife might throw out those post card rebate checks thinking they're junk mail
Too much hassle.

1. Reading the rebate form before you buy the item doesn't take care of that? I avoid rebates when I'd be purchasing online the evening of the last day of the purchase period (in case something wonky happens with the online processing), but otherwise, it's easy enough to figure out whether whatever hassle involved is worth the rebate amount...
2. How hard is it to keep a text file with the rebate info? Or stick it on your computer/phone's calendar, or whatever?
3. That's an issue, I suppose, if telling her to watch out for rebate checks won't work. Does she frequently throw money away, knowingly, or even merely negligently? That would definitely be a major spousal annoyance...

I have and will continue to use rebates but these rebate credit cards,CC, i am not a fan of. I would rather get a check.

Me too, but since I rarely get one for more than $20-30, it's really not an issue afaic - I just use 'em for stuff I know I'd never return anyway (like supermarket/drugstore/etc shopping)...

 

[VirtualLarry]

I don't do rebates any more, unless they are "instant" ($ off initial purchase), or Staples' "Easy Rebates" (no need to mail anything, just fill out a web form and wait for a check, or pre-paid debit card, whatever the case may be).

 

[A Casual Fitz]

I read the OP, ready to tell him how wrong he is, but so many people beat me to it.

 

[brianmanahan]

i'm gonna buy tires today and get a 50$ mail in rebate