If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Screwed by Canon Rebate
Barry Watzman ) writes:
An "instant rebate" isn't a rebate at all, it's just a sale price. And no doubt that it's better than a mail-in rebate of the same amount, but you will NEVER find "instant rebates" that are the equivalent of the larger mail-in rebates. The rebate "system" depends on the fact that only a minority of buyers will ever apply for the rebate. I'm glad you said that, because the whole "instant rebate" thing just seems a renaming of "sale prices" because of the current trend to a lot of real rebates. I can remember decades ago, "rebates" were not common and you'd have to buy six items to send off the box tops, or something similar, and you didn't get much back. Yet, if you were lucky you'd know about such a rebate, and it might give you something back if it was something you actually were buying. It's only in recent years that they've become a major "marketing tool". And I think what irks many people is not the rebate thing, but the flyers that make the rebate part of the deal. No longer is it a subtle matter of finding a coupon somewhere and thinking "I was going to buy that anyway, and getting a few dollars back would be neat". Instead, you see a great price, and then the fine print says "after rebate". It is a promotional tool, and the rebate becomes a far bigger part of the price and appeal than those old coupons you might find somewhere. "That's on sale, I'll buy it. Oh, I have to do a rebate". The "instant rebates" are just the stores "cashing in" on the rebate craze. The only reason I can think why they'd use the term is because customers will think "Oh a rebate, but I don't have to do anything", which shouldn't be necessary anyway except there are so many mail in rebates in the flyers to begin with. If everyone gets the "instant rebate" then there is nothing different from an item on sale, because the company or store does not benefit from only some people going after the rebate (but likely most buyers choose that item based on the after-rebate price). They also don't get the peripheral information that they may see as a benefit of rebates. Michael |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Screwed by Canon rebate. | John | Digital Photography | 57 | April 20th 07 07:19 PM |
Canon 5D Rebate | [email protected] | Digital SLR Cameras | 10 | October 24th 06 07:17 PM |
Canon 5D Rebate | [email protected] | Digital Photography | 2 | October 22nd 06 01:48 AM |
Canon screwed themselves (or did they?) | RichA | Digital SLR Cameras | 22 | October 16th 06 06:00 PM |
Canon Offering $600+ Rebate on Digital Camera Equipment (3x Rebate Offers) | Mark | Digital Photography | 6 | November 4th 04 10:27 AM |