There are a lot of rebate offers out there to lure all you holiday shoppers. Here are some tips and information to avoid becoming a rebate offer horror story:
- The discount after the rebate offer doesn’t reflect the demand for the product. Most of the time, rebates are offered on new items as soon as it is available to retailers. It’s simply a pricing strategy to increase sales. In other words, rebates don’t always equal a good deal.
- Discount retailers like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and even Amazon rarely offer rebates, but their prices are competitive. So, shop around first; you might find the same low price without the hassles of rebate forms and submissions.
- The reality of procrastination. The later you mail out and submit your rebate forms, the less and less likely you will get around to doing it. This increases the likelihood that you will lose money on rebates. And we all know we procrastinate!
- Now that rebates come in prepaid cards with VISA, MasterCard, or AMEX on them, it gets more complicated. These prepaid cards don’t provide the same protections as a credit or debit card. The entire value of a rebate card could be lost unless a stolen card is reported to the issuer in as little as 24 hours.
- Not all rebate cards can be cashed or deposited, it depends on the options that come with the card.
- Just like gift cards, there is the chance you could put it away and forget about it or not use the entire value.
So, the next time you see a too-good-to-be-true rebate offer, think twice... or more!