Rebates have become increasingly popular in the last few years on a lot of items and certainly on electronic items and computers. It is not uncommon to hear of rebates at $10, $30 or $100 .
Items are publicized as “free after rebates”. Do these rebates go under the heading of “pipe dream”? Some of them do and there are “gets” to keep an eye out for.
However, in the event that you are cautious, rebates can enable you to get some okay arrangements.
A rebate works by paying for the listed price for an item then mail in a form and the bar code to the manufacturer. They will send the buyer a refund, thus reducing the price of what was paid for the item except with a time delay of several weeks.
Rebates from reputable companies are usually just fine.
You can be pretty sure you will get the promised rebate from Best Buy, Amazon or Dell but you should probably not count on getting one from a company you’ve never heard of. If you really want the product and are OK with paying the price listed then buy it but don’t count on actually getting the refund.
Make sure that you check for rebate expiration dates.
Many times products will stay on the shelf of a retailer after the date for sending in the rebate offer has expired so check that date carefully.
Be sure you have all the forms required to file for the rebate before you leave the store.
Rebates will almost always require a form to be filled out, a receipt for the purchase and a bar code.
Back up your rebate claim.
Make copies of everything you send in to get your rebate including the bar code. Stuff gets lost in the mail all the time and if the rebate is for $50 it’s worth the trouble to back up your claim.
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