EDITORIAL
December 3, 2004
A rebate is promoted to the public as a payback, as a price reduction, as a means of saving
money for a very limited time on a specific product.
But is this enticement really an incentive, an inducement, or a cleverly designed temptation,
a seduction so to speak, to encourage an unsuspecting person to perform an overt behavioral
response, to buy the product now.
That tantalizing rebate: What is it?
According to Webster's dictionary, a rebate is: "To return a portion of a sum paid, as a
method of discounting of prices."
First, a rebate is a means of accumulating purchasing data-product preferences-on an individual
in a database [as opposed to instant, in-store 'rebate' or cents-off coupons which prevent this
and are not discussed here]. This data can also be used for creating a mailing list. The
mailing list can also be sold.
Some rebates are a means for merchants, who has already received a price reduction on the
product in question, to run their business on the float between the time of purchase and when
the purchaser actually mails in the rebate or files it electronically via the Internet and it
is processed by the merchant or their representative.
If the rebates does not meet the rules, is not mailed or filed electronically, or is 'lost'
somewhere in the process, then that is just extra profit for the merchant.
A potential automobile buyer better be extremely informed and prepared when dealing with an
automobile dealer and rebates or they may not receive all of a rebate being offered by
automobile manufacture or any of the rebate if the buyer does not bring it up during price
negotiation [This is a fact that occurred in the past month with a Tampa Bay dealer. Or the
dealer may attempt to hide the rebate, or part of it, in with the trade-in amount for the
buyer's current vehicle thereby falsely inflating the trade-in amount].
Some rebate issuers would argue a rebate is a means of bringing attention to a product, and,
potentially, increase the product's sales. Or rebates may be offered to clear remaining stocks
of a product being phased out.
Rebates are an unnecessary pain, expense, and burden for the purchaser.
The burden is placed on the purchaser to meet all of the rebate rules precisely
[understandable, if you agree with the concept of rebates].
The purchaser usually has to pay sales tax on the amount to be rebated when the product is
purchased. Then there is the time and the expense incurred in making copies of all rebate
documents, mailing the documents, and tracking the rebate which could be two, three, four
months or more, or it could be that the rebate is never received by the purchaser. If this
occurs, then additional time and expense are incurred in the follow-up.
It is time for the public to reject rebates, whether mail-in (snail mail) or filed
electronically via the Internet.
It is time to tell the merchant to stop rebates, just give me the deal up front and let me pay
cash and maintain my anonymity, or I'm NOT going to buy the product.
