PDA

View Full Version : Re: Why Rebates?


Bob Cain
June 30th 03, 10:20 PM
Mike Rivers wrote:
>
>
> If you buy something on line from Staples (and probably other similar
> places) that has a rebate, there's a link to click on that will fill
> out the rebate form for you and file it on line, so it's totally
> painless.

Or from Costco you go to costco.com and enter the info from
the receipt you get at checkout. Not quite as painless but
sure beats the mail.


Bob
--

"Things should be described as simply as possible, but no
simpler."

A. Einstein

Mike Rivers
July 1st 03, 02:13 AM
In article > writes:

> Or from Costco you go to costco.com and enter the info from
> the receipt you get at checkout. Not quite as painless but
> sure beats the mail.

Today I tried the Staples on-line rebate web page and it isn't (at
least for the Maxtor disk drive I bought) and it still wasn't
painless. It fills out the form for you, but if you bought at a store
(which I did) you still have to mail in a copy of the sales receipt
and UPC label to prove that you actually bought (and didn't return)
the item. About the only benefit (other than to type on the computer
rather than fill in the form by hand) is that you get a tracking
number so you can track the progress of your rebate. And they e-mail
you when they receive your paperwork.

If you buy on-line line from Staples, however, they know you bought it
and they know (when) they shipped it to you, so in that case, you can
process the rebate totally on line.




--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )

July 1st 03, 02:47 AM
(Mike Rivers) wrote:

|It really annoys me that I can buy a disk drive for $40, but I have to
|spend $70 to do it, and wait a month for the $30 rebate to come back.

And you pay sales tax on the $70! Doesn't seem quite right to me.

Phil

NJD
July 1st 03, 04:06 AM
In article >,
says...
> (Mike Rivers) wrote:
>
> |It really annoys me that I can buy a disk drive for $40, but I have to
> |spend $70 to do it, and wait a month for the $30 rebate to come back.
>
> And you pay sales tax on the $70! Doesn't seem quite right to me.

Thank you!

No, as you suggest, it isn't quite right. It is UNETHICAL and all
companies that do it are exactly that.

--
Nick
http://www.cultv.com Fine arts & more
http://www.ironia.net My last band

Tracy Johnson
July 1st 03, 10:47 AM
NJD > wrote in message >...
> In article <znr1056915714k@trad>, says...
> >
> > OK, so they get your name and address. Anything other reason?
> >
> > It really annoys me <snip>
>
> Yeah me too. I absolutely hate rebates because I always forget to send
> them in.

I guess I would have to say that I hate the "idea" of 'em; so much in
fact, that I have never bought anything that offered a rebate. Give me
a straight up honest discount, no discount at all if I deem the
price/prod good or I'll simply look for another deal... I don't do
rebates...

Mike Rivers
July 1st 03, 02:16 PM
In article > writes:

> I guess I would have to say that I hate the "idea" of 'em; so much in
> fact, that I have never bought anything that offered a rebate. Give me
> a straight up honest discount, no discount at all if I deem the
> price/prod good or I'll simply look for another deal... I don't do
> rebates...

Unfortunately, some rebates are just too good to pass up if it's on
something that I need. How else are you going to get a brand new
30 GB disk drive for $30 (a recent Maxtor rebate)? The lost interest
on $30 for a month or two (about a nickel) isn't significant to me. If
I needed the $30 to buy food, that would be different, but I don't.

I often ignore the $1 rebate on a $4.50 bag of Cowboy charcoal, though
I've started saving receipts and coupons, and when I can put four (the
maximum number of rebates to a single addres) in one envelope, I'll
take the $3.50 (after postage and envelope) and buy myself a cup of
coffee.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )

July 1st 03, 05:17 PM
NJD > wrote:

|No, as you suggest, it isn't quite right. It is UNETHICAL and all
|companies that do it are exactly that.

How about the $3500 rebate on some new cars! The tax is figured
before the rebate. I have always assumed that it was state law, not
the unethical behavior of the seller (as if states could not be
unethical).

Phil

NeilH011
July 2nd 03, 01:13 AM
>How about the $3500 rebate on some new cars! The tax is figured
>before the rebate.

Not if you have them apply the rebate to your trade-in value... in the case of
any trade-in you only pay tax on the difference between the trade-in and the
final selling price of the new car (the reason being: you've already paid the
sales tax on your trade-in when you orginally bought it).

Unless your state is weird in that regard.

Neil

Sean S
July 2nd 03, 04:10 AM
(NeilH011) laid this on me:

> Path:
> news5.aus1.giganews.com!firehose2!nntp4!intern1.nn tp.aus1.giganews.c
> om!border1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.co m!feed2.news.rcn.n
> et!rcn!news.maxwell.syr.edu!xmission!hammer.uorego n.edu!arclight.uor
> egon.edu!wn13feed!wn12feed!worldnet.att.net!207.11 5.63.142!prodigy.c
> om!newsmst01.news.prodigy.com!prodigy.com!postmast er.news.prodigy.co
> m!newssvr23.news.prodigy.com.POSTED!2f737d3b!not-for-mail From:
> "IS" > Newsgroups: rec.audio.pro
> Subject: Mixer - mic preamp
> Lines: 19
> X-Priority: 3
> X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
> X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158
> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165
> Message-ID: >
> NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.61.107.146
> X-Complaints-To:
> X-Trace: newssvr23.news.prodigy.com 1057101900 ST000 216.61.107.146
> (Tue, 01 Jul 2003 19:25:00 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003
> 19:25:00 EDT Organization: Prodigy Internet http://www.prodigy.com
> X-UserInfo1:
> T[O[RYWGVZUIB\]XKBCBNWX@RJ_XPDLMN@GZ_GYO^BVNDQUBLNTC@AWZWDXZXQ[K\FFS
> KCVM@F_N_DOBWVWG__LG@VVOIPLIGX\\BU_B@\P\PFX\B[APHTWAHDCKJF^NHD[YJAZM
> CY_CWG[SX\Y]^KC\HSZRWSWKGAY_PC[BQ[BXAS\F\\@DMTLFZFUE@\VL Date: Tue,
> 01 Jul 2003 23:25:00 GMT Xref: intern1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com
> rec.audio.pro:952468
>
> Another beginner question from me:
>
> Is it possible to get a Mixer with a built in Mic Preamp that has a
> phantom power?
> So that I don't have to get a mixer and a mic preamp.
>
> Do I even need a mixer when I'm always going to be alone?
> I'm just recording my self playing a classical guitar.
>
> I have been recording directly into my computer so far, just having
> fun with the mic that came with the computer.
>
> Should I not be recording into my computer if I want good results?
>
> Thanks.
>
> IS

hmmm, my newsreader seems to have gotten possessed and didn't
finish the last thought. I just wanted to point out that the best
solution for you is the one you feel comfortable with. If you like
having the features of a mixer, or like the sound of Mackie/whatever
brand preamps, get a mixer. If stand alone preamps sound like a better
bet to you, get a stand alone mic pre. Don't know what you want? Try
one. If you like it, keep it. If not, sell it and change. It's not
crucial at this point to get too persnickity. Just get something
that you feel comfortable with and start playing around. You'll
eventually develop tastes/preferences/etc, and then you may decide "I
want this or that". But for now, just get the basics and record.
Recording to a computer is fine. If you do it for a while and
decide you like tape better, or want to get a better digital
setup, great, but just start with what you have, record for a while,
then make those decisions. You can learn a lot and make perfectly
satisfying recordings on your home computer. (I want to point out that
I didn't say "professional, sounds like it was done in a big studio"
recordings...but that doesn't mean not satisfying) Just get your pre,
maybe pick up a mic if you can swing it, and start recording. Try
different mic angles. Different gain settings/mic distances/etc.
Different mics. Reading can be helpful, but do a Dejanews search on
this group for "fletcher learn engineering face". Pretty much sums it
up.
Good luck.

Sean

Kendall
July 2nd 03, 05:50 AM
> hmmm, my newsreader seems to have gotten possessed

I'll say, since this post showed up in a completely different thread than
the one you are replying to.....

Kendall

Willie K.Yee, M.D.
July 2nd 03, 05:47 PM
On 30 Jun 2003 21:13:33 -0400, (Mike Rivers)
wrote:

>Today I tried the Staples on-line rebate web page and it isn't (at
>least for the Maxtor disk drive I bought) and it still wasn't
>painless. It fills out the form for you, but if you bought at a store
>(which I did) you still have to mail in a copy of the sales receipt
>and UPC label to prove that you actually bought (and didn't return)
>the item.

Which means in some cases, that if you send in the rebate, you can no
longer use the #ty day return policy, which requires you to return the
item with all the packaging intact.

Or if you wait that long, the chances that you'll forget or screw up
the application process increase.

Willie K. Yee, M.D. http://www.bestweb.net/~wkyee
Developer of Problem Knowledge Couplers for Psychiatry http://www.pkc.com
Webmaster and Guitarist for the Big Blue Big Band http://www.bigbluebigband.org

Willie K.Yee, M.D.
July 2nd 03, 05:49 PM
On Tue, 01 Jul 2003 16:17:24 GMT, wrote:

>How about the $3500 rebate on some new cars! The tax is figured
>before the rebate. I have always assumed that it was state law, not
>the unethical behavior of the seller (as if states could not be
>unethical).

AND THEN, you have to pay income tax on the rebate.

Gotcha.

Willie K. Yee, M.D. http://www.bestweb.net/~wkyee
Developer of Problem Knowledge Couplers for Psychiatry http://www.pkc.com
Webmaster and Guitarist for the Big Blue Big Band http://www.bigbluebigband.org

Mike Rivers
July 2nd 03, 11:30 PM
In article > wkyeeATbestwebDOTnet writes:

> Which means in some cases, that if you send in the rebate, you can no
> longer use the #ty day return policy, which requires you to return the
> item with all the packaging intact.

If it's something I think I might want to return, I'll hold off on
sending in the rebate paperwork. I don't usually need 30 days to
decide, though. Either it does it or it doesn't, and usually I'll
return it the next day. (just like the three different laptop bags
over the last couple of weeks, but no rebates on those)

> Or if you wait that long, the chances that you'll forget or screw up
> the application process increase.

That's what they're counting on, I suppose. But I think they make a
genuine effort to give the rebate. Once I sent a copy of the sales
receipt instead of the original, and kept the original in my files.
That's usually OK, but for some reason, this one wanted the original.
They sent me a letter asking for the original, which I sent after
making a copy for my file, and I got the check about a week later. I
don't even remember what it was or for how much, but given that it
cost another stamp and envelope plus going out to make a copy (you
guys who work in offices where there's a copying machine got it made)
either it was really worth while or just a matter of principle.




--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )