What's with phone rebates ?
Asked by
iwamoto (
5277
)
September 18th, 2009
It’s a strange thing to me, but on a lot of phone articles i read a price that’s, for example $400 after a $100 mail in rebate.
So how does that work ? you pay $500 but after you mail something in you get $100 back ? why does it have to work like that and why don’t they just sell it for $400 ?
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3 Answers
They’re hoping a lot of people forget to send in the rebate, or forget to include the UPC, or some other technicality that let’s them not pay out the extra $100.
It is a marketing ploy. Everyone wants to get a deal.
And, they know a certain percentage will not mail the rebate it, in time. I see it as a hustle.
But, it is another revenue pool for the seller.
Like renewing your phone service for another 2 years and getting a free phone. Worth ”$400.”
In addition to what the others said, it is a way for companies to price discriminate (not as bad as it sounds, coupons are another example).
Different people are willing to pay different prices for things, so a rebate might be just enough to get someone to purchase, and the people who don’t mind paying the whole price or don’t want to mess with the rebate purchase it at the greater price.
The company also benefits from having your registration information that gives them the ability to email/mail you things or at least helps them know what their target market is.
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