Just reduce the price, dammit! I HATE REBATES!

This rant pertains mostly to commerce at it is done in the U.S. Elsewhere, the relevance and reasoning may vary.

Reasons why I hate rebates:

1. You're never 100% sure that you'll actually get it. Between documents lost in the mail going to the processing center, checks lost or stolen in the mail coming back, processing errors, claims lost at the processing center, and checks misplaced or mistaken for junk mail (see item 6 below), the chances are good that a significant percentages of the rebates you request will never make it back into your pocket. No matter where the loss occurs, you usually can't get the rebate replaced; it's just gone for good. Businesses Benefit From This; It's Good For Profits, Even Though It's Bad For YOU.

2. It requires extra time on the part of the buyer, and particularly if the purchase is made at a time of urgent need, there's a good chance that events (including merely being distracted at the wrong moment) will cause the window of opportunity to close, or something required for the rebate claim to be thrown away by mistake, before the rebate gets sent off. In many cases, even if you keep everything (receipt, proof of purchase, etc.), by the time you find the paperwork and realize what it is, the perhaps-as-short-as-5-day period to file for the rebate is over. (Yes, I have seen periods for filing which were that short, or shorter.) Businesses Benefit From This; It's Good For Profits, Even Though It's Bad For YOU.

3. You have to pay sales tax on a larger amount than you would if they just discounted the item. If what you want has an $80 rebate, for instance, you're paying sales tax on the $80, and you won't get that back. If the price were simply discounted by that amount, you'd save the extra sales tax; where I live, on $80, that's another $6.60 out of my pocket. Businesses get to keep a trivial fraction of the sales tax they collect, usually a fraction of a percent, but it adds up, so once again, Businesses Benefit From This; It's Good For Profits, Even Though It's Bad For YOU.

4. You're getting no interest on this loan...and that's effectively what it is. They're asking you to hand over the money now and maybe get it back later; essentially, to loan *someone* that money, interest-free, with significant risk and no guarantee, for as much as 180 days. (That's the longest delay I've seen; your mileage may vary, but 90 days is pretty typical.) Businesses Benefit From This; It's Good For Profits, Even Though It's Bad For YOU.

5. If the rebate demands that you have to deface the packaging and/or send back the original sales receipt as part of the terms of the extortion, you may be surrendering your right to return the defaced item and/or to collect on the receipt-required warranty in the process. Although some states protect the consumer's rights to some extent in this area, not all do, and some manufacturers and businesses will try to avoid honoring warranties using any pretext at all, legal or not; wherever the rebate process creates such a problem, it's yet another instance in which Businesses Benefit From This; It's Good For Profits, Even Though It's Bad For YOU.

6. When it arrives in the mail, the typical rebate check looks more like a scammish promotion come-on for a timeshare sales track than something with a valid depositable value. As a result, it's likely to get tossed in the trash unopened. While making it nondescript reduces the likelihood of its being stolen, making it look like unwanted junk mail takes extra effort, and the only reason I can see to do this is that they understand that it will increase the number of checks thrown away unopened in error. Once again, Businesses Benefit From This; It's Good For Profits, And IT DOESN'T MATTER TO THEM ONE BIT THAT IT'S BAD FOR YOU.

I really, really HATE rebates.