I don't think this is the end of rebates per se, or if it is, expect fewer savings opportunities. Either something like the Staples model (as someone else already suggested) becomes the new standard, or Best Buy simply has fewer sales.

It may provide fodder for the minds of the anti-corporatists, but simply put, the retail companies (and sometimes, the manufacturers) can afford to put out so many rebates precisely BECAUSE not everyone remembers to redeem them. Long-term that's actually good for us who remember to do so; drop the rebate model entirely, and there will be fewer sales, or else the sale prices won't be as good as the rebates were. Instant savings, yes, but probably less of it.

That said, I buy 80% of my hardware online or second-hand, and of a dozen or so rebates filed in the past few years, only one was rejected -- and that was my fault, I had sent it in hopefully in spite of stupidly tossing the box into the dorm dumpster a week prior to remembering that I needed to clip the UPC. Kiss $30 goodbye on a $120 Voodoo Banshee purchase...but at least it was a worthy improvement over my previous VoodooGraphics + S3Trio.

Technically rebates are against the law (Sherman Antitrust Act) so I don't see why companies give them out in the first place. They merely separate you from your money allowing a bunch of business men to collect interest on it for a few months only to send back a letter stating that you didn't properly fill out the form and therfore are not entitled to maintain ownership of your capital. If these companies really wanted you to save money they would charge you the advertised price at check out.

No "Mail-In" Rebates.

They'll probably copy Staples. There is a code on your receipt, you go to the website, type in the code and your mailing info and then they send you your check. No clip and send, no saying that your UPC and all that crap got lost in the mail.

I almost never buy things at full prices in major chain stores, and proud. I use them for emergencies and big sales...nothing...else...really. Online for everything mostly.

Here! Here!

After about 25 rebates in 3 years, I finally get one that was crookedly rejected. I sent a KByte rebate in on time. Product codes and items matched everything in rebate coupon. It was all correct. Then 5 days after the rebate coupon expires, I recieved a postcard saying the rebate will not be honored with no explaination to why. Sent emails and phone calls and nobody returned my response. Never bought a rebate item from them since!

Why can't they just give us the price like an instant rebate?

Anyone else think that we won't get any kickback? Since when has bb been rebate friendly? We are all considered "Devils" after all for taking advantage of the rebates. They have openly said they don’t like people who go through the hassle of rebates, not because it’s a hassle for the consumer but because it costs BB money.

Let me put on my tinfoil hat for a second. This is nothing more than a way to play favorites. When you go into BB and you try to check out they are going to see if you have a past history in the store and give you a rating based on how many deals you have purchased (remember “deals” being something they have on sale). If you have aggressively purchased “deals” in the past you aren’t allowed to participate in the rebate program.

Retail is only for Emergency

Still waiting 5.5 years later for a rebate on an Evergreen K6-2 CPU upgrade I bought for a socket 7 mobo that didn't otherwise support K6-2's. BB still has my $75. boo!

a friend buys products for me in boston (I'm in .AU)

he's bought at least....... 15 or 20 items in the past 4 years and NEVER had a problem with any rebates...

i for one think they are fantastic things - frustrating it's not that low already but fantastic n0one the less

The only thing retail stores are good for is looking at an item and then purchasing it online.

If you're dumb enough to buy a laptop at BB with their crappy selection of overpriced junk, and then be pressured into a product *disservice* plan you deserve to get ripped off.

I've had pretty good luck with Rebates during the christmas shopping season. Circuit cities rebates came back in 6 weeks. Motorola took 8 weeks. Creative came back in about 6 weeks as well. I only got skunked on Belkin rebates through J&R. It was only $20 but I'll never buy or shop from them again.

about ~1.5 years ago I had an incredible rebate from Dell. it was a 19" flat panel and a i865 Dimension system for $700 with a $300 rebate. It was a steal at the time, the FP was good quality. The rebate required that I return the packing slip from the shipment along with a printed rebate form that I fill out. When the system arrived the packing slip wasn't in the pouch. It was ripped open and nothing there. Our receiving people never remove the packing slip and they said they hadn't for this order either. Called Dell and they refused to help me out. That was the last rebate I ever did.

Rebates are stinking horrible.

In the UK, bank transfers from account to account take "up to five days" and it's the same theiving high-interest scam that rebate companies use. It always takes all 5 days to clear, even if it's wired electronically and between two bank branches of the same company.

These arrogant b*stards sicken me, but somehow it's legal.

Only rebate I EVER did, was for that free Soyo P4 mobo on newegg.com.

And the money did get here....months later.

I like the rebates. I was able to get a 1GB USB key for about $75 CDN just after Christmas (It was about $120 without the rebate). The rebates work out best when I need to buy some tech for my company, and get to claim the original receipt for the tax expenses, and collect the rebate on the sly...

I don't want them to go away. I've never had a problem collecting the $$.

man that sucks

black friday won't be anything like it was last year.. i got over $1,000 back in rebates overall.. from like 4 different stores.. haha..

the scariest rebate i ever did was a $200 back on a benq projector, but after almost 8 months of going back and forth with the company i got my money :)

Best Buy and no rebates? haha, late april fools right?

There was an article in the Wall St. Jounal about this two or so months ago and it was in the context of a larger strategy for best buy to unload its less profitable customers

This is like how Blockbuster has ended "late fees" right?

The only reason I buy that cr@p at Worst Buy is just because of the rebate. No reason to shop at their stores anymore...Unless the mail in rebate becomes an instore instant rebate.

I don't know I've got good deals because of rebates before. My favorite was at Best Buy when I last bought a video card. They had a $100 mail-in rebate and the week after the rebate ended they dropped the price by $100. So I bought it when the MIR was good and price matched it the next week and thus got both the rebate and the price reduction. Of course on a seperate occasion I've been denied for a rebate for not including a rebate form, completely ignoring the fact that they still managed to get my email address, postal address, etc. to contact me and tell me I hadn't included a rebate form.

I will be sad if they stop doing rebates. I've gotten some great deals on lots of techy stuff thanks to rebates. A 7200 RPM 80 GB WD hard drive for $20, a Belkin 802.11g router and PC Card bundle for $20, lots of free CD-Rs and cheap DVD-Rs, a top-of-the-line LiteOn CD-RW for $15 (when CD-RWs were still going for $70-80 online), a free 2-port KVM switch, etc.

If you can actually follow the rebate directions, you can get great deals on this stuff.

i've received every single rebate i've sent.. and i've done about $250 dollars worth..

I got $108 from BestBuy for buying a GF6800NU/Half Life 2 bundle.. and i got an additional 10% off for buying a card + game, as well as pricematching the game a week later... total came out to $235.

you just have to read the fine print, sign up for the email notification (if available), and make copies of EVERYTHING.

Its a hassle but I've saved over $250..

I've saved LOTs of money thru rebates. 120GB WD hard drive for $40 after rebate? Audigy 2 ZS Gamer pack for $50! eMachines A64 notebook for $250 off. RAM for $20 cheaper than Newegg. Huge deals thru reward zone.

I have no problem with rebates other than the delay, and I am perfectly happy being patient and filling out a form for a huge rebate. If they want to play with my money for a couple of months, fine. I can understand they are making it back due to interest. But, so what? I still get it back.

Granted sometimes they get lost. I'm not sure if it's happened to me, cuz I keep pretty good track, but probably. Just be sure you fill it out exactly like they tell you to. Some rebates even have email confirmation and websites where you can check status.

Prices will have to go up somewhat. With rebates, they use your money for two or three months then give it back to you. Without rebates, they lose the profit from that system. So prices will go up to cover that loss. Not to mention the "free money" they get from people who just don't want to be bothered with the whole rebate process.

I never cared for rebates. Just gimme the damm product at x price with no hassles.

Thank goodness - I just got ripped off on a Samsung monitor. Got a $80 rebate on it, but there was another $70 rebate that was 2 days past postmark. They obviously got all the information - it's not like they didn't have time to process it.... just using every loophole to exclude us from getting our money. I called and the customer server person (singular, they only have one manning their 1-800 number) basically said the same thing over and over, "Your postmark is over, we cannot do anything." No matter what I said, that's what she replied with.

Costco is the only company to do rebates right - you can do it all online, no sending in crap, and you get the money quickly.

Die wheresmyrebate.com Die!

but does it mean that the prices for goods @ BB will now be the 'full' price or will they be the after-rebate prices?

Thanks for posting this. Just remembered a rebate from Best Buy (for Taxcut software) has to go out by Monday or it will be invalid.