Local rebate wars begin. Are shipping costs too much?

[next]

A few questions here. And not trying to kill site advertisers (although I've noticed that they are not as pervasive recently)

Question:

"Who in their right mind would pay for the the DVD disc plus shipping costs when we all know that the rebate wars are right around the corner?"

Presumptive I know but I think it may be enough to incite a debate. Here in the states we are already seeing rebates arrive on the horizon that blow away any online offer. Instant rebates too. No stamp required.

Are we going to see a CDR give away rerun that is still happening?

Opinions?

edit - poorly phrased question - sorry - but I think that those who it affects may understand.

[next]

Total BS. BestBuy sucks it in the loin.

[thayne]

Rebates are crap. at best you might, I say might see the $$$ in 6-months, if ever. Rebates are a scam and you should never figure them into the price of anything. I have been waiting 3 yearson a $60 rebate from Circuit City for an APex DVD player I bought in 2000

[gmatov]

Thayne,

After 3 years, I think you can forget it!

Within 6 months you should have been jumping on somebody.

I have only been screwed on 1 rebate. It was a 50 buck, either on the ATA card I had to buy with a Max drive, to get 50 on each, or the drive itself. They sent me a card, and a contact to try to square it, and I can't remember which. I did get one of them, and when I pulled them up on my saved folder, think I may have screwed up. My copy was a copy of the copy, did not show the original UPC in my scan.

So, I was out 50 bucks after dozens of rebates.

I don't LIKE waiting for a couple hundred bucks, as I am right now, but, better than paying full price in the long run.

I very rarely buy anything in the comp stores, unless it's on sale, or has a rebate. Cheaper to wait a month, buy it at the comp show, which runs monthly, here.

[thayne]

Within 6 months you should have been jumping on somebody.

I would have, but of course I had lost my receipt. Rebates are fine if the price you buy for is good. I never assume the price after rebate is what I will pay. I always feel lucky when I do receive one LOL!

[gmatov]

Thayne,

I always staple evertyhing to a sheet of paper, UPC, reciept, form, scan, save, then mail. They screwed me the one time. The next time, I WILL have a copy, and the scan shows that it is a scan of the UPC, as it's in more or less adifferent color, as well as kinda shadowed, whatever you wanta call the shadowed edge, etc.

Hey, a 50 buck bill is better in my pocket than theirs.
One time I even tried to photocopy it after the postmaster date stamped it, but would you believe the damn copy machine wouldn't copy red ink?

I got that one anyhow.

Hey, everything in the stores is overpriced. It's why I have an annual pass to the 'puter shows. We have one every 4 or 5 weeks, locally. Boards are cheap, and up to date. Drives are not as cheap as a rebatyed one, but cheaper than the stores. RAM is much cheaper, no rebate. CPUs, you wouldn't believe. You also wouldn't believe the diff between Vendor A and Vendor B, any where from 10 to 30 %.

Ah, well, I think there is one this weekend, or next. Do not know what I am gonna buy, but will be there.

[gmatov]

Next,
I got sidetracked,somehow ( I don't know how, it just happened ).

Man oh man, shipping beats the hell out of rebates for making money. 90+% of people don't send in lower amount rebates, or forget with higher amounts.

Everybody has to pay the S&H. And, if they want 5 bucks to stick a pencil in an envelope, and you want the pencil, you are screwed..

How many of these rip-offs do you get in your spam, free software CD, just 5.95 S&H? And millions bite.

I guess this is what they mean by service industry, bend over, we'll service you..

[sterno]

I've found that shipping is a real mixed bag with mail order companies. I've seen some companies where they just give you a flat $4 fee for 3-day shipping on most orders, and only add more if you're buying something unusually heavy like a large monitor or laser printer or if you're buying something especially valuable like a high-end notebook that needs extra insurance. On the other hand, I've seen companies where the ground-delivery shipping costs start at $10 per item for small things like memory or a CD in a plain jewel case, and go up from there to $100+ for big or expensive items. Any time I see a decent price I like in a sale flier I compare with typical online prices, and I always have to check the shipping costs when I look at a place I haven't dealt with before. With cheap-but-heavy things like blank CD-Rs even ignoring the rebates the retail sale prices are usually about as good.

[Thorn]

I usually avoid local stores for computer-related stuff, but last month I got TDK DVD-R at BestBuy for $2 (on spindles). They were also reasonably priced at Target. Oddly, the discs were MORE expensive at the discount outlets on the net (even before shipping). Probably prices will get jacked up again soon, but the point is that special prices at local stores can beat online total prices so you always want to check all of your sources (hey, even pricegrabber has beaten pricewatch sometimes). You're a fool if you always go to the local store or always go to an online store without checking around.

As for rebates - I just got my $50 rebate that I've waited 8 months for. They lost it the first time, but I scan and save all of my submissions, so I just printed it out and submitted again (well, they got confused so I had to fax a copy in yet again...). After two more phone calls telling me that the check would be mailed in a few weeks, I called the company itself and they sent a check.

Just keep track of the rebates you've received - when I was a kid I called to inquire about a rebate that I had already cashed the check for

@Next: the whole point to mail-order is getting an item expensive enough that the discount is greater than the mailing price. For less expensive items, the local stores *could* sell them cheaper, but they'll mark them up if they can. Probably to just a tad cheaper than you can get them online with shipping

[LanEvo7]

Rebates are annoying and you have to hope for it to come. There are so many things that can go wrong. I generally do receive my rebates though, I have to wait a 4-6 months but its really annoying. I try to avoid rebates whenever possible. Online stores like newegg usually offer better deals anyway.

[soad]

Man, I can't stand rebates from comp usa!! After being screwed with my n64 game rebates and some cd spindle rebates from comp usa about 4-5 years ago, I've totally avoided them.

Only rebates I like are instant rebates or any rebates from Sams Club or Costco.. they actually send me a check in a couple of weeks!

Anyways, I'd still buy my dvd-r disks online until prices drop low enough for me to buy it in the stores (with no rebates).

[DeadLamb]

Only rebates I like are instant rebates or any rebates from Sams Club or Costco.. they actually send me a check in a couple of weeks!

yeah costco is really good about sending the rebates.. same for a company rebate like say right from TDK... errrrr compus rebate tend to be the best... the LAMEST for me being Bestbuy when they run media with 2 rebates.. Many times I jump past the right hoops only to get "Sorry you did not......" and one of the two mail rebates get voided..

Of course thinking of costco.. sigh.. the one by me is only stocking TDK +r and not -R AND they are selling them for the same as one can pick them up at Target for.. sigh.. blah!! I leave them hate mail in the suggestion boc every time I leave about that

I would like to see some killer rebate on TDk dvd-r disk.. they used to run good one on cd-r all the time.. ah just wait for to happen I guess..

[MOVIEGEEK]

Mail in rebates are a rip-off,I only buy hardware and media online.Internet prices are usually 10% less than retail(before rebate) and most companies offer free shipping.
www.pricewatch.com
www.pricegrabber.com