Stupid MIR's!!! Why???

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I see it all the time, a lot on here.. what is the point in a MIR (mail in rebate)?? They usually take 4-6 weeks to receive if you're lucky and nowadays its usually a stupid rewards credit card type thing that is just a hassle to activate and deal with. I will not buy anything because of a rebate, if I do I certainly don't send out for it.

What is your opinion? Do you guys seriously send off for the $5 MIR on a gallon of oil and wait 4-6 weeks to get a card? How is this practical for a manufacturer? It HAS to cost them more than the $5 to process the return, make the card, mail it back out, etc.! Why not just give you the $5 off right there on the spot?? Why does it have to be so difficult??

Off my soapbox now....
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For a $5 rebate, unless the rebate is super easy and fast to get, I don't bother. For a larger rebate, I will.. For example, a couple years ago, when I bought my Cooper RS3-A tires from Discount Tire Direct, there was a $60 DT rebate, and a $60 Cooper rebate. I bought, submitted both, and got my rebates without any hassle. $60 is worth it. Especially twice.
 
It's simple, a certain percentage of people won't send them in. If less than 50% of the people send it in, it's cheaper to offer a $10 rebate than to just give $5 off. Plus it's easier for the retailer, they just keep the price the same instead of lowering/raising the price once the discount is over. They'd also sell more if people think it's actually $10 cheaper as opposed to $5. They're counting on that segment to not send it and and of course they like to farm it out to a 3rd party that likes to "lose" some of the rebates that come in.
 
The rebates I have pursued lately were all through a website, so I didn't have to mail anything in.
The rebates from SOPUS and XOM were paid to me by check through the mail, and they have taken anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks. I am not waiting on the money to buy my lunch or anything, so I don't care too much if it takes a while as long as the money shows up.
The one time I bought M1 AP, it came with an offer for a $10 Walmart gift card that was emailed to me after I submitted my info and a scan of the receipt. I buy most of my necessities at WM, so I printed the email out and used the card within a week to buy deodorant and whatever else. The net cost of this oil to me was $18 for a jug after the XOM rebate and WM gift card, which wasn't that much more than just buying regular M1.
Didn't get a rebate on the Valvoline I just bought, I was curious to try it but it was more expensive in the end than M1 despite a lower shelf price since the latter had a rebate.
 
Most rebates aren't handled directly by the manufacturer. That's what manufacturers and rebate processing companies bank on: that you don't submit the rebate or do so incorrectly (or claim you've done so incorrectly). Manufacturers pay the rebate processing companies a certain amount of budget for the offers - the rebate companies sometimes 'guarantees' only a certain percentage will be expected to pay out. Some other times, the rebate companies may pocket the difference if the expected level of payout was not reached. Of course, this incentivizes the rebate processing company to not pay.

I got screwed over by Antec offer handled by ACB Coop rebate processing company: they said they never received it, though I sent it out by mail and scanned them and uploaded up to google drive (which also time stamped the upload). No use, they told me to go away. The only way they would have allowed a copy to be presented would be if I sent it Certified Mail ($4-$5) with tracking for a $10 rebate. Not doing that again, nor any of ACB's rebates for other companies.

Nowadays, I would gravitate towards rebates that allow 100% online submission. I don't really care about the 2-months time it takes to receive the rebate back.
 
Submitting a rebate takes a couple minutes and at most a stamp. Depositing the check takes a couple minutes. Yeah. I submit rebates.
 
Yes, I do the rebates on stuff I'd buy anyway, because the marketers are betting that I won't, and I love "sticking it to The Man"---particularly, when "The Man" is an oil company.
 
I submit for rebates. Money is money. I turn none down.
 
I only go for mail-in rebate if its the product I was going to buy anyways. Otherwise, I truly hate mail-in rebates. Have been screwed over a couple of times for the stuff that I bought on Black Friday and since then not only I avoid those companies altogether but every mail-in rebate during certain occasions, like Black friday.

Originally Posted By: ruhroh
Most rebates aren't handled directly by the manufacturer. That's what manufacturers and rebate processing companies bank on: that you don't submit the rebate or do so incorrectly (or claim you've done so incorrectly). Manufacturers pay the rebate processing companies a certain amount of budget for the offers - the rebate companies sometimes 'guarantees' only a certain percentage will be expected to pay out. Some other times, the rebate companies may pocket the difference if the expected level of payout was not reached. Of course, this incentivizes the rebate processing company to not pay.

I got screwed over by Antec offer handled by ACB Coop rebate processing company: they said they never received it, though I sent it out by mail and scanned them and uploaded up to google drive (which also time stamped the upload). No use, they told me to go away. The only way they would have allowed a copy to be presented would be if I sent it Certified Mail ($4-$5) with tracking for a $10 rebate. Not doing that again, nor any of ACB's rebates for other companies.

Nowadays, I would gravitate towards rebates that allow 100% online submission. I don't really care about the 2-months time it takes to receive the rebate back.

I am curious how you figured out the company handling the rebate processing, from the address you sent the mail to?
 
Companies know the majority of people won't bother with the hassle of a MIR. If they actually cared about giving the customer a discount, they'd do instant rebates.

Originally Posted By: Bud
I submit for rebates. Money is money. I turn none down.

Me too. I make sure to mail them the day of the purchase so I don't forget later.
 
It is about market segmentation. A certain percentage of the market is price sensitive and will want to take advantage of rebates. A smaller percentage will actually send them in. With long life products like motor oil, it is also about stealing future demand from competitors and maximizing near term sales. Rebates can also drive multiple purchases.

Coke and Pepsi have similar strategies. They have low profit (who buy multiple 2L bottles on sale) and high profit (who buy 20oz bottles as needed) customers. It's a matter of selling to each market segment to maximize profits, while preventing bleed to a different lower profit segment.
 
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Originally Posted By: NO2
It is about market segmentation. A certain percentage of the market is price sensitive and will want to take advantage of rebates. A smaller percentage will actually send them in. With long life products like motor oil, it is also about stealing future demand from competitors and maximizing near term sales. Rebates can also drive multiple purchases.

Coke and Pepsi have similar strategies. They have low profit (who buy multiple 2L bottles on sale) and high profit (who buy 20oz bottles as needed) customers. It's a matter of selling to each market segment to maximize profits, while preventing bleed to a different lower profit segment.


Somebody I know well worked at a soft drink bottler and told me that all their profit came from cold single 20-24oz sales...2l bottles, cans, multipacks of bottles, and restaurant sales were all unprofitable. But, they felt that the cold single bottle sales could only be sustained by keeping the products available in all packages at all possible points of sale.
Restaurants LOVE us paying $2-3 for sodas there because they aren't paying very much at all for the syrup. But not as much as $8 for a beer or $12 for a glass of wine, of course...
 
I do MIR's. Especially at Menards. A few years ago I spent close to $4000 for stuff my cabin needed (dock sections, lumber, etc). I received around $500 in store credit (which was fine because I always shop there).
 
The Pennzoil rebate was super easy. I never do rebates, but their process was easy, took less than 5 minutes of my time and I received my rebate checks in a timely manor. I'd continue to do that if they offer them next year as well.
 
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