# What is the minimum $ rebate worth your time mailing in? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-rebate-worth-your-time-mailing-in/819618 "2018-08-14T21:17:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-rebate-worth-your-time-mailing-in/819618/21 "2018-08-16T07:44:20Z")
I don’t remember the last time I filled out a rebate form but I’m going to say $5 is enough for the effort and stamp unless they want my email address or cell phone number. Email will cost them at least $25 and cell phone (unless I can lie about it) would probably be $75 or so. Generally though, I buy generic products that don’t offer rebates. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-rebate-worth-your-time-mailing-in/819618/22 "2018-08-16T08:11:34Z")
Here in Aus, rebates for purchases are almost entirely limited to ‘big ticket’ items so rarely under $50-$100, and often much more. But I’ve heard anecdotally that they can be a royal PITA to claim back. So for me, it would need to be at least $100. Anything under that would not be worth the time and effort I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-rebate-worth-your-time-mailing-in/819618/23 "2018-08-16T16:25:57Z")
I have envelopes and stamps at home, so probably for $5. Maybe as low as $2; definitely not for $1. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-rebate-worth-your-time-mailing-in/819618/24 "2018-08-16T18:13:56Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > You think $ 100 are worth leaving your seat and search for an envelope? And write the adress on it? Put a stamp on it? And then you need to mail it, right? > > Well, maybe you’re right. But I guess all this can be be done later, tomorrow maybe? Especially since you’re dealing with an emergency : someone is wrong on the internet. Are you coyly attempting to suggest that I should consider lesser amounts worthy of my time? How lesser? Should I be nickle-and-diming the calculation of how much my stamps, envelope, and time cost? Because I gotta tell you, I considered myself to have achieved personal financial success when I _didn’t_ have to think about the cost of anything cheaper than fifty dollars. The stamps are nothing to me, the envelope is nothing to me - but for smaller rebates, the _rebate_ is nothing to me. My time is _not_ nothing to me, though - so it takes more than ‘nothing’ to make me jump. (There have been times I almost didn’t bother \*cashing checks \*because the amount didn’t merit the trip to the bank.) On an entirely separate subject, I join **kaylasdad99** in not considering rebates to be a factor in assessing the price of something - if it’s not worth buying without the rebate, it’s not worth buying with one. This goes for first-X-months promotions as well - I don’t care how cheap the first six months cost, its the rest of them that matter. Oh, and I also agree with **kambuckta** ’s sentiment that rebates are, generally speaking, a scam. The whole point of a rebate is that many people won’t claim it, allowing the seller to keep the entire profit. The larger the rebate, the less they’ll want to pay it, so if I did find myself with the option of applying for a $100 rebate, I would have _every_ expectation that they would find some way to avoid paying and my application would come to naught. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-rebate-worth-your-time-mailing-in/819618/25 "2018-08-16T19:53:48Z")
$5. Seems to be a popular answer. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-rebate-worth-your-time-mailing-in/819618/26 "2018-08-16T23:23:27Z")
$20 I’m sure to mail in. It probably takes me less than 10 minutes to find stamps, an envelope, and fill things out. $10 is a maybe. Depends on how busy I am. I’m unlikely to bother with $5. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-rebate-worth-your-time-mailing-in/819618/27 "2018-08-16T23:43:04Z")
It does seem like the popularity of rebates has declined, I assume it follows the decline of big box computer and electronic retailers. Perhaps a few aggressive state attorney generals as well. In the late 1990s though the mid 2000s, it seems like there was always a rebate if you were buying any computer, printer, scanner, TV, or DVD player. They even had small rebates for buying a keyboard, speakers, and mice. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-rebate-worth-your-time-mailing-in/819618/28 "2018-08-17T03:50:18Z")
A buck but then again I use obsolete postage I get at a 50% discount and cheap envelopes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-minimum-rebate-worth-your-time-mailing-in/819618.md?page=1)