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.
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.
I have envelopes and stamps at home, so probably for $5. Maybe as low as $2; definitely not for $1.
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.
$5. Seems to be a popular answer.
$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.
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.
A buck but then again I use obsolete postage I get at a 50% discount and cheap envelopes.