Uses
Rebates are heavily used for advertised sales in retail stores in the United States. However, Best Buy, in April 2005, announced that they would be eliminating all mail-in-rebates. Personal computer components and electronics seem to have a large portion of rebate sales. For example, an item might be advertised as "$39 " with the item costing $79 OTD (out-the-door) with a $40 rebate that the customer would need to redeem. The turnaround time is generally four to eight weeks, though some rebates note a period of eight to twelve weeks.
In the UK rebates are less common, with manufacturers and retailers preferring to give discounts at the point of sale rather than requiring mail-in or coupons. However rebates are sometimes given in the form of "cashback offers" for mobile phone contracts or other high value retail items sold alongside a credit agreement.
Read more about this topic: Rebate (marketing)