In article ,
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

"Stephen Bigelow" wrote in message
I learned my lesson with CompUSA -- lots of crap free after rebate, so I
bought a bunch, even though I didn't have a real need. Spent $150, got
maybe $30 back, and had $120 worth of crap that I couldn't even dump on

You made a bad business decision. You got your rebate, you got your free
stuff, you got exactly what the seller intended. You have no complaint
against the manufacturer or the seller. What you did not get was the
opportunity to make a quick buck. Can't blame the rebate program for that.

No, the intent wasn't to dump on eBay, the intent was to truly get them
"free after rebate". The thought of dumping on eBay came after I
realized I got screwed by the rebate company (and hence CompUSA for
choosing the rebate company) and the thought of recouping some of my costs.
This was close to 10 years ago now, but even back
then, I truly didn't need 150 blank 3.5" floppies for $50. $50 minus a
$50 mail-in rebate sounded like a deal. Turns out the 25 pack for $5
would've been a better deal, seeing as how I never received my $50
rebate. At that point in my life, I was making 1/10th of what I make
now, and losing that $120 hit hard. (Anybody need any floppies? Still
got two boxes of 50, unopened.

Ya missed my point, though, in that rebates just tend to leave a bad
taste in my mouth. I'll still buy something with a rebate, but the
value of the rebate doesn't in any way factor into whether or not I'll
buy the product. Caveat: if the rebate is greater than about 25% of the
cost, I'll shy away.

Bringing this back to the topic, the 10% rebate on the TS Aligner
wouldn't make me run out and get one. If I had been planning on buying
one sometime, it might make me go out and get one during the rebate
period. Having been a lurker here since 1996, I was always under the
impression that if I really wanted one, I could buy directly from Ed.

Knowing that I could now convince a dealer to sell me one, honestly, I'd
still try to buy directly from Ed first, rebate or not.

lurk mode on

--
Regards,
-Steve in Banks, OR
http://woodworking.bigelowsite.com