Selling electronics and computer accessories is a cut throat business with razor thin profit margins.  Many merchants and manufacturers have devised a way to give their consumers an incentive to buy their product, it is called the rebate.  Rebates are just like coupons except, in order to redeem your coupon, you must first buy the product, send in a rebate form to the manufacturer and wait for your rebate savings back in the mail.

For many people, waiting several weeks or a couple of months for a $50 rebate check in the mail is well worth it, for others it is too long a time and involves too much risk to purchase a product with a rebate. While for the most part the vast majority of people have no problems with their rebates, they redeem their rebate to the manufacturer and several weeks later they receive their check.  However there are instances where either a rebate was sent without the necessary information, a rebate was lost in the mail, or the rebate manufacturer has incorrectly processed a rebate, leaving the consumer without the rebate money and little recourse.

One of the ways to increase the likelihood that you will receive your rebate is to do business with reputable sellers such as big name electronic stores and office supply stores.  Many of these big name stores take care of the rebates personally so that you can have recourse if your rebate does not go through.