When is a Rebate not a Rebate? When it is a Gift Card

As reported in thisĀ story, and increasing trend is to give consumers gift cards instead of rebate checks for mail-in rebates. The retailer wins twice because (a) only about 40% of mail-in rebates are ever mailed in, and (b) most people don’t use up the full value of their gift cards; normally 10% of the value on gift cards is left on the table.