FREE Continental Electrics CE23831 Sandwich Maker(2-Slice) AR + S/H * Live!!! *

Quote from dpham00 : Yeah their fulfillment services needs to be revamped. My wife isn't happy to seeca mountain of boxes outside the front door. And ups ground from them isn't really any faster than usps, but whatever, it is free. Btw, my money maker blu ray player rebate was approved for the whole amount already. I really have to wonder how they are making money with these FAR deals.

UPS Ground is usually about 2 or 3 days faster than USPS in my case, but I guess it varies by area. I'm in St. Louis, MO and most of their shipments come from Naperville, IL. So, anything that makes the shipping cutoff usually arrives at my house the next business day. If it's shipped UPS SurePost, it usually takes 3 days because UPS will deliver the package to USPS and then they will sort it, and usually it doesn't make it to the postman for the next business day. Also, UPS seems to give priority pick-up to UPS Ground packages over SmartPost because a couple of times I've placed an order for an item with Econo Shipping (SmartPost) early in the morning and I got a tracking #, but UPS never picked up the item later that night, it took until the next evening to see any movement on the package.

As for TigerDirect making money on these items... they probably don't make much. They are probably just benefiting from people visiting their site and maybe buying something else down the line because they like their freebie. I mean, there is a potential for them to make a small amount (on the average), because:
1) Not everyone remembers to file their rebates on FAR items by the postmark deadline.
2) Some people choose the "No Wait" rebate option and give 10% to the rebate value to the fulfillment center (4MyRebate) which is also owned by TigerDirect's parent company, Systemax.

Also... a lot of the time, the FAR items aren't exactly "hot" items. They may be something useful... like a toaster, iron, cables, earbuds, etc... but the product might not be moving enough units, or there might be a surplus in the warehouse. In the old days (under Carl Fiorentino), TigerDirect used to be known as a very aggressive buyer (bully) with product manufacturers. They used to pressure and strongly suggest that companies provide large discounts on their merchandise in order to get priority product placement on TigerDirect.com and in their stores.

I could definitely imagine them twisting a companies leg and telling them they have too many of their products in the warehouse, and unless they offer a rebate, they are going to stop carrying them.

Also, who knows who actually funds these rebates? I've always wondered if it's solely the manufacturer or if it's some sort of rebate-sharing agreement between TigerDirect and the manufacturer. For example, they have a $20 FAR item, and the $20 rebate is funded partially by the manufacturer ($15), and partially by TigerDirect ($5). On some items, like the Playstation 3 Controller and Xbox Live Subscription Cards, I have no doubt in my mind that TigerDirect is funding 100% of the rebate because those companies never offer rebates at any other retailer on those products.

1 For TD FAR items, has someone figured out / been able to link the Amex prepaid cards received with the rebate submissons (especially if you have multiple rebates of the same amount)

2/ I believe that it is possible to convert the prepaid card into a check- just tried it and kind of lost patience after speaking to two different CSR's with the first one stating that she was unable to do it and the second one (after multiple q's as to why this was being done) wanted me to speak to a supervisor - finally gave up for the moment as I had to leave. Has anybody experienced issues with this process and are there any tips on this.

Thanks for the help

Quote from mirakidog64 : 1 For TD FAR items, has someone figured out / been able to link the Amex prepaid cards received with the rebate submissons (especially if you have multiple rebates of the same amount) 2/ I believe that it is possible to convert the prepaid card into a check- just tried it and kind of lost patience after speaking to two different CSR's with the first one stating that she was unable to do it and the second one (after multiple q's as to why this was being done) wanted me to speak to a supervisor - finally gave up for the moment as I had to leave. Has anybody experienced issues with this process and are there any tips on this. Thanks for the help

If you have a serve account, which i think most do from their free money deal this past year.

You can load the money into your account and then transfer it to your linked bank account. Or use the serve card, or just withdraw from an atm.

I read it on here one day from a fellow sder, i have already loaded a couple rebate cards into my account. But I'm waiting to transfer to bank to not cause a red flag.

Quote from mirakidog64 : 1 For TD FAR items, has someone figured out / been able to link the Amex prepaid cards received with the rebate submissons (especially if you have multiple rebates of the same amount) 2/ I believe that it is possible to convert the prepaid card into a check- just tried it and kind of lost patience after speaking to two different CSR's with the first one stating that she was unable to do it and the second one (after multiple q's as to why this was being done) wanted me to speak to a supervisor - finally gave up for the moment as I had to leave. Has anybody experienced issues with this process and are there any tips on this. Thanks for the help

There's some info about matching up rebate cards in this thread. My rep didn't get any results the one time I tried so YMMV. I wouldn't worry about identifying them unless you're missing one.

If the CSR gives you a hard time or says you can't do it, just ask them to transfer you to another rep or call back. It's not worth arguing with them if they don't know about the refund procedure.

It's also going to take a while to process the request, especially if you are doing multiple cards. Be sure you have something else to work on and a phone that won't charge you for the call. The wait for a rep probably won't be too long but their system must be terrible because it takes forever even after you give them all your information.

Quote from gr33kg0dfather : If you have a serve account, which i think most do from their free money deal this past year. You can load the money into your account and then transfer it to your linked bank account. Or use the serve card, or just withdraw from an atm. I read it on here one day from a fellow sder, i have already loaded a couple rebate cards into my account. But I'm waiting to transfer to bank to not cause a red flag.

Save that for the Visa cards where you can't request a check