One reason rebates are necessary is when a manufacturer offers a rebate for items rather than the dealer or reseller. For example, Maxtor wants to reduce the price of some of its drives to move its inventory so it offers a 30$ rebate. You go to Office Depot to purchase this drive. OD cannot give you the 30$ at the register because their cost for the drive has not changed, they still paid a certain amount for it. Therefore you must mail in a form along with proof of puchase to the manufacturer who then gives you the appropriate amount back. Accounting practices would be even worse than they seem now if this type of shifting around of money took place.
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One reason rebates are necessary is when a manufacturer offers a rebate for items rather than the dealer or reseller. For example, Maxtor wants to reduce the price of some of its drives to move its inventory so it offers a 30$ rebate. You go to Office Depot to purchase this drive. OD cannot give you the 30$ at the register because their cost for the drive has not changed, they still paid a certain amount for it. Therefore you must mail in a form along with proof of puchase to the manufacturer who then gives you the appropriate amount back. Accounting practices would be even worse than they seem now if this type of shifting around of money took place.