Rebate Laws: 4 Things That Every Marketer Should Know

For many retailers and manufacturers hoping to boost product sales, consumer rebates can be an effective marketing vehicle.  However, depending on the breadth of a given marketing initiative, state and federal rebate laws, rules and regulations can restrict the manner in which the rebate should be marketed and processed.  As such, before launching a consumer rebate campaign, marketers should consider at least these four points:

1)  Set reasonable timeframes. 

States laws vary on how quickly companies offering rebates ("offerors") must honor consumers' rebate requests.  In New York and North Carolina, for example, all rebates must be processed (and when applicable, mailed to consumers) within 60 days of receipt of a completed redemption form.