Best Buy getting rid of mail-in rebates in Canadian stores

I have to give consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) credit on this one -- it will be completely doing away with rebates in its Canadian stores by throwing away it's mail-in rebate program.

Are you tired of the hoops that you have to jump through to get that precious rebate on items like new inkjet printers, digital cameras and even flat-panel TVs? Retail rebates are the scorn of consumers, as I wrote recently, and some retailers have sensed that and have changed rebate programs into "instant rebates" or have even done away with rebate programs completely.

Rebates allow retailers to advertise much lower prices than actual sell prices are set up just to get you in the door, but then these rebates come with so much work that most of them are never redeemed -- a fact the retailer counts on of course.

As such, customers will now see savings instantly at the time of sale in the form of "instant rebates", a practice the retailer has already had in addition to its mail-in rebate programs. If that does not score more customers who are fed up with mail-in rebates, I am not sure what will. It looks like Best Buy actually listened to customer complaints about mail-in rebates at the same time wanting instant gratification that rebate prices can give from a shopping psychology perspective. Will this run into Best Buy stores in the U.S.? You can count on it.