Dell to Drop Mail-in Rebates and Make Pricing More Clear

Dell has announced that it will be ending mail-in rebates on PCs they sell and making pricing more transparent in order to be more consumer friendly. According to Dell, the number of promotions for any single product will be cut by 80%.

Does this mean the end of the popularDell coupons? Dell did not elaborate exactly whether coupon codes would be cut or not, but it's a distinct possibility. Ro Parra, senior vice president of Dell's Home and Small Business Group commented that "On any given quarter, we have had 30, 40, 50 promotions on any given product, so it really became very confusing and difficult for our customers to understand and shop." Parra further went on to state that Dell was not cutting or raising prices, but rather streamlining the way customers buy by presenting the best price immediately.

Will these promotions you see on the configuration page for the e1505 dissapear soon? (view large image)

Dell did clearly state that mail-in rebates would be eliminated entirely within 18 months. This follows suit with other retailers such as Office Max and Best Buy who have both said they will be abandoning mail-in rebates. Mail in rebate reductions will begin next month on Inspiron laptops and Dimension desktops will see a reduction later in the year.Moveson promotionstrategies and changes willcome gradually instead of all at once because of the scope of the undertaking.

Dell will not end all of its promotion efforts because that's often how a company can drive sales. As for coupon codes, if you're afraid they will be gone soon with these new changes and want to use them while you can, we'll list the latest ones below!

Latest Dell Inpsiron and Dimension codes that expire 7/20 @ 7:00:00 a.m. (forever)?

Go to Dell.com and

• Use code 77XSMW7Q1C4KD4 to save $750 off any $1,999.00+ Dell Inspiron notebook. (valid 7/13/2006 7:00:00 AM - 7/20/2006 7:00:00 AM)
• Use code FS7F8LM5PV7RFK to save 30% off any $999.00+ Dell Inspiron notebook. (valid 7/13/2006 7:00:00 AM - 7/20/2006 7:00:00 AM)
• Use code MQL3HJ09C8P$04 to save 30% off any $1,499.00+ Dell Inspiron notebook. (valid 7/13/2006 7:00:00 AM - 7/20/2006 7:00:00 AM)
• Use code T7GQ1BTB6FB1BP to save 35% off any $999.00+ Dell Dimension Desktop. (valid 7/13/2006 7:00:00 AM - 7/20/2006 7:00:00 AM)

• Dell Inspiron E1705 Notebook Computer for Home(use e-value codes 6VAFF -e1705s1, 6VAFF -e1705s3, 6VAFF -e1705s4 for coupon to work)
• Dell Inspiron E1505 Notebook Computer for Home(use e-value codes 6VAFF -e1505s1, 6VAFF -e1505s2, 6VAFF -e1505s3, 6VAFF -e1505s4 for coupon to work)
• Dell Inspiron E1405 Notebook Computer for Home(use e-value codes 6VAFF -e1405s1, 6VAFF -e1405s2, 6VAFF -e1405s3, 6VAFF -e1405s4 for coupon to work)
• Dell Inspiron B130 Notebook Computer for Home(use e-value codes 6VAFF- ib130s1, 6VAFF -ib130s2, 6VAFF -ib130s3, 6VAFF -b130pv1 for coupon to work)

 

It certainly looks like I may be purchasing less and less from Dell...
I am considering dumping this notebook, looks like an HP business notebook is still my first a foremost choice.

Funny, other forums were thinking this announcement would be one about even better deals. Without coupons, I fear the prices may actually increase.

 

I believe this is more of a move to provide the discounts in the price as opposed to trying to make it look all flashy. So when you see their price, you see a low flat rate and you know exactly what you're gonna pay.

 

I'll admit it is possible, but with the current promotions and such on the Inspiron line how in the world can they make any profit? I know when I purchased my XPS M140 (630m), I was told by a Dell Rep (one I have great faith in) that they only made about $80-$100 profit (I don't remember the exact figure). That was with no coupon and after haggling on the price of a RAM upgrade RIGHT AFTER THE NOTEBOOK WAS RELEASED.

It is also more likely that this will translate into one thing (as you suggested) ==> All customers get smaller discounts as opposed to the status quo of some customers get big discounts. Good for the majority overall, but no gigantic $750 off $1999+ deals anymore.

 

Dell makes a lot of their money on bloatware. All those trials pre-installed are paid advertising.

I think that Dell will probably lower the base price a tad and then just show you the $750 off or whatever they are running, instead of you having to find the coupon code.

I don't think they will raise the price because they are already beginning to lose ground to hp, and I don't think they will just lower the prices, because that may make them look like cheap products. You have to make people feel like they are getting a deal. If you price high sell low, people think they got a steal. Dell is just going to make it more obvious and easier in my opinion by eliminating confusing coupons and mal-in rebates.

 

so you think they will keep the 750 off 2000 deal??

 

Sounds to me like Dell is trying to become more like HP. HP already presents a reasonable price to begin with and doesn't mess with the confusing coupons. It makes sense for Dell just to go ahead and present the best price right from the get go.

 

I think dell was making a lot of money by this coupon strategy. It gives people a false sense of getting a deal which really is not a deal.

I fell for it 3 years ago with the coupon/rebate combination and repented. You get what you pay for. You pay less , you get cheap product. Simple.

I will never go back to a dell

 

That sucks a lot, It was so fun using coupons to find the best buy you can, I liked doing it a lot... If it wasnt for coupons I would have paid over $1000 more for my Latitude because they almost never have deals on them

 

Actually, I think some people steered away from Dell because of this reason. They are afraid of "buyer's remorse", or the fact that there might be bigger discounts on the notebook you just bought if you haven't done your research very well.

All this hype about $100 off, $200 in free upgrades, $500 off, $1000 off coupons is done so that people have the notion that Dell has a much better value than the competitors, when in fact that they cut more corners than their competitors to maximize their profit (example -- installing the most bloatware, outsourcing tech support, etc.)

 

I had ordered an E1405 from dell 3 months ago and it listed a 250 dollar mail in rebate when I choose the laptop but it didn't list it on the final invoice. When I tried to claim it they told me there was no rebate valid. Though when I called and confronted them (even had a screenshot) they quickly changed their tuned and just did a straight up credit.

 

I will think about buying another Dell next time because ...

The quality of the Dell especially on the LCD screens has been dropping. Look at the complaints and light leakage on the Latitude D620 and M1210! Go to any forum and do a search and you will know.

 

IMO, the Inspirons are only a good deal because of the coupons. Unless Dell lowers the price on their pre-configured systems, I don't see how they can stop issuing the regular coupons that we have on here.

Besides, wasn't it last summer/fall that Dell stated they were going to stop issuing the coupons? Most of you probably weren't here to remember that, but Dell has said they would stop issuing the coupons before and it never happened.