^^ Yep, deal ends on January 17 2009 links says (sometimes I speak like Yoda, yes...)

je ne parle le francais

Nice they need everything they can get maybe will see ps3>360 EU weekly sales soon

        And then ppl feel cheated, if it doesn't get done in time, because of all the paperwork & hoops they have to jump through, or when they find out it's too late to turn in. Not to mention the ppl who do get the rebate, have to put up the money, go through the reimbursement process, and wait. I'm sure, they'd much rather have the discount upfront.

        The last thing Sony needs to do is make it awkward and alienate their userbase. The longterm effect that would have on the people who missed out on the rebate would be the opposite of what a discount is suppose to have. It might be better than nothing and they might be feeling pressured to cut the price right now, but why ruin it with a mail-in deal. It's not like Sony doesn't have the money to cover it upfront and they're not exactly in a postion to do whatever.

 anyone who doesn't know how to do a rebate is a moron. It's a very common practice with electronics and things that require maintenance (Car work)... (paperwork and hoops?Like taking the UPC off the box as proof of purchase and filling out your addresss... ohhh so hard)

         1st you're saying Sony's going to save money that way and then you say only a moron wouldn't get the rebate. You really contradicted yourself, there. I'm saying any money saved, is saved by burning a bridge. Anyone who can't see the advantages of a store discount over a mail-in rebate is a moron. Trust me, I think you'll see the difference in the sales.

          I guess you think, that no body's going to mind having to pay full price and then wait to get their money back. It's not like there might be a few ppl who don't have money to let disappear for however long. I suppose you prefer a mail-in rebate over a store price cut and don't think Sony could have done any better. Maybe if they hadn't boxed themselves into a corner, they wouldn't need a price cut, at all. But whatever... Who am I, to question Sony's flawless marketing strategy? I don't really don't care and I guess you don't care how Sony manages their business, either.

The brilliance though is that a lot of people don't do it.  Yet still buy the product partially because of the rebate.

Main rebate for France. Kind of old actually.

The idea isn't to create high demand like you are making it seem. The idea is to make it seem more appealing. and the rebate will do that. and people will buy more while thinking of the rebate price.

the second idea of this is to loose less money than an official price cut.

And there was no contradiction. It's pretty obvious a 50 dollar rebate (mail in) in one country for a select period of time will lose less money than a new global price point... even if the cut was as little as 5 dollars per console (versus the 50 dollar rebate) they would still lose more.

Why would people mind? It's either pay full price for it now and get money back or pay full price later and get nothing. Rebates are nothing new and people realize they are just a special deal for a limited time and the realize if they want one then no matter what they'll have to pay full price... just if they buy one now they'll get 50 dollars back.

          1st off, how does a rebate being in 1 country or worldwide change anything? Places with a rebate get a demand increase and places without a rebate don't. 2nd, Sony is trying to increase appeal and not increase sales?!?!? I think you need to look up the word contradiction. Ppl that buy the system while the sale is going on and mail-in the rebate too late are going to mind.

           Bottom line is, you still haven't explained how, a mail-in rebate is better than store price cut for appeal. If a consumer sees 1 company doing permanent in-store price cuts, and then sees another company just doing a small temporarily mail-in rebate, you don't think that effects the way average consumers value the discount?

          I think I've explained my opinion as clearly as it needs to be explained and  most reasonable ppl are going to get it. I assume, you're either grasping at straws, trying to discredit it, or completely oblivious to the point. I really don't know much more obvious it could be. Either way, I think it's time to move along. It's evidently an old rebate that hasn't effected much of anything.