So you are looking for a new cell phone. Everywhere you look you see advertisements for free cell phones. You have physical stores that have the free cell phones available for you to inspect and you also have the online stores that usually have a larger selection of free cell phones from which to choose. The catch is that the cell phones are really not free since you have to sign a two-year service contract but that is a different story. You usually have to actually pay for the phone up front and then mail-in a rebate form. So it really is the price of the phone that you pay up front mail-in rebate = the free phone. But the rebate is not guaranteed. Once you mail in the rebate form you must hope that you are one of the lucky ones that actually receive the rebate check in the mail.
I know you are probably asking: What do you mean be saying one of the lucky ones? Well the rebates are basically the enticement that creates the illusion that the cell phone is free. It is the rebates that influence the decision to buy many of the free cell phones. But there is usually a catch to the rebates. You will see that the rebates have their own set of fine print that you...