10% off electronics at borders coupon - good for sony reader?

[LiquidHAL]

I found this coupon while looking at techbargains.

http://www.visitborders.com/index.php?c=A

it's 30% off most items, 10% off on electronics if you read the fine print. For a considerable purchase like the reader, that's a nice chunk of change. Does anyone know if this is valid for the reader? Sometimes they make exclusions that aren't obvious, though i don't see why it wouldn't from the fine print.

[NatCh]

A number of folks have used one such coupon for the Reader -- have fun!

[WilliamG]

Yep, it works indeed.

[evil_bunny]

Thank you for reading the boilerplate. (Fine print). Please do not abuse this coupon. But yes, if you buy a Sony Reader, a coupon can be used to decrease the price.

Do not forget to buy your cradle, covers, and cards at Borders!

[William Moates]

So, evil_bunny, you're saying the coupon is legit? (You may have noticed another thread earlier where we discussed it.) A lot of us were concerned we might be foisting fake coupons on unsuspecting Borders cashiers.

[anotherchance]

I'm a member of the Borders Rewards scheme and I get coupons by email and with my receipts all the time. Definitely worth joining. Buy something smaller first (like a DVD collection) and you'll probably get a coupon for using the next week, plus you get Rewards for every dollar you spend. I should get a good few reward points when I eventually buy the Reader. It paid out $18 for me this week for Holiday Savings, so its worth doing. And its a free scheme, unlike B&N.

[scotty1024]

I got a 20% coupon off on a single item the next week with my register tape, and it worked on a Sony Reader.

Today I got an email offering me a personal shopping day good for 10% off anything all day long on the day I pick, before Dec 31.

And they give 5% back for every dollar you spend with their loyalty card.

Plus I used my Visa card that gives points, and a free 2 year extension on the warranty!

I need to use my HP48GX to calculate how much I saved.

How they stay in business I just don't understand...

[evil_bunny]

(1) I do take offense at the word 'scheme' it's not a scheme, it's a customer loyalty program. We are rewarding people for giving us their moneys. No conspiracy, nothing to be scared of...
(2) Yes, that coupon is legitimate but as I've said before and will always said, the Sony Reader counts as electronics and we never provide coupons for greater than a 10% discount on electronics. Please read the boiler plate.
(3) The Borders Rewards program -- unoffical opinion follows -- is an attempt to capture the hearts and minds of the marketplace. If you ignore the idea that incentive programs usually increase the average purchase of a customer ... then you can understand that the program benefits are intended to bring customers back into the store.

[William Moates]

When Borders and B&N moved into GSO (my city) in the mid-1990's, they didn't offer such programs--they only discounted the bestsellers. I stuck with Waldenbooks, because of its Preferred Reader program (about 15% off), and a local bookstore (Cosmic Castle) who offered a similar program. A few years later, Cosmic Castle stopped selling books, and Waldenbooks moved out of GSO. All the other local bookstores had been out-priced by the big chains, so the only two bookstores left in GSO were B&N and Borders. Since Waldenbooks was owned by Borders, and Borders had decided to move them out of GSO, I chose B&N, and begrudgingly paid full price to accomodate my book habit. A few years later, Waldenbooks was moved back into the mall--at the same location it had moved out of--and I was once again a happy camper. Eventually, B&N and Borders started offering frequent buyer programs, and I later signed up for B&N's Reader Advantage program. In October of 2005, Waldenbooks ended their Preferred Reader program, and I haven't shopped there since.

What's the point of this ramble? Well, to point out the machinations big retailers will go through to influence their assumed customer base, and how I, as a choosy bibliophile, did not fit their mold, resented the way they pushed me around, and did what little I could by voting with my wallet.

As for the difference between a scheme and a customer loyalty program, I would say complexity. When the rules behind a discount program become become Byzantine, then the program is a scheme, because it forces the customer to jump through hoops to get a discount or refund. (Remember those refund offers electronics stores used to offer, where you'd have to mail in a copy of the receipt and the UPC from the product's packaging less than X days after the date of purchase? That caused a lot of hoop-jumping, and some angry consumers, too.)

I think what annoys us is that we're choosy customers, we think about what we want to buy before we buy it, and most retailers don't seem to get us. Simple loyalty programs would be greatly appreciated, because it would make us feel like the retailer is being more honest with us. When retailers advertise big discounts, but hide them behind Kafkaesqe regulations, we feel scammed.

[evil_bunny]

Originally Posted by William Moates

When Borders and B&N moved into GSO (my city) in the mid-1990's, they didn't offer such programs--they only discounted the bestsellers. I stuck with Waldenbooks, because of its Preferred Reader program (about 15% off), and a local bookstore (Cosmic Castle) who offered a similar program. A few years later, Cosmic Castle stopped selling books, and Waldenbooks moved out of GSO. All the other local bookstores had been out-priced by the big chains, so the only two bookstores left in GSO were B&N and Borders. Since Waldenbooks was owned by Borders, and Borders had decided to move them out of GSO, I chose B&N, and begrudgingly paid full price to accomodate my book habit. A few years later, Waldenbooks was moved back into the mall--at the same location it had moved out of--and I was once again a happy camper. Eventually, B&N and Borders started offering frequent buyer programs, and I later signed up for B&N's Reader Advantage program. In October of 2005, Waldenbooks ended their Preferred Reader program, and I haven't shopped there since.

What's the point of this ramble? Well, to point out the machinations big retailers will go through to influence their assumed customer base, and how I, as a choosy bibliophile, did not fit their mold, resented the way they pushed me around, and did what little I could by voting with my wallet.

As for the difference between a scheme and a customer loyalty program, I would say complexity. When the rules behind a discount program become become Byzantine, then the program is a scheme, because it forces the customer to jump through hoops to get a discount or refund. (Remember those refund offers electronics stores used to offer, where you'd have to mail in a copy of the receipt and the UPC from the product's packaging less than X days after the date of purchase? That caused a lot of hoop-jumping, and some angry consumers, too.)

I think what annoys us is that we're choosy customers, we think about what we want to buy before we buy it, and most retailers don't seem to get us. Simple loyalty programs would be greatly appreciated, because it would make us feel like the retailer is being more honest with us. When retailers advertise big discounts, but hide them behind Kafkaesqe regulations, we feel scammed.

Dear sir:

I understand. My local store was a Crown Books, which had the straight 10% discount on books. While I was annoyed by the calculations involved, they did provide informative signage providing you with the most common prices and discounts.

Years have passed and while it may seem to me that there are less discounts, I have noticed that I do have more choices now. I was always impressed with the selection at Borders (part of the appeal), and even the local BN has had a larger selection than Crown did. And in that rare circumstance where nobody has what I need, Amazon (or eCampus for textbooks) fills that niche.

I am quite surprised that a Waldenbooks was able to satisfy the demands of a bibliophile. I remember them being the size of my old Crown store.

Two questions, out of curiosity:
(1) If your local supermarkets have club cards, do you participate?
(2) If the Connect Store is able to provide you with all the books you are looking for, will you rely on them for all of your book needs? (Would you stop visiting bookstores entirely).

[Retina]

I used a Personal Shopping Day at Borders and it worked fine. With that and a few gift cards, I got a great price on it.

[RWood]

I too used the 10% card at Boarders for the Reader.

Now a scheme is like what food stores use, just having the card gets you all the rewards possible. There is no additional advantage to do all of your shopping there as you already get the maximum discount just by having the card in your pocket. A loyality program provides increasing advantages the longer and more often you use it. Boarders is about 1/2 way between the two having elements of both. I am lucky here in northern Virginia as we have Boarders, B&N, Books-A-Million, and several specialized booksellers. My favorite local shop just closed after 40 years when the landlord 3x the rent.

[William Moates]

I am quite surprised that a Waldenbooks was able to satisfy the demands of a bibliophile.

That's because my field of choice is SF, and as a thrifty SF fan, I bought mass market paperbacks. Almost all of the hardbacks would come out in mass-market form a year later, and I didn't mind waiting, since I had all these other books I hadn't read yet. At the time, their computer books had a decent selection, too.

I was always impressed with the selection at Borders (part of the appeal), and even the local BN has had a larger selection than Crown did.

Oh, I enjoyed the larger selection of Borders and BN (and my local Borders has a larger selection than BN), but they didn't offer discounts on any book, which Waldenbooks still did. So, I'd go to Borders and BN, browse their selection, and if I found a book I wanted, I'd write down its author/title/ISBN, then have Waldenbooks order it for me, so I could buy it at a discount.

And in that rare circumstance where nobody has what I need, Amazon (or eCampus for textbooks) fills that niche.

Yes, it does, but when Amazon first started up, shipping wasn't free, and the discounts on the non-bestsellers would be completely eaten up by shipping. So, Amazon became another great place to browse, and most any book I was looking for could be special ordered by Waldenbooks. And for the books I couldn't get or order at Waldenbooks, when the list was long enough, I ordered them from Amazon.

So, instead having their systems game me, I did what I could to game their systems. I've got an analytical mindset, so it's not too taxing.

Now on to your questions:

(1) If your local supermarkets have club cards, do you participate?

Initially, I didn't, because I had concerns with privacy. Then I did join a store's club. However, that chain moved out of my state last year, so I now shop at another chain. (Incidently, I use someone else's club card at the new chain. There's a lost & found where I work, and after the card sat there for a year, I took it.)

(2) If the Connect Store is able to provide you with all the books you are looking for, will you rely on them for all of your book needs? (Would you stop visiting bookstores entirely).

By now, you can probably guess my answer: No. I will still visit bookstores, and even shop at Amazon. If we get an e-reader that provides color and print-resolution graphics, then I might stop going to bookstores. There's still that visceral feel to books that can't be digitized. I wonder how we'll feel when paper books are only made by retro-hobbyists?

[evil_bunny]

*chuckles* y'know, Mr. Moates ... if you became an employee you could have a straight employee discount.

Okay, I could see the BR card being part scheme, part loyalty program. It is a bit more complicated than a buy 20 books get one free stamp card.

Also, I think the Sony Reader is a great replacement of massmarkets. I, like many people I know, passionately dislike the new tall massmarkets. Not just because they don't fit on the shelf well, but I view it as a scheme by publishers to charge more for low quality books.

...I'm mostly serious about the employee part though. If you find a sympathetic situation, you could work one shift a week and still pull a discount.

[William Moates]

Yup! I used to work at a bookstore for 2 1/2 years, so I know that employees get bigger discounts than the customers.

I think the best response to complaints about it being a "scheme" is--"Work part-time at a bookstore". Same thing goes for music fans & music stores. (Of course, that depends on if you can pass the intensive screening process... )

P.S.: Please don't interpret any of my posts in this thread as rants. I try to be a careful thinker and writer, but simply writing down your thoughts removes the tone from them, increasing the likelihood of being misintrepreted. Smileys help, but they lack some of the subtlety of the spoken word.