Quote:
Originally Posted by nabsltd
Same here, but I decided to go ahead simply because it's the best RoI. Even at 3x points, $20 spent only gets you $1.80 in credit. With the punch card, I get $4 in credit for $20 spent.
Overall, that's 20% off. I could just wait and hope for a 20% off (or better) sale on a few books on my list, but that may never happen.
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I wrote out a long post looking at the value of the discount which is somewhat less than 20%; at best, it's close to 19% taking into account the 60 points you also get. But a random touch wiped the post and I can't face doing it all again. In short, the value of the discount depends in how much you spend to get the 400 points and more perniciously, involves spending yet more money to be able to round up the 160 points on the first transaction combined with the points earned when spending the $3 credit you do get up front. Initially, the discount is only worth 13% at most, i.e., a $3 savings on purchases totaling $23. Calling it a $4 credit when you're going to have to spend more money to get that last buck is playing Amazon's game for them.
It reminds me of a pyramid scheme, because you have to keep spending more and more to use up the discounts earned each transaction. To get the maximum discount, you need to spend all your points on similar bonus days (not just 2X or 3X). And watch out for expiring points!
Of course you're right in that even 13% is a good discount on books that never go on sale. But sometimes I get tired of spending money to save money when it seems as if the savings never accrues.
Anyway, I may hold out and hope for a 300 points bonus on a $15 purchase, which at least lets you cash out (mostly) right away (ignoring the 45 ordinary points).