Kobo Discounts: Coupon Codes + Discussion

[sufue]

If you use EBates/Rakuten with Kobo, the rebate is 10% for today (Monday) only.

[sufue]

sorry, wrong thread...

[issybird]

Walmart is showing a $50 ebook gift card for $40, a nice 20% discount. (It also claims the regular price is $65. I guess they think readers are innumerate.) I'm considering it, but I do wonder if that means I'd have to create a Walmart login for Kobo; I've still been using my Rakuten login. This also could combine nicely with the Ebates kickback.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Walmart-e...ery/390016306?

[sufue]

Please let us know if you figure it out about the Walmart login vs the Rakuten login! I too have continued to use my Rakuten login, and am not quite sure what would happen if I switched...

Originally Posted by issybird

Walmart is showing a $50 ebook gift card for $40, a nice 20% discount. (It also claims the regular price is $65. I guess they think readers are innumerate.) I'm considering it, but I do wonder if that means I'd have to create a Walmart login for Kobo; I've still been using my Rakuten login. This also could combine nicely with the Ebates kickback.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Walmart-e...ery/390016306?

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by issybird

I guess they think readers are innumerate.

They are, hence the excellent 1988 book Innumeracy, but it's not their fault.

The following NYT article is well worth reading in its entirety, but especially applicable is the discussion of the A&W 1/3 pounder vs the McDonalds 1/4 pounder. The really sad part is how tenaciously this is locked into the system and the culture.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/m...math.html?_r=0

[sufue]

So, I decided to go ahead and try the Walmart gift card thing with a single $50 gift card, since I have my husband's rarely used account I could use it on if I had to, without messing mine up .

It all went smoothly, with one exception (see below).

First the good part: I was able to apply the gift card directly to my existing Kobo account, while logged in through Rakuten, not Walmart, just by clicking on the link in the Walmart email, and then entering the PIN from the email. And presto - I refreshed my Kobo account info, looked at the payment info tab, and the credit was there.

During the process, it seemed to indicate that there would also have been an opportunity to sign into Kobo if I weren't already logged in. I don't know how/if that would have worked. I chose to be already logged in using my preferred login before I redeemed the card.

Now, for the one problem: I was charged tax on the gift card order. This is very unusual in California - I have NEVER been charged tax on a gift card, whether a physical gift card bought in person, a physical gift card bought online or an online gift card bought online. It simply makes no sense - you get charged the tax (if any) when the gift card is used to make a purchase.

I tried calling Walmart's help number, but the wait was going to be quite long, so I sent them an email instead. They indicate they try to respond to emails within four hours - we shall see!

It's not a fatal flaw to be charged tax - the gift card is still a good deal, just less of a good deal than it could be.

I will update this post if I get more info.

[issybird]

Thank you.

No sales tax here, so I should be good to go!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

They are, hence the excellent 1988 book Innumeracy, but it's not their fault.

The following NYT article is well worth reading in its entirety, but especially applicable is the discussion of the A&W 1/3 pounder vs the McDonalds 1/4 pounder. The really sad part is how tenaciously this is locked into the system and the culture.

Indeed. I see evidence of the hamburger problem even here, alas.

[zelda.owns.link]

Originally Posted by issybird

Walmart is showing a $50 ebook gift card for $40, a nice 20% discount. (It also claims the regular price is $65. I guess they think readers are innumerate.) I'm considering it, but I do wonder if that means I'd have to create a Walmart login for Kobo; I've still been using my Rakuten login. This also could combine nicely with the Ebates kickback.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Walmart-e...ery/390016306?

Use the following address for no taxes: 1380 Wisconsin Ave, Whitefish, MT 59937

[library addict]

It was Kobo's 10th "birthday" yesterday.

Sad there is no mention of their partnership with Borders on the graphic.

Though I miss the heyday of coupons, I still use them as my primary ebook store. I purchased my first book there in 2010.

[sufue]

Thank you @zelda.owns.link!

I did "borrow" your address for a second card (I wanted two) and it worked - no tax charged. I wasn't sure my credit card would go through with the wrong zip code, but it did. (Which is sort of scary, actually...) And I've now deleted your address out of my account, so you won't get any surprise packages down the road . And since gift cards are not supposed to be taxed in California, I don't feel bad about it.

Meanwhile, Walmart is refusing to even consider that they might have made a mistake in taxing the first gift card. The customer service folks I've emailed with don't understand what I'm complaining about, even when I'm blunt in saying that they misclassified this item as taxable. Instead they keep finding their "script" that tells me how to enter my tax-exempt info if I'm a tax-exempt reseller. And I'm pretty sure it's not worth my time to try to follow up on it any further by calling, and the cards still represent a nice discount.

So many thanks again - at least this way I only paid "half the tax" in error.

Originally Posted by zelda.owns.link

Use the following address for no taxes: 1380 Wisconsin Ave, Whitefish, MT 59937

[sufue]

Oh, and BTW, did anyone else notice that Walmart gives the list price of the $50 gift card as $65 ??? It's the little lined out value next to the $40 price. I'll try to attach a pic, but I'm not very good at that.

That's a pretty cute trick, especially if they calculate percentage-off from that !!!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by sufue

Oh, and BTW, did anyone else notice that Walmart gives the list price of the $50 gift card as $65 ??? It's the little lined out value next to the $40 price. I'll try to attach a pic, but I'm not very good at that.

That's a pretty cute trick, especially if they calculate percentage-off from that !!!

I mentioned it in my first post about the gift card.

[sufue]

Oops, sorry!

Originally Posted by issybird

I mentioned it in my first post about the gift card.

[zelda.owns.link]

Originally Posted by sufue

Thank you @zelda.owns.link!

I borrowed that address from a random hotel in Montana, I'm actually in Canada!