But for a long time, being an oblivious sort of person, I, um, sort of forgot about it.
I actually remember S&H Green Stamps, and their competitor, Plaid Stamps. My grandmother was sort of obsessed with them, so I presume that she got something from their redemption now and again.
On a less geriatric note, my primary credit card has a rewards points program with Amazon. I get points with each purchase. But for a long time, being an oblivious sort of person, I, um, sort of forgot about it. It’s quite visible when you check out, but I do an awful lot of stuff on autopilot. When I finally noticed it, I had a LOT of points.
In a month or so, the points were gone, but I had a cubic buttload of new music.
Dave VentreA hyper-annuated wannabee scientist with a lovely wife and a mountain biking problem.
Tags:
rewards, points, stamps, marketing
Characterizations:
well written
You point out a problem with many of the newer rewards programs, Dave – expiration dates. One has to keep track of those; use them or lose them. That shouldn’t be so, but these programs found they didn’t want to keep the liability on their balance sheets forever (they really started adding up), so they deviously started letting the rewards expire. I hope you enjoy the music!
I love that you got all that music with your Amazon points, just because of your credit card. It’s a little late now, but I do want to point out that if you go to the Amazon site by clicking on the link on the Retro home page, we get a few pennies on every purchase you make during that transaction.
Good move Dave, enjoy the music!
Betsy makes a good point that there seem to be ever more points systems that expire—or the rules change or the things you want aren’t available or the points needed to get anything skyrocket. I tend to ignore “rewards” more than not and maybe shouldn’t. Your music haul sounds like a real winner.
The most fun reward points come with my Discover Card. Then they “pay me back” by deducting money from an Amazon purchase made with that card, I feel like I’ve received a gift. Of course, it’s really the credit card that is the winner.
Do enjoy the music, Dave. But mainly I love your reference to a “cubic buttload.”
And I’ve been trying to remember the names of the Green Stamps competitors. So thanks for the reference to Plaid Stamps. But, as I (vaguely) recall, they were a latecomer to the game. Wasn’t there also some competitor who had blue stamps? Anyone?
I did a quick search and there were several others, mostly named after colors. But S&H was the big one, Plaid second, and, as far as I can tell, the rest were minor players.
Thanks, Dave. And I agree; S & H was THE Playah (as we say in Boston). But my own quick search found the blue stanp competitor; Blue Chip Stamps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Chip_Stamps