Anybody a member of REI, an outdoor sporting goods store?
I signed up as a member because I was buying stuff there once, and the membership discount would offset the cost of signing up for said membership. Soooo, it was like a free membership that entitles me to 10% discounts for all future purchases, so I figured why not....
REI's program has an interesting premise. Rather than giving you a straight-forward "discount", they say you are signing up as more of a "shareholder" of the company! In fact, I just got my year-end literature from them that includes the "dividend check" (discount coupon) along with an additional 20% off coupon for a future purchase.
To finish the effect, the back of the glossy, catalog-like booklet shows the program's financial balance sheet....
It's an interesting concept, but as a cynical pragmatist er I mean "shareholder", I'm only looking at what kind of money and deals I can get out of it, regardless of what they want to market it as.
Fortunately, the deals don't seem too bad.... Again, 10% "dividend" return for all purchases, and they send you additional coupons for further discounts.
Also, being a "shareholder" in this case doesn't subject you to the volatility of the normal stock market, so there's no real downside to signing up, besides the upfront membership fee.
In the end, it's a novel concept that effectively doesn't do much more different than any other membership discount programs out there, but at least the deal isn't too bad either, especially for people who plan to spend a lot of money on sporting goods.
REI
March 9th, 2009 at 03:56 am
March 9th, 2009 at 04:02 am 1236571377
March 9th, 2009 at 04:07 am 1236571629
March 9th, 2009 at 04:52 am 1236574378
I walked past REI's corporate headquarters on my jog.
March 9th, 2009 at 02:49 pm 1236610152
March 9th, 2009 at 02:53 pm 1236610406
March 9th, 2009 at 04:51 pm 1236617475
Do you know they take returns of anything -- ummmm ANYTHING. OK, my hubby wore a pair of hiking boots for almost a year and just finally gave up on them as the fit was not good (he tried hard to make them work). REI took them back, full price and not only that, traded them for a pair that he was fitted to very well.
It took a little guts for my hubby to ask to do it, but you have plenty nerve, right BA?
So get a book bag, water bottle, outdoor guide, camp stove, and do it.
March 9th, 2009 at 05:10 pm 1236618639
March 9th, 2009 at 05:11 pm 1236618680
So long as it's ethical, yes, I have no problems doing something like that. Otherwise, I can't do it regardless of nerves.