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newsletternewsletter 305
What To Do With My Staples 5 Cent Debit Card What To Do With My Staples 5 Cent Debit Card A few months ago, I purchased a copy of Norton Internet Security 2009. The price at Staples was $69.95, less a $10 instant rebate, less a $40 Staples Easy Rebate, less a $20 Norton Mail In Rebate. Essentially, the software was FREE after getting all the rebates. Staples and other retailers periodically make these FREE offers available on Norton Internet Security, other software, batteries, and all sorts of products. Dell, HP, BestBuy, and lots of other stores also offer rebates that significantly reduce the prices of the items you are purchasing. Rebates are a marketing tool. Do Staples, BestBuy or other retailers make a profit by offering a FREE product? I don’t have any inside information on how these FREE offers are profitable. My best guess is that these FREE offers add to the traffic of the store. I understand that about 20% of all rebates are never cashed in. That means, stores are making a 20% gross profit on the sale of these FREE products. Remember, you are paying cash for these items and don’t get your rebates until a month later. I must say that I am really impressed with Staples. Instead of sending in my $40 rebate request through the mail, Staples has an easy to use website to apply for your Staples Easy Rebate. You enter your name and address and fill in the security number on your receipt. After filling out the online form, I received a Staples Easy Rebate confirmation in seconds. I received my Staples $40 Rebate Debit Card in the mail within 4 weeks. Actually, the $40 Rebate Card is a VISA DEBIT CARD which may be used anywhere. It was a little more difficult to get my $20 Norton Mail In Rebate. Norton provides a tiny rebate form attached to the outside of the package. I scientifically processed the rebate offer. I have a magnifying glass available to read the small print. The form contains a very small area to enter your name, address, phone number and email address. I use my rebate pen to fill in this information. The pen has a very thin point making a great ink flow to print this information in the tiny area made available to enter the information. I also have a Dymo LabelWriter that prints name and address labels for me. I attach a label with this information to my tiny rebate form to make sure that the person who processes the rebate can understand and read the information. You need to follow the exact instructions on the rebate form. You cannot just attach a printed label to the rebate form in place of printing the information using a pen. So, I write the information with my special rebate pen and attach the label to the form in case the reader can’t understand it. Next, you need to cut off a proof of purchase portion of the box and include it with your rebate request. This requires a good pair of scissors and a little hunting around the box to find the proof of purchase emblem. After that, you need a copy of your original receipt. If you purchased your product from Staples, they automatically give you a copy of your receipt just for your rebate. It’s a nice touch. And further, you need to include proof of a previous purchase of Norton or any other security product. This proof of purchase needs to be in the form of the first page of a printed manual stating the product name, an actual product CD, or the serial number of a previous product that you are using. Fortunately for me, I have lots of product pages available. Whenever I visit a client, I always ask for and tear out the first page of their software products. Alternately, you can download a FREE copy of products such as AVG Antivirus from Grisoft. You can go to the ABOUT screen and write down the product serial number. Or, just go to another computer that contains security software, go to the ABOUT screen, and submit that information. Finally, in order to complete the rebate submission, you must include your first born, your spouse, or your favorite pet. Happily, I completed all of the above and received my two rebate cards in the mail. However, using the VISA Rebate Card that you received is not so easy. How do you use a $40 rebate card? Using your VISA Rebate Card is almost like using an ordinary credit card. Using your rebate card that accepts tips is not so easy. Many restaurants automatically add a 20% tip to your purchase until the actual tip is cleared. For example, your waiter gives you a $35 restaurant bill. You give him your credit or debit card. $35 plus $7 is automatically put aside on your credit card. That’s $42 which would bounce your $40 debit card. Once you add the tip, the difference between the estimated tip amount and your actual tip amount gets reconciled. However, the difference does not appear back onto your credit card or debit card until the next business day. Using your debit card in a gas station is also not advised. When you use your credit card or debit card at a gas station, $75 or more is automatically set aside for your purchase. Just like tipping, the difference between your actual purchase and your estimated purchase is reconciled at the end of the day. Using your REBATE DEBIT CARD at most other retailers is fairly easy. Just about any store will accept your REBATE DEBIT CARD just like a credit card. Here’s the problem though. You have exactly $40. If you spend $70, you must either add $30 in cash or ask the retailer if they can accept two credit cards for your purchase. Here’s my problem. I used $39.95 available on my DEBIT CARD. I had 5 cents still available. By the way, if you lose track, you can go to a web site and see where you have used your rebates to date and how much money is still available. What do you do with the 5 cents that is leftover? I decided that this was an outrage. Why should I allow VISA or whoever to get the 5 cents remaining on my REBATE DEBIT CARD. I decided to test Staples. I figured I could write some good stuff about how difficult it was to use my debit card at Staples. I purchased a 25 cent pen. The sales person joyfully accepted and processed my 5 cents leftover REBATE DEBIT CARD and allowed me to charge the other 20 cents on my American Express Card. I commend Staples for allowing me to be a customer. Getting Customers Back Into Your Retail Store or Restaurant. Your best customers are your current customers. Once you have a customer in your store, you should do some marketing to get that customer to come back. One method of getting a customer to return to your store is to offer your customer a 20% discount on a future purchase. You need to tailor your offer to the needs of your individual retail store or restaurant. A clothing store may offer 20% on any future purchase valid starting next week. A hardware store may offer a free wire crimper with any future purchase. A fast food restaurant or bar may offer a free bag of popcorn, free coffee, or a free beer. Do something to get your customer back into your establishment. You can purchase perforated business cards at Staples or other stores that sell Avery blank perforated business cards for use on a laser or inkjet printer. You or one of your employees can quickly compose a business card with your offer. For example: MY STORE DISCOUNT OFFER 20% OFF YOUR NEXT PURCHASE OFFER VALID APRIL 1ST THROUGH APRIL 15, 2009 Depending on your offer, you may want to give the card to a customer as soon as he walks in the store, or you may want to give it to your customer after a purchase. Also, depending on your offer, you may want your customer to bring in a receipt from a purchase made today. A restaurant may give out a 50% off dinner Monday—Thursday card to anyone eating lunch or a 50% off lunch Monday—Thursday card to anyone eating dinner. Alternately, you may just print this information on a sales receipt (as mentioned in a previous newsletter). You just need to do something to get your customers to come back. It’s called marketing. Instead of paying for advertising to find new customers, work on getting your present customers to come back more frequently. Unblock Hidden Caller ID Numbers and Record Calls
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