moklerman

I did a search for a similar thread so I apologize in advance if this has been covered to death.

I recently bit the bullet and bought a Barnes & Noble membership card. 10% off, e-mail coupons, etc. finally wore me down. Tonight I finally used the card for the first time(other than when it was purchased) and came to realize I was way off base with how the 10% off works.

I happen to think the stickers are very misleading:

50% off--Members save an extra 10%.

The way that is written on the sticker reads 60% to me. Any schlub off the street get's 50%, members get an extra 10%. I assume everyone here is very familiar with how it really works since I'm so late to the party but 10% off the 50% off price is not how that sticker is worded, dammit!

I can't be the only one though because on many of their sale items the regular sticker is there, a sale price sticker and a Members save an extra 10% sticker(ex: $18.99 on sale for $16.99, members get 10% off $16.99). This is much clearer to someone not familiar with how the discount system works at their store.

I don't remember specifically but I'm pretty sure I asked something along the lines of: "If an item is 40% off, that means I get 50% off as a member, right?" when I signed up for the card. There's no way I would have paid the $25 if I was going to be getting just 10% off the sale price. I guess it would add up in savings but it still feels like a bit of a scam.

I guess I can't get past the stickers themselves. 10% off. Members save an extra 10%. That should be 20%

Anyone else misunderstand this setup at some point?

Trevor

Your post makes my brain hurt, but the membership 10% off is off the remaining price after any sales.

If a $20 msrp item is on sale for 50% off, it is $10 for anyone, and $9 for members. The extra 10% in that example is really only 5% off msrp.

This is the way extra % off discounts work pretty much everywhere since the beginning of money.

moklerman

Perhaps, but that isn't how the stickers on the packaging read.

10% OFF - Members save an extra 10%.

In no way does that imply that the first 10 percent comes off their regular price and the extra 10 percent comes after the discount. It says that B & N will take 10% off for everyone and an extra 10% for members.

There is a difference between 10 percent off the sale price and what percent they give to the public versus it's members. Their stickers read like they are going to give members a bigger percentage off than non-members.

Maxflier

I just figured this out recently myself. I go in to buy a regular priced DVD (not on sale) with a 15% off coupon and the DVD has a sticker on it saying that members get an EXTRA 10% off, so I figured 15+10+10=35% off right? WRONG. They take the 15% off, then 10% off of what's left of the price and the other 10% taken off of what is left of the remaining cost after that. I don't feel like doing the math to figure out how much the difference is, but it is not a true 35% off.

jjcool

If they wanted membes to get 60% off they would have said that. As it reads, everyone gets 50% off, done. Then members get an "additional 10% off" the remaining price. To be hones, it never occurred to me that anyone would think that meant 60% off regular price. Every store I have ever been in, has done multiple discounts seperately.

hindolio

i am really not trying to be a smart-booty, but if b&n wanted to have the member discount at 60% off, i think they would have stickers that state, "Members 60% Off!", or something to that effect.

so i concur with trevor on this - the 10% is off the remaining price, not off list. this is how it is done, has always been done, will always be done.

moklerman

Based on what? Not being a smart azz, but corporations continually use ambiguous advertising in many forms. Why would B&N be different?
Have to disagree. I directly quoted what the sticker reads and it isn't an "additional 10% off" the sale price.

It's completely up to them how much of a percentage off the normal price they're going to offer something so it isn't any kind of a stretch, IMO, for them to say they're going to give 10% off to everyone and 20% off to members which is exactly how the stickers are worded.

Members save even more.
Members save 10% off the sale price.

There are many ways they could have been more clear about the discount. It may be a coincidence since I never really paid attention to their stickers in the past but many of the items on display that were for sale made it much more clear that the members 10% was coming off of the sale price.

But I still have to ask, if they're setting the percentage on the discount being given why is it so unthinkable to some that they could give a better percentage to members over non-members?

Cheato

I'm siding with the OP. I don't have an opinion on what it SHOULD mean; I just think it is ambiguous. But I saw it as such from the beginning, so I would have asked for clarification. However, due to the big B&N threads here at DVDTalk, I didn't have to ask anybody, since it is already explained therein.

Just to add to the confusion, didn't the website used to give the "extra" 10% off the original price, and not the sale price? So it would be 10%+10%=20%, and not 1-(90%*90%)=19%, or 50%+10%=60%, and not 1-(50%*90%)=55%? That would match what the OP claimed he/she expected, right? I never used B&N online to get that kind of discount, but I thought I remembered reading about that in the Bargains forum thread.