chanster

Do you see the Club prices advertised in Barnes and Nobles print advertisements?

Of course it has to be on their Web site when people are making the purchase decision.
Two different things. And at least Barnes and Noble doesn't put their club price only like Best Buy does in their circular and then in tiny print put the real price.

paulringodaman

Regardless of RZ club prices vs. non, they are ALWAYS higher then the wal-mart next door. I haven't bought anything at Best Buy in almost 6 months (not because I'm "protesting").

chanster

But, but, but you get certificates with those higher prices!

mbs

You are again missing the point. People (well, at least I) only shop at BB when they have the best price (or price match the other stores' prices at BB). The certificates are simply an added bonus that you will not get shopping at Circuit City, Wal-Mart, et cetera.

chanster

Have fun trying to price match other store's prices when they all decide to ape Best Buy and reserve their sales for club members. You can kiss pricematching goodbye. Keep digging the grave for low prices and competition. OF course, by that time, Best Buy will keep changing the terms of the program, and you will have to spend $1,000 to get a $5 coupon.

Josh H

Yep, I refuse to pay for discounts or store memberships.

Y2K Falcon

To be honest, I don't get a weekly B&N print advertisement in my local paper, so I don't have much to go by there.


For demonstration purposes, here is the piece of the "Entertainment Guide" that he is talking about (sorry, I only have the 6 inch .jpg from the website, not a clean scan of my own):


At least the price is all there. Not just some lame "Guaranteed Low Price" bullshit.

Brooklyn

Walmart prices are extremely ymmv. Here in eastern Massachusetts
the Best Buy is almost always cheaper than the Walmart right next
door to it -- and that's before any RZ discounts.

Brooklyn

You mean like how Target did away with it?
And that had nothing to do with any RZ type card.

Shagrath

I'm an RZ member, and proud of it. They gave it to me for free when they were testing out the program, and I renewed the year after that, and then they renewed me for free this year. So, 3 years for $10 just like one of the other posters.

I don't spend more than I had planned just because I'm a RZ member. It's only 4% back, so it's not that big of a deal. However, if I am going to buy something anyways, I'll usually pick it up at Best Buy, and if someone else has a cheaper price, I'll just pricematch it, that way I get the lower price, and the points.

I mainly just purchase dvds and games there (low ticket items), but did get my HDTV from them earlier last year. I've gotten about $250 in RZ Certs. Not bad for a $10 investment.

digitalfreaknyc

Reward Zone is fucking great. Not only am I saving a ton of cash but I have ZERO problem shopping at best buy and getting money back for everything that I spend. My subscription was automatically renewed for free this year. You'd be a moron not to join if you go to Best Buy a lot.

reverie

The reason I rarely shopped at Media Play: high prices, no price match.
The reason I mostly shop at Best Buy: eh prices, but price match + reward zone.

Media Play's Replay is/was a much better reward return than Best Buys, but since there was no price matching, why bother? I look for the cheapest price/best return. Isn't that the smart way to shop?

This isn't the first Reward Zone special Best Buy has had, and it won't be the last. And thus far, [disclaimer] for things I would have bought anyway [/disclaimer], I'm happy enough with getting better sales, exclusive items, and the occassional $5 to spend on my next purchase [see previous disclaimer].

renaldow

Yes, actually. When there's a flyer there's alway a mention of a 20% discount with club program, and prices are always listed as club price.

Fielding Mellish

Well, come to think of it, I can't think of a single DVD I've bought at Best Buy since they went to RZ-exclusive deals.

So I guess you aren't alone, OP.

Hank1215

I've been a RZ member for three years, and haven't paid for any membership(they tried to get me to pay for year two, so I cancelled, but then two weeks later they gave me another free year). If BB doesn't have the lowest price I get a pricematch, and still get RZ certificates. Bought a new washer and dryer last year and got $130 in certificates. I really can't find fault with the program. Just freakn' join for free and quit your bitchin'!

awmurray

Yea really. I see a lot of the types of comments regarding supposed "Reward Zone Idiots". I carefully analyzed it before I got one (I hardly EVER get into "memberships" as I don't like paying for discounts), but it made sense for me at the time. See, at one point, BB was almost always the cheapest on release day. That has changed somewhat, but you can still pricematch.

Also, BB sells things besides DVDs. If you're in the market for other items the RZ can really pay. For example, I bought a laptop which was already a great deal (yes, I compared prices) and got back like $25 in RZ certs. And I got a refrigerator on clearance (again, great price) which really paid.

So, even if you paid $10 for it, it can pay for itself. It depends on your situation.

I agree, they're kind of messing it up by increasing the number of points needed for a $5 RZ cert from 12,500 to 15,000, but still it can make sense.

An added advantage is your non-RZ friends/family can give you their receipts from BB and you can go online and get those purchases added into your points balance, too.

Finally, BB has about the best selection of DVDs of any B&M stores around... you can usually get what you're looking for there but (as with any store) you have to know what a "good" price is for something and don't just buy blindly.

ben12

You spent $4000 on a new washer/dryer?!

Puzznic

I have enough crap to keep in my wallet without adding any more unnecessary cards. If Best Buy pulls that different price thing on something i want i go to Target or Circuit City. If a grocery store has a free membership card for their sales then i go to a different grocery store.

All you can really do is vote with your money.

Tarantino

The point Chanster is missing is that most people are going to spend money on entertainment purchases...except that purchasing from Best Buy, you get coupons to use on your next electronic purchase. So, if you were to buy at Wal Mart or Target, you'd get no money back for next time...if you buy at Best Buy, you do.

This argument seems really dumb for some reason.

And to the person above, you don't have to have your card on you to get the RZ points.

= J

renaldow

Yeah, you definitely don't need your card on you at BB, just like you don't need your card on you at the grocery store.

I don't understand why so many people are against RZ. You get gc's back for making purchases. If you're going to buy there anyways, it's a no brainer. Just because someone has a membership, doesn't mean they aren't going to shop at other stores for best pricing. It just means when they do shop at BB, they're going to get something for it.

But then, I've never had to pay for a membership. If I did, maybe I'd see it differently. Probably not, though.

Y2K Falcon

They look you up by phone #.


Oh, and I got a 10% off coupon on "any item" (surely it excludes the usual suspects, ipod, Whirlpool Duet, etc.) coupon from BB yesterday. RZ members check your email.

Or a DVDTalk thread: http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=448762

MrE

RZ ad pricing sent me to CC this week. In the last 2-3 months BB has lost lots of potential sales to me due to this policy.

C_Fletch

I am in TOTAL agreement with the OP. I absolutely abhore any company that changes their pricing to a "special member's only" pricing. I didn't have to deal with this until I moved south. Frickin' every grocery store down here requires them to get a decent price. I don't carry them but just give them my phone number. I mean, really, who(I mean men) has room for these frickin' things. If I had them in my wallet I'd have 15 different cards. No thanks!!!

If I have a choice, I tend to not go to these type of stores.

That puts aside THE FACT that no one has showed me a way to get this membership for free yet everyone states that it has cost them nothing to join or that it has cost them $10 for 3 years. If I had known going inot it that I could get the membership for 3 years at $10 I would have jumped at the chance.

It just did not make sense for me to join as I don't typically buy my DVDs for new due to the prices being so high. For me $14.99 is too much to pay for movie unless it is something that I cannot go without which is VERY rare.

Even at my highest buying rate the membership still wasn't worth it. Then I heard about them changing the program from 10,000 points for a $5 to 12,500 points for $5 and that really hardened my beliefs.

Now I hear that they changed it to 15,000 points for $5 and I see a trend. Who's to say that in 6 months they change it to 20,000 points for $5.

But for those that it works for(those who spend over $450 a year, which would give you a total of $5 in gift certificates minus the $10 for membership) more power to them. It saves them money for something they do anyway(spend a crap load of money at Best Buy).

But in my case I would need to spend over $900.00 because $5 back is not enough for me to even bother.

But then again, this is just my 2 cents.

renaldow

No one has shown you how they do it, because there is no way for some one to do it on their own. BB either makes you the offer, or they don't. I never would have joined, but I never even had the chance to say no. When the program started, BB sent me a card for it, and I haven't had to pay for a membership since. Every year I get a letter from BB Reward Zone stating that they're going to renew my membership for me.

I don't know if it has something to do with your spending history, demographic, or what.

I don't know if I'd pay for it, because ordinarily my purchases would probably just barely pay for it. However, as an RZ member you do get special offers once or twice a year on hardware that can make all the difference in the world if you happen to be looking for something. For instance, last year I was in the market for a new TV. They sent me an offer for $500 off a TV, a free Tivo, double RZ points, and free shipping. After doing a lot of research, that was the best deal on the TV I wanted. Not only did I get the $500 off, but I got a $100 rebate for the free Tivo, and around $220 in RZ cards. No other store could even come close to that deal.

Pwman

I bought a stack of superbits for $9.99 and they gave me the reward zone for a penny. I don't know why they did but I'll take the deal. I'll evaluate it this year. If it saves me more than 20 bucks I'll reup.