One of the "gimmicks" or promotions companies will have is to offer rewards of some kind as an incentive for customer and clients to bring their business to them.
Dentists all over are offering "Free" teeth whitening for life to new patients.
Tire companies offer vacation packages with the purchase of a full set.
Even Car dealerships offer Cruises with the purchase of a new car.
Furniture and Electronics stores frequently have days when they will offer free hot dogs or pizza and drinks to anyone who come into their store during a specified day and time.
Them Parks even have promotions to lure you into coming.
Companies do this because they know these promotions boost sales. Especially to someone who may not have purchased anything otherwise.
Almost any company worth anything will do it at least once a year, because it is a great marketing tool. If they don't do it, they loose out on business. Grocery stores do it too.
Target offers store gift cards with different promotional sales.
Wal-Mart price matches for your convenience.
Other grocery stores will offer unique items that you can't find anywhere else so you'll come in, they know you will hardly ever come in and just purchase that one thing.
Smith's gives you Rewards Points for every transaction that you can accumulate over time and earn up to $1.00 off per gallon at the gas pump up to 35 gallons.
Rite Aid has their Up Rewards and Video Values
Walgreens has Register Rewards
With all these different deals you can get, there is one thing that you need to keep in mind; does the reward equal value? Not always.
If you are in the market for a new car, take into account what you really need and how much you want what you are looking for. If you really want a brand spankin' new vehicle and are un-willing to bend on that fact alone, then by all means go to the company that offers the best vacation package that you like. If, however, all you really need is a new-to-you vehicle, a dealership with a vacation package will make you spend a lot more than you really want to pay. You can often go to used-car lots and find something GREAT! Check out your local classified ads and shop around. You can find a great price on something that will suit your needs, it will just take a little more effort on your part than just going to a dealership.
Tires often come with a Disneyland Package. If that is the case, make sure what is included in the package, what taxes you will have to pay and also consider how much more you will have to pay to go on the vacation itself; gas, food, extras or even a flight! Also, if you don't really need four new tires, this is usually not a good deal to get. Unless you are planning a Disneyland Vacation anyway, then you can crunch the numbers and see if it will save you any money in the long run. Also, make sure you know exactly which tires you need to buy to get the vacation. they are usually the really high-end high-price tires.
Target will often offer a gift card, usually between $5-$10, for the purchase of two or three boxes of Diapers. If you never use coupons, and you buy diapers all the time, this is actually a pretty good deal most of the time. However, if you are a coupon-er, you can usually pay a LOT less for diapers by waiting for a sale and stocking up then.
Wal-Mart offers their price matching because it works. You still get a great price on everything you were going to buy anyway, PLUS you can get everything in one place! So the convenience alone is worth it, but you have to be careful when you price match. Make sure you know each store's specific "house rules" when it comes to the price match policy. You usually don't need the ad with you, but some stores require you to have the ad because that specific store has had a lot of problem with price-match fraud and policy abuse in the past. Another thing to watch out for, is to make sure you are sticking to your list. If you are grocery shopping and then happen to stop by the DVD section, you can easily walk out of the store with a great price on all of your groceries as well as $75.00 worth of $5 DVDs.
Smith's, Rite Aid and Walgreens all have the same thing in common. When things are not on sale, they are usually over-priced. Some people don't care when it comes to Smith's because they figure the rewards pints more than make up for the cost. Same with Rite Aid and Walgreens. But the truth of the matter is, those rewards barely dent the end out-of-pocket cost. When these store have their sales, pay attention to their ads or better yet, go to GrocerySmart.com to see all the best deals at each store for that week. GrocerSmarts tells you if it a good deal or not so you don't have to sit there wondering if it is.
In short, when it comes to finding the best deals and saving money we can't rely on the "promotion" someone is offering alone. You need to weigh the pros and cons of each deal you find for yourself. Take the time to really think about it and crunch numbers on your own.
The only real VALUE anything thing has is what it is worth to you! So keep that in mind next time you are shopping for... anything! Trust your own instincts and just get yourself to the point where it is OK to make a mistake or two as long as you learn from it the first time.
Happy Saving!
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