Advantages of Plastic
We can’t all be savvy shoppers.
Take my editor, who recently used his American Express card on a $100 online shopping spree at Eddie Bauer. He got three “stylish” sweater vests, but spent about $20 too much.
Had he visited the American Express Web site (https://www.americanexpress.com) beforehand, he could have saved 20% on his purchase.
American Express--as well as Visa, MasterCard and Discover--offers special online promotions for cardholders. Use a credit card at one of the company’s partner merchants, and receive free shipping for purchases or discounts ranging from about 5% to 25%.
But as my editor discovered, cardholders don’t automatically receive the savings. Most companies require consumers to submit promotion codes at checkout or visit merchants through links on the credit card company’s Web site.
The codes, as well as a list of partner merchants and offers, are only advertised on those sites. The merchant does not include them. The credit card companies don’t always offer discounts for the same merchants, though. In the few cases when they do, the discounts aren’t the same.
Discover cardholders, for example, receive free shipping at the Gap (https://www.gap.com) for purchases of $75 or more. But American Express cardholders get $15 off purchases of $100 or more.
It’s a symbiotic arrangement. Because the credit card companies don’t charge merchants to become partners, merchant sites receive free advertising. And the discounts encourage consumers to use specific cards.
Although credit card companies do not preclude merchants from offering deals to competitors, most have some restrictions.
To participate in MasterCard Exclusive Online (https://www.mastercard.com), for example, merchants must offer minimum discounts of 20% or $10. And they cannot replicate that offer to cardholders of another company.
Discover ShopCenter (https://www.discovercard.com) requires that merchants offer their cardholders their best online deals.
In addition to working with major retail chains such as Barnes & Noble, Crabtree & Evelyn and Kenneth Cole, credit card companies also offer discounts for local businesses and attractions, such as baseball games and circuses.
Most online deals are available for several months. Visa Rewards and Deals (https://www.visa.com) maintains promotions for at least three months, but the site regularly updates for last minute discounts as well. American Express, MasterCard and Discover keep their deals for about the same length of time.
Cardholders can receive e-mail notifications about the latest promotions by registering at the credit card companies’ Web sites. E-mails can be tailored to reflect the specific interests and location of the individual consumer.
My editor, after learning that he wouldn’t have had to pay full price for those sweaters, was understandably upset, calculating (to the exact penny) the amount of money he could have saved.
We can’t all be savvy shoppers, but now he’s certainly going to try to be.
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Christine Frey covers personal technology. She can be reached at christine.frey@latimes.com.
