using store cc's to get special deals...

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-09-2005
using store cc's to get special deals...
8
Tue, 05-16-2006 - 3:01pm

OK I have a Fashion Bug Card and a Kohls card.

When we use the fashion bug card, I get a rebate, for each 100 we spend we get 10 back in a gift certificate

with the kohls they offer various things throughout the year, from gift cards, to extra 10, 15, 20, 25% off for using your charge in addition to accumulating rewards.

What is your take on these types of things? do you use them? why or why not.

thanks
stacy

Avatar for skthurber
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 05-16-2006 - 3:15pm

Well, I think it depends on how disciplined you are. When we used to have a Kohl's charge, there was a point at which it was totally paid off. I was able to use it for the special deals and then march right over to customer service and pay the bill that day, before I even left the store. That was great. However, for some people Kohl's is a trigger store, and they go way overboard, just because everything is "such a good deal". If you have the cash to pay the balance every month, these cards can be a good deal, I think. However, if you just charge up a storm and can't pay it back right away, no deal is that special.

-Sarah

Sarah


Mom to Gina & Tony


 


iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2004
Tue, 05-16-2006 - 3:22pm

I would have to agree 100%. If you can pay the bill right away, it is worth the special deal, but if you are carrying a balance you are in a sense, "paying" for that special deal through finance charges. Just my 2 cents!

~leanne

~leanne

deciding to be happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect, but that you had decided to look beyond the imp

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 05-16-2006 - 3:29pm

I haven't had a store credit card in a long long time. For one thing, having had my wallet stolen and the entire identity theft fallout afterwards, I will tell you that the major cards such as Visa and MC were much easier to clean up and I had zero liability with them. Not all store cards offer you that protection.

Studies also show that people tend to spend more when using credit cards. I know for sure that I do. So maybe you are getting a 10% rebate or discount, but if you are spending 40% more you still end up in the negative. You may have gone in to get a shirt only, and if you had cash you would come out with a shirt. But when you charge things, the immediate 'ouch' of parting with cash doesn't hit you, so what the heck, get the shirt and the capris.

And often times they will give you a gift certificate, but it expires after some ridiculous time period like 30 days later.

In my opinion, the store credit cards should be the first ones to be destroyed.

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 05-17-2006 - 1:49pm

I think the biggest issue with using store credit cards, besides having to be disciplined and the extra bookkeeping required (my head hurts from all the bookkeeping I already do, lol), occurs only if you're signing up for a *new* card to take advantage of the deals. Every time you sign up for a new card, it puts a ding on your credit history--and if you have gazillions of cards, that too is a ding on your credit report.

So if you already have them, you're incredibly disciplined, and you don't mind the extra bookkeeping (or if you just don't keep very good records, or if you have a system that is simpler than mine! LOL), then I think it's probably a good idea. Just be careful not to buy extra stuff just because it's a good deal.

My qualm, really, when looking at these sorts of programs, is the incredible mark-up it implies. If they can afford to give you $10 in merchandise for every $100 you spend, what does that say about how much they are marking the product up to begin with? Makes me think twice about shopping there at all.

Of course, I hardly shop at all anyway. I'm a yard sale girl, so retail store prices (even the "deals") seem shockingly expensive to me, lol.

I do use our grocery store incentive program, but I don't actually pay it any attention. It's all totally automatic, so all I have to do is hand them my loyalty card (which is not a credit card) each time I shop, and I automatically get the deals without having to spend anything extra. Recently, I bought ice cream and root beer (splurge!) for 51 cents. I had to go up to the register and ask them if that total was correct--what had happened is, without trying, I had purchased enough store brand ice cream to qualify for an instant rebate, so that my total that time was less than a dollar. But if I actually had to keep track of coupons and whatever, or put it all on a special credit card, I'd probably end up spending extra or I'd tear my hair out trying to keep up with it.

Avatar for endomagazine
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Wed, 05-17-2006 - 10:44pm

Hello,


One thing to check with these store cards is your interest rate. I applied for a Victoria's Secret store card once because they offered a $20 discount on purchases made the day you signed up. There were additional discounts & coupons, etc. The problem was, that I did not pay the full balance off immediately. Then the paperwork showed up and I found out I was being charged 23% interest, which when I carried that balance, meant I paid $25 in finance charges. Basically, the store card makes the store lots of money through those interest charges, and the coupons, discounts, etc. are there to get you *back* in the store to spend more money.


I would suggest avoiding store cards. Paying with cash means you stay within your budget and aren't seduced by those 10% or 20% offers.


Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2005
Thu, 05-18-2006 - 12:03am

Stacy, I buy all my son's clothes from Old Navy and The Gap.

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Fri, 05-19-2006 - 7:44am
I use my Kohls card when they have their extra discount thing going on. I have never accrued interest...having this kind of card does not make me compelled to purchase more. i have never paid interest on this card, but I figure I have saved at least a couple hundred bucks over the years. They tend to have pretty good sales, anyway, and if it keeps me out of the mall, then I am ahead. Heather
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2006
Fri, 05-19-2006 - 11:32am
Years ago I cleaned up my credit by cancelling all of the open store cards. I didn't have many but I did end up with 2 for Swiss Colony and I didn't even realize when you sign up for delayed billing that they treat it like a credit card. I don't really shop at one store enough to bother with a store credit card. I use my Upromise card if I am going to use a cc and the rewards goes to John's college savings.