Today, while I was in a Barnes & Nobles bookstore, I noticed a brochure advertising the new Barnes & Noble Member MasterCard. This MasterCard promised a free $25 gift card, an extra 5% back and more gift cards. Sounds pretty good, but I've been conditioned to read all the fine print before I decide. So, the fine print:
The $25 B&N gift card will be mailed to the billing address within 4 weeks after the first purchase. In addition, when you use the MasterCard to make any purchase (except discounted B&N gift cards) at www.bn.com or in any national B&N bookstore (Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton, Bookstop, Bookstar, Doubleday, Ink Newsstand, and Charlesbank), you will receive a credit of 5% to your MasterCard account. Lastly, when you use the card outside B&N bookstores, you will earn 1 point for every $1 net purchase. Every time you get 2,500 points, you will automatically receive a $25 gift card for use at B&N.
The APR for purchases can go up to 20.49% variable. Balance Transfers and Convenience Checks have an APR of 0% for the first six billing cycles, after which they can go up to 20.49% variable. The method for computing balance for purchases is the Average Daily Balance, and there is a 20-day grace period if you pay off your statement every month. There is no annual fee provided that you are a B&N member. Membership with B&N is $25 per year.
So, is this card a good deal?
The B&N Membership is $25 per year, which then entitles you to receive a 10% discount on all purchases made in the stores and online. Now, let's assume that you buy all of your books at B&N using a rewards credit card that gives you 1% cash back on net purchases. That means that you need to spend at least $250 per year at B&N for the membership to make sense, but that you really only spend $247.50 (taking into account the 1% cashback).
Okay, let's compare it to the MasterCard. Since you get a 5% credit for B&N purchases but lose the 1% cashback, that means you would need to spend at least $176 per year at B&N for this scenario to make sense. This, of course, assumes that you pay off all your credit cards on a monthly basis and that you are organized enough to keep track of one more credit card.
This analysis does not take into account price comparisons between B&N and other bookstores like Borders or Amazon.com. I find that Amazon.com is often cheaper than B&N, even when discounts are taken into account. Still, I patronize the B&N stores quite often, so this card makes sense for me.
April 23, 2006
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3 comments:
A great deal wrt to B&N is using their website and a program called Little Grad (www.littlegrad.com).
When you buy this way you get a quick 3% back into your savings account (520 or regular bank account). It adds up.... (esp. since they have all the big sites as part of their program.)
Just a thought! -- JaneL
I work at Barnes & Noble, and even with the great discount we get, sometimes the Member Card is a cheaper way to go (for example, when the TV box sets go on sale for Buy 2 get the 3rd free, we can NOT use our employee discount, but the members get the 10% off). So I do have a Member Card. I even have the Master Card, which I do not keep maxed out, I buy my books and then pay the bill promptly, but it's a great way to save an additional 5%.
When I opened my B&N Mastercard, I received the $25 gift card in the mail the following week. Low and behold, the week after that I received another one, and the week after that I received yet another one. $75 free at B&N. Not bad.
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