Those Barnes & Noble Membership Cards

[Elodan]

Anyone have one of those? Everytime I go to buy something I always get asked if I want one, but I never am in the mood to drop an additional $25 to get one. Although it probably would end up helping me in the long run as I buy so much stuff from there.

I have one (as well as the Borders free one). Both my wife and I are readers and saved $56 on our purchases at B&N over the past year (we just renewed). 10% off a $7.00 book is $0.70; it adds up.

The discounts we get are what Steve Jung said.

The weekly coupons used to be more generic with a flat percent off one item (in addition to your existing discount) but they've become more specific lately. I do receive the generic ones every other month or so.


With Borders I get a weekly generic coupon. There are no discounts but I used to get a "shopping day" where I'd get 10% off everything you bought. They never told you until you hit the register, kind of annoying. I know they changed the reward thing a while back but I'm not sure what's involved now other than the week coupon.

 

[Merkuri]

I have a membership and enjoy it. I save about $60 a year, so the membership pays for itself, but we just eat up books here. I also have their credit card which gives me gift certificates when I spend so much money. I buy pretty much everything with that card and pay it off immediately, so basically I get B&N gift cards for free. I haven't had to pay for a D&D book in a few years.

And I believe they send a generic X% off coupon once a month. They send other coupons regularly, but they're usually more specific. The coupons are generally good for a week.

If you spend a lot on books and tend to shop at B&N, it's definitely worth it.

We have a Borders that's closer, but their D&D selection sucks.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

We have a Borders that's closer, but their D&D selection sucks.

Have you ever used the B&N card at Borders?

 

[Steve Jung]

No discounts without the coupon isn't worth it for me. I never understood how the personal shiopping day worked. And Borders are hard to find for me. My old Borders closed earlier this year, so there's only a Borders Express 12 miles away. I know of at least 3 B&Ns within my area.

 

[Ranger REG]

No discounts without the coupon isn't worth it for me. I never understood how the personal shiopping day worked. And Borders are hard to find for me. My old Borders closed earlier this year, so there's only a Borders Express 12 miles away. I know of at least 3 B&Ns within my area.

I may be considering using Borders.com, now that I have moved away from the metropolitan and back to my childhood home, where there is absolutely ZERO bookstore.

Did anyone tried Borders.com for ordering online?

 

[Merkuri]

No discounts without the coupon isn't worth it for me.

You do get discounts without the coupon. Somebody already mentioned, but you get 10% of paperbacks and even more off of hardcovers. That's a normal, everyday benefit to the card. The coupons are just extra.

If you buy more than 30 books in a year then the card will pay for itself, since you save about 80 cents per book (more if it's hardcover).

And no, I haven't tried using it at Borders.

 

[Wombat]

Having worked at Borders in the past and known people who work at B&N, I have discovered something.

Customers want a free program (like Border's) that gives an automatic discount (like B&N), but given how close of a margin even the big bookstores are running on, this would be unprofitable.

The corporate management would prefer a buy-in program (like B&N) where you have to print out a coupon and bring it in for a discount (like Border's), but this would grant very few discounts and annoys customers.

So each program is a compromise, one way or another.

 

[Ranger REG]

Having worked at Borders in the past and known people who work at B&N, I have discovered something.

Customers want a free program (like Border's) that gives an automatic discount (like B&N), but given how close of a margin even the big bookstores are running on, this would be unprofitable.

The corporate management would prefer a buy-in program (like B&N) where you have to print out a coupon and bring it in for a discount (like Border's), but this would grant very few discounts and annoys customers.

So each program is a compromise, one way or another.

Yeah, I'm sticking with Borders. At most, I only buy one book a week, and I'm hardly the kind of customer who follow the "mainstream" Bestseller list.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

I'm cheap. I have a Borders Reward card for free.

So, what's the benefit for paying the B&N membership card fee ... annually?

So do I. I don't see the need to drop $25 for a discount card where I'd have to buy a whole lotta books just to break even on it...

No clue to the benefits.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Borders Rewards is useless as far as I can tell. You don't get a discount, so what's the point?

Once a week I get an emailed coupon for anywhere from 20-30% off one item. And certain things you get an extra 10% off on the price. So, for those things, you get around 40% off rather than the 30% that nonmembers get.