The great Clubcard Deals fallacy... one to watch out for!

rachel_c_2008

Well, this isn't so much about what (not) to do as about mindset.......

I've noticed quite a bit lately that people - not just on here, but to a certain extent here too - sometimes fall into a logical trap regarding Clubcard Deals which can result in thinking you're getting a better deal than you are.

Basically there are two ways to look at Clubcard points/deals, and which one suits you depends on your situation. The issue is that you can't afford to think both ways at once, but sometimes people do it anyway.... I'm posting this in the hope that it will help my fellow money-savers to avoid the trap.

I'll try to illustrate what I mean with the help of my old friends Alice and Bob!

Position 1 - Alice always spends her Clubcard points on Deals, using them to pay for things that she would have bought anyway, like meals out locally.

Position 2 - Bob sometimes spends Clubcard points on Deals, and sometimes spends them in store (there aren't enough deals that he's interested in).

Situation 1 - Collecting Points

Around Christmas last year, there were some Christmas Puddings which cost 99p, and if you bought one then you got 25 points back. (This really happened - though Alice & Bob are fictional...)

Since Alice always spends her points as Deals, she can afford to multiply points through by four when she's shopping, and works out that she's getting a lot of free puddings (which will probably keep for years), so she buys a trolley load.

For Bob, however, although it's nice to get a rebate on the normal price, he just buys a couple to suit his family's needs for the year - something better might come along later.


Situation 2 - Spending Points on Deals

It's now time for Alice and Bob to renew their breakdown cover, and both log on to the Clubcard Deals website to look at the RAC offer.

Since Alice always spends all her points as Deals, a point is worth 4p. If she joins the RAC through Clubcard Deals she would be paying the full price of 57.00 (1425 points x 4p = 5700p) - and she can get RAC cover with a discount by going direct to the RAC site, or she might decide to go with a cheaper company like Green Flag. She'd be better of saving her points to pay for something where she can't get a non-Clubcard deal.

For Bob, however, a point is 'only' worth a penny, and so he can get basic breakdown cover for about 14.25 - a real bargain, even cheaper than the lowest level of Green Flag cover.

The Problem

Let's now join Chris, who's new to clubcards and hasn't thought this through in detail. At Christmas, Chris goes shopping with Alice and buys loads of puddings, believing Alice's argument that she was getting food for free.

She then logs on to the Tesco site to spend her points, and is thrilled to find that she can get RAC cover for 1425 points.

"I got a real bargain!" she tells her friends proudly. "Free puddings AND really cheap breakdown cover." But if the puddings were free (for Chris) then the RAC cover was full-price, and she's missed a trick.


I realise some people will read this and think it's obvious, and if you're one of those people, sorry for wasting your time! But I've heard a lot of people make this mistake, and I thought if I at least wrote up an example, then maybe it would help some people to avoid thinking in this way.

I hope it helps someone!

parahandy

I think I might need to read that a few times before it makes sense to me:p

Jazzycat

I'm not too sure on this one.


On your example you would have to buy 15 puddings to cover the RAC cover.

Total spent = £14.85

For £14.85 you would have 15 puddings & RAC cover for a year.
Pretty good bargain in my book!

mrs_pepperpot_3

i understand, i have a wine code 1000 points, ok, and i want 50.00 of wine, 18 bottles, not good stuff but good enough for cooking. so i reason this way
4 x1000 points is 40.00 and so 18 bottle actually cost me 10.00
i then use the points on n.e.c. vouchers as i home educate my daughter, but i realise tht i havent got something for nothing, mr T has either helped me with cheap wine.... or helped with n.e.c gcse course fees. not both.

mrs_pepperpot_3

but i couldnt of used the 1000 point code directly on nec vouchers as i ts specific to wine, and i was needing wine anyway.....

Woby_Tide

I've read it 3 times and still don't get it.....;)

penrhyn

I just used my Clubcard points to renew my RAC membership, but they havn't sent me any Christmas puddings.
I shall be emailing the MD of Tescos to complain, and demanding a extra large tub of brandy butter as well.
Merry Christmas to one and all. :beer:

minxtress

im none the wiser!!didnt get that at all.

cheeks

penrhyn wrote: »

I just used my Clubcard points to renew my RAC membership, but they havn't sent me any Christmas puddings.
I shall be emailing the MD of Tescos to complain, and demanding a extra large tub of brandy butter as well.
Merry Christmas to one and all. :beer:

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

morg_monster

I get where you are coming from OP. I've caught myself thinking in a similar way about Boots points (so no confusing x4 thing!):

I bought £70 worth of origins facial stuff, and with extra points for a total spend and other offers I managed to accumulate about 2000 advantage points. I was thinking of the points as an effective discount, so thought "Yay, got £70 worth of stuff for £50!". Fine.

Two weeks later I did a shop at Boots and paid with my advantage points, using almost all of them up. I thought "Yay, got £20 worth of stuff for free!". UH-UH (family fortunes noise).

Both of those statements can't be true. Either I saved £20 off the origins stuff, but didn't get the boots shopping free, Or I paid full price for the origins and got £20 of stuff in boots free. I only saved the £20 once.

Same with your example; you only get the "good deal" once - either you consider yourself to have saved 100% on the puddings and 0% on the RAC cover, or you consider yourself to have saved 75% on your RAC cover and 25% on the puddings. Is that right?! it is terribly confusing...

mrs_lds

rachel_c_2008 wrote: »

Well, this isn't so much about what (not) to do as about mindset.......

I've noticed quite a bit lately that people - not just on here, but to a certain extent here too - sometimes fall into a logical trap regarding Clubcard Deals which can result in thinking you're getting a better deal than you are.

Basically there are two ways to look at Clubcard points/deals, and which one suits you depends on your situation. The issue is that you can't afford to think both ways at once, but sometimes people do it anyway.... I'm posting this in the hope that it will help my fellow money-savers to avoid the trap.

I'll try to illustrate what I mean with the help of my old friends Alice and Bob!

Position 1 - Alice always spends her Clubcard points on Deals, using them to pay for things that she would have bought anyway, like meals out locally.

Position 2 - Bob sometimes spends Clubcard points on Deals, and sometimes spends them in store (there aren't enough deals that he's interested in).

Situation 1 - Collecting Points

Around Christmas last year, there were some Christmas Puddings which cost 99p, and if you bought one then you got 25 points back. (This really happened - though Alice & Bob are fictional...)

Since Alice always spends her points as Deals, she can afford to multiply points through by four when she's shopping, and works out that she's getting a lot of free puddings (which will probably keep for years), so she buys a trolley load.

For Bob, however, although it's nice to get a rebate on the normal price, he just buys a couple to suit his family's needs for the year - something better might come along later.


Situation 2 - Spending Points on Deals

It's now time for Alice and Bob to renew their breakdown cover, and both log on to the Clubcard Deals website to look at the RAC offer.

Since Alice always spends all her points as Deals, a point is worth 4p. If she joins the RAC through Clubcard Deals she would be paying the full price of 57.00 (1425 points x 4p = 5700p) - and she can get RAC cover with a discount by going direct to the RAC site, or she might decide to go with a cheaper company like Green Flag. She'd be better of saving her points to pay for something where she can't get a non-Clubcard deal.

For Bob, however, a point is 'only' worth a penny, and so he can get basic breakdown cover for about 14.25 - a real bargain, even cheaper than the lowest level of Green Flag cover.

The Problem

Let's now join Chris, who's new to clubcards and hasn't thought this through in detail. At Christmas, Chris goes shopping with Alice and buys loads of puddings, believing Alice's argument that she was getting food for free.

She then logs on to the Tesco site to spend her points, and is thrilled to find that she can get RAC cover for 1425 points.

"I got a real bargain!" she tells her friends proudly. "Free puddings AND really cheap breakdown cover." But if the puddings were free (for Chris) then the RAC cover was full-price, and she's missed a trick.


I realise some people will read this and think it's obvious, and if you're one of those people, sorry for wasting your time! But I've heard a lot of people make this mistake, and I thought if I at least wrote up an example, then maybe it would help some people to avoid thinking in this way.

I hope it helps someone!

please can you paraphrase this?