“Coupon Caveats,” or, When the Sum of the Parts < The Whole
[Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced.]
There may be valid reasons to buy an annual Barnes & Noble membership for $25.
But, the promised $50 in coupons isn’t one of them.
Free Freebie (for the Company)
That’s because the coupons come with two very big caveats: 1) there’s not one, $50 coupon; rather, there’s about a dozen — all apparently for $5 or less; and 2) there’s a minimum $50 purchase to use most (all?) of them.
Bottom line: assuming that the average Barnes & Noble purchase is around $25, the coupons are a “free” freebie from the company’s perspective.
For Barnes & Noble customers, meanwhile, they’re a bit of a “gotcha.”
P.S.: Add a couple zeroes, and you have the NFL players’ pension in a nutshell.
At least once upon a time, players’ pensions reportedly vested after 4 years in the league.
The average NFL career?
3.8 years.