“Coupon Caveats,” or, When the Sum of the Parts < The Whole

barnes[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.

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

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