The Hardware Man - Life Hacks
Last week, I promised a pop quiz, mostly in jest, but then got to thinking about it. Yes, let’s do it. Here’s how this will go. Stop by our store at, 201 Mercer Street, Clintonville, PA, and take our quiz at the counter. 5 easy questions, multiple choice and a bonus question about our previous articles. For every answer you get right, you get a dollar off a purchase that day, up to $5. Offer runs through September 26, which coincidentally is when our summer clearance sale ends. Terms and conditions apply. You know the drill.
So WIIFM? As a business, I want to see more new customers. Advertising and pricing attracts while availability and customer service retains. The offer of a discount is enticing. A coupon gives a metric of how many participated and everyone likes free money. But is there really a free lunch?
There have been some interesting promotions run over the years. Some of gargantuan proportions with high reward for those who decided to read those pesky terms and find a loophole. Here’s a few examples where the customer won.
David Phelps in 1999 cashed in on 1.2 million airline miles in exchange for $3,140 in pudding cups. Healthy Choice had a promotion where 1,000 miles were given in exchange for 10 UPC’s mailed in. Phelps was able to find 12,000 discount cups at $0.25 each, asked the food bank where he donated them to help him remove them and earned Lifetime Gold status with Delta.
Speaking of airline travel, in 1987, American Airlines offered an exclusive lifetime first class ticket for $250,000 in an effort to quickly raise funds during a cash crunch. Chicago stockbroker Steven Rothstein bought one, as well as a companion pass for $150,000. Over the course of his life, Rothstein took over 10,000 flights all over the world, worth over $21 million. He’d fly to Europe just for lunch and gift his companion pass to strangers. American Airlines canceled his pass in 2008. He sued them for breach of contract and the suit was eventually dismissed.
Pepsi had those infamous Pepsi Points in the 1990’s where you could collect and exchange for merchandise. One of their popular advertisements featured a Harrier Jet for 7 million Pepsi Points. A college student calculated that since points could be purchased for $0.10 each, he could buy a $37 million jet for a cool $700,000. John Leonard was able to raise funds with investors and sent a check to Pepsi, who rejected the request and called it a joke. Naturally, a legal battle ensued with Pepsi winning in 1999. They later re-released the advertisement with the jet now priced at 700 million Pepsi Points.
Today, many brands run ongoing promotions to capture and retain customers. Sheetz and GetGo offer 3 cents off fuel when you swipe your loyalty card. You can rack up points with purchases and redeem them for a myriad of items. Often, the discount offered is a trade-off for the company to better track and learn your buying habits. Just more privacy we gladly give up in exchange for a little savings. There was a time when I was getting lots of free fuel buying Staples gift cards at GetGo to buy necessary computer products at Staples and stacking their rewards for more free items. A little extra work shifting money earned nearly 25% in real dollar savings on things I was already purchasing.
When there are gaps, loopholes or areas for exploitation on corporate generosity that enterprising people take advantage of, we call them Life Hacks. We reviewed a few of them here. What’s the best life hack you discovered or used?
Daniel Karns and his wife own Clintonville Hardware & Rental along with other businesses. Join the discussion by contacting him at info@clintonvillehardware.com.
