Every third product I search for has a check box coupon. Is there any downside to accepting those offers? Why not just list the item at the cheaper price?
The entity responsible for paying for that coupon could be Amazon, the manufacturer or the seller. I’m honestly not sure how it works on Amazon. I do know that some of the same people who create coupons for retailers are creating coupons on Amazon.
But thats the reason why there has to be effort involved. The entity liable wants to know that the coupon was the thing that pushed you over the edge to buy the product. People who would have bought it anyways generally don’t bother with the coupon.
There’s no downside. If you buy groceries online, or through an app and they have a coupon section, there’s nothing stopping you from clipping all of them. Even writing a script to clip them as they show up. And sometimes you get surprised and save some money.
Coupons are just marketing and are part of that budget. They are just there to influence which products you buy.
The entity liable wants to know that the coupon was the thing that pushed you over the edge to buy the product. People who would have bought it anyways generally don’t bother with the coupon.
I never knew the part about an entity separate from the seller being responsible for the coupons, interesting. But the second sentence I quoted is what I'm responding to. Coupons in brick-and-mortar stores may work like that, and I'm a good example of a person who rarely bothers with coupons if I'm already buying it. But in that case it takes pretty substantial effort to use the coupon. You have to keep track of it, often it's good for a specific time frame in the future....those coupons are a real pain. But Amazon coupons, where you just check the box? I use it every time it's offered. Whatever the entity is getting or learning from my use of coupons on Amazon is very different from usage in real life, and seems like a negligible gain.
abuse and psychological warfare: making more money off people who don’t notice the coupon, and making those who notice feel good about clicking on something.
An old man is selling watermelons. His pricelist reads: 1 for $3, 3 for $10
A young man stops by and asks to buy one watermelon. “That’d be 3 dollars”, says the old man.
The young man then buys another one, and another one, paying $3 for each.
As the young man is walking away, he turns around, grins, and says, “Hey old man, do you realize I just bought three watermelons for only $9? Maybe business is not your thing.”
The old man smiles and mumbles to himself, “People are funny. Every time they buy three watermelons instead of one, yet they keep trying to teach me how to do business…”
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