Barbara J. Hamby

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Greed Rears its Ugly Head

(Or is it just good marketing)

Grocery stores are reaching out to grab our “stimulus” checks. See who has the best offer before signing up. One will give you a gift card for the amount of your check plus 10%, one will add 15% to the value of the gift card, and another will give you cash with a discount coupon of 10% good for two days’ purchases and will run other “card specials.” Those are just the ads I’ve read so far.

Actually, it makes some sense to take advantage of one of these offers. Most of us will actually spend that much money on groceries in the near future and the gift card offers will insure that we spend the entire amount at one of their stores. The other offer will tempt us to spend at least some of it at the check-cashing store. Undoubtedly, the grocers figure it’s a win-win situation for them and their customers. If the merchants have figured out a way, other than their usual marketing ploys, to lure in those who had their stimulus checks directly deposited to their bank accounts, I haven’t heard about it yet.

I rarely read the department store ads so I don’t know what their schemes are. I have so much stuff already that I avoid shopping centers. The few things I need I can pick up locally at strip mall stores or order from catalogs. Catalog vendors offer discounts that at least make up for the cost of shipping and their prices are competitive. With the price of gasoline, eliminating or consolidating shopping trips makes sense.

Since I buy groceries with a debit card from a money market account, I can save what I usually spend if I purchase a grocery gift card and use it instead. In addition, I can spend the additional ten or fifteen per cent the store offers.  So all I have to figure out is which merchant makes the best offer. In effect, I’ll be saving $330. to $345., depending on the choice I make, rather than just the $300. the government is “giving” me. Not a bad deal. Of course, I’ll have to spend it all at one store. You don’t suppose those sneaky marketers will up their prices on staples this month to reimburse themselves for their largesse. If I had more time and more mathematical prowess, I’d try to figure that out.

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