Did anyone else make good use of the Rockler Visa card that earned
points toward purchases at Rockler? For some reason they ended the
program this month. Thanx to buying a college education for my son
with the card, I cashed in for a 'free' Leigh jig, Delta mortiser,
Oneway Talon chuck, Vega Fence, and an assortment of other items.
Could be a good gloat. I wonder why they ended the program.
Doug Miller wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>, "SteveC" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >. I wonder why they ended the program.
> >
> Because guys like you killed it?
>
No, it wasn't because guys like the OP killed the program. Rockler and
Mastercard get a percentage of every sale he charges. So they want him
to use the card for everything.
Naturally, Rockler and Mastercard are going to give him back less than
they are getting when he charges stuff. That's the point, to make a
profit off the program.. The rewards are just an incentive to get the
customer to use the card as much as possible.
In fact, the program was probably discontinued because there wasn't
enough people like the OP that charged everything. They need a certain
number of customers in order to pay the overhead, etc. I'm guessing the
card wasn't as popular as they hoped.
The card companies want you to charge everything on their card. Even if
you pay the balance off fully every month, they still make money.
Doug Miller wrote:
> Which is exactly what I meant when I suggested that guys like him killed it:
> that such usage forced them to realize that they had build their business
> model around some bad assumptions, and so they terminated the program before
> it could do them any more damage than it already had.
>
No disrespect Doug, I enjoy your posts. Don't take this personally, but
I worked for a credit card
issuer for quite a while. Trust me, they are thrilled if someone
charges 80k or whatever the OP
charged. The rewards system is set up so they can't possibly lose
money. I'm not familiar
with the Rockler system, but I can guarantee you the business model was
set up so they didn't
lose money when people cashed in their bonuses.
Most likely, the program was changed because some MBA at top figured it
wasn't profitable enough or
there wasn't enough customer participation to justify keeping it going.
(Probably the latter). I can
guarantee you that Rocker and Mastercard made a profit off the OP, even
if he paid all his bills on
time. That's the way credit cards work, they make money everytime you
charge something. The
store pays MasterCard a little bit of money for the privilledge of
letting customers use the card at
their store.
Prometheus wrote:
> On 23 Oct 2006 19:59:30 -0700, "SteveC" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Did anyone else make good use of the Rockler Visa card that earned
> >points toward purchases at Rockler? For some reason they ended the
> >program this month. Thanx to buying a college education for my son
> >with the card, I cashed in for a 'free' Leigh jig, Delta mortiser,
> >Oneway Talon chuck, Vega Fence, and an assortment of other items.
> >Could be a good gloat. I wonder why they ended the program.
>
> You bought your son a college education on a credit card? Why?
>
Because I could. I paid in installments without interest or penalties
or any hidden finance charges or premiums. They charged my visa card
monthly and I paid monthly.
> If you went with a different financing scheme, you probably could have
> got yourself the college, those tools, and a new car. Unless you've
> got something really nice worked out with the credit card company,
> that is.
>
> Or even better, let the boy pay student loan bills like most folks.
> Even if you made the payments for him, they're only 1-2% interest.
In article <[email protected]>, "SteveC" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Did anyone else make good use of the Rockler Visa card that earned
>points toward purchases at Rockler? For some reason they ended the
>program this month. Thanx to buying a college education for my son
>with the card, I cashed in for a 'free' Leigh jig, Delta mortiser,
>Oneway Talon chuck, Vega Fence, and an assortment of other items.
>Could be a good gloat. I wonder why they ended the program.
>
Because guys like you killed it?
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.
In article <[email protected]>, "bf" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>Doug Miller wrote:
>> Which is exactly what I meant when I suggested that guys like him killed it:
>> that such usage forced them to realize that they had build their business
>> model around some bad assumptions, and so they terminated the program before
>> it could do them any more damage than it already had.
>>
>
>No disrespect Doug, I enjoy your posts. Don't take this personally, but
>I worked for a credit card
>issuer for quite a while. Trust me, they are thrilled if someone
>charges 80k or whatever the OP
>charged. The rewards system is set up so they can't possibly lose
>money. I'm not familiar
>with the Rockler system, but I can guarantee you the business model was
>set up so they didn't
>lose money when people cashed in their bonuses.
>
>Most likely, the program was changed because some MBA at top figured it
>wasn't profitable enough or
>there wasn't enough customer participation to justify keeping it going.
>(Probably the latter). I can
>guarantee you that Rocker and Mastercard made a profit off the OP, even
>if he paid all his bills on
>time. That's the way credit cards work, they make money everytime you
>charge something. The
>store pays MasterCard a little bit of money for the privilledge of
>letting customers use the card at
>their store.
>
Thanks for the explanation.
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.
In article <[email protected]>, Bruce Barnett <[email protected]> wrote:
>[email protected] (Doug Miller) writes:
>
>> In article <[email protected]>, "SteveC"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>Did anyone else make good use of the Rockler Visa card that earned
>>>points toward purchases at Rockler? For some reason they ended the
>>>program this month. Thanx to buying a college education for my son
>>>with the card, I cashed in for a 'free' Leigh jig, Delta mortiser,
>>>Oneway Talon chuck, Vega Fence, and an assortment of other items.
>>>Could be a good gloat. I wonder why they ended the program.
>>>
>> Because guys like you killed it?
>
>With college costs of $20K a year, if Steve spent $80,000 using his
>Rockler-branded card, and got all that "free" material, it's not his
>fault that Rockler didn't make a profit. They're the ones who came up
>with the business model.
>
>If they expected that people with a Rockler card would ONLY use the
>card at Rockler's, that was a bad assumption to on Rockler's part.
>
Which is exactly what I meant when I suggested that guys like him killed it:
that such usage forced them to realize that they had build their business
model around some bad assumptions, and so they terminated the program before
it could do them any more damage than it already had.
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.
George Max <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> On 24 Oct 2006 09:40:52 -0700, "bf" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>I can
>>guarantee you that Rocker and Mastercard made a profit off the OP, even
>>if he paid all his bills on
>>time. That's the way credit cards work, they make money everytime you
>>charge something. The
>>store pays MasterCard a little bit of money for the privilledge of
>>letting customers use the card at
>>their store.
>
> O.K., they made money. Then why do I read elsewhere that CC issuers
> don't particularly like people that pay off each month (avoiding
> interest charges) and refer to those people as "deadbeats?"
>
> There was a recent story in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel where in
> the writer was looking to get an account with a very low interest
> rate, but was turned down when she revealed that she didn't have at
> least $2,500 to do a balance transfer to the new account.
>
> Sometimes I don't "get" the games they play.
Yes, We were deadbeats. We applied for a card issued by 'Shoprite', a not
too bad market in NY/NJ. We were refused the card for the reason that we
didn't maintain a high enough unpaid balance. Prior to that we had a
General Motors sponsored card. I forget the exact percentage that would
go towards the purchase of a GM car, but it was substantial. We charged
every thing we possibly could on that card; food, medical, two beers at a
time, etc. We even tried to charge our mortgage (didn't work). Being
deadbeats, we paid the full balance each month. We bought a '96
Bonneville and when after all the dikering was over, we presented the
dealer with the the $4800 credit we had from the card. He didn't blink an
eye, but said it was limited to $3500. He was correct so I used the
remainder for my truck a bit later.
The next year the credit card sponsor required a hefty fee for the card
and placed a fairly small limit on how much could go towards a car. Never
used the card after that.
These folks are not in business to help us. Their business is to make
money, pure and simple. Our business is to make our money buy as much as
it can, pure and simple. Do it to them if you can, if not they will do it
to you.
Somebody was losing money (ROI as not expected).
Hank (deadbeat)
On 23 Oct 2006 19:59:30 -0700, "SteveC" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Did anyone else make good use of the Rockler Visa card that earned
>points toward purchases at Rockler? For some reason they ended the
>program this month. Thanx to buying a college education for my son
>with the card, I cashed in for a 'free' Leigh jig, Delta mortiser,
>Oneway Talon chuck, Vega Fence, and an assortment of other items.
>Could be a good gloat. I wonder why they ended the program.
You bought your son a college education on a credit card? Why?
If you went with a different financing scheme, you probably could have
got yourself the college, those tools, and a new car. Unless you've
got something really nice worked out with the credit card company,
that is.
Or even better, let the boy pay student loan bills like most folks.
Even if you made the payments for him, they're only 1-2% interest.
On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 02:29:06 GMT, George Max
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On 23 Oct 2006 19:59:30 -0700, "SteveC" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Did anyone else make good use of the Rockler Visa card that earned
>>points toward purchases at Rockler? For some reason they ended the
>>program this month. Thanx to buying a college education for my son
>>with the card, I cashed in for a 'free' Leigh jig, Delta mortiser,
>>Oneway Talon chuck, Vega Fence, and an assortment of other items.
>>Could be a good gloat. I wonder why they ended the program.
>
>
>Woodcraft offers a VISA card now. I don't know if they have a cash
>back scheme for it. It'd be nice.
I just checked. 0% for a year on purchases and balance transfers for
the first 12 billing cycles, 1% back on non Woodcraft purchases, 4% on
purchases made at Woodcraft with it. And a $20 Woodcraft coupon sent
to you with your approved credit card.
Hey, I might be paraphrasing this a bit, I'm just reporting (mostly)
the information I found.
On 23 Oct 2006 19:59:30 -0700, "SteveC" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Did anyone else make good use of the Rockler Visa card that earned
>points toward purchases at Rockler? For some reason they ended the
>program this month. Thanx to buying a college education for my son
>with the card, I cashed in for a 'free' Leigh jig, Delta mortiser,
>Oneway Talon chuck, Vega Fence, and an assortment of other items.
>Could be a good gloat. I wonder why they ended the program.
Woodworker's Supply has a similiar program.
I hope they aren't planning on doing the same thing.
J. Coffey
On 23 Oct 2006 19:59:30 -0700, "SteveC" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Did anyone else make good use of the Rockler Visa card that earned
>points toward purchases at Rockler? For some reason they ended the
>program this month. Thanx to buying a college education for my son
>with the card, I cashed in for a 'free' Leigh jig, Delta mortiser,
>Oneway Talon chuck, Vega Fence, and an assortment of other items.
>Could be a good gloat. I wonder why they ended the program.
Woodcraft offers a VISA card now. I don't know if they have a cash
back scheme for it. It'd be nice.
On 24 Oct 2006 09:40:52 -0700, "bf" <[email protected]> wrote:
>I can
>guarantee you that Rocker and Mastercard made a profit off the OP, even
>if he paid all his bills on
>time. That's the way credit cards work, they make money everytime you
>charge something. The
>store pays MasterCard a little bit of money for the privilledge of
>letting customers use the card at
>their store.
O.K., they made money. Then why do I read elsewhere that CC issuers
don't particularly like people that pay off each month (avoiding
interest charges) and refer to those people as "deadbeats?"
There was a recent story in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel where in
the writer was looking to get an account with a very low interest
rate, but was turned down when she revealed that she didn't have at
least $2,500 to do a balance transfer to the new account.
Sometimes I don't "get" the games they play.
[email protected] (Doug Miller) writes:
> In article <[email protected]>, "SteveC" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>Did anyone else make good use of the Rockler Visa card that earned
>>points toward purchases at Rockler? For some reason they ended the
>>program this month. Thanx to buying a college education for my son
>>with the card, I cashed in for a 'free' Leigh jig, Delta mortiser,
>>Oneway Talon chuck, Vega Fence, and an assortment of other items.
>>Could be a good gloat. I wonder why they ended the program.
>>
> Because guys like you killed it?
With college costs of $20K a year, if Steve spent $80,000 using his
Rockler-branded card, and got all that "free" material, it's not his
fault that Rockler didn't make a profit. They're the ones who came up
with the business model.
If they expected that people with a Rockler card would ONLY use the
card at Rockler's, that was a bad assumption to on Rockler's part.
--
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