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ポイントカードは本当にお得か
いつのまにか財布にたまるポイントカード。
しかしそれで得ができるのは、次回、同じ店で買い物をする場合に限られる。
昔ながらの単純な値引きとどちらがお得だろうか。
The point of points
My wallet is bulging, and unfortunately it's not with wads of those new, high-tech yen bills (So why did Fukuzawa Yukichi alone get a second term on his bill? And what's wrong with Higuchi Ichiyo's nose on the ¥5,000 bill? She looks better in the watermark!).
No, my wallet is fat with point cards, those little things that keep track of how much I've purchased at various stores. I've got cards for three different electronics shops, two camera stores, a movie theater, a bakery, a toy store and a tire shop. And that doesn't even count all the other, non-point cards I have to carry around daily, like those for two video-rental shops, a telephone card, my driver's license, my alien registration card, two bank ATM cards, and four credit cards (two for my business, and two for me).
So I've started saying no to salespeople who insist on trying to give me yet another point card. And a recent shopping experience in Tokyo has also convinced me that these point systems may not be as wonderful as they first seem.
I wanted a new digital camera so I looked at prices in the rural area of Tochigi where I live. The model I wanted was around ¥70,000. I had a trip to Shinjuku planned a few days later and figured I could probably get a better price at one of the many large electronics and camera shops there. How wrong I was! The same model was priced at about ¥80,000 everywhere. When I pointed this out to a salesperson at a well-known camera shop there, he explained that yes, while the cash price was higher, I would be getting 15 percent of my purchase back in points that I could use in their store, so the actual cost to me would be slightly less.
His explanation was only partly true, however. Indeed, if I decided to do all my camera shopping for the rest of my life in their store, it would be cheaper. But living 150 kilometers from Tokyo, I have no plans to do so. So I turned down their offer and purchased the camera back home in Tochigi.
And there's another savings option for consumers, too: Some major credit cards give you points for every purchase you make, regardless of where you use them! It's like a universal point card. Such points can be redeemed for gifts, travel and other bonuses. So it can make sense to use "plastic" even when you have cash available.
In these days of cutthroat competition, points may seem like a good way for stores to keep the customers coming back. But it's up to the consumer to remember that the money saved with a good old cash discount can be redeemed in any store in the world, plus you don't have to carry another darn card in your wallet!
Shukan ST: Dec. 24, 2004
(C) All rights reserved
- point
- 意味
- wallet
- 札入れ
- is bulging
- 膨らんでいる
- wads
- 束
- bills
- 紙幣
- get a second term
- 連続して使われる
- watermark
- 透かし模様
- is fat with 〜
- 〜で膨れ上がっている
- those little things that keep track of how much I've purchased at various stores
- いろいろな店でどれだけ買い物をしたかという情報を記録する小さなもの
- electronics shops
- 電気店
- that doesn't even count 〜
- 〜は数に入れていないのにその有様だ
- alien registration card
- 外国人登録証
- bank ATM cards
- 銀行のキャッシュカード
- (〜 has)convinced me that 〜
- 〜によって〜を確信した
- point systems
- ポイントカードの仕組み
- model
- 型
- had a trip to Shinjuku planned a few days later
- 2、3日後に新宿に行く予定があった
- figured 〜
- 〜と考えた
- was priced at 〜
- 〜の値段が付いていた
- pointed this out
- このことを指摘した
- cash price
- 現金価格
- be getting 15 percent of my purchase back in points
- お買い上げ価格の15パーセントをポイントで還元される
- be slightly less
- 少し安くなる
- turned down
- 断った
- savings
- 値引き
- regardless of 〜
- 〜にかかわらず
- universal
- どこでも使える
- can be redeemed for 〜
- 〜と交換できる
- bonuses
- 特典
- make sense to 〜
- 〜する意味がある
- plastic
- クレジットカード
- even when you have cash available
- 現金があるときでさえ
- cutthroat competition
- 激烈な競争
- it's up to 〜
- 〜次第だ
- money saved with a good old cash discount
- 昔ながらの現金ディスカウントで節約できたお金
- darn
- ろくでもない