My name is Adam and I'm a Points-a-holic. Yeah, you heard me. I love earning points on any and all of my purchases. I think it all started with the original Discover Card. The more you charged, the more you received back in cash credits. Then I graduated to converting my charges into airline points that could be applied to domestic flights. When I finally worked my credit up to elite status, I moved into the in crowd with American Express.
And this was the best of all. I could convert points into gift cards or concert tickets. They even told me about ways to double my points. Seeing that my totals were actually getting me somewhere tangible, I now look for points anywhere I can find them.
This is what recently led me to signing up for a points program at Sephora. Well, maybe it wasn't all about the points. The cashier was cute, dressed in all black and very friendly. She also said that my purchases would accumulate with every purchase I made, and that I could eventually apply the to products in the store. I said, "why not?", and she asked for my email address to seal the deal.
And here's where a man's mind turns to silly putty when just the right female's asking for information. This mistake, which seemed so innocent at the time, has now made me a member of the Sephora Beauty Insider - an email newsletter for the latest product highlights at Sephora. In this era of Big Brother technology, I could only naturally assume that Sephora would have a historical track of my purchases, and send information on the different colognes I've purchased over the years.
Guess again. Thanks to the highly unsophisticated Sephora marketing team, I'm now getting the latest information on products I would use only for an enhancement to a Halloween costume. Thanks to Sephora, I'm now learning about exciting products like "face luminizer gel", "pore purifying strips", "glossy balm", and "self-tanning body mist." Nothing on cologne, or anything else that pertains to men. I would have even settled for insights into face and body wash. But no......I was stuck with face luminizer gel.
I should have really learned my lesson. All points programs are not created equal. Some are merely looking for your email address so they can blast you with email sensory overload. That's why you have to be selective. Signing up for Best Buy makes sense. Bath and Body Works? Not so much. The same rules apply for credit cards.
Go into any mall, and in any store, and if you agree to open a credit card with them, they extend a total discount of 10-15%. Before long, you realze that you're carrying around about 10 credit cards you don't need and you're suddenly on 10 new email lists that you'd like to delete before every opening them. One thing I know is that I'm not alone here.
Why do we all fall for these clearly obvious marketing tactics? Is it just to save money, or do we somehow boost our egos when either accumulate or apply points. It evokes a sense of arrogance. You become a Points Elitest or Points Snob. And you can't share these points and can only remain with you. So really, what's the point of all this?
It's something our Mothers all taught us a long, long time ago. Don't take candy from strangers.
