Consumer Bliss

[ladysprite]

I've never really been a brand-loyal person, at least when it comes to mass-produced goods. I shop at whatever grocery store is nearest and has the best-looking produce, I wear whatever clothes happen to fit and buy them at the store that's most convenient to get to, I buy gas at whatever station I'm driving past when my tank is running low.

But right now, Borders Books owns my soul.

They've found a way to break through my natural defenses and woo me to their side in perpetuity, to the point that (aside from my unstoppable trips to small-business secondhand bookstores, which will only stop when I'm cold and dead) I'm highly unlikely to ever buy books anywhere else.

Their cunning plan for doing this started with, simply enough, free books. Their spiffy little frequent-buyer card saves up all the purchases you make, and gives you store credit at the end of the year. So I signed up for it several months ago, figuring that anything that earns me free books couldn't be all bad.

Then I started getting coupons. 10% off all items one day, 30% off any one item another time. And they gave me a free cookie on my birthday - a treat I haven't gotten since I turned seven. And apparently, if they don't give you your free goodie fast enough for the supervisor to be happy, you get free cocoa, too. And then, if you're nice to the checkout girl when you're using your 15% off coupon, you get another 40% off coupon. Plus more free books from all the money you're spending on your discounted books.

All of this is made even better by the fact that they've opened up a new Super Giant Borders fairly close to my house, with an extra-large F&SF section full of books and authors I haven't been able to find anywhere else.....

I'm perceptive enough to realize the false economy here - I know that I wind up spending more money on books overall, and that they're only being nice to me because I spend my money there. On the other hand, I've finally reached a point where I'm financially stable enough to buy paperback novels without deciding between that and dinner, and they make me happy. And if I have the option and the ability to spend half again as much money to get twice as many books, I might as well take it.

Now I have a new Jane Lindskold novel to add to my ever-burgeoning To-Read pile, and a list of other books to pick up when I cash in my Free Stuff credit. I am a happy little brand-loyal consumer addict.

Comments

[suzilem.livejournal.com]

Remember -- you only have until December 31 to cash in this year's credit! (I cashed in mine on Tuesday) :-)

[madamruppy.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, they own me too, and have for a long time. This is a source of frustration for my boss at the bookstore where I work. Why don't I buy here (our store)? Becuase I buy it when I see it, oh and I had to go to use the coupon etc. Oh yeah, I'm their bitch.

[tafkad.livejournal.com]

The one nearest my house also has karaoke night!

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

I first encountered Borders in San Francisco, and I loved the concept. They get 90% of my non-Amazon book spend.... This christmas, I asked one of the assistants where a book was, he looked it up and followed me up to look at it to, and to question in more detail whether it would do for one of his presents. Nice to find people who aren't totally brain-dead in pre-christmas retail.

queenortart once defined well-off as "being able to buy all the books I want without having to worry about whether I can afford them". Consequently we have a house stuffed full of books, but I like the definition - purchase comfort in what you care about....

[pagawne.livejournal.com]

As I recall, you also like mysteries. I found an author who is just plain fun. Donna Andrews. "Murder with Puffins", Murder with Peacocks", and on and on.

[jiggliusceasar.livejournal.com]

They own my soul too. In a ocuple weeks, when I need to pick up Harry Potter 4 and Pirates of the Caribbean 2, I'll be there, wondering which thidr and fourth DVD I egt (so the last one is free)...

[hermitgeecko.livejournal.com]

Which Jane Lindskold novel? Changer was a big favorite of mine.