homemade blues

...THAT is the question.

I bought D two new books from MPH on Saturday, since we just finished the earlier book I got for him - Stories for 6 Year Olds. He's got a voracious appetite for books nowadays. I hope this lasts forever.

So there I was, at the counter, and the cashier asked me, "Do you have a member's card?"

I glanced at the sign on top of the cash register - Extra 10% off for members when you buy ANY children's book (or something to that effect) - and sighed glumly, thinking that we all could use an extra 10% off of everything, and answered, "No."

And while waiting for the cashier to scan the barcodes, I looked into my bulging purse, which already had every space available for cards filled, and wondered, do I really need another membership card?

I've already got membership cards for - let's see - the gym, a hypermart, a petrol station, a department store or two, a gift shop, a toy store, one book store that I hardly go to these days, several clothing boutiques, a golf club...

The ones in my purse are those I go to quite regularly, so I can get quite decent discounts and rebates or such. And I've also got another card holder for those cards that I don't go to so often, but would come in handy when I do. At the rate things are going, I may need another card holder.

Of course, the credit cards that I have also offer discounts or rebates at participating merchants, but I don't use the cards often nowadays (I'm trying!). And different retailers collaborate with different banks, anyway, so if I'm so desperate to get discounts, then I'd probably need a credit card from every bank in Malaysia.

And there are times that different credit cards offer different promotions from the same retailer. I tell you, it can be so very confusing.

I see the problem - every seller have their own terms and conditions on offering discounts, and members get the info on the latest promotions more effectively if it is managed by the sellers themselves. It's not that nobody came up with a solution to merge the retailers and offer one card for consumers to use - e.g. Bonuslink, Real Rewards.

But these are more on points collection, rather than discounts and rebates offers; the J card, however, offers both - points collection and discounts at participating retailers. If only you would remember to show the card to qualify for the discounts - I can never remember (!), and it would only occur to me when I read the card's newsletter or such. Of course, by then, it's only an afterthought.

Now, when people offer me membership cards, I would usually decline; my normal excuse is, "I don't have anymore space in my purse." And even if I'm tempted to, I would think of the form I would have to fill in, and the time to do so. I would also think of my details would be stored somewhere, and being on the receiving end of un-ending promotional messages on my handphone, as well as calls from unknown corporations offering me more discounts and/or rebates and business opportunities (!) - although I believe this is more from the credit cards...

So, no more membership cards. For now.

But...since I'm buying books more often, that extra 10% off would really save me a lot in the long run... Hmmm...