massysett
join:2006-01-04
Silver Spring, MD
| reply to Matt
Re: Do any of these market types ever learn
It's exactly like what Transmaster is comparing it to. The advertisement would say that a computer bundle (monitor, printer, floppy disks and all) was, say, $599 "after $400 instant rebate." You had to sign up for 3 years of MSN right there in the store, at $25 a month. Who knows if Best Buy was really getting $400 from MSN, but without the MSN you would pay $400 extra. What difference does it make that the netbook retails for $399? Maybe now there will be "FREE" netbook if you sign up for 3 years of Verizon at $50 a month! No difference whatsoever. |
ReVeLaTeD
Premium
join:2001-11-10
San Diego, CA
| said by massysett  :It's exactly like what Transmaster is comparing it to. The advertisement would say that a computer bundle (monitor, printer, floppy disks and all) was, say, $599 "after $400 instant rebate." You had to sign up for 3 years of MSN right there in the store, at $25 a month. Who knows if Best Buy was really getting $400 from MSN, but without the MSN you would pay $400 extra. What difference does it make that the netbook retails for $399? Maybe now there will be "FREE" netbook if you sign up for 3 years of Verizon at $50 a month! No difference whatsoever. MSN did pay Best Buy the money...the issue was that they paid Best Buy money before the subscriber paid for the service, based on the presence of a credit card applied (authorized for $1) and a signature (which wasn't validated against anything).
I know this to be the case, because MSN went on a rampage trying to collect their money owed after the fact. Thousands of people were defrauding that system; it was a nightmare. You could get 5 prepaid cards, load at least $1 on each, and go to 5 different Best Buy stores and get a $400 gift card from each, instantly. $2,000 profit. I know guys who bought ultimate car audio systems, TVs, computers, etc. |
