Yeah, what an asshole. I mean, here I am reading the fine print and seeing I have to spend $300 with no mention in the OP that the PS3 can, in fact, be that purchase, and I'm wary of a credit card company and a company not known for making great decisions lately.
My wife and I were planning on getting a PS3 this year anyway, so even if, for what ever reason, the $150 credit didn't come through, I wouldn't be out much more than we were planning anyway.
Thanks, that little insult is really making me think of you as more than just a jackass.
Also, this is the whole reason I was wary. Regardless of what I needed to buy, it doesn't specify whether or not the PS3 was the "Over $299 purchase" or not, and the OP made it sound like, again, it was just a rebate after buying a PS3 AND $300 worth of Sony stuff.
Good fuck
It's hard to believe that you're actually serious and not trolling
Pheezer on
IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Okay! It's well established that you can, indeed, buy a PS3 for $350. Let's move on!
To, say, why the 60Gb PS3 would be a great thing to have at $350.
From what I'm reading, the features on the 60 Gb include:
--Wifi g/b support
--Memory Stick/SD/CompactFlash Slots
--The Emotion Engine chip (hardware > software emulation for playing PS2 games)
These features are not universal to all PS3s, and in the case of the EE chip, are set to be dropped in the future. So getting this right now, before Sony starts downgrading future versions, is a good idea, yes?
Now, I've gotta confess that I'm primarily a PC gamer, but I do have a tele-vision and sometimes enjoy viewing images upon this device. So in spite of the PS3 library currently -- uh, how to state this diplomatically? -- sucking, an argument for buying it anyway would be:
--having it upscale my current DVD library (does this really work as well as advertised?)
--watching the Bleu-Rae movies in the High Definition
--playing the amazingly awesome PS2 library (see EE chip, above)
--viewing digital camera images on my TV via the SD slot (?)
--surfing the various internets from my couch (assuming I get a wireless keyboard, right?)
--uh... heating up my living room in the wintertime?
Am I missing anything? Like other posters here, I've got to get this purchase request past the wife's Ministry of Not Buying Dumb Shit and anything over $20 seems to raise a red flag. She's definitely gonna know I'm trying to get away with something what with the word "Play" emblazoned right on the box, so I need to have a pretty compelling argument. Like, can I upload family pictures to Snapfish or something? She'd jump at that.
did anyone see if the sony card thing is available in canada with the same deal?
Doesn't look like it. Seems us Canadians get the good ol' technology shaft again.
The entire website seems American-only, there aren't any of this specific Sony stores in Canada, and the credit card application only allows American addresses. So I'm fairly certain that means we're S.O.L.
If this deal lasts the format war, and Blu-Ray wins, I'd be inclined to buy a ps3 for $350. As it stands, it's not good enough as a game system yet to warrant the money, and might just be useless as a media player if HD DVD wins.
I might be more tempted if I already had or didn't want a 360.
If this deal lasts the format war, and Blu-Ray wins, I'd be inclined to buy a ps3 for $350. As it stands, it's not good enough as a game system yet to warrant the money, and might just be useless as a media player if HD DVD wins.
I might be more tempted if I already had or didn't want a 360.
My impression for the past several months has been that Bluray had built a pretty reliable advantage in the format war, mostly by virtue of having more content producers on board than HD-DVD does. In any case, there's enough Bluray support out there that I'm comfortable paying $400 for a Bluray player secure in the knowledge that the format won't suddenly disappear in the immediate future.
Is that it? The OP makes it sound like it's some Sony specific deal and throws around that "OMG SONY IS TOTALLY GIVING YOU A GREAT DEAL ON THE PS3"
If it's good for a $300 purchase(or $300 IN purchases), I can just gas up my car, buy dinner for my friends and then...
...
That's a $100 Wii.
*Rubs chin*
Hey, you use it for YOUR super expensive shit, and I'll use it for my mildly expensive shit
Okay, I see what's getting you.
You need to buy $300 worth of stuff *AT THE SONY STYLE STORE*.
That's the catch - and that's why you can't use this for dinner and gas.
I would be highly surprised if it were even possible to use a Sony Card anyplace but on Sony's website and at their Sony Style stores.
I have absolutely no interest in the PS3 at the moment, but I'm going to see if there are any Sony HDTVs that are priced reasonably low enough that this offer would be worth my while.
Edit: Then again, it is a Visa card, so maybe you can use it elsewhere. I thought it was a proprietary card owned by Sony. *shrug*
"Have to keep the card for 3 years and charges you $50 a year" type of credit cards? There has to be some kind of downside or some way Sony makes their money back from YOU for signing up for this. I wanna do it, but I'm just so damn skeptical right now.
"Have to keep the card for 3 years and charges you $50 a year" type of credit cards? There has to be some kind of downside or some way Sony makes their money back from YOU for signing up for this. I wanna do it, but I'm just so damn skeptical right now.
Uh... presumably they expect to make money the same way ALL credit cards do: interest.
Hrm. I've found something new to go "lol sony" about: Their shitty, shitty website.
Sony Style has a grand total of three desktop models available for purchase. Three.
Their TV selection is somewhat better, but it's restricted almost entirely to their Bravia line of flat-panel HDTVs.
Why on fucking earth does Sony's own direct-purchase website have such a small selection of Sony products?
This happens on more than a few sites. I remember trying to get stuff off of Gap.com once and they barely had anything that was 33/30, but an amazing selection of "tall" stuff. I think the intention (at least for Gap) is to drive you to a store to make secondary purchases. In the case of Sony, they might have cut deals with retailers that limited their ability to directly sell certain items.
I would be highly surprised if it were even possible to use a Sony Card anyplace but on Sony's website and at their Sony Style stores.
All branded cards are really just a Visa (or Amex or whatever) with a related "bonus." Usually the terms are worse, though.
"Have to keep the card for 3 years and charges you $50 a year" type of credit cards? There has to be some kind of downside or some way Sony makes their money back from YOU for signing up for this. I wanna do it, but I'm just so damn skeptical right now.
Uh... presumably they expect to make money the same way ALL credit cards do: interest.
Credit card companies actually make their main money off of selling your information smart ass.
I ask this, because a lot of companies do things like that" Fine print says you got to keep it for X amount of years and the card cost you like 30-50 a year to even keep.
"Have to keep the card for 3 years and charges you $50 a year" type of credit cards? There has to be some kind of downside or some way Sony makes their money back from YOU for signing up for this. I wanna do it, but I'm just so damn skeptical right now.
It's no annual fee - it's just a regular credit card. They expect to make money due to you carrying a balance and paying them interest on it. If you just make the one purchase and pay it off, there's no hidden catch in the fine print.
They just expect that human nature will generally win out, and that people won't just make one purchase, or won't pay the entire thing off.
I would be highly surprised if it were even possible to use a Sony Card anyplace but on Sony's website and at their Sony Style stores.
All branded cards are really just a Visa (or Amex or whatever) with a related "bonus." Usually the terms are worse, though.
Not "all" cards are. Fry's Electronics' is not, for instance. Home Depot's isn't. A company I briefly worked for (which is now out of business), House2Home, had a card which was not.
That is, in fact, the entire reason those stores have their own credit cards. Credit card companies charge stores a huge amount to carry out transactions on their cards. Having their own in-house credit card is an attempt to mitigate this. If Home Depot's customers use their Home Depot card for their purchase instead of Visa, then Home Depot gets 100% of the profit instead of 75% or whatever.
Probably the only reason this deal even exists is because SonyStyle and the Playstation division split the loss on the sale.
I mean, it's pretty obvious that Sony isn't making any money on selling 60GB EE PS3's for $350.
While I cant say for sure, I'd say that the Playstation division loses nothing on this deal. Sonystyle is offereing this for any purchase over $300, not just PS3 purchases, so they are probably eating the cost themselves (or they may split the loss with the issuing bank, Chase). While this may seem like this is inconsequential, Sony does not want to be posting records of even more losses in the Playstation division, its already hemorrhaging money enough as it is. Also, a lot of corporations do not own or operate their "official stores". Often they are franchised or run by a third party, such as Commerce5.
wasted life on
Now Playing: Picross (DS), Phantom Hourglass (DS), GOD HAND (PS2), No More Heroes (Wii) My Backlog Super Saver Comics!
Credit card companies actually don't make the bulk of their money off of the interest. What they get is a small fee from the retailer everytime a purchase is made with one of their cards. This is one of the reasons you see store-specific cards: that fee doesn't get paid if it's the store's card. That's why Target pushes Target cards.
EDIT - My experience with the cards is that companies want them to be used generally. Target and Lowe's, for example, are general-use. I've never seen the policies on Fry's (don't have any around me), but I'm surprised to hear Home Depot is like that.
Credit card companies actually make their main money off of selling your information smart ass.
I seriously doubt they make their [sic] "main money" that way, but even if they do, it's not as if anything's stopping Sony/Visa from doing that with this card.
"Have to keep the card for 3 years and charges you $50 a year" type of credit cards? There has to be some kind of downside or some way Sony makes their money back from YOU for signing up for this. I wanna do it, but I'm just so damn skeptical right now.
Uh... presumably they expect to make money the same way ALL credit cards do: interest.
Credit card companies actually make their main money off of selling your information smart ass.
I ask this, because a lot of companies do things like that" Fine print says you got to keep it for X amount of years and the card cost you like 30-50 a year to even keep.
No, that's really not their primary income stream. There may be some minor income in this, but the majority of their income comes from interest.
I've consulted for major financial companies before. If *their executives* think that their income is coming from interest, that's probably where it's coming from.
Credit card companies actually don't make the bulk of their money off of the interest. What they get is a small fee from the retailer everytime a purchase is made with one of their cards. This is one of the reasons you see store-specific cards: that fee doesn't get paid if it's the store's card. That's why Target pushes Target cards.
I know that, but that has nothing to do with the consumer, and besides, I seriously doubt Sony would charge Sony (although since it's a Visa-linked card, no doubt Visa is charging Sony).
Credit card companies actually don't make the bulk of their money off of the interest. What they get is a small fee from the retailer everytime a purchase is made with one of their cards. This is one of the reasons you see store-specific cards: that fee doesn't get paid if it's the store's card. That's why Target pushes Target cards.
EDIT - My experience with the cards is that companies want them to be used generally. Target and Lowe's, for example, are general-use. I've never seen the policies on Fry's (don't have any around me), but I'm surprised to hear Home Depot is like that.
That's true also. It's a combination of fees and interest income, really.
That's also why stores frequently have a minimum purchase amount before they'll let you charge it.
Credit card companies actually don't make the bulk of their money off of the interest. What they get is a small fee from the retailer everytime a purchase is made with one of their cards. This is one of the reasons you see store-specific cards: that fee doesn't get paid if it's the store's card. That's why Target pushes Target cards.
I know that, but that has nothing to do with the consumer, and besides, I seriously doubt Sony would charge Sony (although since it's a Visa-linked card, no doubt Visa is charging Sony).
Credit card companies actually don't make the bulk of their money off of the interest. What they get is a small fee from the retailer everytime a purchase is made with one of their cards. This is one of the reasons you see store-specific cards: that fee doesn't get paid if it's the store's card. That's why Target pushes Target cards.
I know that, but that has nothing to do with the consumer, and besides, I seriously doubt Sony would charge Sony (although since it's a Visa-linked card, no doubt Visa is charging Sony).
The card being a Visa actually means that Visa owns the network.
Visa isn't actually lending anyone money - they're just charging a small fee to any transaction occuring over their network, and acting as a huge bookkeeper.
Credit card companies actually don't make the bulk of their money off of the interest. What they get is a small fee from the retailer everytime a purchase is made with one of their cards. This is one of the reasons you see store-specific cards: that fee doesn't get paid if it's the store's card. That's why Target pushes Target cards.
EDIT - My experience with the cards is that companies want them to be used generally. Target and Lowe's, for example, are general-use. I've never seen the policies on Fry's (don't have any around me), but I'm surprised to hear Home Depot is like that.
That's true also. It's a combination of fees and interest income, really.
That's also why stores frequently have a minimum purchase amount before they'll let you charge it.
Personally, I've pretty much never seen minimum purchase amounts except in gas stations, some fast food franchises, and small, locally-owned stores.
Credit card companies actually don't make the bulk of their money off of the interest. What they get is a small fee from the retailer everytime a purchase is made with one of their cards. This is one of the reasons you see store-specific cards: that fee doesn't get paid if it's the store's card. That's why Target pushes Target cards.
EDIT - My experience with the cards is that companies want them to be used generally. Target and Lowe's, for example, are general-use. I've never seen the policies on Fry's (don't have any around me), but I'm surprised to hear Home Depot is like that.
That's true also. It's a combination of fees and interest income, really.
That's also why stores frequently have a minimum purchase amount before they'll let you charge it.
Personally, I've pretty much never seen minimum purchase amounts except in gas stations, some fast food franchises, and small, locally-owned stores.
I imagine chains go on the % model, but I'm not sure if smaller operations are always able. That said, I don't think I've ever encountered a minumum fee.
"Have to keep the card for 3 years and charges you $50 a year" type of credit cards? There has to be some kind of downside or some way Sony makes their money back from YOU for signing up for this. I wanna do it, but I'm just so damn skeptical right now.
It's no annual fee - it's just a regular credit card. They expect to make money due to you carrying a balance and paying them interest on it. If you just make the one purchase and pay it off, there's no hidden catch in the fine print.
They just expect that human nature will generally win out, and that people won't just make one purchase, or won't pay the entire thing off.
Damn, how long does this deal run cause if i can score a PS3 for $350... why the hell not!?
Credit card companies actually don't make the bulk of their money off of the interest. What they get is a small fee from the retailer everytime a purchase is made with one of their cards. This is one of the reasons you see store-specific cards: that fee doesn't get paid if it's the store's card. That's why Target pushes Target cards.
EDIT - My experience with the cards is that companies want them to be used generally. Target and Lowe's, for example, are general-use. I've never seen the policies on Fry's (don't have any around me), but I'm surprised to hear Home Depot is like that.
That's true also. It's a combination of fees and interest income, really.
That's also why stores frequently have a minimum purchase amount before they'll let you charge it.
Personally, I've pretty much never seen minimum purchase amounts except in gas stations, some fast food franchises, and small, locally-owned stores.
It's not that common anymore. Lots of local restaurants have $10 minimums here in NYC - then again, we have fewer large chains here, and the large chains tend to have no minimums.
"Have to keep the card for 3 years and charges you $50 a year" type of credit cards? There has to be some kind of downside or some way Sony makes their money back from YOU for signing up for this. I wanna do it, but I'm just so damn skeptical right now.
It's no annual fee - it's just a regular credit card. They expect to make money due to you carrying a balance and paying them interest on it. If you just make the one purchase and pay it off, there's no hidden catch in the fine print.
They just expect that human nature will generally win out, and that people won't just make one purchase, or won't pay the entire thing off.
Damn, how long does this deal run cause if i can score a PS3 for $350... why the hell not!?
You need to get the card before August 30th, but can wait on the purchase until November 30th.
"Have to keep the card for 3 years and charges you $50 a year" type of credit cards? There has to be some kind of downside or some way Sony makes their money back from YOU for signing up for this. I wanna do it, but I'm just so damn skeptical right now.
It's no annual fee - it's just a regular credit card. They expect to make money due to you carrying a balance and paying them interest on it. If you just make the one purchase and pay it off, there's no hidden catch in the fine print.
They just expect that human nature will generally win out, and that people won't just make one purchase, or won't pay the entire thing off.
Damn, how long does this deal run cause if i can score a PS3 for $350... why the hell not!?
You need to get the card before August 30th, but can wait on the purchase until November 30th.
And the purchase must be from a Sony store correct?
This sounds like some fun financial trckery though. "Wow, look at those PS3 numbers in the US! We're selling a ton of them. No, no, don't look at those numbers from the Sony Store division. We'll just put those losses out of sight. I mean, PS3 is selling for $500!"
I'm still waiting for approval, but I'm pretty darn sure I'll have a PS3 soon.
Fuck. I was not expecting this. Now I have to pay attention to PS3 news and shit. I don't know if I'll buy any games for a while. My 360 has first crack at my wallet.
Credit card companies actually don't make the bulk of their money off of the interest. What they get is a small fee from the retailer everytime a purchase is made with one of their cards. This is one of the reasons you see store-specific cards: that fee doesn't get paid if it's the store's card. That's why Target pushes Target cards.
EDIT - My experience with the cards is that companies want them to be used generally. Target and Lowe's, for example, are general-use. I've never seen the policies on Fry's (don't have any around me), but I'm surprised to hear Home Depot is like that.
That's true also. It's a combination of fees and interest income, really.
That's also why stores frequently have a minimum purchase amount before they'll let you charge it.
Personally, I've pretty much never seen minimum purchase amounts except in gas stations, some fast food franchises, and small, locally-owned stores.
It's not that common anymore. Lots of local restaurants have $10 minimums here in NYC - then again, we have fewer large chains here, and the large chains tend to have no minimums.
i'm too lazy to look it up right now but i'm pretty sure minimum purchase amounts are against the merchant agreement companies have to sign to be able to take visa. So small locally owned businesses have pretty much nothing to worry about since theres a very, very small chance visa would actually receive enough customer complaints to take notice and cut their agreement, giant nation spanning chains on the other hand get alot more customers, which could equal alot more complaints..and its no trouble to them to eat the small costs on small purchases on top of that as already mentioned
Credit card companies actually don't make the bulk of their money off of the interest. What they get is a small fee from the retailer everytime a purchase is made with one of their cards. This is one of the reasons you see store-specific cards: that fee doesn't get paid if it's the store's card. That's why Target pushes Target cards.
EDIT - My experience with the cards is that companies want them to be used generally. Target and Lowe's, for example, are general-use. I've never seen the policies on Fry's (don't have any around me), but I'm surprised to hear Home Depot is like that.
That's true also. It's a combination of fees and interest income, really.
That's also why stores frequently have a minimum purchase amount before they'll let you charge it.
Personally, I've pretty much never seen minimum purchase amounts except in gas stations, some fast food franchises, and small, locally-owned stores.
It's not that common anymore. Lots of local restaurants have $10 minimums here in NYC - then again, we have fewer large chains here, and the large chains tend to have no minimums.
i'm too lazy to look it up right now but i'm pretty sure minimum purchase amounts are against the merchant agreement companies have to sign to be able to take visa. So small locally owned businesses have pretty much nothing to worry about since theres a very, very small chance visa would actually receive enough customer complaints to take notice and cut their agreement, giant nation spanning chains on the other hand get alot more customers, which could equal alot more complaints..and its no trouble to them to eat the small costs on small purchases on top of that as already mentioned
Im pretty sure minimal charges are against the terms as well, visa dosent like it when you tell people of their exclusive club that they arent welcome becasue of the size of their wallets. Now does this mean it dosent happen? no. I want to throw a hissy fit in a store when I see it though and they try to push it.
Credit card companies actually don't make the bulk of their money off of the interest. What they get is a small fee from the retailer everytime a purchase is made with one of their cards. This is one of the reasons you see store-specific cards: that fee doesn't get paid if it's the store's card. That's why Target pushes Target cards.
EDIT - My experience with the cards is that companies want them to be used generally. Target and Lowe's, for example, are general-use. I've never seen the policies on Fry's (don't have any around me), but I'm surprised to hear Home Depot is like that.
That's true also. It's a combination of fees and interest income, really.
That's also why stores frequently have a minimum purchase amount before they'll let you charge it.
Personally, I've pretty much never seen minimum purchase amounts except in gas stations, some fast food franchises, and small, locally-owned stores.
It's not that common anymore. Lots of local restaurants have $10 minimums here in NYC - then again, we have fewer large chains here, and the large chains tend to have no minimums.
i'm too lazy to look it up right now but i'm pretty sure minimum purchase amounts are against the merchant agreement companies have to sign to be able to take visa. So small locally owned businesses have pretty much nothing to worry about since theres a very, very small chance visa would actually receive enough customer complaints to take notice and cut their agreement, giant nation spanning chains on the other hand get alot more customers, which could equal alot more complaints..and its no trouble to them to eat the small costs on small purchases on top of that as already mentioned
That makes sense.
I know I just ordered pizza from a place that doesn't allow credit card orders for amounts under $20 - but the chances I'll be annoyed enough at this to complain? Not likely.
Of course, the reason the merchants try to do this is the transaction fee...
I wouldnt want one. Even though it has the advantage of the PS2 HW being inside at this point, there are too many things it will be lacking that will be supplied through future revisions to make me want to get a first year unit.
Hell, they've already admitted the sixaxis is getting updated
I wouldnt want one. Even though it has the advantage of the PS2 HW being inside at this point, there are too many things it will be lacking that will be supplied through future revisions to make me want to get a first year unit.
Hell, they've already admitted the sixaxis is getting updated
Hey, it's still a PS2/Bluray player for $350! That's not a bad deal.
Posts
My wife and I were planning on getting a PS3 this year anyway, so even if, for what ever reason, the $150 credit didn't come through, I wouldn't be out much more than we were planning anyway.
Good fuck
It's hard to believe that you're actually serious and not trolling
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
To, say, why the 60Gb PS3 would be a great thing to have at $350.
From what I'm reading, the features on the 60 Gb include:
--Wifi g/b support
--Memory Stick/SD/CompactFlash Slots
--The Emotion Engine chip (hardware > software emulation for playing PS2 games)
These features are not universal to all PS3s, and in the case of the EE chip, are set to be dropped in the future. So getting this right now, before Sony starts downgrading future versions, is a good idea, yes?
Now, I've gotta confess that I'm primarily a PC gamer, but I do have a tele-vision and sometimes enjoy viewing images upon this device. So in spite of the PS3 library currently -- uh, how to state this diplomatically? -- sucking, an argument for buying it anyway would be:
--having it upscale my current DVD library (does this really work as well as advertised?)
--watching the Bleu-Rae movies in the High Definition
--playing the amazingly awesome PS2 library (see EE chip, above)
--viewing digital camera images on my TV via the SD slot (?)
--surfing the various internets from my couch (assuming I get a wireless keyboard, right?)
--uh... heating up my living room in the wintertime?
Am I missing anything? Like other posters here, I've got to get this purchase request past the wife's Ministry of Not Buying Dumb Shit and anything over $20 seems to raise a red flag. She's definitely gonna know I'm trying to get away with something what with the word "Play" emblazoned right on the box, so I need to have a pretty compelling argument. Like, can I upload family pictures to Snapfish or something? She'd jump at that.
My thanks in advance.
Doesn't look like it. Seems us Canadians get the good ol' technology shaft again.
The entire website seems American-only, there aren't any of this specific Sony stores in Canada, and the credit card application only allows American addresses. So I'm fairly certain that means we're S.O.L.
I might be more tempted if I already had or didn't want a 360.
My impression for the past several months has been that Bluray had built a pretty reliable advantage in the format war, mostly by virtue of having more content producers on board than HD-DVD does. In any case, there's enough Bluray support out there that I'm comfortable paying $400 for a Bluray player secure in the knowledge that the format won't suddenly disappear in the immediate future.
You just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake
Shiren FC: 3093-6912-1542
I have absolutely no interest in the PS3 at the moment, but I'm going to see if there are any Sony HDTVs that are priced reasonably low enough that this offer would be worth my while.
Edit: Then again, it is a Visa card, so maybe you can use it elsewhere. I thought it was a proprietary card owned by Sony. *shrug*
like others said, I'll just pay it off quickly and then never touch it again.
seems like its legit.
Sony Style has a grand total of three desktop models available for purchase. Three.
Their TV selection is somewhat better, but it's restricted almost entirely to their Bravia line of flat-panel HDTVs.
Why on fucking earth does Sony's own direct-purchase website have such a small selection of Sony products?
"Have to keep the card for 3 years and charges you $50 a year" type of credit cards? There has to be some kind of downside or some way Sony makes their money back from YOU for signing up for this. I wanna do it, but I'm just so damn skeptical right now.
Uh... presumably they expect to make money the same way ALL credit cards do: interest.
This happens on more than a few sites. I remember trying to get stuff off of Gap.com once and they barely had anything that was 33/30, but an amazing selection of "tall" stuff. I think the intention (at least for Gap) is to drive you to a store to make secondary purchases. In the case of Sony, they might have cut deals with retailers that limited their ability to directly sell certain items.
All branded cards are really just a Visa (or Amex or whatever) with a related "bonus." Usually the terms are worse, though.
Credit card companies actually make their main money off of selling your information smart ass.
I ask this, because a lot of companies do things like that" Fine print says you got to keep it for X amount of years and the card cost you like 30-50 a year to even keep.
It's no annual fee - it's just a regular credit card. They expect to make money due to you carrying a balance and paying them interest on it. If you just make the one purchase and pay it off, there's no hidden catch in the fine print.
They just expect that human nature will generally win out, and that people won't just make one purchase, or won't pay the entire thing off.
You just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake
Shiren FC: 3093-6912-1542
Not "all" cards are. Fry's Electronics' is not, for instance. Home Depot's isn't. A company I briefly worked for (which is now out of business), House2Home, had a card which was not.
That is, in fact, the entire reason those stores have their own credit cards. Credit card companies charge stores a huge amount to carry out transactions on their cards. Having their own in-house credit card is an attempt to mitigate this. If Home Depot's customers use their Home Depot card for their purchase instead of Visa, then Home Depot gets 100% of the profit instead of 75% or whatever.
While I cant say for sure, I'd say that the Playstation division loses nothing on this deal. Sonystyle is offereing this for any purchase over $300, not just PS3 purchases, so they are probably eating the cost themselves (or they may split the loss with the issuing bank, Chase). While this may seem like this is inconsequential, Sony does not want to be posting records of even more losses in the Playstation division, its already hemorrhaging money enough as it is. Also, a lot of corporations do not own or operate their "official stores". Often they are franchised or run by a third party, such as Commerce5.
My Backlog
Super Saver Comics!
EDIT - My experience with the cards is that companies want them to be used generally. Target and Lowe's, for example, are general-use. I've never seen the policies on Fry's (don't have any around me), but I'm surprised to hear Home Depot is like that.
No, that's really not their primary income stream. There may be some minor income in this, but the majority of their income comes from interest.
I've consulted for major financial companies before. If *their executives* think that their income is coming from interest, that's probably where it's coming from.
You just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake
Shiren FC: 3093-6912-1542
I know that, but that has nothing to do with the consumer, and besides, I seriously doubt Sony would charge Sony (although since it's a Visa-linked card, no doubt Visa is charging Sony).
That's true also. It's a combination of fees and interest income, really.
That's also why stores frequently have a minimum purchase amount before they'll let you charge it.
You just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake
Shiren FC: 3093-6912-1542
That wasn't a response to you.
The card being a Visa actually means that Visa owns the network.
Visa isn't actually lending anyone money - they're just charging a small fee to any transaction occuring over their network, and acting as a huge bookkeeper.
You just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake
Shiren FC: 3093-6912-1542
Personally, I've pretty much never seen minimum purchase amounts except in gas stations, some fast food franchises, and small, locally-owned stores.
I imagine chains go on the % model, but I'm not sure if smaller operations are always able. That said, I don't think I've ever encountered a minumum fee.
Damn, how long does this deal run cause if i can score a PS3 for $350... why the hell not!?
It's not that common anymore. Lots of local restaurants have $10 minimums here in NYC - then again, we have fewer large chains here, and the large chains tend to have no minimums.
You just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake
Shiren FC: 3093-6912-1542
You need to get the card before August 30th, but can wait on the purchase until November 30th.
You just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake
Shiren FC: 3093-6912-1542
And the purchase must be from a Sony store correct?
You just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake
Shiren FC: 3093-6912-1542
this is so damn tempting because I feel I NEED Ninja Gaiden for the 3rd time
Also Heavenly Sword looks great
This sounds like some fun financial trckery though. "Wow, look at those PS3 numbers in the US! We're selling a ton of them. No, no, don't look at those numbers from the Sony Store division. We'll just put those losses out of sight. I mean, PS3 is selling for $500!"
Fuck. I was not expecting this. Now I have to pay attention to PS3 news and shit. I don't know if I'll buy any games for a while. My 360 has first crack at my wallet.
i'm too lazy to look it up right now but i'm pretty sure minimum purchase amounts are against the merchant agreement companies have to sign to be able to take visa. So small locally owned businesses have pretty much nothing to worry about since theres a very, very small chance visa would actually receive enough customer complaints to take notice and cut their agreement, giant nation spanning chains on the other hand get alot more customers, which could equal alot more complaints..and its no trouble to them to eat the small costs on small purchases on top of that as already mentioned
Im pretty sure minimal charges are against the terms as well, visa dosent like it when you tell people of their exclusive club that they arent welcome becasue of the size of their wallets. Now does this mean it dosent happen? no. I want to throw a hissy fit in a store when I see it though and they try to push it.
That makes sense.
I know I just ordered pizza from a place that doesn't allow credit card orders for amounts under $20 - but the chances I'll be annoyed enough at this to complain? Not likely.
Of course, the reason the merchants try to do this is the transaction fee...
You just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake
Shiren FC: 3093-6912-1542
I wouldnt want one. Even though it has the advantage of the PS2 HW being inside at this point, there are too many things it will be lacking that will be supplied through future revisions to make me want to get a first year unit.
Hell, they've already admitted the sixaxis is getting updated
Hey, it's still a PS2/Bluray player for $350! That's not a bad deal.
You just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake
Shiren FC: 3093-6912-1542