Shopping bags

I’ve never really understood why someone would open a credit card that can only be used at a specific store. How useless! And even if the store rewards were that good, I would rather be earning 1.5x Chase points using my Chase Freedom Unlimited. Given this mindset, it’s easy to say I surprised myself a few weeks ago when I made the decision to open a Macy’s credit card. I hardly ever shop at Macy’s so you’re probably wondering why on earth would I open a Macy’s store card…and no, it was not to receive 20% off my purchase that day.

Macy's Registry RewardsI was at Macy’s registering for wedding gifts and the sales associate tried really hard to get me to open a card because of their Registry Rewards Programs. If you link a Macy’s card to your registry, you get 10% back on all Macy’s purchases until the date of your wedding and 5% on the value of any gifts people buy off your registry. After the wedding, you get a Macy’s gift card with all of the rewards you earned. While this is a great way to score some funds to complete your registry after the wedding, it wasn’t enough to get me to sign-up.

About a week later, the associate at Macy’s let me know that some of the Waterford Crystal pieces on my registry were full price online, but 60%-70% off in-store. Since they were clearing out the inventory, the only way to actually get the items was to ship from another store. And shipping from another store to a customer required a Macy’s credit card.

Since I plan on stopping personal credit card applications, for the time being, I decided this could be my last card before my cool down period. It sounds dumb that crystal giftware bought for myself off my own registry was the reason I opened a Macy’s card. But when you see how much cheaper these items were at the in-store price, it was hard to ask anyone to buy them at full price off my registry.

Waterford Crystal
The only items purchased from my registry so far…all by yours truly.
  • Waterford Lismore Bowl – originally $325, now $134.76
  • Waterford Lismore Covered Butter Dish – originally $155, now $48.41
  • Waterford Lismore Sugar & Creamer – originally $210, now $65.94
  • Waterford Lismore – originally $235, now $73.80

I ended up getting $925 worth of stuff for only $322.91. Better yet, I’ll receive a 20% off statement credit for purchasing these items when I opened my Macy’s card. This brings my total down to $279.27, a 72% savings! On top of that, I’ll receive Registry Star Rewards since the purchases were linked to my registry. I’m not sure if it will be 10% because I made the purchase or 5% because it was a purchase off my registry…maybe it will be both! Last but not least, I’ll also get 5% back on all other gifts bought off the registry. While this card had no sign-up bonus, I’m feeling pretty good about opening it.

While it’s sad to buy your own wedding gifts, it was too good of a deal to pass up. Now my guests are free to buy $925 worth of other stuff from my registry! I mean, their presence is my present 😉.

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