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.
I 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 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 😉.
