$10 off of $30 at Payless Shoes. Is it better than BOGOHO?

Payless Shoes just finished one of their 3-4 times per year BOGOHO sales and released a new discount code for $10 off of $30.  So which one is a better deal?  I could use a new pair of fake Keds.  Shall I take advantage of this sale or wait for the next BOGOHO?

Buy-one-get-one-half-off (BOGOHO) sales are brilliant marketing schemes. The idea of getting an item for half off makes a consumer feel great about his/her purchase. But let's do the math.

First of all, because all BOGOHO scenarios rely on the less expensive item being the discounted item, the best-case scenario that you can hope to reach in a BOGOHO sale is if both items are the exact same price.

In a BOGOHO scenario, assuming that both items are the exact same price, the most you can hope to get is 25% off your total order. How so? Let's take easy numbers: two $50 items. With half-off one item, you'll pay $75 on $100 worth of merchandise. And keep in mind, you are forced to buy two items. If your two items are different prices you will do significantly less than 25% off.

Now take the current sale at Payless.  You can get $10 off of a $30 purchase when you enter promo code 58435 at checkout (expires 9/18/11).  That's 1/3 or 33% off.  You don't need to buy two items. But you do need to buy at least $30 worth of stuff.  That's somewhat of an issue when all the prices at Payless end in .99.  So you can buy two $14.99 items for a total of $29.98 or one item for $29.99 and you won't qualify for the discount without purchasing an additional item.  You can't just tack on an extra cent and get the $10 discount. I found a few accessories online at $2.99 and $3.99.  But purchasing those items  just to qualify for the minimum purchase, especially if you don't really need them, pulls down the percentage on that discount, but not by too much.  $10 off $32.97 is 30% off.  That's still a nice chunka change.  I just hate being manipulated into buying more just to save some money.

Ah, marketing.

But that's kind of the way coupons and discounts go.  The vendors get and give a little and the purchasers get and give a little.   So which is a better idea, BOGOHO or $10 off $30?    What you need to decide is which scenario best fits your financial needs.  It is really driven by what you need to buy.

No matter which way you decide to go, if you buy online, definitely opt for in-store pickup (there are Payless stores everywhere) and don't forget to click through the ShopAtHome link to Payless to make sure you get your 8% cash back.  (Remember, you must be a member of ShopAtHome.com and signed into your account to get this great cash back deal. Not a member of ShopAtHome.com yet?   It's free.  Click here to join and get $5 cash just for signing up and using their site to make a purchase within 30 days.)

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