Walmart Prequalification Disappointment

[Anonymous]

As a matter of fact, the fact that Overstock (and its associated sellers) often sell merchandise at a premium (and that their price match policy is rather restrictive) can help sellers avoid paying too much, as counter-intuitive as that might sound to some. Just this past weekend, for example, I noticed that a software manufacturer was having a 50% off sale on a program (Poser Pro 11 from Smith Micro) that I'd been wanting for quite some time, and that Amazon sells at $250. Overstock's price (the third-party seller's price, actually) is $350, same as the manufacturer's usual list price, so 50% off would be $175. I asked both the seller and Overstock if they could price-match, and they said no since (1) the item is in a category (Electronics) for which they don't usually do price-matching and (2) they don't do price-matching on temporary discount sales. While it was a touch disappointing, it did keep me from overspending since I'm working to keep util as low as possible pending future apps.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Overstock can be literally amazing on some prices, though.  I usually stock up on their trash bags when they go on a real sale AND there's a coupon code to combine.  Instead of paying $8.99 at Amazon with "free shipping" or $7.99 at Target on sale, I sometimes snag them at Overstock for under $6 with free shipping.  I tried for the OS SCT but they declined me for verification reasons (probably true, my EX address changed to an ancient one randomly when I did the SCT and they reconned with an HP and declined me for lack of verification, lol).

Overstock is just tricky because they're like Amazon or eBay: they let hundreds of people sell on there who are NOT Overstock and some of the prices are really insane, but folks know a lot of rebuilders go there for easier credit so they can shark folks out of 30-40% extra.  Buy on Amazon, resell new on Overstock, mark it up 40%, give Overstock their 10% commission and repeat.

I'm eyeballing a few things that price dropped there recently and keeping them in my cart in hopes of getting one of those "hey buy this right now and here's 20% off if you do" emails.

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So, if you keep items in your cart, they will sometimes send a coupon for some of the items?

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When you make a purchase from Overstock, they'll customarily send you a coupon (usually 10%, but sometimes a bit more) for use on your next purchase. Given that most of my purchases are in the Books/Movies/Music/Media category, that actually doesn't help much since their coupons aren't usable on that category (or "Electronics", as in my previous post). Years ago I did manage to get them to price-match Amazon on a couple of books, but I don't know if they'll even do that anymore.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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So, if you keep items in your cart, they will sometimes send a coupon for some of the items?

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I have no idea if they do or not.  I only have 3 data points personally where I added an item to cart and left it there and then a week or so later received a % off coupon code unique to me it seems.  Overstock sends out generic sale offers but it does appear they MAY send specific offers, too.  I can't be sure that's the case, but I did get it 3 times over the years.

Also seems to happen with some other websites here and there, but no rhyme or reason.  I am a real cheap bast*rd and will monitor prices for things for years before buying it, since I don't really "need" anything.  I wanted a Roomba vac for YEARS and actually waited over 3.5 years before buying one after stacking sales, coupons, etc and getting it for the lowest price imaginable since those things NEVER go on any real sales (until they're discontinuing a model) and they NEVER let coupons stack to begin with.  In my case, I just lucked out being patient and reading the fine print and finally found a deal where the coupon (20% off) actually worked on anything AND that vendor had a third party seller who was obviously getting out of the business and clearing things out at 15% off.  Was worth the wait, I got better features for a way better price.

I really really want this ridiculous $2000 160 pound chunk of concrete they sell at Williams Sonoma but the best deals so far are 15% off or so.  This week they're offering 30% off so now I am trying to find a coupon that stacks so I don't have to pay $2000 for it, lol.  But I've been eyeballing it for years and years and have saved up to buy it.  If I can stack a coupon and get my 5% store card rewards on it, it's a done deal and I will be the proud owner of a 160# chunk of concrete that cost more than some mortgage payments, lolol.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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So, if you keep items in your cart, they will sometimes send a coupon for some of the items?

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I have no idea if they do or not.  I only have 3 data points personally where I added an item to cart and left it there and then a week or so later received a % off coupon code unique to me it seems.  Overstock sends out generic sale offers but it does appear they MAY send specific offers, too.  I can't be sure that's the case, but I did get it 3 times over the years.

Also seems to happen with some other websites here and there, but no rhyme or reason.  I am a real cheap bast*rd and will monitor prices for things for years before buying it, since I don't really "need" anything.  I wanted a Roomba vac for YEARS and actually waited over 3.5 years before buying one after stacking sales, coupons, etc and getting it for the lowest price imaginable since those things NEVER go on any real sales (until they're discontinuing a model) and they NEVER let coupons stack to begin with.  In my case, I just lucked out being patient and reading the fine print and finally found a deal where the coupon (20% off) actually worked on anything AND that vendor had a third party seller who was obviously getting out of the business and clearing things out at 15% off.  Was worth the wait, I got better features for a way better price.

I really really want this ridiculous $2000 160 pound chunk of concrete they sell at Williams Sonoma but the best deals so far are 15% off or so.  This week they're offering 30% off so now I am trying to find a coupon that stacks so I don't have to pay $2000 for it, lol.  But I've been eyeballing it for years and years and have saved up to buy it.  If I can stack a coupon and get my 5% store card rewards on it, it's a done deal and I will be the proud owner of a 160# chunk of concrete that cost more than some mortgage payments, lolol.

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Okay, now you've GOT to share with us what this $2000 concrete temptation is

[Anonymous]

I'm sure if you go to Williams Sonoma's website and just type "concrete" in the searchbar you'll find it instantly.  I doubt they sell that many concrete items, lolol.

Another fun cheap bast*rd story of mine...

Some years ago, there was this amazingly cool electronics device but it was close to $700.  I tracked it for over a year, never once was it on sale.  Coupons at all the big stores specifically excluded the ENTIRE BRAND.  Every time.  I was so sad because I wanted it but no way would I pay full price.  

But I got lucky...they were discontinuing a way cheaper product from the same line and it was usually $500 but the discontinued price was $375 or something on everyone's website and in-store.  Naturally I wanted the $700 one but I considered getting the $375 one just because it was cheap.  Then the magic happened: they discontinued the $375 and it was out of stock everywhere but they announced a recall on all of their models sold at that time, including the $375 and the $700 one.  Hurrah!

I quickly call EVERY FREAKING STORE in the 40 mile area I live in and a few of them actually had some of them in stock.  I ran out to one (23 miles each way) and not only did that have one left, but it was a floor model so they marked it down to $299.  Still had the box, never turned on.  BINGO.

I bought it and immediately...put it in my garage on a high shelf and wrote the a date on a post-it note 18 months from the day I bought it.

18 months later, I called them about the recall.  The CSR looked it up and said "oh yes we did recall that model but it was almost 2 years ago.  I'm not sure what we can do for you."  I pressed her explaining that the recall wasn't withdrawn and I really would like to make sure my model didn't explode on me.  She told me she'd call me back.

The next day she called and said they would have UPS pick it up and see if they can apply the recall update.  UPS came a day or two later, picked up the brand new never used device and off it went.  2 weeks later, I received an email in my inbox from them for something.  I wasn't sure if they just applied the hardware fix to the exploding electronics device, but a few days after getting that tracking number, what did I receive?

Not just the $700 model, but the most recently released one.  Brand new, with full warranty, new in box!

Yes, it took almost 20 months total to get it, but I paid $299 and got a $700 model, lol.  Risky, but cheap bast*rds like me are patient for a great deal.

Also, still using that sucker all the time and thrilled that I paid probably the lowest price in history for it.  Even if they would have patched the exploding flaw, I still felt confident that getting the cheaper model back would have been worth it, just not AS worth it as this planned event.

I look at recalls now very, very closely since that, haha.

[Anonymous]

OK, so I just got home and pulled my prequalification mailer out of the mailbox. I got a single-figure APR offer of 23.65%. This is actually lower than the APR's on my other cards (whether store or major). I know that when one gets a single-figure offer with, for example, Discover, that's as close to an ironclad guarantee of approval as you can get in this business, but I don't know if that holds true for Walmart/Synchrony.  The offer is good until July 17, so I don't have to decide immediately...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm sure if you go to Williams Sonoma's website and just type "concrete" in the searchbar you'll find it instantly.  I doubt they sell that many concrete items, lolol.

Another fun cheap bast*rd story of mine...

Some years ago, there was this amazingly cool electronics device but it was close to $700.  I tracked it for over a year, never once was it on sale.  Coupons at all the big stores specifically excluded the ENTIRE BRAND.  Every time.  I was so sad because I wanted it but no way would I pay full price.  

But I got lucky...they were discontinuing a way cheaper product from the same line and it was usually $500 but the discontinued price was $375 or something on everyone's website and in-store.  Naturally I wanted the $700 one but I considered getting the $375 one just because it was cheap.  Then the magic happened: they discontinued the $375 and it was out of stock everywhere but they announced a recall on all of their models sold at that time, including the $375 and the $700 one.  Hurrah!

I quickly call EVERY FREAKING STORE in the 40 mile area I live in and a few of them actually had some of them in stock.  I ran out to one (23 miles each way) and not only did that have one left, but it was a floor model so they marked it down to $299.  Still had the box, never turned on.  BINGO.

I bought it and immediately...put it in my garage on a high shelf and wrote the a date on a post-it note 18 months from the day I bought it.

18 months later, I called them about the recall.  The CSR looked it up and said "oh yes we did recall that model but it was almost 2 years ago.  I'm not sure what we can do for you."  I pressed her explaining that the recall wasn't withdrawn and I really would like to make sure my model didn't explode on me.  She told me she'd call me back.

The next day she called and said they would have UPS pick it up and see if they can apply the recall update.  UPS came a day or two later, picked up the brand new never used device and off it went.  2 weeks later, I received an email in my inbox from them for something.  I wasn't sure if they just applied the hardware fix to the exploding electronics device, but a few days after getting that tracking number, what did I receive?

Not just the $700 model, but the most recently released one.  Brand new, with full warranty, new in box!

Yes, it took almost 20 months total to get it, but I paid $299 and got a $700 model, lol.  Risky, but cheap bast*rds like me are patient for a great deal.

Also, still using that sucker all the time and thrilled that I paid probably the lowest price in history for it.  Even if they would have patched the exploding flaw, I still felt confident that getting the cheaper model back would have been worth it, just not AS worth it as this planned event.

I look at recalls now very, very closely since that, haha.

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If it's the coffee table, I must confess that it's pretty cool! 

I consider myself to be a moderate cheapskate, but there is no way I'd have the patience to pull that off!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

OK, so I just got home and pulled my prequalification mailer out of the mailbox. I got a single-figure APR offer of 23.65%. This is actually lower than the APR's on my other cards (whether store or major). I know that when one gets a single-figure offer with, for example, Discover, that's as close to an ironclad guarantee of approval as you can get in this business, but I don't know if that holds true for Walmart/Synchrony.  The offer is good until July 17, so I don't have to decide immediately...

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Mine had a solid APR, as well. It might have been the same as yours, I can't remember exactly, but definitely 23. something. 

[Anonymous]

Is there any definite consensus on whether the Walmart Store Card is a hard pull or a soft pull? I've found reports here and elsewhere indicating that either one can be true.

P.S. I've also found anecdotal evidence from older threads (2012 and 2013) that one's chances of approval are better if applying for the card in-store than online, especially if you do it at the electronics or jewelry counters, but I don't know if this is still true. Can anyone comment?