Why I always (always!) sign up for the rewards programs

There was a nice little surprise in my inbox this morning: an email from the Hallmark Crown Rewards program, with the subject line “$5 inside + love is in the air!” And there was indeed $5 inside — or at least, $5 in Hallmark rewards.

And because Hallmark also offers their rewards members free shipping, well, I picked out some chocolates that were $4.99 and used today’s rewards to get the item totally free, including shipping. You can see from the order confirmation below that Hallmark charged me a grand total of zero dollars and zero cents.

Hallmark has done this kind of thing before. I’ve gotten free hand lotion, free jelly beans and free chocolate from them at other times. I did nothing to earn those rewards, other than simply sign up for their loyalty program. I don’t think I have ever spent a single penny on them using my loyalty number, in fact. The total cost of all this has simply been putting up with occasional marketing emails from them until they finally send out some free rewards again. From my point of view it’s totally worth it.

Nor is Hallmark the only loyalty program that’s sent me free rewards. Eddie Bauer, for example, has sent out $10 and $5 certificates before (especially around the holiday season). Best Buy sent me several use-it-or-lose-it certificates for either $5 or $10, which helped me save money on my husband’s Christmas present. DSW sent me a coupon for $10 off a purchase, which I used, along with free shipping for their loyalty program, to get a free pair of shoes. Express, the clothing store, has sent out free rewards, too. Sometimes the freebies are for a birthday, sometimes they’re just unexpected (and appreciated) bonuses. They’re especially useful when you can pair them with a sale, free shipping and a cash back site to get a really great deal.

This, really, is why I sign up for rewards programs. I don’t tend to be a big spender, so it can take me ages to earn store rewards just by accumulating purchases (which is the way the stores want you to do it, of course). But accumulating freebies is right up my alley, thank you, and those loyalty programs are very helpful in that sense.

Granted, you typically have to give up some personal information to do this. My husband, who cares about his privacy online, feels very differently about this than I do, and it’s perfectly fine if you feel like that’s too high a price to pay for what turns out to be a free pair of jeans or something. But realistically, I’ve had the same email address for over two decades, my Facebook is more than a decade old and, as a journalist, I am super easy to find online. I don’t feel like I have a lot of online privacy left, to be honest, so I’m comfortable doing this.

Can’t wait until my free chocolate gets here!