Tag Archives: Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday 2016 . . . Another Year, Another Disappointment

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This year American Express has expanded Small Business Saturday to the entire holiday shopping season.  But, for the second year in a row, they are not offering any statement credits for AMEX purchases at small businesses.  In previous years, American Express enticed shoppers to patronize small businesses by offering $10-30 in statement credits after paying with your AMEX card.  Last year was the first since 2012 that no statement credit was offered.

Scraps from the table

In an effort to salvage what was undoubtedly a less successful effort last year, American Express is offering a consolation prize.  A few days ago I received an e-mail offer for double points when using an AMEX card at small businesses through December 31st, 2016:

Small Business Saturday 2016

My Hilton HHonors card from American Express

My Hilton HHonors card from American Express

Most American Express cards are included in this offer, but you have to register each card to activate the deal.  Cards that already earn more than 1 pt per dollar on regular purchases will also double their points.  For example, my AMEX Hilton Reserve normally earns 3 points per dollar.  During the promotion it would earn 6 points per dollar at small busineses.  However, the same is not true with category bonuses (such as dining or travel) that some cards earn.  Check out the full official FAQ here.

Not a remarkable deal

For some people this promotion will be worth something.  If you already frequent retailers on the small business list, it might be worth it for you to get the double points with your AMEX card.  On the other hand, you may still get better value using another card at the same store.  This is especially true at the many restaurants that are part of the promotion, since some credit cards already earn extra points for dining establishments.  This is not even to mention other bonus offers that might be running on one of your cards, like the frequent promotions the Barclay Aviator runs.

Do the math before automatically assuming your AMEX card is the best one to use at one of these small businesses during the promotion.

The moral of the story

As I wrote about in my post about last year’s American Express Small Business Saturday, there is a lesson here.  And it’s an important one at that.  For several years people came to expect the statement credit.  Now it appears to be permanently gone.  If you count on deals, offers, bonuses, etc. to be there for you in the future, you’re misplacing your confidence!  All value tactics change and some disappear.

I liked what I wrote last year so here it is again: The key to capturing and creating value is to recognize and take advantage of good deals when they exist, and to move on and adapt when the current opportunities change or disappear.

2015 AMEX Small Business Saturday Statement Credit

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In the past, we’ve seen statement credits ranging from $10 to $30 (3x $10) for purchases made with an American Express card at small businesses the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  The purpose of Small Business Saturday is to promote smaller retailers in the community.  American Express had previously offered the statement credits as a way to expose their card users to said small retailers by offering this nice little incentive.

My 2014 Small Business Saturday haul: 5 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of rum, 6-pack of beer, some jerky and meat sticks, frozen brats and burgers, $50 in movie theater gift cards, and a kid's birthday gift (gift-wrapped, not pictured) ... all for about $11 in odd store totals.

My 2014 Small Business Saturday haul: 5 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of rum, 6-pack of beer, some jerky and meat sticks, frozen brats and burgers, $50 in movie theater gift cards, and a kid’s birthday gift (gift-wrapped, not pictured) … all for about $11 in odd store totals.

This year, however, the statement credit offered by Amex is NOTHING, $0.00, nada, zip, zilch, and zero.  Here’s the excerpt from the Small Business Saturday faq page:
SBSfail

What gives, Amex?

As to why American Express turned the faucet off, the explanation seems simple: it was very expensive for them.  Between Nicoleen’s and my Amex cards last year we got $150 in statement credits.  But like many corporate cost-saving decisions, the long term effects may prove detrimental, at least with the cohort of card users who are the type to read this blog post.  Insignificant as this Amex card perk seems, it could have been the benefit tipping the scales for many card holders to keep their Amex cards.  I personally always factored it into assessments of Amex cards.  In fact, my wife and I got Bluebird accounts last fall specifically to take advantage of the Small Business Saturday offer.  Some of these thoughts are echoed in the comments of this blog post by the points blog behemoth, ThePointsGuy.

There’s a lesson here

To frequenters of travel, deals, and points blogs this revelation is not news.  Similar blogs to mine all picked up on the story as soon as this year’s Small Business Saturday page went live a couple weeks ago.  I wanted to chime in though, and point out what I think it the take-away: Good deals are never permanent, so take advantage of them when they’re around.  Don’t wait!

I’ve made as many mistakes as smart moves in this game, but one accomplishment I am proud of is having a healthy dose of urgency when I recognize a valuable opportunity.  Note: I said “healthy dose” which doesn’t mean being desperate or frenzied.  It means prioritizing your efforts to favor exceptionally good deals or deals which are known to be temporary.

And most importantly, the elimination of the Small Business Saturday statement credits by American Express should serve as yet another reminder: don’t be surprised when a valuable situation goes away.  They all eventually do.  The key to capturing and creating value is to recognize and take advantage of good deals when they exist, and to move on and adapt when the current opportunities change or disappear.