I’m no fan of cashback schemes. Having dealt with them on behalf of customers in my old IT support business, I’ve seen too many people messed around by them.
So the news that the Officeworks chain will stop offering them is welcome and hopefully will see the industry move away from these often unethical and unfair practices.
The main reason for offering cashback schemes is to keep commisions up for salespeople. If a TV or laptop vendor simply cut prices by $200 they would find the salespeople steering customers to more expensive competitors.
So it’s no surprise to see which stores aren’t following Officework’s lead.
If you are offered a cashback, ignore it while negotiating a price as it’s none of the store’s business what you do with it and most certainly won’t help you if there’s a problem down the track. Treat any cashbacks as a bonus and don’t factor it into your purchase.
Or better still, avoid electronics stores staffed by commission driven sharks.