So here’s the skinny on coupon codes and coupon code websites.  There are literally thousands of websites that list coupon code and in most cases, they are reliant on their visitors to tell them if the code is valid or not.  Some of the codes are valid, but most are either expired or never existed in the first place.  Most of these websites aren’t trying to overtly trick you.  What often happens is that they see the code on another coupon site, scrape it and add it to their own site without bothering to check the validity.

Because there’s no way for us to police this (as there are too many sites and there’s no good way for us to get site owners to take down bogus or expired codes), I figured I’d list out a few key points to help you all sift through the coupon mess:

1. PoolDawg almost never offers “% off” discount codes.  There are some exceptions to this rule (as we typically do something special for Black Friday and sometimes let our player reps promote a % off code), but generally speaking, if you find a code that says %10 off your order, you can safely assume that its bogus.  Some of the known bogus codes floating around are PDAWG, PDAWG10, PD10 and 10OFF.  None of these work, nor will they ever work.
2. If you see a code that says something along the lines of “xx% off orders of $yy or more”, just skip it.  I personally do all the coupon codes and have not ever ran this style of offer.  If I worked for Eddie Bauer or J. Crew it would be a different story, but we don’t get the margins that the folks in the clothing business do.
3. For the most part, any coupon codes we do have will be distributed via our email list.  Sometimes we also put them in our automated emails as well, so your best chance of getting a coupon code is by signing up to our email list (you can find the sign upin the lower right hand corner of our website).
4. You don’t need a coupon code to take advantage of our standard special offers (free shipping @ $99+, free gifts with most pool cues, 20% off MSRP for most pool cues, etc)
5. If you have a question, you can always call us.  Just don’t be mad at us if the coupon code you have isn’t a real code.  Be mad at whoever gave you that code.

In all seriousness, the vast majority of the coupons we do are along the lines of “spend $xx and get a free tchotchke with the PoolDawg logo on it”.  For example, if you enter the code “comeonback” and your order is $25 or more, we’ll send you a free PoolDawg coin holder (seriously, we will.  This is a real coupon code that doesn’t expire until the end of 2011).

Ok, that’s all for now.  Hopefully this demystifies the coupon codes a bit.

In essence, manufacturers tell retailers that they can only advertise certain products at specific minimum prices.  For example, if you look at the Predator IKON series, you’ll notice that every IKON is priced at 15% off MSRP, down to the penny.

Predator IKON 2 Pool Cue

At the time of this writing, we have the IKON 2 priced at $551.65, which is exactly 15% off the MSRP of $649.00.  If you shop around, you’ll likely find that every authorized dealer has the same pool cue priced no lower than $551.65 as well (the key word here is authorized, as I’m sure there are some unauthorized, unscrupulous dealers that violate MAP).

Another example of this is with Aramith products.  Recently, Aramith instituted a 20% MAP policy, so all Aramith pool balls are now priced at 20% off down to the penny.

As retailers, we are required to follow these policies as a condition of selling a manufacturer’s products.  If we habitually advertise Aramith products under MAP, we will be cut off and won’t be able to carry those products any more.

The concept of MAP is not exclusive to the billiards industry.  Almost every industry has manufacturers that enforce MAP policies.  When I worked in the toy business, Disney, Mattel and pretty much every other manufacturer I worked with had MAP policies in place.  Same went for the video game business when I was doing that.  We would get a list of prices from companies like Activision and Electronic Arts telling us what our minimum advertised prices would be.

This is a policy that isn’t always popular with retailers and customers, as it limits the amount a product can be discounted.  That being said, it is a standard part of retail and is beyond our control.  Having worked on both sides (as I worked for a supplement manufacturer in a previous life), I personally understand all the pros and cons of this sort of program.  I personally don’t have any issues with it, but can understand why others might.

So now you know why pool cues are always marked at 20% off.  And as GI Joe said, knowing is half the battle.

(No view of the mountains from Mike’s office today)

For you weather channel junkies, I did a screen grab of the radar picture too (we’re right in the middle of the dark green area):

When this happens UPS usually gets hit with delays, so please have patience with your deliveries.  We should be back in the office and running at full speed again by tomorrow.

The whole purpose of this program is to provide an extra layer of fraud protection for both the customer and the merchant. When you do enroll, you are enrolling with Visa or Mastercard, not PoolDawg, so we don’t capture any of that enrollment information.

Even though this is an important new level of security we’re all about giving you freedom of choice. That’s why when you’re on the checkout page, you can opt out of this verification program.  On the last page of the checkout, you’ll be asked to enter your credit card information.  If you don’t want to participate in the programs, simply uncheck the box that says Perform Verification.  This will bypass the program altogether.

As always, if you have additional questions about how this program works (or if you need anything else), just give us a call at 866-843-3294.

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