So they have a program going for six months at a time.....you collect forty-odd stamps on one sheet, and you get to buy something that typically costs a fair amount....at a much-reduced rate.
Naturally, Germans flock to something like this.
Last night....HR did their weekly MEX episode, and kinda exposed the whole gimmick.
The deal always involves a name-brand item. Real's recent gimmick was a high-class named cooking ware deal. The manufacturing company is German, and the cooking ware were items that folks would really appreciate....especially at twenty to twenty-five Euro....instead of the normal sixty-to-ninety Euro.
The gimmick here? Well...this German high quality company....has a deal with a Chinese manufacturer....who makes the same items but slightly different. The name will be on the item, and the box will almost be the same.....but quality-wise....it's NOT the same quality. Naturally, the German would be standing there and saying...the company name is on the item....it must be German-quality. Well....it's not.
The Chinese guys have figured an inside way of buying into a German company.....getting examples of the product....reproducing it but making it slightly different....then selling it into REWE or Real stores for their coupon sales.
Two years ago....my wife got all peppy about some coupon sales here, and bought me a nice Swiss-quality suitcase. It had a Swiss-symbol on the side, and was regarded as high quality. Hundreds of thousands of Germans that summer....collected the coupon stamps....and bought their cases. The truth? Well....these were all Chinese-made. Maybe it was higher quality than the typical Chinese suitcase....but it wasn't Swiss-quality. The thing is....the real Swiss case....would have been at least two hundred Euro. So my wife got it for roughly thirty Euro. She was proud of the deal. I was happy enough with the travel case. But the truth? It's a nice two-star case made in China under a Swiss name.
All of this brings me to the gimmick world of German shop coupons. Everybody is getting into this, and being creative about it. Even if you don't want this stuff....you collect the coupons....buy items....and give them as gifts to your friend, neighbor, or associate. Germans are addicted to "deals", and this is bluntly.....a deal.
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