So.... March Madness?

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  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,845
    edited February 2020
    daveso said:
    Cybersox said:
    kyoto kid said:

    ..yeah for me it's either Prime pr PC+ not both as they both have membership fees. I end up opting for PC+ as I like the monthly and weekly PC+ freebies and often there are special discounts during sales if you are a PC+ member (really love it when they do the PC+ For a Day offers). 

    Both systems have weaknesses, but both really do save money over the long run.  Where the real difference comes in is that Prime discounts are almost exclusively based on percentages, whereas a significant portion PC+ discounts (like the monthly coupons)come in fixed dollar amounts.  Ultimately you do get more with PC+ than Prime, but the base price for a PC+ annual membership starts at 4X the Price of Prime and gets even higher if you're payng in installments, so it's not an even comparison.   

    i just renewed my annual PC+ for $14. You have to watch for great deals. I got it for $18 previously. 

    ..,yeah, I saw your previous post about this.  Must have been early, early morning (like when I was still asleep) where I live. Put it on the Wishlist so I can keep a better track on it. 

    There was one time a few years ago when I got an annual membership for 12.50$ 

    Most of the time when I see a discount it is usually the 30% one which is still a big expense in one lump for me.

    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • CybersoxCybersox Posts: 9,265
    kyoto kid said:
    Cybersox said:
    kyoto kid said:

    ..yeah for me it's either Prime pr PC+ not both as they both have membership fees. I end up opting for PC+ as I like the monthly and weekly PC+ freebies and often there are special discounts during sales if you are a PC+ member (really love it when they do the PC+ For a Day offers). 

    Both systems have weaknesses, but both really do save money over the long run.  Where the real difference comes in is that Prime discounts are almost exclusively based on percentages, whereas a significant portion PC+ discounts (like the monthly coupons)come in fixed dollar amounts.  Ultimately you do get more with PC+ than Prime, but the base price for a PC+ annual membership starts at 4X the Price of Prime and gets even higher if you're payng in installments, so it's not an even comparison.   

    ...actually an annual for PC+ membership is about 2 -⅓ times that for Prime (30$ vs. 70$).  Furthermore, I shop here much more than there. 

    Yeah, for now I am stuck with the quarterly membership as I can't afford 70$ in one fell swoop but what I receive in discounts more than pays for itself several fold, and I keep my eyes open for specials on memberships that do occur (expecting to see something during MM) 

    Good point about the $70.  In my brain it's still $100, which was the old PC club price... yow, I feel old.  And there's no argument that, of the two clubs, the PC+ gives you more bang for your buck.  BUT...  Prime still works out to just $2.50 a month, so even if you only use the 20% off coupon on a $15.00 sale once a month, you're more than breaking even and Rendo has gotten very aggressive with their prime only discounts over the last two years.  In the end, either club is like buying a COSTCO membership... a bit of a pain up front but ultimately well worth it if you shop there.  

  • CybersoxCybersox Posts: 9,265

    I'm personally pretty happy that, according to the Daz Deals plugin, that I've been averaging over 88% off on all of the stuff I've bought/aquired from this store.  Sure, freebies help bump that percentage a bit, but the main thing is that I've learned is to be patient.

    Said percentage doesn't accurately factor in gift cards either.  I think my GC purchase price average is a bit over 30% off.  Until recently, 30%+ off a gift card was a rare occurence, and rest assured I banked a lot of store credit recently when the GC % off percentage was in the 40% off range.  Anyways, the point is that you then need to take that 88% off, then factor in the GC discount...

    This may sound extreme, but if I'm grabbing a somewhat older item for more than $2, I'm thinking real hard about whether I'll get a better deal later or not, and how much I really need that item.  New items I'll pay a bit more for of course, but NEVER full price, or even 'just' the 30% intorductory discount unless there are freebies and such in play, or steep discounts on other items.  The $1.99 PC for a day sale was a pretty busy time for me, particularly when other discounts then came into play dropping that price further.

    So more power to the cheapskates around here!   Some of us want to stretch our Daz dollars as far as we can!

    On another note, I think I'd personally be happier if the 'everyday' prices were lower, with correspondingly lower discount percentages, as opposed steeper discounts.  IMHO this punishes people that shop here only occasionally, by putting them in situations where they may be paying full price.  It also puts the PA's in an interesting situation where a lot of us are waiting for higher % off sales before we buy stuff from them.  Daz's marketing team no doubt has spreadsheets and such that track the average selling price for various items, so how they use that info is up to them, but I'd probably have snagged a bunch of the remaining stuff on my wishlist already if the 'baseline' price wasn't so high.

    Another popular store with Daz Studio related items keeps their discounts pretty simple.  About the only 'discount stacking' that usually happens there is the monthly 20% off coupon for prime members, that doesn't apply to all sales items but does seem to come into play often enough.  The 'cash back' points also tend to sweeten the deal, and their 'baseline' prices are often lower to boot.  Add that to the fact that they list expiration dates on their sales, well it makes life much easier when trying to figure out when you should move on an item or not.  I'm more willing to accept 50% or 60% off over there than I am 60% off over here.  Around here, 50% off I generally don't even bother with almost all of the time, and usually it takes 70% off or more to get me to budge around here...

    So yeah, I'd definitely be game for simpler sales, lower everyday prices with associated lower discounts, but that's not gonna happen.

    For what it's worth, I'm currently averaging a 86% discount rate according to DAZ deals, but that number is pretty vague considering how many "free" items one gets that one will probably never use and the hidden discounts of buying GCs on sale. In the end, the entire methodology of the DAZ store is built around base prices that are... I won't say inflated, but certainly much higher than anyone who shops carefully has to pay if they exercise a little restraint and not buy the latest spraklies the instant they go on sale.  On the other hand, that strategy clearly works for them so I don't expect it to change.

  • kyoto kid said:

    ...you're on. 

    Got 19$ worth of groceries for just over 6$ the other day at Safeway (had a couple credits to cash in and just hit the other items i needed on sale - the savings that popped up on the checkout screen was 12.50$) 

    Oh, I was heavily into couponing a few years back.  Got over $16K in free stuff the first full year.   Then I started spending summers in northeastern Canada, and couponing is terrible up there.  Still like to go "steal" from CVS now and again....use coupons and extra bucks, and you get stuff really cheap.

  • March Madness just started. If you guys can post and remind others to post any problems here:

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/375901/2020-there-s-always-another-sale-report-sales-errors-here#latest

    This will help problems not fall through the crack and all information posted as much as possible there.

    Thanks.

  • kyoto kid said:

    ...you're on. 

    Got 19$ worth of groceries for just over 6$ the other day at Safeway (had a couple credits to cash in and just hit the other items i needed on sale - the savings that popped up on the checkout screen was 12.50$) 

    Oh, I was heavily into couponing a few years back.  Got over $16K in free stuff the first full year.   Then I started spending summers in northeastern Canada, and couponing is terrible up there.  Still like to go "steal" from CVS now and again....use coupons and extra bucks, and you get stuff really cheap.

    CVS?

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,845
    Cybersox said:
    kyoto kid said:
    Cybersox said:
    kyoto kid said:

    ..yeah for me it's either Prime pr PC+ not both as they both have membership fees. I end up opting for PC+ as I like the monthly and weekly PC+ freebies and often there are special discounts during sales if you are a PC+ member (really love it when they do the PC+ For a Day offers). 

    Both systems have weaknesses, but both really do save money over the long run.  Where the real difference comes in is that Prime discounts are almost exclusively based on percentages, whereas a significant portion PC+ discounts (like the monthly coupons)come in fixed dollar amounts.  Ultimately you do get more with PC+ than Prime, but the base price for a PC+ annual membership starts at 4X the Price of Prime and gets even higher if you're payng in installments, so it's not an even comparison.   

    ...actually an annual for PC+ membership is about 2 -⅓ times that for Prime (30$ vs. 70$).  Furthermore, I shop here much more than there. 

    Yeah, for now I am stuck with the quarterly membership as I can't afford 70$ in one fell swoop but what I receive in discounts more than pays for itself several fold, and I keep my eyes open for specials on memberships that do occur (expecting to see something during MM) 

    Good point about the $70.  In my brain it's still $100, which was the old PC club price... yow, I feel old.  And there's no argument that, of the two clubs, the PC+ gives you more bang for your buck.  BUT...  Prime still works out to just $2.50 a month, so even if you only use the 20% off coupon on a $15.00 sale once a month, you're more than breaking even and Rendo has gotten very aggressive with their prime only discounts over the last two years.  In the end, either club is like buying a COSTCO membership... a bit of a pain up front but ultimately well worth it if you shop there.  

    ...the bottom line is again I don't shop there near as much as I do here so I have to choose one or the other, cannot afford both. In a single month I get the quarterly membership paid back ("with interest") just on the freebies alone.  Then there;s the extra discount on DOs (which also includes a lot of figures/characters and clothing) which when they go on sale, the discount is added to the base 30%  off price (making the total discount 51 - 58%). Also Iray Shader kits are often PC+ priced and you never can have too many shaders.. 

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,845
    kyoto kid said:

    ...you're on. 

    Got 19$ worth of groceries for just over 6$ the other day at Safeway (had a couple credits to cash in and just hit the other items i needed on sale - the savings that popped up on the checkout screen was 12.50$) 

    Oh, I was heavily into couponing a few years back.  Got over $16K in free stuff the first full year.   Then I started spending summers in northeastern Canada, and couponing is terrible up there.  Still like to go "steal" from CVS now and again....use coupons and extra bucks, and you get stuff really cheap.

    CVS?

    ...a chain of chemists (pharmacies). 

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,845

    ...get ready get set, buy!

  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,857

    If someone buys the dForce Malibu Heat outfit, could you check if it's possible to turn off opacity for the top and sleeves in surface? (in other words, only using the belt and skirt part :) )

  • kyoto kid said:

    ...you're on. 

    Got 19$ worth of groceries for just over 6$ the other day at Safeway (had a couple credits to cash in and just hit the other items i needed on sale - the savings that popped up on the checkout screen was 12.50$) 

    Oh, I was heavily into couponing a few years back.  Got over $16K in free stuff the first full year.   Then I started spending summers in northeastern Canada, and couponing is terrible up there.  Still like to go "steal" from CVS now and again....use coupons and extra bucks, and you get stuff really cheap.

    CVS?

    Yeah, it's a pharmacy in the U.S., pretty expensive if you don't bargain shop with coupons, but if you know what you're doing, you can get all kinds of things super cheap.

  • it's cool but nothing for those who already own all the versions of victoria ??

  • LeanaLeana Posts: 12,738
    kyoto kid said:
    kyoto kid said:

    ...you're on. 

    Got 19$ worth of groceries for just over 6$ the other day at Safeway (had a couple credits to cash in and just hit the other items i needed on sale - the savings that popped up on the checkout screen was 12.50$) 

    Oh, I was heavily into couponing a few years back.  Got over $16K in free stuff the first full year.   Then I started spending summers in northeastern Canada, and couponing is terrible up there.  Still like to go "steal" from CVS now and again....use coupons and extra bucks, and you get stuff really cheap.

    CVS?

    ...a chain of chemists (pharmacies). 

    And well known for their very long receipts ;)

  • WonderlandWonderland Posts: 7,133
    Leana said:
    kyoto kid said:
    kyoto kid said:

    ...you're on. 

    Got 19$ worth of groceries for just over 6$ the other day at Safeway (had a couple credits to cash in and just hit the other items i needed on sale - the savings that popped up on the checkout screen was 12.50$) 

    Oh, I was heavily into couponing a few years back.  Got over $16K in free stuff the first full year.   Then I started spending summers in northeastern Canada, and couponing is terrible up there.  Still like to go "steal" from CVS now and again....use coupons and extra bucks, and you get stuff really cheap.

    CVS?

    ...a chain of chemists (pharmacies). 

    And well known for their very long receipts ;)

    Like 3 feet of coupons and extra bucks lol And you can really rack up those extra bucks if you shop strategically.

  • memcneil70memcneil70 Posts: 5,272

    Used to be Longs Drugs I think (so many drug stores have been taken over now, it is hard to keep them straight), and is also in Target stores now.

    I do have to add that they had some items I could not find elsewhere that I loved from California companies. And one time, the pharmacist alerted me that a medicine I was trying to fill, was extremely expensive there, not covered by my civilian insurance, but available at the military base and because I was retired military would be free for me there. Worth an eight mile drive.

     

  • nattaruknattaruk Posts: 546
    edited February 2020
    Carola O said:

    If someone buys the dForce Malibu Heat outfit, could you check if it's possible to turn off opacity for the top and sleeves in surface? (in other words, only using the belt and skirt part :) )

    You can turn off the sleeves but the top and skirt are one zone. You would need an opacity map or resort to the geometry editor to hide the top.

    I made an opacity map, which gives this result:

    dress_opacity.png
    4096 x 4096 - 113K
    hide top.PNG
    513 x 609 - 206K
    Post edited by nattaruk on
  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,857

    Thanks Nattaruk! :)

  • alex86firealex86fire Posts: 1,130

    I have a question about March Madness as this is my first year.

    Are the offers from the MM banner going to change daily?

    Meaning the temp pc items, artist stores and so on?

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,845
    edited February 2020

    ..saw the banner with the 10$ free DO coupon and 30$ with of DOs free with the purchase of a new release. Went to my wishlist and then remembered my PC+ membership had lapsed last Thursday. Ah well.

    Really bummed I missed that 18$ deal on an annual membership that happened a few weeks ago others have mentioned about. Need to wait until next Tuesday (3/3) to renew as finances at the end of the month are tight.

    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • LeanaLeana Posts: 12,738

    I have a question about March Madness as this is my first year.

    Are the offers from the MM banner going to change daily?

    Meaning the temp pc items, artist stores and so on?

    There will be new offers daily. There are no set rules as the sale details change each year, but based on past sales:

    • Newly mad items will likely stay part of the sale as Still mad for a few days (generally 2), and corresponding artists store will probably stay on sale during that period too.
    • Related mad and bonus items will probably change every day
    • PC for the day offers are usually one day only
    • There may be various "today only" offers limited to that day
    • There are usually several catchup sales during the month (typically on weekends, every few weeks). Some offers may not come back though.
  • alex86firealex86fire Posts: 1,130
    Leana said:

    I have a question about March Madness as this is my first year.

    Are the offers from the MM banner going to change daily?

    Meaning the temp pc items, artist stores and so on?

    There will be new offers daily. There are no set rules as the sale details change each year, but based on past sales:

    • Newly mad items will likely stay part of the sale as Still mad for a few days (generally 2), and corresponding artists store will probably stay on sale during that period too.
    • Related mad and bonus items will probably change every day
    • PC for the day offers are usually one day only
    • There may be various "today only" offers limited to that day
    • There are usually several catchup sales during the month (typically on weekends, every few weeks). Some offers may not come back though.

    Thanks for the summary, it is exactly what I wanted. A general idea of what to expect (mostly of course, as they like to switch things up). From the name I expect that catchup sales include multiple offers that were up to that point. 

    One last question: do artists ever get more than 50% (60 with the bonus 10%) ?

  • LeanaLeana Posts: 12,738

    That's 55% off with the bonus 10%, not 60 (the bonus applies on what's left after other discounts are applied).

    The "main section discounts" usually stay the same on most days, but there may be special offers.

  • alex86firealex86fire Posts: 1,130
    Leana said:

    That's 55% off with the bonus 10%, not 60 (the bonus applies on what's left after other discounts are applied).

    The "main section discounts" usually stay the same on most days, but there may be special offers.

    I have like 20 items from OOT in my wishlist. I keep waiting for a nicer discount than 50-60% to get them.

    I just hope this March Madness is the time for it to happen.

  • davesodaveso Posts: 7,761

    it was true madness today as I could not even get into the site until 4PM. tried all day knowing MM had started ... but now I'm madly spending my store credit

  • tj_1ca9500btj_1ca9500b Posts: 2,057
    edited February 2020

    Just a note.  You CAN renew PC+ early, and still get credit for the full year.

    I've done this twice now, when memberships were on sale for a decent amount (say 50% off).  My expiration dates still fall in March (of 2021 currently) but I did my renewals in November/December during the annual PC+ sales.

    I would have loved to have jumped on that $14 deal, but I didn't notice it, plus I'm good for the next year anyways...

    Post edited by tj_1ca9500b on
  • LeanaLeana Posts: 12,738

    Yes, buying a yearly renewal adds 1 year to your current expiration date, the year doesn't start at the purchase date.

  • SnowSultanSnowSultan Posts: 3,773

    Thanks to DAZ for the 'makeup' coupons, appreciated.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,845
    edited February 2020

    ...yeah but the annual is currently 70$, far out of my budget particularly near the end of the month.  I didn't know about that deal either until after the fact  The only discount I saw since the beginning of the year was 30% which was still too expensive.

    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • MalandarMalandar Posts: 776

    So... these "key items" do you have to have all of them? or is having 1 enough? because two of em are pro bundles I really was not interested in, and the other is a bundle of two items I am really only interested in one of, so...

     

  • tj_1ca9500btj_1ca9500b Posts: 2,057
    Malandar said:

    So... these "key items" do you have to have all of them? or is having 1 enough? because two of em are pro bundles I really was not interested in, and the other is a bundle of two items I am really only interested in one of, so...

    In my case, i just had one of the prereqs, but I didn't grab any new items, just Sisi, which should help my 'new item quota' for the next couple of days.  From the 'legalese' text, I don't think the 10% off applied to the bonus item, but I grabbed Sisi for cheap thanks to the extra 70% off

    Last year, the 'if you bought any new release in the last 3 days'  came into play a lot during MM as I remember, so I'd suggest that people pay attention to that one.  In my case, I grabbed a new item a couple of days ago, so I was good to go, and Sisi should help me meet that prereq for the next couple of days.  I was mainly after a freebie at the time with the new item I grabbed over the weekend, but it set me up nicely for easing into MM.

    Of course, if the new items don't interest you, that won't help, but new PC+ items might be a nice alternate choice to keep you in the pink, if you are a PC+ member...

    I had all of the Victorias already, so there was a purple GC discount banner in my inbox, but I had already banked a bunch of store credit at a much higher discount, so the banner wasn't useful to me.  But for others, well say 20% off is better than 0% off, and when you are stretching your Daz dollars, every little bit helps.

    Thanks agian for the 'thank you for your patience' coupon Daz sales team!  Grabbed a cool hairstyle that I wanted, along with a couple of other things that I'll probably use at some point.

     

     

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