Membership card addiction
China has a massive addiction to membership cards: you can become a member of basically any business! From the hairdresser downstairs to the ice cream shop in the mall, without forgetting the pet store and absolutely every restaurant.
There are two kinds of membership cards: the free ones and the top up or purchased ones. The free ones are normally handed by restaurants when you spend a certain amount of money in a single meal. You get a shiny VIP card that entitles you to a small discount in all your future visits, normally about 5%. This is very cool! However, your wallet will get bigger and heavier.
Then there are the purchased membership cards, which are the majority. I hate them for a very simple reason: usually you never spend all the money you prepaid. Let me give you an example.
In the hairdresser’s downstairs:
– Do you want to buy our membership card? You recharge 1000 RMB now and then each haircut will be 20% cheaper.
– No thanks.
– Are you sure? It would be 20% cheaper!
– Sweetie, I cut my hair twice a year at most. Each haircut is 40 RMB because I always get the cheapest one. It would take me more than 12 years to spend those 1000 RMB. You might have closed your shop way before that! (Ok, I never actually say this aloud, but I think it).
In Suzhou there is this supermarket called Sam’s Club. You can only buy things there if you purchase their membership card first. It costs 150 RMB. Why would anyone PAY the supermarket for the “right” to buy things there? This blows my mind. The products are supposed to be cheaper than in other places, but when I went to have a look I didn’t think it was better than other supermarkets with free membership card, like Metro.
But it seems that, unlike me, Chinese people think very long term. This must be the reason membership cards are available everywhere and people actually get them. However, I still think they are a trap, and I will tell you two stories that happened to C.
Story one: there’s an ice cream chain we go sometimes. Once, a couple of years ago, they offered us the membership card. It was only 100 RMB and it included 3 coupons for free ice cream. Each of them is normally around 35 RMB, so it seemed a good deal. C. is an impulsive buyer and he got it. Do you know what happened in the end? We didn’t even exchange the last coupon. We lost money.
Story two: a few months ago, a friend of C.’s boss opened an imported fruit store. Their main attraction was the three avocados for 10 RMB deal. So cheap! I don’t particularly like avocados, but C. loves avocado milkshake. I’d rather buy local fruit, but C. wanted his damned avocados. In this fruit store the trap was quite obvious: each fruit had 2 prices, one for members and another, much more expensive, for non members. To get the membership card you only needed to recharge 300 RMB. Everybody did it. Then guess what happened. In our subsequent visits, the price of the fruit got more and more expensive. The avocados started being 5 RMB each, then 8, then 10, and last time it was 15. 15 RMB for ONE avocado. 15 RMB, my dear friends, is 2 euros or 2.29 USD. We spent all the money that remained in the card and left that shop, never to return. But imagine how much money that guy stole from unsuspecting customers! He should go out of business after everybody spends their cards and don’t recharge any more, but I am not sure that will happen.
After this last story happened I hope C. will not want to buy membership cards again!
Some of the membership cards I have.
Are non free membership cards popular in your country? Do you hate them (like me!) or love them?
Hahaha, C wanted his “damned avocados” and look what happened :D I am a huge fan of avocados but never had an avocado milkshake. Must try that someday!
Here in Australia the membership card ownership isn’t as crazy. In Malaysia and Singapore, it seems people there also like membership cards. When we lived there, my mum always had a big fat rectangular wallet (one that can hold a lot of cards) to carry around all her membership cards. A lot of them were the ones where you collect points and then redeem them for gifts.
I spy a Watsons card there. Used to shop there a lot many years ago but back then I didn’t know they had a card :D
The milkshake is very easy, he just puts one avocado, some milk and honey in the blender and voila! It is too thick for my taste though.
I also have a special card wallet! My regular wallet can’t fit all the cards, hahaha. And yeah, I have the Watsons card but I hardly go there anymore, I don’t like that the attendants chase me all around the shop asking what I am looking for!
The only membership that we have ever paid for and the only one that I could probably never do without is Costco. However, we always get it for free because the credit card company that Costco affiliates with in Taiwan offers a small percentage of money back from your purchases.
That is good! There is no Costco in China, or at least I haven’t seen it anywhere!
Sí que son curiosas. Las que más odio son las multimillonarias del gimnasio.
Los chinos no pueden resistirse a las ofertas, aunque, lo que tú dices, al final pierdan dinero por no hacer todo el consumo.
A mí se me pegó un poco el síndrome. Aquí hago cosas que nadie más hace, como comprar todo online, y beneficiarme de ofertas comprando una tonelada de algo. En España nadie piensa tan en el futuro consumo…
Y las tarjetas de aquí son un truño, dime de qué me sirve a mí tener una tarjeta de un supermercado? Al super sí, porque ya saben todo lo que compro.
Yo todo lo no fresco lo compro en internet. Si hago el pedido antes de las 11 incluso me lo traen en el mismo día. Es la gloria!
La tarjeta del supermercado que tiene mi madre le dan puntos y a veces hay ofertas, en la compra gorda que hicimos antes de volver a China la vez pasada nos ahorramos como 20 euros con la tarjeta esa! Era en Eroski.
I also hate all of the membership cards. I pretty much say no (or I don’t want) to all questions asked in any store checkout line. I don’t even listening, just a bu yao, bu yao, bu yao broken record.
I do have that Sam’s Club membership but I only pay the 150 RMB for two years of membership so that I can buy frozen seafood from not China. The wife loves shrimp and crab, two things I would NEVER buy in a Chinese store. Ever. Other than salsa and booze, that store is too damned expensive. That doesn’t seem to deter the Chinese shoppers though – it’s is always packed.
Oh really? I thought it was pretty much empty. So, not cheaper, crowded, and 150 RMB membership. Does everybody go there for the shrimp and booze? Haha!
When I cook at home I basically eat only vegetables but when I buy some fish and meat I go to the supermarket in Xinguang (Shin Kong? Can’t remember the English name), I love it (especially when I go in the evening and sushi is half price!).
Yeah, it’s gotten way more crowded over the past year. Sometimes it’s empty on a nice sunny day but best avoided on rainy days. Gone upscale and more foreign to bring in that upper middle class crowd. Plenty of really expensive toilet paper and face cream. Every time I go there, I just think of all of those 150 RMB memberships walking the floor.
We have Sam’s Club in the US, but everyone hates them (they’ve locked their workers inside at night, can you guess they are a division of Walmart?!) and goes to Costco. Andy LOOOOVES Costco. Yes, we have to pay a membership, but we get cash back at the end of the year and everything is cheaper, especially alcohol and gas. And if my husband likes it, you’d better believe it saves us money. ;)
Most membership cards here stamp your little card every time you visit and then you get a free visit after, say, 10 visits. It costs nothing. Now, this has never worked out for me at the nail salon or hairdresser’s — like you, I don’t go enough — but it’s fantastic for dog grooming. :)
Oh yes, we have the membership card for Nico’s baths, haha, it’s 15% cheaper and we use all of it!
Damn that Costco place sounds good. I wonder when they will open a store in China!
Probably never, as they are famous for selling quality items and not exploiting their workers? ;)
Hahaha, well, at least on the quality front, Chinese people are willing to pay more expensive prices than in the west!
This post gave me a chuckle.
Avocado makes nice ice cream. You only need four ingredients; ripe avocado (sorry, Marta, you do have dig into your wallet), lime juice from couple of lines, lime jest and sugar syrup. Use a stick blender to whip it all together. Tip the mixture in a tupper ware with a lid. Whip the mixture with a stick blender 2/3 times. So gooooooood.
Are avocados also very expensive there? I just can’t happily pay 2 euros for one fruit haha! But we recently bought popsicle molds, we could try :P
They grow avocado in Antalya, a bigger and exciting city, two hours by bus. They are not expansive here but I have not bought any. The ones I saw appeared bruised; I guess it had been on a free range foray.
At 2 EUR each, you want a quality avocado that is not bruised or over ripe. Where are they from?
A Turk acquaintance of mine who speaks English told me about a Sunday food market. It is about 10minutes on foot. It certainly is a fruit and veg galore. On a number of occassions, I had to decline the extra portion of free veg because it was too much for one person. I will make chutney, fruit cheese, compote etc if I am in Turkey for another year or so. I have not seen avocados yet. Kiwi fruits are a bit more expansive even though it is grown in Antalya but sweeter than the ones in London.
The recipe for the avocado ice cream does not harden in the freezer, not from my experience. It forms a soft whip. You may have to add a milk custard (for light texture ice cream) or cream custard (creamier but richer ice cream) or egg to the custard if you wish to use the popiscle mould. I have only used concentrated sugar syrup (home made); left overs can be used for cooking the tapioca pearls in boaba drinks.
Thanks for the advice!
Those ones from the rip-off shop have a sticker saying they are from Mexico, they were a bit hard when we bought them and riped in 2-3 days,
hahaha sii, cuando fui a China me llamó mucho la atención esto porque por acá en Chile no es así. Obvio que existen algunos clubs de socios pero no a este nivel. En China nunca compré de estas tarjetas por eso mismo, porque como que te obligan a mantenerte comprando permanentemente.. pero algunos de mis compañeros extranjeros las tenían :P
Cayeron en la tentación, jajaja.
My mother-in-law has an extra wallet just for those membership cards…it is insane. Whenever we go eating somewhere new she gets some membership card with xx% discount on this and that dish.
I tell you, Chinese people are addicted to them haha. However I also have to carry around an extra card wallet for all the cards that C. gives me…
Sam’s Club is a rip-off! The prices are no better than Walmart, and you have to store a huge box of cans or whatever plus pay for the expensive member card. Cheaper and easier to go to their Walmart stores, but I have heard that Costco is a good deal. Funny how things like that take off until you have a wallet full of cards!
Oh yes, we are only 2 people so I always buy small quantities. I don’t want a full box with 6 juice cartons or whatever! I don’t even have space to put it at home. I end up buying almost everything online.
Good post Marta. That grocery shops owner was clearly a thief but must say have never heard of an avocado milkshake. Never!!! I did have a ‘Lily Nails’ manicure and pedicure card when I lived in Beijing and that entitled me to 20% off each visit after putting 1000RMB into it. For me it was excellent value as I used it every fortnight and my friends used it when they came to visit from Australia (so got 20% off and have me the cash). But I had others and never used them again!!
Oh we also have a membership card for massages, as we go there at least once a month. Yes, for the things or services that you often use for sure it is a good deal!
There are way to many here in India too! I can never keep up so no doubt miss out on deals. :-)
It is the same here, membership cards galore. I used to have 3 myself, but I have since cut them all up into pieces! Here’s my 3:
1) Grocery card – it costs 10 bucks/year to keep the card active, and the card gives you points for your money spent, and special discounts on special days. Well guess what? I kept the card for 3 years and every year I earned enough points just to renew membership and nothing else. And as we all know, I avoid crowds like the plague so those special days mean nothing to me.
2) Petrol card – The card is free, but the points will expire. The cheapest item I could exchange with point was something with 5000 points. I’m only “earning” 4000 a year, and then they got expired, so…
3) Electrical appliances card – The card was 20 bucks/year, and having it means we get extended warranty for the electrical appliances we purchased there (1 year becomes 3 years). So I got it. I didn’t read the fine prints: only applicable for valid membership, if you did not renew after a year, extended warranty becomes void. So yeah… :(
Oh, the petrol card reminded me of the air miles cards. I also have cards with miles from airlines, but there are never available flights when I need them.
This is really interesting – my Chinese fiance’s parents here in Australia have a Costco card which they share with a group of their friends (I understand that it has a photo on it but that they just play off the assumption that white people can’t tell the difference and so far I think no one has questioned it!).
Haha, I think I could totally do that with another foreign woman with dark hair and eyes! I have been asked sometimes if a friend (several, in fact) was my sister when I think we are very different.
Do you know how Watsons Membership cards work? I had one two years ago, and when I came back have still been using it, I assume I’ve been collecting points each time I shop, but nobody’s ever told me I can exchange these points for anything, I just get surrounded by shop assistants telling me that X and Y products are buy one get one free for members. I always leave with more than I went for!
No idea how it works haha. C. got it but we only used it a couple of times, I don’t really go to Watsons very often. Maybe check the offers magazine next time you go? I remember seeing deals for members but I can’t really recall anything about points…