Cash Back

It is not your business to succeed, but to do right: when you have done so, the rest lies with God.  C.S. Lewis

Have you ever really thought about cash back?  You know the commercials that advertise you can get cash back on tires, gas, groceries etc….   The commercial is intended to make you spend more but they make it sound so enticing.  It is kind of ironic don’t you think that they sell us on buying more so you can get something back.

In reality they are trying to convince us that the more you spend the more you save.  What kind of thinking is that?  I am currently reading a book about business.  In the book it talks about how every transaction that we do in business should be a win-win-win for everyone involved.  What does that mean?  It means that the business owner is not in it just to make money.  If you run your business with a win-win-win theory, it means that the business owner wins, the supplier for the business wins and the customer wins.  What a concept. 

What normally happens is companies are greedy so they do whatever it takes to win.  This means they will cheat the customer, charge outrageous prices or take advantage of their suppliers.  In this case with credit cards they will charge extremely high interest rates so that they can offer cash back.  They want you to think you are making money by using your credit card. 

Let’s take vehicles for an example.  The average car dealer markup fee is typically between 2-5%. This number represents the amount of money the dealer automatically raises the price to ensure a profit. This is not the final sale price, which is often higher. For example: a car comes in at dealer invoice (what the dealer pays for it) of $20,000. The dealer marks it up 2-5% (this is their listed invoice price) and then assigns an MSRP price on it that is even higher. Should you negotiate the dealer down to invoice, they still make a 2-5% profit on the vehicle anyway. 

I am not trying to pick on the car dealers.  You find the same thing in furniture showrooms, grocery stores, gas stations and all sorts of businesses.  God never intended for us to use greed as a motivator for business.  God intended us to own businesses but our intent should not be to make the most we can make.  God’s perfect plan is for us to charge a reasonable price and in that perfect plan the customer will return because they know you are not cheating them.  If everything I own is God’s, how can I use it to cheat others to get ahead.    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I get frustrated with buying things in today’s world.  Retailers spend extreme amounts of money on advertising that is intended to make us think we are getting a good deal, when the reality is greed is the primary motivation.  There are still companies out there that charge a fair amount for whatever they are selling.  I thank You for those companies who strive to be what You call any business to be.  Please help me to use discernment when I am spending Your money so that I may do so wisely.

Scripture:   So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying:  “Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there as a witness against you; for I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord, then how much more after my death? Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.  For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”  Deuteronomy 31:24-29