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ONRCOINS
Monday Morning Brief for Oct. 10, 2022: Successful or not?
By William T. Gibbs , Coin World, Published: Oct 10, 2022, 7 AM
We have a little longer to wait to learn whether two recent promotions by the United States Mint paid off.
As Paul Gilkes reports in two articles this week on Page 6, the Mint is still tallying results of August and September promotions, one aimed at bringing former customers back.
That program offered a 40% discount on three 2021 annual sets: the Proof set, the Silver Proof set and the Uncirculated Coin set. Another promotion offered a free 2018-W American Liberty tenth-ounce gold coin to purchasers of a 2017-W American Liberty 1-ounce gold coin.
The 40% discount promotion was not offered to everyone. The discount was offered via targeted email that went out only to lapsed and lapsing customers who had not ordered since October of 2021. The emails included a single use redemption code, redeemable only by the recipient of the email.
We heard some complaints from readers, including one from a reader who does not use email (and does not want to). He felt discriminated against for not using email and thus losing out on the promotion. He also wanted me to give him the redemption code, unaware that the code was usable only by the recipient of the email.
According to the Mint, early results indicate the promotion was successful at reactivating “many lapsed and lapsing customers,” though a final reckoning of the level of success was not available.
Mint officials are also assessing the success of the “free” gold coin promotion, although officials describe the bonus coin as another “discount.”
The two promotions were innovative and in addition to attracting back lapsed customers, also helped lower inventory levels for the affected gold coins and annual sets.
Granted, some collectors saw the 40% discount being offered only to certain Mint customers as unfair and discriminatory. Then again, other Mint policies, such as offering portions of various products to Authorized Bulk Purchase Program participants, are also viewed with displeasure by some, so that reaction was to be expected.
Mint officials should be encouraged to think of future promotions of a similar nature if the results of these two offers prove successful.
The original article can be found https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/monday-morning-brief-for-oct-10-2022-successful-or-not