How I Purchased a Canon M50 with PC Points

Canon M50 with PC Points – Welcome to today’s blog. Lately, I made a blog showing the process of how I purchased a brand new Canon M50 for $188 CAD, tax included. I made that purchase with one year’s effort of collecting PC points and redeeming them at the right time. So if you want to find out how I do that, make sure you click on the top right corner to read that blog.

Introduction to the PC Optimum Program

Today’s blog is dedicated to explaining how I utilize the PC Optimum program and how I collect points to get the best rewards out of my purchases. I’ve been in Canada for seven years now. I had not started to look into this PC Optimum program until last year. I wish someone could have told me about this when I first came here. I remember seeing signs of those 20 times point days everywhere in every Shoppers that I went to. If you live in Canada, you know what I’m talking about. That’s why I made today’s blog, so you can earn rewards out of your purchases and make the best out of what you spend. This is my personal journey, so I’m going to be sharing lots of personal tips and advice. At the end of this blog, I will also include a bonus which I call the Midnight Secret Shopper. It’s a secret that I have not heard anyone talking about, and even lots of staff inside Shoppers are not aware of it. So if you want to find out what that is, make sure you stick to the end.

Brief Introduction to the PC Optimum Program

If you are already familiar with it, you can skip this part. Basically, the PC Optimum program is a rewards program offered by Loblaws. It allows customers who purchase things in any Loblaw store to collect PC Optimum points and redeem them at any stores under their corporation. Different Loblaw stores offer different rates of rewards back. Among them, Shoppers offers the highest rate of rewards, and that’s where I shop the most and collect most of my points from. That’s what this blog is going to lean heavily on.

How to Maximize Points | Canon M50 with PC Points

Shoppers offer 15 points per one dollar purchase inside Shoppers, whether it’s in-store or online. That equals 1.5% rewards back. Now, you may say lots of credit cards can do better than 1.5%. I hear you, and I agree with you. I have American Express that can do 2% on any purchase that I make. So here’s the catch, guys: you don’t go shop until it’s 20 times points day, or you have a 20 times points offer, or you have something even better. I’ll explain more about what is that something even better in the later parts. Basically, you don’t want to go shop until you have the 20 times points offer. That is just how you make the most out of your money, and that’s the basic rule of this utilization.

Utilization Rules | Canon M50 with PC Points

Rule Number One: Shop at the Best Time to Earn Points

With a 20 times points offer, for every one dollar that you purchase, you collect 15 PC points. That’s just your base points. But if you have the 20 times points offer, that 15 times 20 equals 300 points for every one dollar. You get 300 points, which is 30%. That is the best rewards program available to Canadians. Period. If you still have not heard of it or have heard of it but are not utilizing it, you are really missing out. Time to get on the boat.

Rule Number Two: Wait for the Best Time to Redeem

Collect your points and wait until it’s the best time to redeem. Basically, you use rule number one to collect points. Stick to that 30% and keep collecting. Don’t redeem randomly and wait for the best time to redeem.

When is the Best Time to Redeem?

Shoppers often have redemption events. These happen basically once a month, sometimes more often during holidays. During those redemption days, you get a bonus on top of your redemption. For example, if you redeem $100 of points, you get $40 of bonus back to your PC points card. Some people might aim for something bigger because just getting that $100 back is not enough. My example with the Canon M50 is very good. I never redeem at a redemption event because the camera is $799. If I redeem just getting $100 back, it’s not enough. It’s too little rewards for me. So I waited for the once-a-year private offer offered by the Shoppers app, which is 40% points back. The maximum points you’re allowed to redeem is 500,000 points. So I did that and got the offer of 40% bonus back, which equals 200,000 points, equivalent to $200.

Tips for Utilizing the PC Optimum Program

Tip Number One: Download the Shoppers App

This is the most amazing app that they offer. It has tons of products that the store does not have. It gives you offers ahead of time, allowing you more time to plan your shopping. The more you use it, the more it learns your shopping habits and the brands you keep purchasing.

Tip Number Two: Join the Text Program

Shoppers have this text program where you register with your phone number, and it will send you text messages of some private offers. They often send it to you in the middle of the week with different offers than what the app offers.

Tip Number Three: Take Advantage of the PC Optimum Program Customer Service

The PC Optimum program has an app that keeps track of all your purchases. It allows you to submit inquiries or complaints, and they usually respond within minutes.

Tip Number Four: Always Read the Details of Your Offers

Reading them ahead of time before you go to the store will solve many confusions and inconveniences.

Tip Number Five: Pool Household Program

If you don’t consume many products, take advantage of other household members or friends. Collect points together to make things easier and faster.

Tip Number Six: Senior Days

Shoppers have senior days offering bonuses for seniors on the last Thursday of each month.

Tip Number Seven: PC Money Account

PC Financial offers different cards under the PC Optimum program. The PC Money account is a prepaid debit card that earns 10 PC points per dollar, equivalent to 1%.

Bonus: Midnight Secret Shopper

This is a bug in the Shoppers app. It happens in Saskatchewan between 11 PM to 12 AM once a month, sometimes every two months, and always on a Friday. During this time, multiple offers overlap, allowing you to stack offers on top of each other.

Thank you so much for reading this long blog. I hope I explained it well enough for you to understand how this PC program works and how to utilize it. If you found these tips helpful, please give this blog a thumbs up. If you have other tips or advice, please leave them in the comments below.

In the next blog, I will show you the products that I bought over the course of the year inside Shoppers, the products I like, and the products I would not purchase again. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss out on the content. See you next time. Bye!