Discount Codes And Contrasts

I received a discount code from Waterstones a few days ago, so I thought I would use it today for Christmas shopping (yes!). I encountered a problem when I attempted to check out the four books I purchased, though.

As you'll see below, the entire order came to £61.97. I added the promotion code but was informed none of the titles were eligible for the discount.

I reread the email with the code and, fair enough, I had misinterpreted the point of the discount. It was to get twenty-five percent off titles due out in 2026. 

Only one of the books in my basket was a preorder. That also wouldn't have been eligible for any money off because it comes out next week.

So - the order would have been £61.97. 

I headed over to Amazon and added the same books to my cart and it came to £44.21.

Even if I had the Waterstones discount, it would have still been £2.27 more than Amazon ended up charging me.

I don't really know what I am trying to grasp here other than Waterstones could have had my custom had it opened the discount further than titles scheduled for 2026. Instead, I went with Amazon and saved myself a little over a couple of quid.

With all that said, I looked at two books in the 2026 range in the quest for balance.

One was £20 from both businesses while the second was £9.99 from the two sites. So - the discount offer does give Waterstones - and obviously its customer - an edge over Amazon. For now.