Kobo Super Points: Review

Over a year ago, I posted about the Kobo Super Points program; now that time has passed, I think that it is time for me to finally post my review! For those who aren’t familiar, Kobo is a dedicated e-reader that boasts an expansive library of books for those of us not in US. (Amazon’s Kindle library is huge in the US, but not so much everywhere else.) I am a huge reader, so I have spent more time than any normal person should researching e-readers…


A note: I know that undoubtedly some of my readers are firmly only book readers, and don’t delve into e-readers. I appreciate that, so this is a heads up that it is a e-reading post! Given that I moved across the Atlantic for a year, and still travel a lot, e-readers allow me to carry hundreds of books with me at once. I read physical books quite a lot with my library membership, and I do buy several books that I love in hard copy, but I love physical and e-books just the same! Now, onto the good stuff!
The Super Points program is fairly straightforward- you earn points for every dollar you spend on books in the Kobo store. The basic membership earns you 10 points per dollar spent, and the VIP membership ($10/year) earns you 20 points per dollar spent. Books can be bought with points, starting at 2400 points per book. They range from 2,400 to 10,000 typically- academic books can be 30-40,000 points, but I’m guessing most people aren’t using Kobo for academic books. You receive one free book a year and an extra 10% off with the VIP membership.

So, how do I feel about it? 
Overall, this is a decent rewards program! Thus far, points don’t expire and there are a lot of bonus point days. If you do take advantage of the bonus point deals, you can easily come away with several thousand points if you are a VIP member. I buy quite a lot of books for my Kobo, so the VIP membership has been worth the $10 investment. My only issue is that you have to turn off the autorenewal for it so you don’t have a surprise charge at the one year mark.

A few months ago, a few of the bigger publishers added their books to the program so there are a lot more options in terms of redeeming your rewards. More popular books do require more points, so you would have decide for yourself if it is entirely worth it for that particular book. I will admit that I am terrible for saving rewards for months and months (even years), and have over 10,000 points waiting for me to spend on Kobo- I keep hunting for books that I know that I will love, so I don’t feel like I’ve wasted the points.
How do you feel about rewards programs? Are you all for it or tired of being asked at every store and on every site? 
Until tomorrow,
The Historian!