Hello everyone,
I know you all love my post about how to save money at Ulta by leveraging their rewards program, and they have come out with a brand new rewards category. [drum roll] DIAMOND đź’Ž
So, basically, I love Ulta- BUT I think their Diamond program is reaching a little bit. By comparison, Sephora’s Rouge requires “only” $1000 spent per year to become a member and provides the major benefit of free shipping. (However, the same benefit can be purchased for $10/year from Sephora.) By contrast, Ulta’s Diamond rewards program membership does not offer free shipping and requires a $1200 spend. It only changes the minimum order requirement from $50 to earn free shipping to $25 to earn free shipping. Honestly, my orders are never lower than that anyways, but it still seems like if Sephora can do for $1000, Ulta can do it for $1200.
Question: I am currently Platinum. Is it worth it to become Diamond? Let’s do some math. Wait! Don’t leave! I will do it- 🙂
So, if you earn points 25% faster (On BASE points only, this multiplier does not affect 2x or 5x the points values), you now “only” have to spent $1333 to earn the 2000 points (assuming you activate no other points offers), whereas with Platinum, you must spend $1600 to earn the $2000 points, which in my last post, we established is the ideal increment in which to spend. The relative value- of the extra points you get for not having to spend $267 to earn them is $20.86. In addition to the $25 gift card you receive for being a Diamond rewards member, the total benefit of being a Diamond rewards member is $45.86 + a lower free-shipping threshold, which anyone spending $1200/year at Ulta is unlikely to use anyways amiright?. So, if spending $1200/ year at Ulta is something you generally do, by all means, continue to do so. But in my opinion, I would prefer to remain Platinum and get all the perks associated with the Platinum membership, rather than attempting to become a Diamond member. If I spent $1200 on makeup per year, I’d probably go for the Rouge membership at Sephora. Free shipping (although non-rouge members can purchase it for $10/year), early access to sales and new product launches, and exclusive events seem more worth it to me than what Ulta is offering.
I, however, barely made it to Platinum this year, so I will not be going for Sephora’s Rouge program. But if you’re trying to choose between the two- I think Sephora wins the round for “best top tier,” but Ulta still wins for best mid-tier. In my opinion, Ulta’s rewards for being platinum are better than Sephora’s rewards for being VIB.
Thank you for reading!
What do you think of the new Diamond tier in the program? Let me know in the comments!