What a bargain!
Best Buy has introduced a new program called the "Reward Zone." Basically, you pay $10 a year to join, and for every $125 you spend at Best Buy, you get a $5 coupon. So really, you break even if you spend $250 a year at Best Buy. And you save a whopping $10 if you manage to spend $500 a year at Best Buy. Even though I buy a lot of stuff that Best Buy sells, I usually split my business between them and Fry's. And given that the "rewards" come at $125 intervals, I'm frankly not interested in something like this.
A similar program exists at Barnes & Noble - you pay $25 a year and get 10% off (5% online) each purchase. Like the Best Buy program, you break even at $250 if you do all your shopping in-store rather than online. As it happens, we've got one of these cards, and we've actually managed to pass the break-even point. I'm not entirely convinced that it's worth it to renew for next year, but at least we don't have to wait for $125 increments to get any benefit from it - it's all gravy until our card lapses.