discount?

Was at the MRT sushi shop to takeaway some sushi. Outside the shop, there was a group of youth carrying what appeared to be giant sized vouchers.

One of them approached me when I was inside, so decided to take some time to listen to his sales pitch. The gist of a long story cut short:

1. Pay $9.99 for the coupon first
2. There are about 2 pieces that entitles the user $5 discount per min. $10 purchase, then 4 pieces that allows you to buy sushi box that's below $1.60 at $1 price and capped at max. $6 discount per voucher.
3. There are probably 6 pieces of vouchers that lets you have 50% off second bento/platter/sashimi.
4. The discount vouchers for min. $10 purchase all expire this year, while vouchers for 50% off the second bento set expires early next year.
5. All vouchers are for 1 time use only.


So, assuming I paid $9.99, then in order for me to get back that amount, I need to spend another 2 x $10 (using the min. $10 purchase to get $5 discount). So in total, I will have to pay upfront $30 just to get back what I've paid for the voucher price? So only when I'm paying the next $10 ($30+$10), then the 'real' discount starts. So at $40th dollar, I can start to 'enjoy' the discount.

So assuming I save $6 (using the buy at $1 for items priced at $1.60 or below, so $10 gets me a discount of $6). Total percentage saved at this point=($6/$40) x 100=15%

But at $30th dollar, we got back the $9.99 (round up to $10). So, in this case, the discount is higher. Total percentage saved =($6/$30) x 100=20%

50% off the second item (assuming its the same value), really means you're just getting 25% discount in total.

So assuming, you're getting a discount of say $36, it will also means $108 is paid to vendor.

Did I get the vouchers at the end? Nope, because it wouldn't work for me. I would like a voucher that lets me enjoy a discount immediately upon use.