[Update: Reimbursement] [Dead] $300 Drinkmaker from Keurig + $26 Profit with This Yazing Deal [FL, MO, CA, PA, NY, MA, IL, AZ, DC, MD, WA, NV, MN]

Update 12/15/21: Drinkworks has closed down and is offering reimbursement for machines purchased since they can no longer be serviced. Reader JP got the following email:

Drinkworks Customer,

Thank you for being part of our passionate Drinkworks community. Today we made the difficult decision to close Drinkworks, with sales of Drinkmaker machines ceasing immediately. Cocktail pods, CO2 and accessories will continue to be available to purchase on Drinkworks.com and at participating retailers until March 31, 2022 or while supplies last.

As the Drinkworks machine will no longer be able to be replaced or serviced, we are offering you the opportunity to receive reimbursement for your system, no matter where you bought it. This offer is valid until February 28, 2022. Please use your Reimbursement ID: XXXXXXXXXXXXX and visit https://www.drinkworksrefundprogram.com to submit a reimbursement claim. In order to file for your reimbursement, you will need to reference your Reimbursement ID.

Thank you for being part of the Drinkworks journey,

Nathaniel

Drinkworks CEO

Update 7/2/20: Full $225 was paid out today via Paypal. Finally, yay!

Update 6/26/20: Yazing sent out an update (underlining mine):

We want to thank you for your patience and understanding on this whole Drinkworks program.  We share in your frustration for how long this is taking and hope that you will understand that we are doing everything possible to finalize this and get the payments sent out.

 

On June 16^th, we got confirmation from the affiliate network that they had received a payment from Drinkworks.  We were hoping that we would have received the direct deposit from the affiliate network by now, but our last message from them indicated that it is taking longer to process because Drinkworks didn’t pay the affiliate network the full amount due.  They assure us that we should receive a payment sometime next week. (Fingers crossed).

 

We have communicated with the Drinkworks team, and while we totally disagree with them paying less than the amount due, we have insisted that they pay something so that we can get payments out to you, even if that means Yazing earns less than expected.  We will have fight with them over the short payment later.  Based on what we have been told, we expect the payment we receive to allow us to send everyone their expected payout by taking a deduction in our expected profits on this program.  

 

We have pre-funded our PayPal account and will process payments as soon as we have received the expected payout from the affiliate network.

Update 4/23/20: Yazing is saying that Anheuser-Busch (owner of Drinkworks) is delaying payments of invoices until at least June due to the pandemic.

Update 12/19/19: Deal was pulled a few hours early, it’s already gone now. Yazing tells us: “The affiliate manager has assured us that they will payout on all transactions. Apparently they pulled the tracking pixel at some point late this afternoon, so if anyone has a transaction they made that didn’t track they should submit those via the Yazing dashboard 7 days after the purchase date and we will submit those to the brand for payment. The brand has been removed from Yazing altogether.”

Update 12/19/19: There’s now an update showing in Yazing that beginning tomorrow, 12/20, the cashback amount will go down from $250 to $175.

Update 12/19/19: Yazing has clarified with us that you can earn the $250 cashback on multiple purchases (they clarified this with Drinkworks), BUT you must purchase them in separate transactions. (I’d click through the portal a second time for the second order just to be safe.)

[Updated the list of states available below; there are numerous states where you can pre-order this.]

The Offer

Direct Link to offer

• Yazing is offering $250 when you buy a drinkmaker machine from Drinkworks by Keurig. The machine costs $299, but there’s $100 promo code (Holiday100) which brings the cost down to $199.

The Drinkworks™ drinkmaker prepares cocktails, beer, and more at home using proprietary Drinkworks™ Pods. Each drink is made consistently every time using a Pod-specified mix of chilled water and carbonation. A variety of Drinkworks™ Pod Collections include classic and specialty cocktail offerings, leading beer brands like Beck’s, Bass, and Stella Artois, and signature mixers. Enjoying quality drinks at home, both old favorites and new discoveries, has never been easier. The Drinkworks Home Bar includes everything you need to get started. Two CO2 canisters, cleaning tablets and a water filter are included in your purchase (over a $30 value).

The Fine Print

• Available in select markets: ships 12/16 in MA, 3/31 in WA, AZ and 9/30 in DC, MD, MN, NV.
• Delivering to FL, MO, CA, PA, NY, MA, and IL. Pre-order now for AZ, DC, MD, WA, NV, and MN.

Our Verdict

Yazing charges a 10% fee, so you’ll only walk home with $225 for a $26 profit, not a $51 profit. You may also get hit with sales tax which can bring your profit down to near-zero. Some free spend, I suppose, plus a nice machine, hopefully, depending on how much you value it at.

The promo code is clearly marked as eligible in the portal. Payout of the $250 should be around 120 days after the purchase, according to information we’ve received from Yazing. (They payout after 90 days, and then it should take another 30 until it gets to the Yazing.)

It’s not clear how they can pay more cashback than the cost of the machine. Perhaps they just want to get the product out there for feedback and the like.

Readers commented below that they have the machine and love it. They explain that they want to make money on the pods/drinks, so they are willing to give the machine out cheap/free. Some note that these sell for around $250 on eBay, so there could be a profit play here as well.

Without researching the company, I’d consider this a lot of risk that they go under and not ship the product. Still, given credit card protections, I’d think it’s pretty secure to make the purchase as you’d get your $199 back in the event of non-delivery, presumably. However, I don’t see any protection against the company defaulting on the portal cashback, so there is a risk there. It’s possible the affiliate networks have some sort of guarantees, but I’m uninformed on this point. (Thought this was some startup, didn’t realize it’s part of Keurig. Shouldn’t be much risk, in that case.)