Why no FPP's for $ option?

[321Mike]

I'm curious as to why Stars doesn't have an option to cash in FPP's for cash. Party doesn't either (as far as I know) so there must be some valid reason when it seems like such a no-brainer to me.

Both sites are spending a significant amount of money on their "stores". If you want to reward your high volume players why not do it with what they want most - cash. I would think if either site offered this as an option it would swing a significant amount of play over to them.

I understand that Stars would rather have people use their FPP's for tournament buy-ins. So make that the best deal so anybody wanting to maximize the value of their points will take the buy-ins. If points are worth $.016 toward a tournament buy-in then offer $.012 in cash. Stars still comes out ahead. People are already figuring out which items they can convert to cash easiest. Why not cut out the middle man and save money in the process? Even if they get a volume discount on the items they ship most, the handling of the orders, shipping, and customer service issues after the order must be costing them more than offering cash. As an added benefit that cash would be in the player's account and could be used to play poker. This seems like a good outcome for the poker site as well.

I mentioned that offering cash for points could lock in some players that are wavering between Party and Stars, but it could also be used as an incentive for higher volume play. What if only silver stars, or even gold stars, could exchange points for cash. Wouldn't that be a huge incentive to up your play on Stars to reach that level?

What am I missing here? There must be a good reason Party and Stars only offer items points. I just can't see it.