Consumerist
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rightsizing
Borders To Close 200 Bookstores
Borders announced that 200 of their stores will be, in the words of their CEO, "right-sized" by January. The shredding focuses on Waldenbooks, Borders Express and Borders Outlet stores, mainly those in malls and airports. We kinda saw this coming. More » -
price war
Walmart, Amazon, Target Rationing Below-Cost Books To Keep Independent Bookstores From Cashing In
Independent book stores can't even buy new releases for the low prices that Target, Walmart, and Amazon are offering them to the public — which has led to rationing in order to keep the independents from buying and reselling the books at a profit. More » -
satire
A Stingy Scoundrel Explains How To Save On Groceries By Price-Matching
I wrote a (hopefully) humorous money-saving book called Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel: 100 Dirty Little Money-Grubbing Secrets. The New York Post called it "required reading" Sunday, although not everyone's a fan.
It's a parody of personal finance books, and full of all sorts of naughty chicanery that is probably best left laughed about rather than actually done. But perhaps you can get some mileage out of this comedic take on slashing your grocery bills through a mix of extreme price-matching and checkout counter bum-rushing: More »
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price wars
Walmart Now Offering New Hardcovers For $9
Walmart just tried to undercut Amazon on, of all things, books. They've announced that they're now selling the "top 10 pre-selling books" for $9 each, with free home delivery. Amazon has responded by dropping its price to $9 on the same titles, but their free shipping doesn't kick in until you buy $25 worth of merchandise (or pay the annual fee for Amazon Prime). Price war! More » -
saving money
"Millionaire By 30" Shares His Saving Secrets
Through a combination of extreme cheapness, hard work, and determination, Alan Corey became a millionaire at an age when most of us are still trying to figure out how to start paying back our student loans. How did he do it? He shared some of his saving secrets with Mainstreet.com, and they're useful whether you aspire to wealth or just need more money to pay down debts. More » -
books
Now In Stores: Video/Book Hybrids
Great news if you enjoy books, but have the puny attention span of a person raised on television and the Interne—oh, look at the kitten! More » -
books
"So Sue Me, Jackass!" Provides Random Legal Advice In Humor Book Format
Here's a new book that focuses on those random questions people always have about how the law pertains to everyday activities. You know, things like starting your own online porn site, burying a pet, or selling your ex-boyfriend's things on eBay. More » -
cheaper education
Florida State Universities Launch Free Digital Textbook Program
If you're going to school at a Florida state university, your fee burden just grew a little bit lighter:
More »The board that oversees Florida's state universities has launched a program that will offer free online textbooks to students; the program makes printed books available as well, for about half the price that students now pay every semester.
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frustration
Guess What Happens When Amazon Keeps Sending Shampoo In Same Box With Book
Reader Len recently found out that it's sort of impossible to order shampoo and a book from Amazon at the same time. They'll just keep sending you a shampoo-covered book until they eventually give up and refund your money. Trouble is, Len didn't want a refund. He wanted a shampoo-less book. More » -
copycats
Are Your Friends Making You Fat?
A new book out by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler—Connected: The Surprising Power of Social Networks...— looks at the way personal relationships affect your life, including everything from your weight to whether or not you smoke or drink bad beer. More » -
shopping
Retail Expert Describes What Men Want Out Of A Shopping Experience
Brand specialist Bertrand Pellegrin has published a new book for retailers that says if they want to capture the typical guy's dollar, they need to create more inviting spaces to shop in. The author "points to electronics stores, strip clubs, sports bars and gyms as spots where men feel comfortable socializing and spending money." That may all be (kind of) true, but that's gonna make one hell of a noisy, sleazy, sweaty, drunken place to shop for clothes. More » -
buying blind
Amazon Answers My Questions, Sort Of, About Kindle Licenses
Let's get straight to the bad news: although Amazon did answer my questions, their answers included "we're working on that," "I don't know," and "I don't know (but it's the publishers' fault)." To be fair to the "Kindle Specialist" I spoke with this morning, he has promised to talk to the Kindle marketing department—why marketing? these are DRM issues!—and get back to me with better answers. Until then, this is what the average consumer can expect from a Kindle ebook license. More » -
textbooks
Textbooks Publishers Using "Packets" To Fight Used Book Market
Students who prefer to shop for textbooks online are encountering a hitch in their efforts. University and College courses are increasingly using bundled versions of textbooks that come with their own ISBN number. School book stores sell the packets as a single item, because their contents don't come itemized. More » -
madoff fallout
The Conman Who Loved Me: Madoff Mistress Tells All
Sheryl Weinstein, Bernie Madoff's mistress, is making the rounds with her steamy, tell-all account of Bernie Madoff the love machine called "Madoff's Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie, and Me" (the title beat out "Bernie Madoff Robbed and Sexed Me and All I Got was This Stupid Book Contract"). More » -
money saving tips
Students Can Use Internet To Rent Textbooks Rather Than Buy Them
The college textbook racket is a cruel exploitation of a captive market, and book prices seem to rise faster than Google stock. More » -
money-saving tips
The Book: One Of Many Money-Wasting Traps To Avoid
Given all its recent layoffs, the Baltimore Sun knows a thing or two about slashing budgets. So its money-saving tip slide show rings with some authority. More » -
lawsuits
Kindle Deletions: Amazon Ate Student's Homework
I was never much for writing in books in school, though I did use Post-Its frequently. Which is a precursor to leaving digital notes in a Kindle edition of the book. A Michigan high school student is one of the parties in a class action suit against Amazon because in deleting the unauthorized MobileReference edition of 1984, the company effectively ate his homework. More » -
you get nothing!
B&N Wraps Public Domain Books In DRM To Protect Authors' Copyrights. What?
The ebook "war" is a race to the bottom, apparently, with Barnes & Noble trying to out-do Amazon on DRM stupidity. A reader emailed B&N customer service to point out that their "free books" offer consists of 5 public domain titles that are no longer protected under copyright, yet are still locked down with digital rights management (DRM). Their response? "For copyright protection purposes, these files are encrypted and cannot be converted or printed." More »
books
New York, 7:02 PM
Wed Nov 11
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