Just buy ’em and scrape off the lead paint. Why? Because toy makers will be passing the cost of higher-quality and better-made toys on to you next year. Says one analyst, “Anything that’s a new introduction, you can make that price point $19.99 rather than $14.99.”
shopping
Morning Deals
By 10.10.07
How About Not Buying An iPod?
By 10.9.07
Okay, we’ll say it, and understand that we’re writing this post on an old iBook: the iPod line is starting to look tired. Sure, that Touch is elegant in the same way as the iPhone—but its capacity is similar to the Nano, and what if don’t want to carry around a Kubrick-style slab of minimalism? There are now some really nice alternatives out there if you’re willing to walk away from the perks of being a member of the Apple camp.
Morning Deals
By 10.9.07
Barbie Teaches Credit Cards 101: "You Never Run Out Of Money!"
By 10.8.07
Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique, the correctly named Barbie toy, features a built-in credit card swiper and a life-size credit card for young children to use when buying outfits for their dolls. According to the Amazon website, “Once the balance hits zero, it will reset so you can continue to shop.”
Consumerist Neighborhood eBay Garage Sale
By 10.8.07
It’s time for another Consumerist Neighborhood eBay Garage Sale, where plucky Consumerists looking to clear out their garage and get some extra cash add their ebay auctions in the comments. Check out each other’s deals, add some of your own. Stuck at work? Hey, I bet they don’t really need that extra stapler… This week we’ll kick things off with several used American DJ lights and control devices:
Morning Deals
By 10.5.07
5 Marketing Tricks That Unleash Shopping Frenzies
By 10.4.07
- Artificially limit supply. They had a giant warehouse full of Beanie Babies, but released them in squirts to prolong the buying orgy.
- Issue press releases about limited supply so news van show up
- Aggressively market to children. Daddy may not play with his kids as much as he should but one morning he can get up at the crack of dawn, get a Teddy Ruxpin, and be a hero.
- Make a line of minute variations on the same theme to create the “collect them all” effect.
- Make it only have one highly specialized function so you can sell one that laughs, one that sings, one that skydives, etc, ad nauseum.
Mystery Shopper Scam Now Comes Bundled With Check Fraud Scam!
By 10.4.07
Fraudulent check scams (which we wrote about yesterday) have taken a new, exciting twist: integrated into so-called “mystery shopper” scams. The classified ads you see for secret or mystery shoppers used to be small time cons, designed to bilk you out of $100 or so to provide information that’s readily available for free. But add a little check fraud and you could be taken for thousands of dollars.
10 Ways To Break A Compulsive Spending Habit
By 10.3.07
“Addictive spending is often rooted in punishing feelings of low self-esteem and problems with impulse control,” says an addiction specialist in an MSNBC special report on compulsive spending. At its worst, it can wreak as much or more damage on your finances as any full-blown gambling, drinking, or drug addiction—and yet, a lot of people still consider it a moral failing that sheer will-power can prevent (just take a look at half the comment threads on this blog for evidence of that mindset). If you’re a compulsive spender, odds are you already know if you have a problem, even if you manage to hide it from everyone else. But here are ten ways to help get a grip on the situation.
Morning Deals
By 10.3.07
Man Builds Secret Apartment At Mall, Gets Away With It For Four Years
By 10.3.07
An artist in Providence, Rhode Island was apprehended the other day by mall security as he left the secret apartment he’d built almost four years ago, in an unused utility space in the mall’s parking garage. The apartment had no running water (they used mall bathrooms), but it did include “a sectional sofa and love seat, coffee and breakfast tables, chairs, lamps, rugs, paintings, a hutch filled with china, a waffle iron, TV and Sony Playstation 2,” according to the Boston Globe.
90% Of Hagglers Get Better Deals
By 10.2.07
Most hagglers are able to score reduced prices, according to a study to be published in November’s Consumer Reports. Here’s one of their tips for shaving off the dollars:
Deal with the decision maker. If a salesperson isn’t empowered enough to give you a discount, find out who is. At chain stores, that’s typically a manager or supervisor. If your medical plan doesn’t cover the entire cost of a procedure, talk to the doctor, not the office manager.
Survey respondants reported success not just with cars and houses, but also cellphone plans, doctor’s bills, and electronics at big-box retail stores. Are you a haggler? What are your stategies for success?
"Christmas Creep" Photo Gallery Call For Entries
By 10.1.07
Christmas is threatening to swallow all the other holidays until there is nothing left! Help! This “holiday season” we’re asking our readers to document a phenomenon called “Christmas Creep.”
Just How Good Is The New Amazon MP3 Store?
By 10.1.07
A reviewer at TidBITS gives a non-technical review of the new Amazon music store, a direct competitor to iTunes Music Store that Amazon launched last week. Their verdict? The download software could use work, but overall it’s “not too shabby.”
