• For the well-off goth who’s looking to settle down, Sharon Tate’s Opal and Garnet Engagement Ring for $25k on eBay (the one given her by Roman Polanski). [via Bayraider]
shopping
Morning Deals Round Up
By 1.16.06
• H&R Block is giving away free copies of their DeductionPro software, which we’ve been told is normally a $20 upgrade ot thier TaxCut software. (Although it works in a standalone mode, as well.) [via Slickdeals]
Overstock.com’s Patrick Byrne Leaks Own Interview
By 1.13.06
Following the ins-and-outs of business is not our forte, but we continue to be enraptured by the kooky CEO of Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne. After making a call to investors where he assured them that he was not, among other things, a Jedi, he’s now followed up by publishing an email interview with Business Week’s e-Business editor Tim Mullaney—before the Business Week article has been published.
Amazon Listens: Fixes X-Rated ‘Anime’ Search Snafu
By 1.13.06
We won! Maybe! At least, we’ll take the credit! Good ol’ Amazon listened to our complaints about mixing x-rated hentai when doing searches for hentai and has quickly fixed the problem. Performing a search for anime now returns only the most wholesome of results, while searching for ‘hentai’ returns all the tentacles and demon incest that we hold so dear.
Morning Deals Round Up
By 1.13.06
• Friday sales! J&R! Staples! Amazon! And because we love you: 50% off Godiva Chocolates. Remember us when the endorphins flow.
Amazon Pushes X-Rated Animation as ‘Anime’
By 1.12.06
Imagine the outrage from parents if the first returned product on Amazon in a search for ‘movies’ returned a hardcore pornography DVD. Adam, a fan of the Japanese cartoon stories known as ‘anime,’ has noticed something perhaps even worse: Searches for ‘anime’ on Amazon return results for ‘hentai,’ or adult, X-rated anime films. The top result [as pictured] is for a hentai film called ‘Princess 69,’ which as a reviewer describes as such:
If you’re into non-con, excellent animation, girls going down on girls… you might like this. I don’t much care for the enema or watersports parts of this film, but the facial expressions are priceless and lovely. These girls have the most wonderful “I am shocked, my mind has cracked by what is being done to me” expresions, they cry tears, they are bound, taped, mildly electrocuted, made to “initiate” new members, and brutally given sex.
Now we have absolutely no problem with Amazon selling Japanese animation for adults; We know that some cartoons are made with adult themes for adults’ enjoyment. But what we don’t understand is why Amazon needlessly conflates anime and hentai. Many anime fans, often already scorned as creeps by those not familiar with the range of themes offered by mainstream anime, are worried that Amazon’s lack of distinction between anime and hentai will both further the perception that all anime fans are also fans of hentai, as well as put children looking for traditional anime titles in an awkward position.
Morning Deals Round Up
By 1.12.06
• Newegg has the Sennheiser PC 150 Headset, perfect for gaming or Skyping, for $30 after $10 off coupon code NYNG011006. Ships free, as well.
What is the Legality of Retailers’ Post-Sale Spot Checks?
By 1.11.06
try to leave the store. They try to FORCE everyone to stop and have their receipts & carts checked before they leave the store. I cannot tell you how much this bothers me. Once I pay for my merchandise, it is MINE – I own it! If they want to check my cart or my receipt, they need probably cause to detain me – otherwise it is illegal search & seizure. They want me to wait in one line for 30 minutes to check out, and then wait another 5 minutes to have some lackey check my receipt? FORGET IT! I have complained about this repeatedly to the store manager. They claim it is to make sure that I haven’t been “over-charged” for anything. But after some argument, they admit it is used to keep tabs on their employees, and make sure that the checkers are actually scanning all items. Is that my problem? Nope! And I refuse to be have my civil rights violated because they don’t trust their employees.
This sounds like a job for an attorney or someone who has had at least one cup of coffee, but Kaje raises an interesting point. How can stores legally search your bags or cart after you’ve paid for an item? Doesn’t the ownership of the goods transfer once you have been given the receipt or bill of sale? Wouldn’t refusing a search on their property lead to, at worse, an ejection from the premises? (You know, like, ejected all the way out to your car so you can drive home?)
Morning Deals Round Up
By 1.11.06
• We continue to be baffled by Amazon’s ridiculously low prices on cookware recently, like this Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Stainless 6-Quart Sauce Pot with Lid for just $14. They must have over-purchased for the holidays. [via Slickdeals] Update: Reader Kim L. confirmed that the price is showing as $40 for her. It still shows $14 for us (although they are out of stock). A mystery!
Today in LoBo: Soda Can Cuffs
By 1.10.06
Independent design collective retailer (we’re just stringing together words until they mean something [everyday]) Elsewares is selling these beer and soda can cuffs for $80 a pop. Cuffs are borderline passe anyway, but when coupled with pop culture brand references, they very nearly cause our irony gland to liquify. That said, if you’re going to spend four Jacksons on a pop can, please pick one with a nice design, like the always-classy Tab soda.
A Moment in Sucking Less: Threadless Has Hoodies
By 1.10.06
Outright praise on The Consumerist is rare, but we’ve had nothing but excellent experiences with Threadless (ignoring the slight delay in their normally expeditious shipping during the Christmas rush). So consider this an exceptional free bit of shillery, on the occasion of their announcement that they will now be selling, in addition to their trademark t-shirts, hoodies.
Consumers Speak: “Going a little easy on Amazon, aren’t you?”
By 1.4.06
Reader Ray R. writes:
The company’s infamous “customer relations” policy must be among the worst going. My christmas orders for nephew and niece went completely astray and I wasn’t informed at all. When I phone head office in Seattle on Jan. 3 I get put through to Kham in India. She was polite enough, but the best she was going to offer was a $15 voucher, even though the $24 recharchable battery, the only part of the order being filled, was going to be delivered anyway, even though it was useless without the toy boat it was supposed to run, which was not being delivered. So, they’re refunding me about $100 for two presents not delivered and giving me a $15 voucher, but not refunding the useless battery — not to mention the cost of the phone call, the hassle of tracking them down, the fact that I look like a deadbeat uncle for not delivering presents thanks to Amazon.
World’s Most Expensive Shoes for Women
By 1.3.06
Ladies love them shoes, says fashion watchdog Forbes.com.
Cohen estimates that shoes costing $1,000 and up account for less than 1% of total women’s fashion footwear sales (fashion footwear is defined as anything other than athletic), but he acknowledges a growing group of women willing to pay more for their shoes now than they ever have been before. “It changed as early as a year-and-a-half ago but picked up steam in the past six months. Women consider footwear their signature item now.”
Oddly enough, we consider women’s feet our signature item, although we’ve been advised to stop wearing them to Sunday School.
Ask The Consumerist: Why Do You Hate Wal-Mart?
By 1.2.06
We’re off duty today, but we’ve gotten some great emails over the weekend so we thought we’d pass the goods on before it got stale.
More Consumerist News from Around the Gawkesphere
By 12.30.05
Here are a few Consumeristy links from around the Gawker ranch. May you enjoy them with much enjoyment.
Overstock.com’s Patrick Byrne: Not Gay, Not Coked Out, Not a Jedi
By 12.30.05
Overstock.com’s CEO Patrick Byrne is a man who enjoys his crazy in bulk. Although the company continues to grow year-to-year, Byrne is doing his best to dissuade investors from giving him any of their money to burn.
