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Posted
Aug 21 2009, 07:48 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Frank Curmudgeon at Bad Money Advice.
If there is one topic that professional journalists just love to report on and analyze, it is the troubles of traditional newspapers. They're in very bad shape, we are told, and if something is not done these vital institutions might just go away, obviously taking our civilization along with them. There are even pundits who quietly suggest that government subsidies are in order.
What is most weird about this (spectacularly self-serving) sort of commentary is that it often actually understates the economic problems that newspapers face. Some papers may stagger on for a few more years or even a decade or two, but make no mistake, this patient is terminal.
Imagine, if you will, that newspapers didn't exist. Now imagine somebody came to you with an exciting new business idea. His plan is to print the news of the day on paper overnight in massive printing plants and distribute copies to driveways in the wee hours throughout the region using a network of motorized vehicles. This operation would be paid for mostly by selling advertizing, but he would also have to charge about a dollar a day to readers.
You would tell this person he was crazy.
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Posted
Aug 12 2009, 06:20 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Some customers were likely breathless as they pushed the "add to cart" button at Best Buy's Web site. The big draw? A Samsung 52-inch HDTV that appeared on the chain's Web site for the unbelievably low sale price of $9.99.
Best Buy corrected the error hours later and announced that any orders processed at that price would not be honored. (You can find screen shots of the ad and an order placed by Augustine Fou at his go-Digital Blog.) But what's truly amazing about all this is that so many people are ticked off.
Bing: Best HDTVs
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Posted
Aug 10 2009, 03:06 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Truman Lewis at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
Many consumers say they don't like to haggle with car salesmen, but 225 General Motors dealers in California are betting they won't mind haggling online -- specifically at eBay.
The car dealers and eBay announced that new Buicks, Chevrolets, GMC trucks and Pontiac cars will be for sale on "co-branded" eBay sites, beginning Aug. 11 and lasting for at least three weeks. Besides appearing on the co-branded sites with names like gm.ebay.com, the cars will be displayed through eBay Motors, where tens of thousands of used cars change hands each year.
"With 12 million individual car shoppers visiting our site every month, eBay Motors has unique insight into how people prefer to buy their cars," said Rob Chesney, vice president of eBay Motors.
"Together with eBay Motors, GM and our dealers are reinventing the car-buying experience for our California customers," said Mark LaNeve, GM vice president of U.S. sales. "As the dealer showroom expands from the parking lot to the laptop, this makes it easier for a customer to browse available new car inventory, make an offer, buy it now, or send a message asking for more information from a dealer -- all at the customer's convenience."
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Posted
Jul 27 2009, 01:36 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Amazon caused quite a stir when it deleted unauthorized copies of George Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm" from hundreds or thousands of Kindles. (Oh, the irony!) Customers were so outraged that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos issued a public apology and said the company would never do that again.
This tempest sparked our curiosity (we'd been only mildly interested in the Kindle before then) about what you're getting for the $299 asking price. Which is more to our liking: A Kindle or a book?
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Posted
Jul 21 2009, 01:50 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
As anyone who has ever worn glasses knows, prescription eyewear can be expensive. In recent years, chain discount eyewear stores have been joined by online companies offering prescription eyeglasses for as little as $7.95. (Eyeglass Retailer Reviews outlines the pros and cons of some of those companies.)
This week, Eye Buy Direct is offering its glasses at two pairs for the price of one. The two-for-one deal applies only to the frame and basic lenses. If you opt for additional features such as progressive lenses ($39), thin lenses ($25), reflective coating ($6.95), UV protection ($4.95) or sunglass tint ($4.95), those charges are added to the cost of both pairs of glasses. Shipping is free on orders more than $99 and is $4.95 for two pairs of basic glasses. The two-for-one deal is good through July 26.
If you want to "try on" the glasses, you can upload a photo of yourself and view your face with the frames you are considering. You can even post your proposed look on Facebook and see what your friends think.
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Posted
Jul 15 2009, 08:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
There are laws against false advertising, even on the Internet. In New York, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has reached a settlement with a plastic surgeon over fake consumer reviews published online.
Under the settlement, the cosmetic surgery company Lifestyle Lift will stop publishing anonymous positive reviews about the company to Internet message boards and other Web sites, and will pay $300,000 in penalties and costs to the state of New York.
The case is believed to be the first in the nation aimed at combating "astroturfing," a growing problem on the Internet.
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Posted
Jul 10 2009, 02:28 PM
by
Catherine Holahan
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
 Look up Astro Turf on Amazon and you'll find plenty of books dedicated to the name-brand synthetic grass. But the word has a new meaning for the e-commerce giant and other sites that accept online customer reviews.
Astro turf, or more appropriately the verb "astroturfing," is slang for posting fake reviews. It's a form of what public relations folks like to call "guerilla marketing."
To define it more clearly, astro turf is fake grass-roots support generated by paid marketers who post rave reviews online. The thinking behind astroturfing is that unsuspecting consumers are more likely to buy a product if a fellow customer -- or someone who at least appears to be a customer -- has something nice to say.
The problem with astroturfing -- other than the questionable ethics behind it -- is that consumers have gotten wise to the practice. No longer do they blindly trust a positive review from a seemingly satisfied customer.
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Posted
Jun 30 2009, 01:48 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The concert promoter that organized the 50 sold-out "This is It" London performances that Michael Jackson will never give is offering disappointed fans a choice: A refund of the $125 or so they paid -- or the actual ticket, which the promoter says was designed by Jackson himself as a keepsake.
"Since he loved his fans in life, it is incumbent upon us to treat them with the same reverence and respect after his death," Randy Phillips, president and CEO of AEG Live, said in a statement. In fact, AEG suggested in an article in TheWrap that thousands of people are clamoring for the tickets.
Other fans are more than skeptical.
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Posted
Jun 22 2009, 04:40 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Watching the online auctions at Swoopo can have an almost hypnotic effect, says Patrick at Cash Money Life. The action can be fast-paced at a site that sometimes sells big-ticket items at fantastic discounts.
In fact, the site bills itself as "entertainment shopping." HDTVs and laptops for less than $100? How amazing is that?
What's amazing, Patrick says, is Swoopo's business model: The real winner is Swoopo.
Here's how it works.
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Posted
Jun 05 2009, 12:34 PM
by
Catherine Holahan
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
 Goodbye "Ms. Right." I will miss your purple brown
hue on flushed lips and your glossy finish. You will not easily be replaced.
But replaced you must be, because P&G
will soon cease selling "Ms. Right" and other Max Factor products in
U.S. stores. The company said June 5 that it plans to phase out its Max Factor
line in the states due to poor sales. P&G will keep selling the makeup in
Europe, where it grabs much of its $1.2 billion in yearly sales.
"We expect it will be phased out in the first quarter
of 2010," said P&G spokeswoman Paige Cali. She added that the company was
still working on plans to wind down the brand in the U.S. and could not comment
as to whether some of the most popular Max Factor shades may be transitioned
over to other P&G cosmetic brands, such as Cover Girl.
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