With Christmas only a few days away, HOPEFULLY, you have gotten all of the Holiday shopping done for the tech-lover in your life. Popular tech items are typically high ticket items, such as HDTV s, cameras, laptops, tablets, and smartphones and we all are looking for bargains in today's economy. So, what are we to do? Below are some tips that can help you find the bargains when purchasing these items, as well as help you get a head start on next year by taking advantage of online sales many retailers put out starting as early as Christmas Day.
Where to find these Bargains
Christmas day is a great time to keep an eye out for the online sales many retailers post, so timing is essential when trying to find the best bargains. This means you can buy that item for your tech lover (or let’s be honest, yourself..) at a great price, and be ahead of the game for the 2015 Holiday season. Popular tech items typically see the best bargains after the New Year and March. Websites and mobile apps, such as fatwallett.com are also becoming an amazing resource for smart, and savvy online shoppers. They work closely with popular retailers, such as Best Buy and Target, to publish store discounts, coupon codes and Cash Back rewards to its members. FatWalllet is also the place for you if you like to stack deals and coupons. The FatWallet forums have become a place for smart consumers to share and learn in this evolving online marketplace. Additionally, keeping on trend, their?Deal Hunter app?enables the mobile shopper to compare current bargains, and the new?FatWallet Express?allows for quick cash back activation while shopping online.
So, get going on your shopping, get the best bargains on those gifts for the tech-lover in your life, (or yourself) and look like a rock star this New Year!
A Bitcoin promoter is sentenced to two years in prison for his role in the ‘Silk Road’ money laundering scheme. The promoter’s name is Charlie Shrem. Despite Mr. Shrem’s pleas to the judge that he needed to remain free, the federal court didn’t give in.?Shrem was given an opportunity to speak to the court. He said, “The bitcoin community, they?re scared and there is no money laundering?going on any more. They?re terrified. Bitcoin is my baby…”. But in this Manhattan, New York court, prosecutors didn’t buy the act that Silk Road was some youthful accounting mistake. The judge didn’t buy it either. Shrem was also ordered to pay over $1 million back. The judge in this case said Mr. Shrem knew exactly what he was doing and was willfully involved and such serious crimes required prison time.
Despite this tragic end, it could have been worse. Charlie Shrem was looking at as much as six years. Bitcoin is only a fraction of what it once was, but there is still some life there. I’m not suggesting investing in it, but I don’t think Bitcoin is dead either. I hope they’ve learned and can move on. Will you be investing in Bitcoin?
The Sony hacking scandal and ramifications are going nowhere in a hurry. In fact, it’s opening cans of worms and re-starting rivalries everywhere. One of those rivalries is Google vs MPAA.
For years, Google and the Motion Picture Association of America have been at each other throats, especially over piracy issues. They’ve even fought each other in public. Earlier this month, a report revealed the MPAA bringing website blocking to the US. Website blocking is unpopular with Google, and most other people, for that matter. They even called on Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood (whose a staunch supporter of SOPA, Stop Online Piracy Act) to attack Google. This attacking letter painted Google as some kind of big bad ‘Goliath’. After a week of silence, Google executives struck back, reminding MPAA and the world that millions of Americans signed petitions and took to the streets to protest the SOPA act, in fears that it would lead to censorship. They also criticized MPAA of basically using a state politician to do their work. The MPAA didn’t go out quietly. They called Google portraying themselves as free speech defenders ‘shameful’.
Why do I bring this up? Because I think of where the MPAA and SOPA supporters stood this week. I don’t remember one MPAA executive or representative even try to talk Sony or the major theater franchises out of cancelling The Interview. I don’t remember Attorney General Hood or any other SOPA supporters remind Sony how they were giving in to terrorist hackers. I don’t know how far or long this war of words between Google and MPAA is going to go, but something tells me it’s not going to end quickly or very peacefully. But you would think MPAA would get it after millions of people showed them how unpopular this legislation is. What other old wounds and rivalries will the Sony hacking scandal open up?
Christmas is next week. Are you done with your shopping, particularly you parents/guardians shopping for your kids’ toys? I don’t know if you’d want to use Amazon or their independent sellers. That’s because Amazon pumps Christmas toy prices.
Well, at least they give independent sellers the okay to do so. Take a man named Jim Sheppard from the greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. He bought the Disney Frozen Castle & Ice Palace Playset. It’s one of the most popular toys from one of the most popular movie franchises of all time. He bought it from a store for $119. He sold it through Amazon for $250. The official name of this tactic is called retail arbitrage: buying a product from a physical store and selling it at a much higher price. Mr. Sheppard isn’t alone. Around 40% of all Amazon deals are made by independent sellers. Many of these sellers practice retail arbitrage. This practice is especially popular around the holiday season, as the more popular toys get sparer and sparer. Remember the 1990s, when Tickle Me Elmo sold for over $1,500?
Does retail arbitrage work? You bet it does. Is it ethical? To each his own. But you must admit, it’s a profitable business tactic, and this is the right time to do so. Be honest. If your kid wanted that special toy, wouldn’t you pay extra for it? Or if you bought a present that nobody wanted, and you sold it online. Would you be tempted to pump up the price some, especially if that present is in high demand? But if you’re going to buy, let it be your last resort. This is why I like to check small businesses first to see if they have the present. And check many stores before going to Amazon for a better price. And if you have to use a certain chain store that I loathe, then, well, it’s Christmas, right?
Protesters numbering in the hundreds, led by union United Service Workers West and civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson, called out Apple at their Cupertino, CA headquarters. They’re insisting better payment for contract workers, who often make a fraction of what tech workers do. They shouted chants like, “We fight today in the rain for job security and justice.” They went into the building armed with a petition with 20,000 signatures, urging Apple to lead the way for better pay and treatment for service workers not just for their company, but for all tech companies in the Silicon Valley. The crowd filled the lobby carrying signs like, “Apple dodges taxes, we pay the price.” The strained relationship between contract workers and Silicon Valley tech leaders is nothing new. For years, these workers have complained about how they struggle to financially survive the rising cost of living in the Bay Area, while tech workers get spoiled by perk after perk. The crowd included occupations from security guards to fast food cooks and clerks. No Apple leader, representative or employee dared comment about this situation.
I must admit, I’m a little conflicted. On one hand, techs are there for a reason: because they’re highly skilled and educated at what they do. It takes a lot of education and hard work to even be hired as a Silicon Valley tech. And even then, chances of being hired over there are slim. So they deserve their perks. But these mega, mega tech conglomerates are worth billions, and San Francisco/Oakland/Silicon Valley area isn’t a cheap place to live. So these companies can do better by treating these contract workers. I’m not saying give them the exact same pay as tech workers, but they do deserve a major pay raise. They should give these working men and women enough to live comfortably and decently in one of the most expensive areas in the US. Where do you stand?
I expected Black Friday to be complicated this year. From chain stores opening on Thanksgiving Day to Ferguson boycotts, I thought sales would take a downward spiral. Black Friday results show I was wrong…somewhat.
Tech giant IBM calculated the mixed statistics. According to IBM, sales were up 13% overall from 2013 but the average receipt is down by about seven dollars. The big winners were chain stores’ online sales. They grew nearly 30% over last year, but the number of dollars spent per order decreased a bit. Apple turned out to be a winner…again. Their receipt order on Black Friday was 23% more than Android’s. They brought in more sight traffic as well. While mobile computers and smartphones continued to increase, desktops aren’t dying. They made up for nearly half of all Black Friday computer sales.
I’m not surprised Apple is ruling the mobile technology roosts. I say that not because of superior quality, but because of superior marketing. I must admit, I was quietly hoping Black Friday results would be lower than last year’s. But the fact that online sales triggered the increase gives me hope. Is it just me, or are crowds getting worse and worse every year? I just saw a video of how shoppers acted on Black Friday during the 1980s and how they act now. With the lone exception of the Cabbage Patch craze, I didn’t see ’80s shoppers camping out in tents in the freezing cold, trample each other to death in stampedes, or police being called to break up near riots. No computer, smartphone, smartwatch, toy, TV, video game, radio, or accessory is worth my health or life.? Back then, Black Friday was more sociable. Today, it’s so competitive to the point the shoppers are turning into animals.? Is that why online sales did so well yesterday? Is this a continuing trend?
