Savvy Shopping 'n More Blog May Archive

They hold the travel magazines and all of the brochures for the different places. I ordered one for every country!

I knew the lady that weighed the pineapple I bought wrapped it up nicely in a plastic bag... somehow it survived a trip probably thousands of miles to get the grocery store in nothing but its raw skin without problem. But somehow that laste mile and a half to my house was gonna kill it!

I was able to sneak a small avacado out of the veggie section with a price tag and no plastic bag!

I wasn't pay much attention at the checkout counter so I didn't notice till I got how that the pineapple and avacado were packaged together but double bagged!

These ideas are meant to broaden your horizons so to speak on this useful product. Bear in mind, these ideas may sometimes only be used by professionals and should never be attempted at home and also may be highly illegal and I am putting a disclaimer right here to do this at your own risk:

• Tape a baby monitor to the belly of a trapeze artist, so you can REALLY hear what they are saying up there (and I will bet they aren't singing...he flies through the air, with the greatest of ease...)
• Put a baby monitor in areas of your workplace that will catch the best gossip, so you will know everything that is going on (probably illegal and do so at your own risk)
• Put a baby monitor in the bathroom and when your favorite shower singer winds up for a ballad, turn it on in the living room and amuse guests
• Put one in the garage, so you can hear what your husband is really saying about you to his friends while they are hanging out (probably also illegal)
• Use it (now this is a serious one) as a baby HORSE monitor. Put in the mare's foaling stall, so when the time comes, you can be ready to run to the barn
• Strap a baby monitor to your school age child and hear what is really going on in the classroom (probably illegal, but it definitely SHOULDN'T be considering the schools in California that suspending a bunch of students for not honoring the day of silence for gays...and I am not kidding about that)

I challenge you to come up with funnier uses than these, or more practical ones than the regular use that everyone thinks of.

1 – Always get three or more bids, ideally mixed from big-commercial to one-man show sized.

2 – Make sure that your contractor is licensed, bonded, and/or insured. These are quality hallmarks.

3 – Ask what the "cash price" is. Many contractors will discount based on this. They'll still give you a receipt and warranty, but they won't pay tax on it. They're fraud is your legitimate gain, sometimes.

4 – Check the internet, but don't buy it there, because the web only has the best rates sometimes.

5 – Always pay with credit card when you don't get a cash discount. This allows you to effortlessly "stop payment" if the work is not completed.

6 – Never put a deposit of more than 10% on the work being done. Never know when the contractor is going to disappear on you without so much as touching the project.

7 – Never use the roofer or plumber with the full-page ad in the Yellow Pages, those guys are invariably unscrupulous.

8 – Never fall for the "today only price" scam. Always take a day to think about the price, if they say they can't honor the price tomorrow, it's almost surely a COIT-style scam.

9 – Trust neighbor kids/contractors precisely as far as you can throw them. Don't give them deposits and never hire them for big projects, no matter how attractive it may be.

Rather than finishing printing the receipt and then print the credit card slip for me to sign, the local grocery store took what seemed like hours printing coupons before they printed the credit card receipt for me to print.

Too bad I couldn't have been signing my name while the coupons printed?

It's a multi vendor list so you can find the best of the best

Seasonal GiftsFore You

Your name?

V L W

Your Location (city, etc)

Lake Zurich,

When did you start your website and why?

Started our website about a year ago, after a few years of selling on Ebay. Wanted to branch out and offer our products to a wider market.

Please give us a short summary of your website, business model, etc

Our website is based on the owners interest in sports. We continue to grow the product base which is primarily NCAA, MLB, NFL and NHL logo products. We have cell phone covers, golf balls, golf club covers, pennants, purses and backpacks, to name a few, all with sports team logos. We want to help you display your allegiance to your favorite team!

What has been the most difficult part of creating and running your website?

Traffic! Traffic! Traffic and trying to find unique products that haven't saturated the internet.

What has been the easist part of operating your website?

Understanding how many people have an interest in supporting their favorite teams! Makes you want to sell more, more, more!

What was your biggest mistake?

Pay per click.

Who maintains your website and why?

Developer and Owner.

Tell us how your business has benefitted from your website?

Sales have doubled from what we were able to do on Ebay.

What are your views on ecommerce and the future of the internet?

Favorable. We believe it will continue to grow and prosper.

What are your views on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Have to be educated on what works.

What are your views on Search Engines? Have they helped or hindered your website?

Both.

What method has been most successful for promoting your website?

Downloads of listings to various websites.

What method has been least successful for promoting your website?

Pay per Click. Mainly because we have limited budget for that kind of marketing right now.

What would you like to see change with respect to the internet?

Nothing at this time.

You can enter a question of your choice and the answer here: Are you enjoying this type of business ownership?

Yes, it is fun mainly because I am such a sports fan and it is fun to find products that I like and can sell to others. It is also fun to see the business grow, although slowly, from year to year. The most exciting is seeing our website come up on search results!

What is your website address?

Seasonal GiftsFore You

IDM Online Shopping Mall, Online Discount Stores

Your name?

Ted Zeiter

Your Location (city, etc)

Mountain Home AR 72653

When did you start your website and why?

My site started around December 21 of 2005, My girlfriend became disabled due to brain anuersyms and I began spending alot of time at home (as caring for her became my job) and became interested in website development. It is more of a hobby for me that I can't get away from. I also like learning new things which is still like a daily occurance for me. I decide to start a mall with the hope and intentions of developing a site that would benefit people by offering some of the best prices for consumer goods on the net. Income is not a motivator for I don't make diddly, but still devote at least 60 hours a week developing and updating bargains pages believing that I do find many of the best bargains on the net.

Please give us a short summary of your website, business model, etc

IDM Online Shopping Mall, Online Discount Stores, (http://www.idmonlineshopping.com) shopping for anything you would expect to find at a shopping mall. Main feature is our Bargains pages, Bargain Clothes Shopping, Computer Bargains, Electronic Bargains, Digital Camera Bargains, Dell computer bargains, Toshiba notebook computer bargains, all sales only pages which are updated 4 to 5 times a week Also shopping for individual products in around 20 to 25 different shopping categories.

What has been the most difficult part of creating and running your website?

Creating had never been attempted by myself and I knew absolutely nothing about the computer. I had played games on the computer and that was it. So digging in and learning everything I have and still learn in its own way has been rewarding. Running this site demands alot of time, at the times when you don't want to do any more, but you remember that you have accepted an unspoken responsiblity to do the updates that need to be done, remove old sales items on time, whether or not you recieve much for traffic, but because of the responsibility to yourself to maintain what you have started, as quitting is not an option for me. Oh yeah I refuse to spend money on my site except for my hosting fees and have not to this point.

What has been the easist part of operating your website?

The only easy part of running this site is when I take those few moments to look at how this site looked when I started and how it looks now. Knowing I still have a long ways to go.

What was your biggest mistake?

Ha! I have probably made some I don't even realize yet. The biggest mistake I believe I made was not dividing into sub domains. I didn't even know what a sub domain was.

Who maintains your website and why?

I do. The old saying if you want it done right do it yourself. Don't get me wrong, surely there are many who could do what I am doing to my site better. But as mentioned i am not spending any money and how would I continue to learn the things I don't and need to know.

Tell us how your business has benefitted from your website?

Self knowledge as my traffic is not enormous.

What are your views on ecommerce and the future of the internet?

Free, Free, Free will in my opinion, and in the near future be a missing part of the internet.

What are your views on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Grrrr! Have you got it figured out? Just when you think you do something changes. Again I am not paying for it, I am learning it.

What are your views on Search Engines? Have they helped or hindered your website?

Yahoo is the easiest going and best people oriented. Search engines take time to get listed but they are a great asset to have in your corner.

What method has been most successful for promoting your website?

Search engines and better yet has been my IDM Online Shopping Mall Shoppers Guide which is where I provide bargain news and sales information daily (excluding Saturday and Sunday as I am doing other work on my site). http://idmonlineshopping.com/blog

What method has been least successful for promoting your website?

FFA, traffic for surfing, a waste of time. Your time is better spent elsewhere.

What would you like to see change with respect to the internet?

Less garbage, less promises, I really don't have an answer for this question, but this I am sure of. We will see really big changes in the not so far off future.

You can enter a question of your choice and the answer here:

What day is it? Does it really matter?

What is your website address?

IDM Online Shopping Mall, Online Discount Stores

I suppose it is already being done.

Large size prints on canvas of 4 photos. I needed one to send as a gift to relatives. I needed the other 3 to decorate the barren walls in my apartment.

Lunch. If you don't eat you die.

Movie Tickets. Life is boring without any entertainment.

Razor Blades. Gotta cut my medicine in half.

Vegetables. Gotta eat at home sometimes.

Clearly I am not a shopping addicted enough though I made 4 purchases yesterday, I needed everything.

The worst thing was after returning from the grocery store and ending up with a billion unnecessary plastic bags.