Purchasing from secondhand places is a calculated risk?
One of the most visited posts on Mighty Bargain Hunter is my post on seven ways to conquer Chuck E. Cheese.  It was hit up on The Consumerist a few years ago.  And just a week ago it was hit up again, but this time by the Frugal Reddit. The point that’s been the center of discussion is my suggestion that you can save money by buying Chuck E. Cheese tokens from eBay at a discount to what you can get them for at Chuck E. Cheese proper.  After writing that, I realized that I had stuck my hand into a hornet’s nest.  I didn’t t
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mightybargainhunter/~3/ymFk3csgpiY/ 2013-01-22 00:49:13 PST

Copper at up to 60% off of spot price
Canada has decided to do away with the cent, citing that it costs the mint 1.6 cents to produce one.  Transactions will still be tracked to the cent, but if both parties find themselves without cents in a cash transaction, the transaction will be rounded to the nearer nickel. The reason this has come to pass, of course, is because of inflation.  A cent just isn’t worth what it used to be worth, so it purchases less — including less of the metal that’s used to make it. I can’t see the US Mint being too far behind.  Our
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mightybargainhunter/~3/OXghzGw1M7I/ 2013-01-04 02:07:10 PST

An iPod Repaired With Bones, And Other Wild Fixes
Paulo Goldstein is best known for his figure work on films like Frankenweenie. So what does he build off the set? Economic criticism. What would be the simplest means to repair a broken director’s chair? Get some new canvas? Replace some wood? How about bringing in concepts of suspension bridges and mast rigging, using a foldable steel structure and tension cables? Right, that was our third idea, too. Repair Is Beautiful, by Paulo Goldstein, is a collection of broken objects that have been fixed in the most mechanically ornate ways
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fastcompany/headlines/~3/KSBwckwm5NE/an-ipod-repaired-with-bones-and-other-wild-fixes 2012-12-14 10:00:00 PST

Showrooming to Be Hot in 2013
Showrooming is where someone visits a retail store, not to purchase a product but instead to see it in real life, and perhaps try it out or on, before going back home or onto their mobile phone and ordering it from somewhere cheaper. Most stores frown on the practice — even though they have no numbers on how many people practice it — and some have even gone so far as to hide barcodes and use different brand designations and packaging to throw off the retail customer. Wal-Mart, on the other hand and realized that instead of fightin
http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2012/12/13/showrooming-to-be-hot-in-2013/ 2012-12-13 12:17:10 PST

Wednesday links: a charitable venture
Quote of the day Matthew Yglesias, “Wall Street has essentially granted Bezos the right to operate an extremely forward-looking charitable venture on the theory that at some future point it will acquire monopoly pricing power and start screwing us all.”  (Slate) Chart of the day Have you checked out Germany’s stock market of late?  (MarketBeat) Markets How Fed communications policy has changed market moves around FOMC days.  (Dynamic Hedge) Why are investors still so traumatized?  (Big Picture, Random Roger) The NYSE Adv
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/abnormalreturns/~3/1RA8x4VZeeE/ 2012-12-12 11:53:45 PST

An EBay For Professors To Sell College Courses Directly to Students
College is expensive and time-consuming. With a new project called Professor Direct from the online ed company Straighterline, you can access just the subjects you want online, and professors can sell their expertise one course at a time. In yet another step toward democratizing higher education, Straighterline, a pioneering provider of accredited, low-cost, self-paced online college courses, has started a new feature called "Professor Direct." The program--which will be eligible for college credit through the American Council on Educatio
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fastcompany/headlines/~3/NeK_xqbGfH0/an-ebay-for-professors-to-sell-college-courses-directly-to-students 2012-12-12 09:00:30 PST

Watch Out for These 5 Holiday Scams
Any time there is a lot of money going being spent, scammers present themselves, ready to take advantage of our desire to get the best deal. There are all types of scams out there, from investment scams to other types of fraud. During the holiday season, scammers are on the prowl, looking for those whose judgment might be a little impaired. As your quest for the perfect holiday season gets underway, it’s important to stay on the alert for scams. As always, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. Here are 5 holiday scams to watch o
http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/5-holiday-scams.html 2012-12-11 11:07:38 PST

How to Make Money on Etsy
Ever wondered how to make money with Etsy? I know I have, since they’ve single handedly allowed my wife to off-load much of her crafting. Here’s how: Since 2005, Etsy has offered an e-commerce platform for artists and craftspeople to offer and sell their goods. The only requirement is that those goods must be personally handmade- i.e., no re-selling is allowed. As opposed to bigger sites like Ebay and Amazon, Etsy offers the following advantages to sellers: Long listing time: Etsy listings last 4 months as opposed to Ebay’s one
http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2012/12/10/how-to-make-money-on-etsy/ 2012-12-10 14:45:41 PST

Holiday 2012: A look at the UK's Mega Monday (December 3, 2012)
We have had several requests for some SSS data specific to the UK.  Given the tough economic environment and austerity measurements, UK-based customers are very curious about how everyone is doing.  Because there is no Thanksgiving, the UK doesn't have the same Cyber Five kick-off that we have in the US, including Cyber Monday.  That being said, they do call the first Monday in December, Mega Monday as that's their equivalent of Cyber Monday (December 3, 2012 this year compared to December 5, 2011 - last year's Meg
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogs/DrZT/~3/GBPgOy4zoac/holiday-2012-a-look-at-the-uks-mega-monday.html 2012-12-10 10:21:40 PST

Holiday 2012: First week of December SSS Results
Today we are releasing ChannelAdvisor Same Store Sale (SSS) results (methodology is here) for the first week (plus a couple bonus days) of December (December 1-9 inclusive - compared to December 1-9 last year). Here are some thoughts on the results from the first week of December 2012 (column 4 highlighted in yellow): Amazon's growth came down a couple notches to 26.5% but it is still the fastest growing channel. Amazon has some very tough comps from December 2011 and appears to have 'reloaded' on a lot of 1P inventory. eBay cont
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogs/DrZT/~3/sxxsp9udoP4/holiday-2012-first-week-of-december-sss-results.html 2012-12-10 09:18:35 PST