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Archive for November, 2006

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Popular bargain hunting sites – November 2006

Published November 26th, 2006 in Popular Sites Series. 3 Comments

This is the November 2006 revision of the Popular Bargain Hunting web sites list. You can find the last month revision of the list here.

There are total 44 web sites — one more than the last month (dealigg.com is a new social bargain hunting site that didn’t make the last month list). The change in rating shows the difference compared to October results.

The top looser is dealspl.us with a loss of -35.75%. The chart below shows that dealspl.us lost ground mid October and has been re-gaining it ever since — thanks to the Discussion Groups that they recently rolled out.

Dealpl.us Alexa

The top gainer this month is gottadeal.com with a rating increase of 36.79%. This is undoubtedly thanks to its Black Friday related activity.

Here is the complete list. Enjoy!

#Web SiteAlexa RankPage RankOnline Since
1fatwallet.com466(-18.58%)729-Nov-1999
2slickdeals.net540(-17.65%)610-Nov-1999
3anandtech.com1684(-5.38%)724-Aug-1997
4techbargains.com2732(-14.98%)603-May-1999
5smartbargains.com2773(-3.43%)610-Jan-2000
6dealnews.com3469(-9.78%)620-Jan-1999
7bensbargains.net3537(-14.43%)621-Mar-2000
8dealcatcher.com6921(-4.82%)628-Jul-1999
9edealinfo.com7012(-6.76%)512-Dec-2000
10dealsea.com7033(-22.06%)427-Jun-2001
11judysbook.com7872(0.2%)611-Aug-2003
12deals2buy.com8860(-15.2%)215-Nov-2002
13resellerratings.com9160(-4.81%)718-Jun-1998
14flamingoworld.com10912(-7.92%)519-May-1999
15xpbargains.com13203(-11.2%)529-Nov-2001
16dealspl.us13965(-35.75%)315-May-2006
17dealtaker.com14461(-0.23%)408-Feb-2004
18spoofee.com15688(-12.45%)431-Dec-2000
19gottadeal.com18767(36.79%)527-Jan-2003
20gotapex.com20737(-14.33%)629-Apr-1999
21dealofday.com22472(-13.23%)730-Aug-1999
22dealsofamerica.com23087(-3.67%)306-Sep-2003
23fishingfordeals.com24817(-9.69%)423-May-2000
24dealslist.com29993(-3.38%)318-Jul-2000
25cheapstingybargains.com31686(-12.85%)320-Jan-2005
26bradsdeals.com32614(-3.23%)429-Jun-2005
27hot-deals.org34110(-4.22%)410-May-2000
28bargainshare.com34858(-16.59%)429-Nov-2002
29hotdealsclub.com35806(-14.55%)327-Dec-2000
30ableshoppers.com36291(-3.04%)508-Oct-2000
31dailyedeals.com43300(8.7%)518-Feb-2000
32dealmine.com47152(14.39%)219-Apr-2005
33bargaineering.com50844(14.15%)401-Dec-2004
34dealhunting.com50863(-0.29%)529-May-2000
35dealplumber.com50921(-22.6%)417-Jul-2006
36mightygoods.com56548(5.77%)721-Aug-2004
37passwird.com60729(-19.61%)528-Aug-2001
38dealhack.com68664(-1.98%)306-Feb-2005
39daddyodeals.com81732(11.55%)028-Mar-2006
40dealdetectives.com83296(-8.32%)403-Oct-2004
41dealspy.org88953(-21.41%)303-Mar-2006
42dealigg.com93111(n/a)0(n/a)04-Sep-2006
43morestuff4less.com96096(-16.75%)505-Nov-2002
44scottishwallet.com98482(12.36%)013-Mar-2006

Black Friday shopping – the biggest scam

Published November 24th, 2006 in Business Marketing and Interesting / Other. 8 Comments

Black Friday ShoppingIt is Friday 10:30am, I just got back from my shopping trip and these are my impressions. Last night I was speculating the idea of standing in line for one of the early bird specials (or door busters as they call them). Thanks God I didn't go anywhere. This SlickDeals thread describes 200+ people long lines by Best Buy at 10pm last Thursday.

I woke up at 7am today and Best Buy was my first stop. This is absolutely wrong place to be on Friday. The line to check out was stretching like a snake all the way to the back wall of the store. I estimate there were around 500 people in that line. I took a stroll and to even get to the laptops section there were around 50 people waiting. I wasn't going to buy anything so I just snack in and what I saw were usual prices -- just what you see every day. From my conversation with a sales man I learned that the line to get to the store started to form around 6pm the day before.

Circuit City was pretty much the same story. At 8am I didn't find any items on sale and the line to check out was as long as that to buy bread in Soviet times (yeah, I did have chance to stand in those lines). Office Depot and Office Max were more pleasant experience. Both still had some specials on the shelves at 8:30am when I got there and the shoppers didn't stamp on my feet. :-) I left with a few CD/DVD wallets $1.99 each. The 300GB external Maxtor Hard Drive for $99.99 was also very tempting.

My last stop was Staples. They didn't have crowds in the store but all the in-store specials were already claimed (people in line got tickets and had time until 10am to exchanged them for their items). I spoke to a guy at the check out who was paying for a couple of 200GB Maxtor Hard Drives $19.99 after rebate. He said he had to come to the store by 3:30am to get on the deal. From his words to get the $399 Compaq laptop I would have to come by 10pm the night before. As I was leaving around 9:30am another line started to form for a chance to buy the unclaimed in-stores specials. Lines, lines, lines...

My overall impression today is that Black Friday shopping is a big scam. Stores publish very limited quantity hot deals to lure in shoppers and those deals are all sold out instantaneously. If you come at the opening or any time during the day (as most normal people do) you have missed on 90% of them. This is how it works for the stores selling computers and electronics anyway.

Was your Black Friday shopping experience different? Please share it with me in your comments.

AllAdvantage is back under new name

Published November 23rd, 2006 in Business: Strategy. 1 Comment

AglocoDo you have plenty of free time at hand? Do you have a lot of friends who have a lot of friends who have a lot of friends…? Does the sound of words “Multi-Level Marketing” not make you sick? If your answer to all three questions is “yes” then Agloco is made for you.

The old “pay to browse” scheme is reborn under a new name. What is it and how does it work? You install a plug-in that takes the bottom part of your internet browser and displays a few ads. You then get paid for up to 5 hours a month for using that plug-in while you browse Internet. Besides to that you refer your friends to the network and once they start using the plug-in you get a cut of the revenue. Then you get a smaller cut of the friends of the friends revenue and so forth down to 5 levels.

While some get extremely high at the company promise to make you rich others are more skeptical. I personally hate MLM and consider it a waste of my time. If you decide to invest your time in it make sure you thoroughly study the subject and know what you are doing.

BlingoAlso take a look at Blingo. This is an alternative way to get distracted as you browse or to be exact as you search for stuff on Internet. The company places extra ads (as if those that Google has are not enough) around their search results and also pays out prizes to the lucky winners. If you are the kind of person who plays state lottery — this is not much different except you do not pay with your money but with your time.

Circuit City Unadvertised Black Friday specials

Published November 22nd, 2006 in Shopping Bargains. 2 Comments

Just after Best Buy unveiled their unadvertised specials Circuit City is joining the game. I guess this is the new way retailers try to combat wide-spread printed ads leaking. The featured items are:

  • Sony 50″ LCD Projection HDTV for $1079.99
  • Samsung 42″ LDP Projection HDTV for $799.99
  • Sony 40″ BRAVIA S-Series LCD HDTV for $1199.99
  • Samsung 50″ Plasma HDTV for $1799.99
  • SIRIUS One Receiver and Car Kit for $19.99
  • iRiver 512MB Jukebox for $99.99

JellyFish launches Smack Friday 24 hour auctions

Published November 21st, 2006 in Shopping Promotion. 0 Comments

JellyFish is a relatively new startup that makes its way in the busy comparison shopping niche competing with the behemoths like Shopping.com, Shopzilla and PriceGrabber. The revenue model they use is not unique however is quite different from most of the other guys and in general works in favor of consumers.

Smack FridayYou might have already heard about Smack Deals that JellyFish is doing every day at 1pm Eastern time. They sell a limited number of items at a full reverse price auction. So far the auctions have been a great disappointment for me. I have missed every single one! The time falls on 12pm here in Chicago area and that is the time I usually spend with my friends eating out.

Well guess what... they heard my prayers. Next Friday, November 24, JellyFish is launching Smack Friday 24 hour auctions. Starting 6am and for the next 24 hours they will sell one product every 2 hours in their usual reverse price auction format. To spice up the event they are even throwing a special Playstation 3 offer that day. That just sounds awesome!!! I already speculated if I should spend Black Friday at home in my previous post. Now I have an extra excuse to do so!

Not so fast cowboy. Let's get my left part of the brain involved into decision making. Are the deals JellyFish catering us really worth looking into? Let's examine their past deals archive (you need to sign up to see it). Sony Hard Drive camcorder was the one I really got upset about when I learned I missed it. Let us see if I should be.

According to, huh, JellyFish - the price comparison engine that is - there are currently 23 stores offering the product with the lowest price being $474 (before the cash back). According to PriceGrabber and Shopzilla the lowest price is $449 (huh?). If I bought the camera on November 9 then I would have paid $480 (the lowest JellyFish price back then) and my cash back (which averaged around $175 that day) would be locked out for the next 2 months (that is their policy to prevent cashing out and returning the item). Meanwhile 2-3 months later the prices for Sony would fall down and though the levels would likely stay above $305 (the final price after cash back) they may well reach $370-$380 as the new camcorder models roll out.

So how much could I have saved? It is not the whopping $175-$195 they advertise on this page but a more modest $65-$75. Not to say it is very bad but this is a kind of discount that you can generally find if you read forums like FatWallet or SlickDeals.

Another point to consider. As the auctions make more and more buzz on the Internet the deals like free iPOD Nano's they had during the first day will be non existent. In fact the average Smack Deal cash back will likely gradually reduce as more and more people get into the game.

Oh well, let's give JellyFish a credit. The team built an awesome web site with a very stylish user interface and now badly needs new customers. The latest PR stunt is doing just that. Now, should you go and shop out next Friday or should you stay in and enjoy the bit of entertainment that the auctions offer is totally up to you. I am here to help you discover bargains and make educated shopping decisions. So stick around!

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