mugs

Oh man! I love the ending where the anchor says that after this Andy Wise character made his rounds he got on Walmart.com and discovered that you simply copied the ad word for word. Really? You think? Except Gottadeal had the ad a month BEFORE it was on Walmart.com! So the part where they implied that you didn't actually get the ads from someone close to the production process and that the prices you list are simply the every day price - what about that? They seem to be contradicting themselves there. Off to write an e-mail...

I understand the deal, what I don't understand is how these PCs are "optimized" for AOL. :) These types of deals have been going on for years with "non-optimized" PCs... I bet those people feel like they got screwed!

We have a Sunbeam heating matress pad... I love it! We've only hooked up Jenni's side so far... but sometimes I turn it on high and fall asleep on her side of the bed before it warms up, and by the time she shoves me over onto my side I'm sweating!

wtf is an "AOL Optimized PC or Laptop"? A computer with a modem and/or ethernet card? The marketing people should be dragged out back and shot for that.

I think that's the point. This doesn't appear to have anything to do with Freecycle, it's sponsored by adbusters.org and the administrator of Deals4Me's Freecycle group apparantly just sent it out. Deals4Me, I'm not sure what you mean by Freecycle is getting too big for its britches, or it's digging itself into a black hole, or why they need lawyers. They have nothing but good intentions, and I can't imagine what they did to turn you against them so much! :) I'm sure that e-mail wasn't meant to offend people who do choose to shop on Black Friday, but it is a poignant reminder that the stuff you buy on Friday you'll probably be freecycling in a few years.

You might want to verify whether they expect the ad directly from the newspaper, or if they'd accept it printed off the Internet. And that's a BIG YMMV situation... I'm not even sure if I'd count on that same Wal-mart you spoke to honoring what they said. Not because they are evil, but because miscommunications happen. I'm always wary of what an employee tells me that is not part of their written policies.

All of the chains charge different prices in different areas. Where you live in Texas, for instance, I'd be willing to bet you pay less for everyday products than I do here in New Jersey. Do you want to pay prices that are influenced by NYC rent costs when you live in Texas where there's plenty of land for the deer and the antelope to roam? :) Of course Wal-mart doesn't have any stores in NYC, but I'm just giving you an example of how the cost to do business differs in different areas. There is nothing inherently wrong with what Wal-mart is doing, they're a profit-motivated business like any other, so they use the strategy that they feel will make them the most profit. That is their duty to their investors.

What info are you looking for?

You say "what next" as if this hasn't been going on for years at every store. The point of a loss leader is to get people into the store. If there's a lot of other stores in the area, they need to be more competetive to get you to pick Walmart as your first stop on Black Friday. If there aren't a lot of other stores in the area, then $488 laptops will do the job - so why price it at $398 if they don't need to to get the job done? That'd be like pissing money down the toilet. I doubt any one of us would do it any differently. I understand people are disappointed if the cheap computers will not be available in thier areas... but Wal-Mart isn't really doing anything wrong.

Bah... they showed the site but never mentioned the name. Bastards.

I just saw a teaser for the 11:00 news - well, Jenni saw it and brought it to my attention when they showed the Black Friday site on the screen. :) I'll have to watch the news now and see what they say.

Yeah, I'd be careful doing that unless you want to get clotheslined by an angry mother. :)

It really is a crapshoot. 2 years ago I went to BestBuy pretty early saw the line and turned around and went to Circuit City (they had my item for $10 more) a few towns over. They had NO line. I ended up going back home to sleep, then I went back out at 6:00 p.m. and got the items I wanted at both stores. :) Anyway, long story short is it can vary a LOT from one area to another.

Don't count on them pricematching a non-local store though. ilalynch, do you know anyone who will be going to Target on Black Friday?

Greed really does bring out the worst in people.

That's pretty low.

I didn't want to turn this thread into an argument, so this will be my last post in it. If you'd like to continue the discussion, feel free to PM me. How much is my time worth? Well let me think... how much did I charge a fellow Gottadealer when I made two trips to Kohl's and went to two different post offices to save her $15-20 on a pair of shoes? Nothing. Actually I told her I'd cover the shipping, so it cost me $8. How much did another Gottadealer (DigDoug) charge me when he used his own Buy.com account to order a GPS for me so he could use his coupon and save me $15? Not a dime. How much do Ross and Brad charge for the hours they spend working on this site and answering people's questions here in the forums? Nothing, of course. Many people here know Ross and Brad from another site, Anandtech, where they've been offering the same help they do here for years. I remember a time when Ross even set up a temporary 800 number so people could call him up and ask him anything they wanted. What a guy! He never asks how much his time is worth. That's what this site is all about, helping people out. Taking the information they freely provide and using it to make a profit off my fellow man just doen't sit right with me. You have no idea what an entrepreneur is.

It's a good idea to not have them appear if you have over 100 posts, but I personally would love it if all of the hits you get from me were generating ad revenue.

Yeah, pretty much. They do the tickets so it's first come, first served. Not so people can sell the opportunity to buy an item. Screwing over a guy who waited nearly as long as you did is not in the spirit of deal hunting or the holiday season, and it's a poor reflection of our society. That's about the long and short of it. Do what you want though, why do you care what other people think?

That's not cool

Just their paper towels, or in general? They make a lot of stuff BETTER than name-brand stuff. (i.e. undershirts)

This is our first Christmas as a married couple... I have no idea! Jenni's dad will be in Maui, her mom wants to go skiing in Utah, my parents will be home in NJ. I don't want to use up a bunch of vacation days so early in the year (our new year starts the day after Christmas).

Isn't there a website somewhere about TRU's poor business practices?

I have a feeling I'll be hitting Sears on BF :)

Amazon.com is what I usually use for reviews (user reviews and ratings)