March 2011 – Page 3 – Jason Clock's Blog

I am a sucker for sales.

That is probably all that needs to be said. Oh..the other thing, I usually go for the best product at the best price which means I shop often online and get tagged as “cheap,” though I really am just a smart shopper. Okay, searching for a coupon code for a car rental to plug in a checkout is a little on the “cheap” side 🙂

My favorite Site…Amazon

I am too “Cheap” to pay $79 a year for a prime membership to get orders shipped faster, but I do always select super saver shipping when available and will order more than one if I think I can use it in order to save on shipping later. I also “subscribe” to items such as snacks and shaver cleaning cartridges in order to get a discount. I also use Amazon as my gauge when making purchases. Now that I have a data plan on my phone, I can open up the amazon app, scan barcode or search for the product and see how much new and used ones are since Amazon or merchants on Amazon, seem to sell everything. Recently when at Bestbuy I picked up an almost half price open box Denon receiver for my home theatre and when checking on Amazon, noticed that I was getting a great deal and new on Amazon was only $1 off retail unlike other brands where you save 30% or more. I was shocked at how the item was not on sale and also how good a deal Best Buy was making me 🙂

Free 5-7 day standard shipping over $25 on eligible items. Free 2 day if you are a Prime Member.

Great pricing and the ability to buy new or used from merchants that are backed by Amazon’s reputation and customer service.

Other Sites I Frequent…

Bonktown.com – Road Biking Stuff one item at a time (Combined ship option, 50%+ Off, a new item every 30 minutes, normally a closeout item)

Woot.com – Electronics one item at a time ($5 Ship for up to 3 of an item and usually a great deal. About half the time refurbished electronics, one item a day until they sell out! On Tuesday you get a 2 pack of an item, and usually once a week there is a clearance of low inventory in what is referred to as a “Woot Off” and a new item is presented every time the current item sells out.)

Livingsocial.com (50% off random services, limit 1 per person, one day only)

Groupon.com (50% off random services, seemingly no limit, one day only)

KGB.com (Good deals, but they don’t seem to change often.)

Bonktown for my biking stuff is a little different.

You can add items and pay only an extra $1 shipping instead of the usual $7 for up to 9 days if you hold your order.

Usually a past model year item, but more than %50 off typically a different bike related item every 30 minutes.

This company also has many other sites that offer hiking, mountain biking, camping equipment, etc.

If only the combined shipping worked for all of the sites I would probably order more.

Cost Plus World Market (10/2007 – 3/2011)

Last night was the last night at World Market. Having fallen in love with the low prices and unique items, I applied for a part time seasonal position 3 years ago and have been working there until last night. Ultimately I needed more time to enjoy life and with Uncle Sam taking so much in taxes over the past 3 years, it was time.

I still love the store and will be in to shop 🙂

When you work in Retail…

When you work in the retail market, you earn a respect for what goes on and tend to sympathize with the current working folk of a similar function.

Wegmans Sub Shop

For example, having worked in a Wegmans Sub Shop part time when living in Rochester NY I realize how annoying cell phones can be and rude customers are and try to not be that way myself. I do admit when a customer was on their phone, I skipped them and asked the following person in line if I could help them since a hand signal with a number only seems to work in Asian restaurants 🙂

Shampoo Factory

The Shampoo Factory was a full time job between semesters during college and gave me a new appreciation for those bottled products and you recognize all of those funny alignment marks for labels. I sat for days monitoring sealing of various salon tubed products and testing bottle cap tension,which by the way should be automated and not done by anyone for that is surely going to give you carpal tunnel!

While it was relatively mindless, just what I needed after 2 semesters at college, I would think if I were to do it on a regular basis I would probably become a zombie. Not that I think anyone is really cut out for this kind of work, but we do what we need to in order to get the bills paid and this job probably just barely serves that purpose for the full time staff there.

Waiting Tables

Granted it was a restaurant I was co-owner of, but nonetheless, when I go out to eat now and if the restaurant is busy, I don’t get frustrated if service is slow and I always pile up my dishes with food scraps on the top plate for the wait staff 🙂

Funny how I was introverted and still am to a degree, but when waiting tables, you do need to provide great customer service if you want to get a tip and I really did open up during this chapter of my life.

World Market

I have learned that some customers always are out to get a good deal and will in some cases “break” an item in order to get a discount. I recall one time when a customer showed me what seemed to be a problem with glue on a wreath. She said, they are all like that and wanted a discount. After we talked a bit more, it turned out that she had pulled off the supposedly loose flowers! She was like, “I can glue them when I am home.” I was thinking to myself, well, if you had not pulled them off in the first place….. Anyway, I did not give her a discount and proceeded to fix them with our own hot glue gun.

There are others that walk around the clearance section each time they are in, or offer to “buy it all” at a discount. Another funny time was when a customer came back to the wine dept and asked me for the bottle with the most savings and I showed them a $50 bottle which happened to be $13 off 🙂 That is what they asked for, but certainly they were looking for the Rene Barbier which normally $4.99 is often on sale for $3.99, but only a savings of a $1. Perhaps she should have asked for the largest savings percentage 🙂

There are so many stories to tell and not enough time in a day to tell them, but you get the idea…customers can really be a pain in the neck after that experience, I will do my best to not be in a bad mood, get impatient with long lines, or harassing management to give me a better deal. 🙂 I cannot promise however that I will not trample you when the store opens and holiday clearance goes on sale 90% off!

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Month: March 2011

Those Darn Discount Sites!!