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  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 27, 2024 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , shopping   

    Beware the Too-Good-to-Be-True Online Deal 

    By Greg Collier

    According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), about 50% of people who lose money in online shopping scams do so because the deal seemed irresistible. The problem often arises when you think you’re purchasing from a trusted site, like Amazon, but you’re actually on a fake website designed to look like the real thing.

    These fake sites can be deceivingly similar to legitimate ones. Scammers know that if they can create a website that looks just like Amazon or any other well-known retailer, they can trick you into handing over your money. But there are ways to spot these fakes if you know what to look for.

    First, closely examine the URL of the site you’re on. Real Amazon’s URL is simple, it’s amazon.com. However, scammers use lookalike URLs which might look convincing at first glance but are actually traps. For legitimate websites, the brand name should be directly followed by .com or whatever the top-level domain (TLD) it is they use. If you see a hyphen, additional words, or anything else between the brand name and the TLD, you’re likely dealing with a scam.

    You might wonder how scammers manage to make these fake sites look so real. It turns out there are two main ways. Cybercriminals can buy phishing kits that allow them to replicate the look and feel of popular brands’ websites. These kits are cheap and widely available, making it easy for scammers to create convincing fakes.

    Scammers can also purchase domain names that resemble legitimate sites. They can register these names with minimal oversight, which allows them to create URLs that look legitimate but lead you straight into their traps.

    The next time you’re shopping online and come across a deal that seems too good to be true, take a moment to scrutinize the URL. Make sure it’s a legitimate site before entering any personal information. In today’s digital age, a little caution can go a long way in protecting yourself from scams.

     

  • Geebo 11:57 am on November 29, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , shopping   

    More consumers sat out Black Friday this year, opting for online shopping 

    More consumer sat out Black Friday this year opting for online shopping

    It seems that a number people took our advice, as a record number of people decided to sit out the Black Friday drama in brick and mortar stores this year. According to several financial indicators, more people decided to shop online during Black Friday than years past, with a record amount being spent just from mobile devices alone.

    Just purely based on anecdotal evidence it sure did feel like a different Black Friday from years past. As near as we can tell there weren’t the same number of soul crushing stories about consumerism turned violent as there have been in years past. Let’s not forget than when the term Black Friday was first coined it was not meant as a compliment but as a harbinger of doom.

    This isn’t to say that brick and mortar stores don’t have their uses. I’m sure most of us have been in that situation where we needed an emergency item at 3 in the morning. Until automated online retailers can teleport orders to consumers instantly, the brick and mortar stores will still be needed, however there are options now available to keep people from committing heinous acts in the name of holiday savings.

     

  • Geebo 11:00 am on November 21, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , shopping   

    Avoid the Black Friday drama 

    Avoid the Black Friday drama

    The topic of Black Friday has become almost as contentious as the recent Presidential election. For the past few years, we’ve seen the stories of people either being trampled or assaulted, just in the name of supposedly saving a couple of bucks on a shiny new gadget. What you should know before you start camping out for the alleged savings, is that Black Friday deals are more of a predatory practice than anything.

    One of the biggest tricks that retailers like to play on consumers on Black Friday is having limited stock on the items they’re advertising as a great deal. You’ll be lucky if the store has more than five of these items on stock. What they want you to do is find that the item has been sold out and want you to buy a similar item at full price.

    Instead of camping out or losing some of your dignity in a box store brawl, think about doing your holiday shopping online. Often times you’ll find a lot of good deals online starting on Cyber Monday, which is the Monday after Black Friday. Use the time to spend with your family or loved ones instead of laying siege on your local Wal-Mart.

     

  • Greg Collier 3:28 pm on January 3, 2013 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: acquisition, , , Oodle, QVC, shopping   

    Can a Company Become Unique via Acquisition? 

    One of the keys to being successful in business is keeping an eye on your industry – and your competitors. Over the past several years, the classified ads industry, like so many others, has been through its own periods of challenging times. Some of the companies – Geebo included – have adopted new strategies or developed new partnerships to bring something unique to the playing field.

    Geebo, for example, partners with a site called wegolook.com so that buyers of big-ticket items listed in Geebo’s ads in other parts of the country can dispatch an inspector to take a closer look before the transaction is finalized. It’s a differentiator that helps make Geebo unique.

    For some time, I’ve been watching Oodle, a competitor that’s steadily been focusing its business model around social networking, specifically Facebook and its marketplace. Bringing buyers and sellers together via their online friends, as well as their friends of friends, was Oodle’s differentiator. And it seemed to be working for them.

    So, imagine my eyebrow raise when I read last month that Oodle was being acquired by QVC – yeah, that QVC, the shopping company. In blog posts, just as anyone might expect, both companies praise the deal, playing up each other’s strengths and how this will impact the growing world of social commerce.

    It’s definitely an interesting approach and one that probably still has a lot of potential to be shaped, re-defined and groomed.. But I will admit that I also wondered if this is a case of big company swallowing smaller company, tapping into the best of what it does and sacrificing the rest of it down the road. Certainly, I don’t know that to be true, but a post on Techcrunch last month suggested that QVC was especially interested in Oodle’s mobile platform – which would make sense. The question is how much of the rest of Oodle is QVC interested in. At some point we’ll find out.

    I’m a big believer in independence for a company, an investor-free approach that allows a founder-executive to call the shots for the long-term good of the company, instead of for the quick return. I only mention this because, Techcrunch also notes that, in an earlier interview, Oodle execs believed that, through social, they could compete with and possibly even become a major challenger to the biggest players in the classifieds business.

    Is that the way this will play out for Oodle now? Or will the dream that a small company once had be reduced to a bullet point on an annual corporate goals strategy presentation?

    Who knows how this will turn out? Like any good businessman, I’ll be watching to see what works and what doesn’t in my industry.

     

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