Give the gift of an eBook…reader, that is

December 21st, 2010

Wondering what gift to buy for that book lover of the family? Perhaps one of the latest novels, like an adventure…or was it thrillers they enjoyed? Well, memory is failing. So, maybe it should be a biography. Everyone likes biographies; or, do they? Didn’t they say they hated biographies…or was that someone else?

Buying a book can be hard, especially when it comes to niche interests like technology or one of the arts. But this year things don’t have to be hard. Why you ask? Because you can give the gift of books without actually buying a book. Instead, buy an eBook reader. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

How does it accomplish this? Besides, it’s not actually a book, but rather something with which you read books. Books that the recipient would have to buy. Now how are they going to like that? I mean, this is supposed to be a gift, not something they have to buy “add ons” (like eBooks) for in order to use. While this is true, you have to look past the fact that you’re buying something that will be invaluable to that book lover. Most people like to buy specific books. They don’t usually appreciate someone just going to the store and finding some book that they might like and then receiving it as a gift. I mean, it works some times but definitely not all the time.

So how does an eBook reader fix this problem? Easy: it allows the person receiving the gift to be in control of where they go from here. It also offers a lot of advantages.

  • eBook readers can typically store a few thousand books, all in one compact package
  • eBook readers cut down on printing PDFs so you can read them on the go (like user manuals)
  • eBooks are typically cheaper (sometimes much cheaper) than a hardbound version
  • eBooks are here to stay (Amazon sold more eBooks than regular books this year)

Now what about types of eBooks readers? There are several different kinds but two of them stand out above the rest. These are the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook. Both would thrill a book lover and both include access to thousands of classics at absolutely no cost! (Because of either copyright expiration or no copyright in the first place.)

So, I love books but I don’t like it when I forget that one critical book just because I didn’t have room in my suitcase. I’d love to have one of these gadgets and I’m sure that the book lover in your family would as well. Check them out!

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Instant Online Deals is eBay Certified!

April 20th, 2010

Great news everyone! This website’s “catalog tool” is now an eBay certified application! We’ll be making some changes to it over the next few days to reflect that. If you haven’t done so already, please check out the catalog tool and let us know what you think. We’ll be expanding its usefulness over time but here are some of the primary features.

  • Search all eBay sites from one convenient location.
  • Bookmark any category or personal search. You can then make it a homepage that opens every time you surf the web. This is a great way to keep up with the Buy It Now deals available on eBay.
  • Quickly determine buyer feedback, free shipping, and price in an easy-to-read listing.

We’ll continue reviewing more products as well and letting you know what we think of them. But remember: this site is for you! Make it personal by starting a few searches in the catalog and bookmarking them. Keep visiting the bookmark every day to ensure that you find the best “instant deal” out there.

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Do YOU iPad?

April 8th, 2010

First, there was great anticipation. Then, there was a let down followed by some jeering and mockery. Next, there was, again, anticipation…anticipation…more anticipation. Finally, on April 3rd, 2010, we had a chance to see exactly what an iPad could do.

And we were amazed. Or we were let down. Or maybe we didn’t care at all. In fact, some of you reading this late some night while surfing the Internet are still saying “eye-what?”

Just take a look at all the reviews of the iPad and you’ll probably be as confused as me. However, I’d say it still has a lot of potential. People will probably buy an iPad just to say they have one (you might as well) and that wouldn’t be a bad thing. Just look at Apple’s track record and you’ll see a company that’s been a around for a while. Typically companies that have been around a while stay around for a while. Of course, there are always exceptions.

The iPad comes in various forms (who doesn’t like selection). Just check out the various buy-it-now listings available on eBay at this moment. Feel free to bookmark these and visit them often to find the latest deals out there.

In my opinion, this is a disaster waiting to happen. You take something like the iPad, with its (at this point) six different forms, and combine it with eBay, notorious for people selling something they don’t quite understand, and you’ve got trouble. Here are a few tips for those of you who might be thinking about grabbing an instant deal of an iPad out there on eBay (or any other site).

  1. Look for good, intelligible feedback. People usually won’t give good feedback if they ordered a 32GB iPad and received a 16GB one.
  2. If in doubt, ask the seller. This is very useful on eBay because a seller who won’t respond to your questions in a prompt fashion isn’t going to respond to your complaint should there be a hiccup in the deal.
  3. Wait for the dust to settle. If you don’t consider yourself savvy enough to know the difference between the models, wait and let the good ones rise to the top while the less sought for models drop off. Who knows, you might even find a killer deal on one in a few months.

I like the idea of an iPad. It really looks like something that has promise and potential. It even looks like we might see some good deals for them sooner rather than later. If you happen to pick one up off eBay, please feel free to let me know how it went by commenting on this post.

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Review of “Eat This, Not That”

April 8th, 2010

What do you eat when you get out? Fast food? Sit-down style? Up-scale restaurant? Whatever way you choose to dine out, this book is a great resource. “Eat This, Not That” has really surprised me when it comes to what I eat (and don’t eat). And hey, who knows, I might even lose a few pounds in the process!

There are actually several different versions of “Eat This, Not That” and each one is worth purchasing. Here are a few of the versions that are out there right now.

  • Eat This, Not That!
  • Eat This Not That! 2010
  • Eat This Not That! for Kids!
  • Eat This Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide
  • Eat This Not That! Restaurant Survival Guide
  • Eat This Not That! The Best (& Worst!) Foods in America!
  • Cook This, Not That!: Kitchen Survival Guide

You could of course try and buy them as a set to save some cash; however, this is hard to find. If you do find a good set, especially with free shipping, then it’s probably worth the money.

Of course, you don’t have to trust me. Just listen to this review from Amazon for the original book. “[...] EAT THIS, NOT THAT! has helped literally thousands of people improve their lives by increasing their nutritional intakes while blasting away unwanted belly fat” (emphasis added). What’s the secret? It’s simple: eating fewer calories means that your body has less “excess energy” to store. “Excess energy” roughly translates into “fat”. Now, this isn’t meant to be a universal principle, but in general if your body has too much energy it’ll store it in fat. By reducing the amount of extra energy you put into your body you should reduce the amount of fat your body creates. Couple that with moderate exercise and bingo! you start losing weight.

“I’m not a doctor Jim, I’m a writer.” I don’t claim to back this article up with my vast amount of clinical experience. Quite to the contrary. I would highly suggest discussing any radical change in your diet or exercise level with a licensed physician. The thing is, nothing in this book is what I would classify as “radical”. It’s simple. You don’t even necessarily have to “ear less”…you’re just “eating smarter”. The book is not designed to make people sick, in fact, it’s just the opposite. I don’t think we realize just how “sick” we’re making our bodies without realizing it.

Thanks for reading this article. I hope you find the review helpful in you decision to take a look at “Eat This, Not That” and determine whether it’s right for you. This is one online deal that might be a good investment.

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Is This a Good Seller?

January 8th, 2010

Determining whether or not a particular seller on eBay is trustworthy can be a difficult challenge. Should you only deal with sellers that have 100% positive feedback? If you use this rule, then theoretically a seller with only 4 sells but 100% positive feedback would outrank a seller with 4,000 sells and only a 99% positive feedback. I don’t think this is such a good idea. Instead, I would advocate a different, slightly more complicated system of “seller rating”.

First, review the negative feedback, if any. Just because someone has a few negative dings doesn’t mean that the person did something wrong. Feedback is given by the buyer, not the seller. Yes, feedback can be contended and buyers have an opportunity to correct their feedback if they accidentally did something wrong; however, this doesn’t guarantee that problems don’t happen. This is especially true for new sellers. It takes time to get your “feet wet” selling on eBay and a new sellers might not know what options they have when it comes to contending bad feedback. This is also true for new buyers. Manually reviewing the negative feedback can help you determine whether or not you trust the seller even if someone else had a “bad” experience. Use your own judgment…it’s amazing how helpful a little intuition can be.

Another thing to consider is how long ago the negative feedback occurred. If the seller shows a trend of improving feedback over the past several months than this could effectively cancel out any negative feedback’s weight on your current decision. People do learn from their mistakes and change over time. In the same manner, if a seller’s negative feedback has all cropped up only recently I would be a bit more suspicious.

Keeping these other points in mind, I would highly recommend computing the total number of positive interactions vs. the total number of negative ones. To do this you can simply multiply the total number of transactions by the feedback score and then divide by 100. This means that if a seller has a feedback score of “only” 95% with 1000 transactions, they had 950 positive transactions. Yes, they also had 50 bad ones, but think about that for a minute…950 positive transactions. That’s a lot of good interactions. To show this in context, think about another seller who has a score of 99% but only 100 transactions. This comes out to only 99 positive transactions. While the other seller’s score is lower (95% vs. 99%) his or her total number of positive transactions is much higher (nearly 10 times).

I hope this post might prove useful to you as you start (or continue) shopping on eBay. eBay is a powerful, community driven tool that can really be a good thing. We’ll continue to offer more tips as well as highlighting different great deals on eBay. Keep reading!

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The Beginning of Instant Online Deals

January 6th, 2010

Welcome! This is the beginning of a new day. This site is going to be the end-all and be-all of information about deals that you can take advantage of on-line, right this second. You don’t need to worry about looking all over to find the best deals, find them here! We’ll give you tips on how to find the best deals on eBay, called “buy it now” offers, and even help you sign up for an eBay account and find items. We have a custom search engine as well and you can of course always get right to eBay yourself!

Stay tuned for more great information!

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