PCCC Surplus Sale

Every few years, PCCC does a surplus sale, where they get rid of all their old equipment. Outdated computers, desks, and other stuff are made available for very low prices. Last time they did this, one of my friends bought 10 older computers for his mosque for $6 each, with the intention of putting Linux on them. If you can get here early for it, it is a nice opportunity. Students are given priority, so if you get here between 10 am and noon the first day, you will only be competing with other students.


They have the surplus sale in the parking lot of the Community Technology Center (218 Memorial Drive, Paterson), right by the intersection of Memorial and Market.

Even if you are not a PCCC student, it is open to the public noon to 3 on Wednesday, and 10 to 3 on Thursday. Here's the info:


DATES: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 and Thursday, October 13, 2011
TIME:  10:00 A.M. TO 3:00 P.M.

On Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon it will be open to students with a valid ID only. Open to the public after 12:00 noon on Wednesday and all day on Thursday.

The Day eBay Changed

Today is the day eBay changed to a new business model. For years, eBay has had a fee structure based on a few things (for small sellers, anyway):

1. Listing Fees (a cost for posting an item)
2. Listing Upgrade Fees (want your listings to appear in bold? go for 10 days? etc.)
3. Final Value Fees (they take a percentage of the final sale value)

In addition, eBay bought Paypal a number of years ago, so they also take a percentage of each payment processed.

For years in my CIS 152 course at PCCC and more recently my INF 163 class at Bergen, I've discussed how having an item go for 99 cents is not a good thing for eBay, in my opinion. It would be better for them to let people set a starting price and give them a free listing fee, because they would make more money off a final value fee. For example, if I list an item for $1.00 and it sells for $1.00 cents, eBay would get about 19 cents (10 cents to list the item and 9 cents for a final value fee). I might list an item so cheaply to avoid paying a large listing fee, which I am responsible for even if the item doesn't sell. Many sellers avoid risk, so they start items cheap in case the item doesn't sell, minimizing cost for listing fees.

My personal opinion was that if eBay cut out listing fees and simply raised final value fees, they would reap two benefits:

1. Sellers would list items for higher prices, therefore leading to higher final value fees.
2. Sellers would be more likely to sell items that might not sell, due to reduced risk of wasted fees.

eBay has seemingly decided to go with this, and will now allow sellers to sell 50 items a month with no listing fee, regardless of starting value. In addition, these auctions will be eligible for a free "Buy It Now", which allows an anxious buyer to purchase an item for a set price and preempt the auction.

Link to new fee information

Listing upgrade fees still exist, as do final value fees.

Of course, there are always catches. First of all, eBay will no longer just be taking a percentage of the final sale. They are also taking a percentage of the shipping cost. There still seem to be some workarounds, but eBay has done this because a seller could list a $200 item for $0.01 with $199.99 shipping and pay no fees on an item (and sellers did try to exploit this).

It seems like eBay's idea here is to keep small sellers around, while motivating medium sellers to move to eBay stores. The eBay stores are a system which has monthly subscription fees ranging from $15.95 to $299.95.

The loser in all this is the buyer who is looking for bargains, because in my opinion, they are going to be harder to find.

Ultimate Steal

Every semester, I try to bring this up in my classes.  Microsoft has made available a number of programs available at a low cost for students.

For example, the Microsoft Office 2007 Home Edition would cost you around $125 - $150 to purchase.  This would include Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.  However, as a student at certain schools, you are eligible to receive a copy of Office 2007 "Ultimate" for $59.95.  This version includes not only the programs listed above, but also Access and Publisher.  The nice part is that this is not only inexpensive, but also legal.  I can understand why people take a risk and download illegal software, but when you have the chance to legally acquire the software at this price, why take the risk?

They also have made available Windows 7 for $64.95. 

Note you will have to register with your school email address (username@pccc.mailcruiser.com).  Also note that they don't mail you an installation CD - the install is done through the Internet.

Note that even though this is not a Microsoft.com site, it does redirect there and I can confirm this is legitimate.
www.ultimatesteal.com

Fat Fingers

Late last year, I got a PS3 for myself, and I was looking to pick up a few games for it. One game I wanted was Guitar Hero, and I wasn't finding very good prices. I went to eBay, and same thing, there weren't a ton of great prices. I decided to try a site that I've used called fat fingers.

When an eBay seller lists an item for sale, they specify the keywords that go in the listing title, etc. People make mistakes, and if they make typographical errors, the end result is sometimes that they just don't get people to see their item. If no one sees it, no one buys it.

Anyway, fat fingers is a free site that will find auctions that are spelled wrong. For example, I was able to find an auction for "Gutar Hero" when I searched, and it was an auction starting at $5. I bid $5, and no one else bid on the item (because they didn't find it due to the spelling error), and I got a brand new copy of Guitar Hero for $5 plus shipping. When I bought this, this was an excellent price for it.

Note that this works well especially with eBay auctions. If it is a "fixed price" auction, you probably aren't getting a deal, but if it is an auction, you have a great chance of putting in a low bid and winning something.

I am still shocked that eBay hasn't found some way to fix this, because when their sellers lose money, they also lose money on commission.

Anyway, here's the site:
www.fatfingers.com

Office 2007 for $59.95

This is a repost from an earlier blog, but worth it, especially if you want a great deal on Office 2007 software.

Microsoft has done something really really good at the moment, especially as far as the students of PCCC are concerned. Microsoft is making the Ultimate version of their Office 2007 software - which includes not only Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but also Publisher, Outlook, Access, and a few others - available at a low price.

The retail price is around $600 - and for students at schools including ours, the price is $59.95, for a legal, full copy of Office 2007. Compare this to the Student and Home edition of Office 2007, which only has Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and goes for $150 retail.

The site linked below does not list how long this offer is good for, but if you were considering buying a copy of Office 2007, here is the best (legal) deal you will ever find.

Web Link:
ultimatesteal.com
(Note that even though this is not at Microsoft.com, it redirects immediately to a Microsoft Web site - and I did get a letter directly from Microsoft about this, so I trust it)

When Black Friday goes bad...

Tragedy struck today at the Wal-Mart in Long Island - as they opened at 5:00 am, the worker who opened the door was trampled to death by a crowd of people who were eager to get in and get to the door busters.

Really.

It's kind of interesting that as the economy gets worse, people have become a little more desperate, and it just reminds me of when I visited a friend's family in the Dominican Republic. There wasn't this need for "stuff" that we have here. I do wonder why we have such a need for "stuff" in this country.

That doesn't mean I didn't get a few decent deals this year, but I ended up deciding I didn't need the big HD TV yet.

Web Link:

• Long Island WalMart Black Friday 2008 Tragedy (1010 Wins)

Black Friday 2008 - feel the excitement!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

My favorite holiday of the year is almost upon us. No, it's not one of the ones you are thinking, it's Black Friday.

Black Friday is, of course, the day after Thanksgiving, where stores have crazy deals and lines at 5:00 in the morning. With the economy where it is, some companies seem to have put together some deals that are really exciting.

There are so many places with so many deals, and even in better economic times, it has always been fun to go out and get some of them.

You'll notice many stores have two types of sales - "early bird" specials (show up before a certain time), and all day specials.

One of the beautiful things about the Internet is that a lot of this information gets posted early. I've been so busy lately that I haven't gotten the chance to really plan out what I want to do, but there are a ton of deals to be had. For example, I've been visiting bfads.net for years, and they post the deals that are out there, and trust me, there are pages of them. Kohl's, for example, has over 500 sale items this year.

It's worth the one day of getting up early for me to get deals on stuff I want to buy anyway. I am considering an iPhone, but I haven't seen any Black Friday deals for that yet...and I have a few other things that I would get for the right price (for example, a Blu-Ray DVD player).

Plan now, and save!

Web Link:

• http://bfads.net/

Office 2007 Ultimate

When Microsoft does something stupid, I am not afraid to call them out on it.

However, they've done something really really good at the moment, especially as far as the students of PCCC are concerned. Microsoft is making the Ultimate version of their Office 2007 software - which includes not only Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but also Publisher, Outlook, Access, and a few others - available at a low price.

The retail price is around $600 - and for students at schools including ours, the price is $59.95, for a legal, full copy of Office 2007. Compare this to the Student and Home edition of Office 2007, which only has Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and goes for $150 retail.

The site linked below does not list how long this offer is good for, but if you were considering buying a copy of Office 2007, here is the best (legal) deal you will ever find.

Web Link:

• ultimatesteal.com
  (Note that even though this is not at Microsoft.com, it redirects immediately to a Microsoft Web site - and I did get a letter directly from Microsoft about this, so I trust it)
  

Free Trial of Microsoft Office 2007

Microsoft is giving out a fully functional 60 day/2 month free trial of Office 2007 Professional. If you don't have Office on your computer, this is a chance to try the new version for free.

Note that since this is the trial version of Office Professional, not only do you get Word, Excel and PowerPoint, you also get Publisher and Access, two other very nice tools, and a few other tools. For free, it's definitely worth a try.

If you were interested in simply purchasing it, there is a "Home and Student" version, which is designed for home users that will be doing common school related tasks. The "Home and Student" version includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This is much cheaper than the standard versions of Office, with a retail price of $150.

At this point, it is a little over $100 to purchase it on Amazon. I'll link to that below.

Web Links:

• Office 2007 Home and Student version on Amazon (PC Version)
  
  
• Link to free trial download page
  (Note that even though this is not from "Microsoft.com", it is what Microsoft links you to. I checked)

Free Public Transportation: 9/15 - 9/21

I grew up in Sussex County, so my idea of public transportation was catching a ride home with a friend. I remember how confusing it was when I first started going in to New York City via the PATH trains and using the subways and I remember how stressful it was - is this the right train?? What if I end up lost?

I've gotten much better at this, through experience.

One of NJ Transit's Trains in action

Anyway, it seems like New Jersey Transit does this at least once a year - they are having a "STUDENTS RIDE FREE" week. Anywhere NJ Transit goes, you can go for free, by going to their Web site and filling out a form. I'm on their e-mail list, so I get reminders when this goes in to effect and I try to mention this to my classes.

Even if you are paying normally for public transportation - if you fill out this form and bring your student ID, it's a free week.

This is valid from 9/15 (Monday) through 9/21 (Sunday) and on all bus, rail, and light rails run by NJ Transit. They've also got a trip planner on the Web site, in case you're wondering "how do I get to NYC from where I am?".

Also thanks to Sue for a reminder on this one.

Web Site Link:
NJTransit.com - Students Ride Free!

Good Deal Alert @ Staples: Week of 7/5/08

It's time to stock up for school already!

Staples has some excellent deals this week. The following items are one penny. Yes, 1 cent.
8 pack of pencils
2 pocket folders
Purell hand sanitizer

They also have nice folders for 25 cents and some highlighters free after rebate.

The 1 cent deals are only good until Wednesday 7/9/08.

link to ad

Business Cards

TODAY (3/7/08) ONLY.

Staples has 100 Business Cards for $1.99 (plus tax). This is an excellent deal for those of you who might need some business cards. These are also shipped for free.

Staples $1.99 for 100 Business Cards - Valid 3/7/08 only

Note that for me, it showed up as $12.99 until the final payment area, and then after the coupon code was applied, it came out to the advertised price.

Trust and Web sites

One question even I have at times is "Should I trust this Web site?" - for example, a while back, a Web site named ClubIT.com had a nice deal on a computer part I wanted, but I hadn't really heard of them.

One of the Web sites that people trust for accurate ratings of Web sites is Reseller Ratings. It's a site that's been around in one form or another for over ten years. You can check out just about any online retailer that you haven't heard of and see their ratings.

Direct link to their store search: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/

For example, you can see some of the Web sites that people have had a lot of problems include sites like buy.com (who I've personally had some issues with myself), and some of the best stores include newegg.com (an excellent computer retailer). People have the chance to write detailed ratings detailing their positive or negative experiences. Highly recommended, and free to visit and use!

The best and worst retailers @ Reseller Ratings: http://www.resellerratings.com/topstores.pl

Saving Money...

The problem a lot of people have with saving money is that "it's hard to do".

Well, this is true on some level. If saving money were easy, everyone would be rich, right? On some level, this is true, but on another level, realize that there are a lot of things we can do to save $1 here, $5 there, etc.

For example, PCCC students, did you know that the school has a payment plan for courses? For those of you who are paying out of pocket, you could pay it all at once, or set up a payment plan. The problem with payment plans is that they cost $35 to do...

Unless...

You do your payments online. This is the best of both worlds - you save $35, while being able to put away some of the money for another month or two. Also, if you have one of those credit cards that reward you for making purchases, you can gain rewards for it.

I know $35 doesn't sound like a lot, but if you manage to save $35 here, and $10 there, and $15 over there, you end up with some real money over time.

Payment plan information

In that same vein, saving money is even easier when you have someone else giving you tips. For example, one of my favorite Web sites is the Simple Dollar. It's basically a blog with money saving tips and tricks. I've seen tips for beginners with simple money saving tips and some more advanced such as finding the right credit card or investing.

His Web site is located at the URL below:
www.thesimpledollar.com

Deal of the Day

Woot.com is a Web site that does one item each day. One day, one deal, that's it. An interesting take on electronic commerce, to say the least.

I had discussed them a few years ago here - the reason I bring them up today is that they have a Roomba today - the little vacuuming robot - at a great price, with the special pet attachments.

Rent Textbooks....Save Money

A lot of times, students simply need textbooks for one semester.

There's a Web site out called Chegg that will let you "rent" a textbook, rather than buy it. They also promise to plant a tree for every book rented, which is nice and environmentally friendly.

I checked this out quickly for my CIS 106 class.

The bookstore is charging $86.75 for a new textbook and $65.25 used. A lot of that value disappears because most students do not plan on keeping the book, and they will sell it back to the bookstore for somewhere around 10% of the price.

Chegg has the book for $33.26 for a semester rental. Our semester ends a little later, so you can expand it for another 15 days (which would take you through finals) for an additional $4.99. The final cost would be $38.25. They also would pay for your shipping back, giving you a pretty decent savings.

This is a really interesting idea that I really like.

http://www.chegg.com

Inexpensive Laptop at Staples this week

Staples has a very nice deal on a laptop this week. It's $429 after rebate, with a free inkjet printer.

Staples Ad

Laptop Deal

Saving money on books...

I had posted earlier in the year about how to save money on books for your classes. If you order now, you should be able to get your books online for prices cheaper than the bookstore.

Here's the original post. Note that the coupon code mentioned there does not work now, but you do still get free shipping on orders over $25.

Woot

One excellent web site that I've encountered is woot.com. Basically, it's a web site where every day, they sell something different. For example, today they are selling a 6 GB USB drive for $49.99!

I purchased a Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse set for $19.99 one day, and that was a great deal.

It's very random. Today it's a USB drive...tomorrow it could be something completely random and unrelated. Definitely worth checking out and bookmarking!