“Does it make more sense economically to screen a movie to a half-empty theater if everyone pays $10, or to a full theater if everyone pays $5?”
The New New Cars That Are Priced Like Used Cars
They’re not cheapo, stripped, bare-bones vehicles. They’re “value cars.”
It’s a Deal: Ice Cream for 31¢ at Baskin-Robbins
On Wednesday, April 27, participating Baskin-Robbins locations are celebrating “31 Cent Scoop Night.” From 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., a scoop of your favorite flavor costs 31¢, at the same time that Baskin-Robbins is donating $100,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
How America Is Still Spending Stupidly
The new austerity. The great reset. The new normal. While America was suffering through the financial crisis, a chorus of economists, consumer behavior experts, and journalists predicted that the psychological scars of the Great Recession would permanent change spending habits (and they were quick to stick pithy labels on this supposed …
Will Facebook Deals Trump Groupon? Or LivingSocial? Or Google Offers?
Today, Facebook is launching a social flash deals service simply called Facebook Deals in five test cities: Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego, and San Francisco. (Why not NYC? Boston? Nothing in the Northeast?) On the one hand, the service is basically yet another of the hundreds of Groupon copycats, amounting to more daily deal …
Was the Fed’s QE2 a Failure?
There is a lot of analysis out today on the Federal Reserve’s controversial plan to buy $600 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds to spur the economy. The program, the second round of quantitative easing (ergo QE2) since the start of the financial crisis, is scheduled to end in June. The Fed is likely to announce later this week that they plan …
‘Lucas Fayne,’ World’s Most Positive Fake Customer, Surfaces on Twitter
Hey, if the Bronx Zoo’s escaped cobra can Tweet, then why not a figment of some Intuit software writer’s imagination whose sole purpose in (fake) life is to post rave online reviews of contractors that worked on the 50 homes he owns.
It’s a Deal: Free Pretzels on Tuesday, April 26
Tuesday, April 26, is National Pretzel Day, when stores all over the country are giving away Pretzelmaker products to anyone who says “National Pretzel Day.”
New Home Sales: Slightly Better Than Horrible
It is interesting what registers as good news these days in the housing market.
People are making a big deal out of today’s new homes sales number as perhaps finally the sign that the housing sector is rebounding. On Monday, the Census reported that new housing sales rose 11% in March. This was greeted as generally good news. …
Cheapskate Wisdom … About Credit Cards in the Hands of Young Consumers
A credit card is the “quickest way for young adults to build good credit”—and it’s also the “quickest way to destroy a young adult’s credit.”
Supermarket Shift: 6 Innovations and Changes Affecting How You Buy Food, and How Much You Pay
Keep your eyes open—and your wallet closed—while checking out these changes affecting the food-shopping experience.
Consumers Will Buy Green Products … But Only If They’re Cheap and Help Save Money
So maybe it’s that consumers will buy products that help them save money—and if they also happen to be environmentally friendly, that’s a bonus.