Categories
Consumerism

eBay ads target retail – and retail building owners let them do it

I wonder if accepting these ads (seen on the walls of retail buildings around Bentleigh) the owners are killing the goose that laid the golden egg? “Brand new items. Huge retail markups and pushy salespeople not included.” “Buy new. Buy eBay. Bye retail.”

Categories
Consumerism

Dear retailers, when prices are 60% cheaper offshore, GST won’t save you

Tough talk from the retailers, who continue to demand GST be applied to all purchases. It’s rubbish of course. 10% GST is not why people are shopping online. Let’s take the example of my last Amazon UK order, which I placed when the AU dollar was at its height, about two weeks ago. Book: Neil  ... [More]

Categories
Consumerism Food'n'drink

“LOL” juice? Seriously?

Tropkl. Razz bri. B current. Good grief.

Categories
Bentleigh Consumerism

Yes, some mornings, it does feel like I’ve left my brain in Bentleigh

Yes, there are some mornings that it does feel like I’ve left my brain at home in Bentleigh. (The various ads at Richmond have different stations named depending which platform you’re on.) I’m not sure a Dare Iced Coffee really will fix this screen.

Categories
Consumerism

Unit pricing: I suspect this is the most expensive product in the supermarket

I suspect this is the most expensive product in the supermarket, per gram. $1212 per 10 grams makes it $121,200 per kilogram. Whereas the imitation stuff is one twelve-hundredth the price.

Categories
Consumerism transport

Preaching to the converted?

There’s a billboard facing the light rail (tram) line to St Kilda, near the City Road station. As far as I can see, from its positioning, it is visible only to tram passengers. What’s it advertising this month? It’s Metro’s “This is me” campaign. These adverts have come under some criticism. …encouraging yet more passengers  ... [More]

Categories
Consumerism

The Radiant soap powder advert they filmed in my street

I was at home one day in March when a bus kept driving past every few minutes. They hadn’t opened Melbourne’s most frequent bus route in my street — they were filming an advert for Radiant soap. Now the advert has been launched. (via Mumbrella) I might try it at some stage, but Omomatic has  ... [More]

Categories
Consumerism

Tales of domestic dullness: The kitchen timer

One of the most useful (and used) things in our kitchen is our timer. Apart from timing during cooking, we also use it to ensure we brush our teeth for a full two minutes in the evening (it’s become a kind of ritual), and for things like ensuring Isaac’s keyboard practice is long enough. Once  ... [More]

Categories
Consumerism

Quest for the ultimate umbrella

Thankfully my umbrella was not in as bad a state as this one, but it was in need of replacement. And of course via procrastination it was only on Thursday, when it had been raining, that I got motivated enough to go out and look. This is in part because I’m a terrible shopper. Or  ... [More]

Categories
Consumerism transport

Lucky this Age story didn’t make page 1

Probably just as well for this onsert: …that this story landed on page 6, not on page 1: The full story text is here: Stations to lose peak services. And here’s a big version of the map. The document the article talks about is here: Passenger Impact Statement. To decode it, you’ll need to look  ... [More]

Categories
Consumerism

Supermarket specials that aren’t. Deliberate, or just careless?

I’ve turned into one of those boring people who looks out for specials in the supermarket. This deal is from this week’s Safeway/Woolworths catalogue. If you happen to occasionally buy frozen fish and frozen chips, it appears to be a pretty good deal, saving $3.55. (Sometimes I’ll use this type of thing; sometimes I’d prefer  ... [More]

Categories
Bentleigh Consumerism

I hope nobody with a morbid fear of rabbits was on Centre Road yesterday