Cyber Monday

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the safety of the toy hit of the season, the robotic hamsters known as Zhu Zhu Pets, making a rare acknowledgment of an ongoing investigation as the Web lit up with searches for Zhu Zhu pet recall and Zhu Zhu pet unsafe.

"CPSC is looking into the Zhu Zhu pet toy and we will complete our review swiftly," CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said in an email to WalletPop.

The buzz grew following a report by environmental health group GoodGuide saying it found higher-than-acceptable levels of tin and antimony in Mr. Squiggles, a popular Zhu Zhu pet.

UPDATE (12/7): GoodGuide issued an apology today for using a different testing methodology than does the government -- thereby making the comparison of what it found to the federal standard inaccurate. "...While we accurately reported the chemical levels in the toys that we measured using our testing method, we should not have compared our results to federal standards,"
the group said in a written statement. "We regret this error. "

Based on that and independent lab tests reviewed by the CPSC, Mr. Squiggles has been cleared.

Wolfson said the CPSC is committed to new, tougher standards for toy safety mandated by the Consumer Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The heavy metal antimony, once governed only by a voluntary industry standard, was included in the CPSIA and is now regulated by the CPSC.

"CPSC is working especially hard this time of year to ensure that toys are safe for all children, he said. The agency is proactively evaluating certain toys and we are working with consumer groups to test toys they have been brought to our attention. Parents should know that there is a new child safety law that went into place this year that: 1) lowers lead in toys to some of the lowest levels in the world, 2) bans certain phthalates from toys, and 3) puts federal limits on heavy metals like antinomy from being in surface coatings on toys. "

The company that sells Zhu Zhu Pets that makes the impossible-to-find holiday toy says the toys are safe (see their press release).

"We are disputing the findings of GoodGuide and we are 100% confident that Mr. Squiggles, and all other Zhu Zhu Toys, are safe and compliant with all U.S. and European standards for consumer health and safety in toys," Russ Hornsby, CEO of Cepia LLC., said in a written statement. "All our products are subjected to several levels of rigorous safety testing conducted by our own internal teams, as well as the world's leading independent quality assurance testing organization, and also by independent labs engaged by our retail partners. The results of every test prove that our products are in compliance with all government and industry safety standards."

As we know from WalletPop's own experience with alerting authorities about defective products -- when our Consumer Ally discovered that Target Halloween flashlights could catch fire -- it can take weeks before an official recall takes place, and that was with Target's cooperation.

If there was a recall, the dynamics would be unlike any other in recent memory -- since thousands of people paid far beyond retail price from third party sellers on eBay and Amazon.com. And now parents are left wondering whether to take this seriously and continue on their now easier quest to get these varmints (they've been showing up in increasing numbers at increasing numbers of retail outlets) or to hold off the officially inquiry is completed and, if they have them, whether to hold off giving them as Christmas presents.

Stay tuned to WalletPop for more recall news and we will let you know what develops.

Marianne Cusato was busy designing cottages for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina when requests started pouring in from developers, builders and homeowners across the country begging her to create a similarly compact dwelling for them.

"I was very focused on disaster housing and the small-house movement came to me," Cusato told WalletPop.

Though Cusato's 300- to 1,800-square-foot Katrina Cottages -- now for sale at Lowe's -- are an extreme example of the smaller-is-better mentality, the movement appears to be more than a fad, especially now that the economy has tanked.

With Black Friday noting more than a tangle of receipts, empty shopping bags and tightly wrapped presents for another year; it's time to look back and see how shoppers and retailers made out on the most hyped and anticipated shopping day of the year.

Overall, the good news this year is that despite several incidents of shopper rage, no one lost their life over a Zhu Zhu Pet. Even though there were shoppers behaving badly in stores, coupon users at RetailMeNot saved almost a half million dollars on Black Friday and Amazon earned big cheers from Dealnews.com for matching almost every Black Friday sale competitors offered.

If you missed out on our liveblog of Black Friday this is a great place to see what went down on Black Friday 2009.

Scuffles:
The Consumerist combed through police blotters and local news reports to find the worst Black Friday behavior of 2009.

For law enforcement in towns with a Walmart or a Toys R Us, it was a Busy Thursday night and Friday morning as a fight broke out at Walmart in Rancho Cucamonga, California and a Walmart in Upland California had to kick out shopper and reset the store after shoppers ripped into pallets of merchandise and began shopping before the 5 a.m. kickoff.

The three main cashback rebate sites have some super deals today only as part of Cyber Monday. Not sure what I am talking about? Read my explainer post on cash back shopping sites.

From eBates. com:

The Disney Store - 10% back (up from 3%)
The Gap - 10% back (combine that with their 20% off coupon code MONDAY)
Macy's - 7%
Nordstroms - 7%
Sephora - 10%
Walmart - 3% (up from 1%)

I'm always wishing I had a few extra bucks. Ergo, I'm thinking I should check out Extrabux more often, since its main mission in life is to make sure that consumers have extra bucks.

I thought I'd mention Extrabux, since it's Cyber Monday and all -- as you already know, unless you've just awakened from a coma (it's not often when that sort of cliche actually happens), Cyber Monday is the first Monday after Thanksgiving, a day when deals abound online and the day that tends to be the most shopped day online (whereas Black Friday, of course, is the most shopped day in brick and mortar stores).

American Girl seems to get more and popular every year -- and, especially if you're buying the accessories, more expensive.

So if you're planning on giving your favorite girl an American Girl doll, it should cheer you up to know that there are some deals out there for Cyber Monday. And, yes, that's Cyber Monday -- as in, these deals are only good today.

All in all, they have more than 50 items that are up to 50% off, according to the American Girl store's Web site. (The key words: up to. Not every sale item is actually 50% off. But no matter. A sale is a sale.)

The dust of Black Friday has settled and with limited quantities now sold out, shoppers have a second chance to score savings on Cyber Monday sales. Rather than promoting specific deals this year we are seeing broad savings across entire categories such as books, jewelry, luxury goods, laptops, HDTVs, eyewear and more.

Here are a collection of Cyber Monday deals to help you finish up your holiday shopping.

Borders Cyber Monday specials:

• Buy-one-get-one 60% off (Online and in store)
• 50% off priority shipping
• Free standard shipping on orders over $10.

Cyber Monday deals traditionally come once a year, the Monday after Thanksgiving, when online retailers cut prices to lure in workers who have returned to work but still need to get some shopping done.

This year there will be plenty of Cyber Monday sales on Nov. 30, but according to the CEO of Coupon Craze, that's just the start of Cyber Monday deals this year.

By working with retailers and observing the online shopping trends, which show that online shopping jumps significantly on the Mondays leading up to Christmas, Christian Gordun, the Coupon Craze CEO, has come up with a list of additional Cyber Mondays and a Shipping Monday to keep in mind.

With so many retailers offering pre-Black Friday sales, Thanksgiving Day sales and of course Black Friday deals, you might have forgotten about the upcoming Cyber Monday sales!

Even though many stores are trying to keep their Cyber Monday sales under wraps until after Black Friday we found several places to go looking for the best bargains on Cyber Monday.

First off is the CouponShack which has a large collection of Cyber Monday coupon codes for Kohl's and many other small retailers who are offering Cyber Monday specials.

RetailMeNot is another great place to look for Cyber Monday discounts. The RetailMeNot Cyber Monday page currently has some coupons from last Cyber Monday mixed in but there are still some geed deals to be found. You can also install the browser toolbar for FireFox or Internet Explorer and be alerted coupons for any store you visit.

How's this for a pre-Black Friday and pre-Cyber Monday deal? Get $3 to buy MP3 downloads from Amazon -- which means you could get three or more free songs. Click here and use code MP34FREE.

Expires Monday, Nov. 30 at 11:59 PM PST.

You can use the free $3 credit toward one album or multiple songs, as long as you use it before Nov. 30. Top-selling singles are $1.29, others cost less.

Amazon has more than 500 albums for just $5, including Kelly Clarkson's "All I Ever Wanted," Johnny Cash's "The Best of the Sun Years," and the Beastie Boy's "Paul's Boutique." With the discount, that means an entire album is just $2!

Caveats: one per customer. Good for U.S. customers only. You must have an Amazon account to get the deal.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are being announced or leaked at such a rapid rate its getting difficult to keep track. Of all the retailers, Toys R Us may well be the most aggressive with the deals and now it is expanding online discounts for the big day, with free shipping, bonuses with purchase, and some special payment plans.

There's even an online layaway program called Bill Me Later. Through Saturday, November 28, new Bill Me Later customers will receive $10 off purchases of $30 or more, with no payments for up to 90 days. In addition, all customers who opt to use Google Checkout will receive $10 off purchases of $60 or more.

With Black Friday almost here and Cyber Monday just around the corner, there's no denying that the holiday season is upon us; and for many people that means online shopping. For Identity Thieves and scammers, though, this is the time of year to roll out new ways of going after your identity, your money and your credit.

WalletPop has already warned you about the numerous ways that online scam artists are trying to dupe you with fakes, but we wanted to make sure that you are as educated as you can be when it comes to safeguarding your information and money. We went to three industry experts to find out how to stay safe on Cyber Monday and through the rest of your holiday shopping.

To get a better idea of just how much phishing and identity theft scams will increase in the next month, we spoke to Lyn Oakes, Chief Marketing Officer of Trusted ID.

"We do expect that there will be more traffic being generated by identity thieves because of the holiday season than has been in the last several months," Oakes said in a phone interview. "We think phishing emails are going to rise."

Popular and boisterous tech blog Boy Genius Report this week ran what one of their contacts claimed to be Apple's Black Friday ad. The ad claimed that Apple would be going against tradition and offering huge cuts across the Apple lineup.

Just how big were the claimed discounts? The ad claims that Apple will offer up to 30% off of all iPods, up to 25% off of all Macs and up to 15% off of accessories, software and other Mac hardware. Needless to say, these would be big, and I mean BIG, discounts for Apple to pull out on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If they were true, that is.

Looking to boost your Black Friday budget? SmartyPig is upping its current ante -- offering customers the chance to cash in on a hefty cash bonus this holiday shopping season.

The new bonus offers customers using the on-line piggy bank some extra coin - up to 12% - when they meet their savings goal and shop at one of SmartyPig's retail partners like Macy's, Barnes and Noble and GameStop.

"The holidays can put a financial strain on anybody, and using credit cards for purchases can add to a person's debt 'holiday hangover'," SmartyPig CEO Bob Weinschenk told WalletPop.

The goal-oriented online savings program currently offers a competitive 2.01% (APY). And until Monday, November 17, had also offered the option to add 6% to your savings when shopping at one of SmartyPig's retail partners.

"Now, when customers meet their savings goal, they may be able to earn double the bonus -- 12%," says Weinschenk.

The 12% bonus is applicable to funds withdrawn from accounts that are transferred to retail partner gift cards. "The cards never expire, so they don't have to be spent just on Black Friday or during the holiday season," says Tiffany Spencer, spokeswoman for SmartyPig.

SmartyPig is also rolling out a new added incentive for consumers looking to stash cash for a vacation. Customers can now earn up to a 10% cash bonus when they meet their savings goal and opt to book through one of SmartyPig's retail partners Travelocity or American Airlines.

When you have shopping on the brain, it helps to have a song in your heart. Presented with the challenge of crafting a ditty about that crucial day after Thanksgiving--the busiest shopping day of the year, and Cyber Monday too--WalletPop columnist and award-winning songwriter Lou Carlozo set to work.

The result is "Black Friday," his ode to the kickoff of the 2009 shopping season: "It was tough because everyone knows Steely Dan wrote the definitive Black Friday song," Lou says. "But let's see them work zhu zhu pets and eBay into their lyrics."



More Black Friday coverage