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Gazelle: A better way to recycle your electronics

by Josh Smith Nov 20th 2008 at 5:30PM

Filed under: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Technology, Fantastic Freebies

After doing a round of holiday cleaning at our apartment, I discovered a treasure trove of gadgets which still worked, but no longer met my needs. Thankfully I also found Gazelle.com, a company that buys old electronics for resale or recycle.

I tested out Gazelle.com with three items I had on hand; an old camera without a power adapter, a Dell PDA with all original wires and manuals, and a digital video camera with power cord. For my collection of slightly used gadgets I am being paid $124, more than I could likely get on eBay due to the lack of accessories.

Selling your stuff to Gazelle is simple:
  1. Look up your item on the Gazelle site.
  2. Answer a few questions about the quality and accessories.
  3. Click "calculate" and see what Gazelle will offer you.
  4. Send your items back to Gazelle with free shipping label.
  5. Get paid via check, Paypal or Amazon gift card.
Currently Gazelle buys goods from 11 categories including; video games and consoles, GPS units, phones, movies, digital cameras, laptops and more. If the item you want to sell isn't already in the catalog you can request a customized quote, which is calculated within 24 hours.

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Tags: Amazon, console, digital camera, ewaste, featured, freecycle, gadgets, gazelle, GPS, laptop, movies, pda, phones, recycle, reuse, technology, video game

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Black Friday roundup is back, Best Buy, Target, Staples and more

by Josh Smith Nov 19th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Bargains, Shopping, Technology, Black Friday

Black Friday is almost here with every day bringing more ads full of deep discounts. While many of these ads are unconfirmed leaks from stores like Best Buy, Circuit City and Target; several store including Staples and Dell have confirmed their ads with Dealnews.com. Additionally, T-Mobile and Bare Necessities have shared their Black Friday specials directly with WalletPop.com readers.

As we approach the week of Black Friday there will be plenty more ads coming out and more information on when to get in line or to log on in order to get the best deals. We are still waiting to see what Amazon and Walmart as well as many others bring to the table this year. Keep checking back, we'll be sure to let you know what to look for on Black Friday as well as what deals to expect on Cyber Monday!

Scenes from Holiday Shopping

    NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 17: Peter Ripka and New York Giants Quarterback Eli Manning attend Judith Ripka's Holiday Shopping Night hosted by Eli Manning at Judith Ripka on November 17, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Images for Judith Ripka)

    Getty Images

    NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 17: David Ripka poses with New York Giants Quarterback Eli Manning at Judith Ripka's Holiday Shopping Night hosted by Eli Manning at Judith Ripka on November 17, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Images for Judith Ripka)

    Getty Images

    NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 17: (L-R) Brian Ripka, New York Giants Quarterback Eli Manning, and David Ripka attend Judith Ripka's Holiday Shopping Night hosted by Eli Manning at Judith Ripka on November 17, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Images for Judith Ripka)

    Getty Images

    NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 17: (L-R) Brian Ripka and his brother David Ripka speak with New York Giants Quarterback Eli Manning at Judith Ripka's Holiday Shopping Night hosted by Eli Manning at Judith Ripka on November 17, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Images for Judith Ripka)

    Getty Images

    NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 14: A worker touches up the recently unveiled Lord and Taylor Christmas windows November 14, 2008 in New York City. The Commerce Department reported today that retail sales fell by a record 2.8 percent last month in another worrisome sign for the economy ahead of the holiday shopping season. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 14: People view the recently unveiled Lord and Taylor Christmas windows November 14, 2008 in New York City. The Commerce Department reported today that retail sales fell by a record 2.8 percent last month in another worrisome sign for the economy ahead of the holiday shopping season. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 14: People shop inside Macy's next to holiday decorations November 14, 2008 in New York City. The Commerce Department reported today that retail sales fell by a record 2.8 percent last month in another worrisome sign for the economy ahead of the holiday shopping season. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    This combo picture shows Japan's toy giant Bandai employee Hajime Kondo sticks his finger into the box from a small hole "Tuttuki bako", which has a LCD display showing his virtual finger and another object to interact with at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on November 14, 2008. Bandai, which introduced the toy in Japan on November 15 for the Christmas shopping season, aims to sell 100,000 units of tuttuki bako by the end of March. AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO (Photo credit should read YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)

    AFP/Getty Images

    Japan's toy giant Bandai employee Hajime Kondo sticks his finger into the box from a small hole "Tuttuki bako", which has a LCD display showing his virtual finger and another object to interact with such as a human face animation, a panda clutching a ball or a karate-practicing stickman at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on November 14, 2008. Bandai, which introduced the toy in Japan on November 15 for the Christmas shopping season, aims to sell 100,000 units of tuttuki bako by the end of March. AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO (Photo credit should read YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)

    AFP/Getty Images

    Japan's toy giant Bandai employee Hajime Kondo sticks his finger into the box from a small hole "Tuttuki bako", which has a LCD display showing his virtual finger and another object to interact with such as a human face animation, a panda clutching a ball or a karate-practicing stickman at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on November 14, 2008. Bandai, which introduced the toy in Japan on November 15 for the Christmas shopping season, aims to sell 100,000 units of tuttuki bako by the end of March. AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO (Photo credit should read YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)

    AFP/Getty Images



Best Buy
Best Buy's leaked ad brings several tempting door busters to the table, including a 50" plasma for $899 and a 32" LCD for $399. There's a well equipped Toshiba laptop sporting a 15.4' screen, dual core processor, 3 GB of ram and a 160 GB hard drive for $379! There's also one of the best deals on an Xbox 360 so far, including two extra games on top of those which come with the holiday bundle for a total of four games in the $299 package.

Circuit City
Circuit City ups the ante this year by offering several name-brand HDTV deals on Black Friday including a 42" Samsung Plasma for $699 and a 32" Toshiba for $449! At these prices, there's no reason to go with a store brand when you can enjoy the quality of Samsung or Toshiba. Circuit City, which has filed for bankruptcy and is closing many stores, is also discounting numerous video games and Blu-Ray titles for Black Friday. Even though many of these titles have been out for a few months, they make a great gift to go with one of the many Xbox 360 deals going on.

What's else is on tap at places like Target, Staples and Dell?


Tags: Bare Necessities, best buy, Black Friday, bluray, circuit city, companion ticket, Cyber Monday, Dealnews, Dell, GPS, HDTV, LCD, lingerie, Samsung, staples, T mobile, target, TMobile, TOM TOM, Toshiba, Xbox 360, Xbox360

Continue reading Black Friday roundup is back, Best Buy, Target, Staples and more

ShopSavvy brings smart shopping to T-Mobile's G1

by Josh Smith Sep 26th 2008 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Shopping, Technology

T-Mobile G1The tech news sites have been aflutter with details for the T-Mobile G1, the first phone to run Google's mobile operating system -- dubbed "Android". The phone packs loads of features and looks like it will give the iPhone a run for its money, especially if all applications are as useful as ShopSavvy, which was chosen as one of the 10 winners of the Google Challenge, and which will be offered for free when the G1 launches.

I haven't had a chance to use the ShopSavvy application yet, but after watching the demo, which is embedded below, I'm ready to get a G1 today! This little program looks to do more on your phone than most full-fledged price comparison sites. Checking the price is as easy as scanning the product's barcode with the built-in camera. From there you can see local and web prices as well as set a price alert in case you're waiting for the product to fit your budget. If you plan to buy the item in a local store, as determined by GPS, ShopSavvy enables you to map their location or give them a call.

If the price is cheaper online, you can email yourself the link or visit the product page right from your phone. Speaking of online features; you can even create your own wish lists just by scanning the items with the camera. I wish we would have been able to use this feature when we were building our wedding registry a few years back. The fact that ShopSavvy helps you avoid clunky in-store systems plagued with downtime all while publishing the items to the web for guests to buy wherever is freakin' genius!

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Tags: Android, barcode, G1, Google, GPS, personal shopper, phone, price alert, price comparison, ShopSavvy, T-mobile, wishlist

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Are you ready for pay as you go car insurance?

by Josh Smith Aug 29th 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Insurance, Transportation

peel out carPay as you go isn't just for cell phones anymore, it turns out some auto insurance companies are switching to pay as you go plans in order to offer better rates to customers. Traditionally insurance rates are based on, among many things, the estimated miles that each driver will travel during a year. Many people argue that these estimates are inaccurate and that a pay as you go plan would provide consumers with an incentive to drive less. Legislation is currently underway in California to let insurance companies base rates on actual miles traveled it is estimated that it would be the equivalent of removing 10 million cars from the road!

While California is only on the cusp of letting insurance providers make use of this information to determine what your premium will be at least one other company is already offering pay as you go insurance rates in several states. Progressive offers a My Rate program in four states and requires that users hook up a device to their car which tracks the miles traveled as well as how you drive to recalculate your rate every 6 months.

Both of these plans have some similarities, neither will track where you go with GPS and both of them are under fire by privacy groups. The programs differ in that the My Rate plan from Progressive tracks WHEN and HOW you drive in order to determine your insurance rate. In California, much to the chagrin of insurers, neither of these pieces of information can be tracked.

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Tags: aggressive, auto, California, car, driving, GPS, insurance, my rate, MyRate, pay as you go, PayAsYouGo, progressive

Continue reading Are you ready for pay as you go car insurance?

Big Brother comes along for the ride in your car

by Tracy Coenen Feb 12th 2008 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Technology, Transportation

It's true... I love gadgets of all types. Friends and family make fun of me for my little high tech toys. But as much as I love technology, some of it scares me too.

Take for example Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in cars. They're great because their satellites have the ability to help you find your way and get un-lost. Yet you've got realize that there is also a record of your whereabouts generated when you're using that GPS system.

Someone, somewhere, may be able to access the records that show where you've been, when you've been there, how fast you went, and a variety of other things. And who knows where this information might go. To the hands of law enforcement? That's no big deal if you're following the law, right?

Not so fast. I don't care if I'm following the law or not. The idea that someone is looking over my shoulder and has the ability to see when and where I've been at all times is creepy. The whole "Big Brother" thing used to just be something in a book. Now the capability is there, and it scares me a little.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

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Tags: global positioning system, GlobalPositioningSystem, gps

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