It’s easier than ever before to mistakenly buy a counterfeit or knockoff product online. Here’s what to do when it happens to you. --- 1. Stop using the thing 2. Write to the seller 3. File an 'A-to-z Guarantee' claim 4. Contact your credit card company 5. Write to the brand 6. Leave feedback for the seller 7. Replace what you have by finding an authorized seller See also: https://thewirecutter.com/blog/myths-about-counterfeit-products-debunked/ https://thewirecutter.com/blog/amazon-counterfeit-fake-products/

Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support independent bookstores and give back to the book community. […] Bookshop will support indies in two ways: • 10% of sales on Bookshop.org support participating independent bookstores in an overall earnings pool that is evenly divided and distributed to stores every six months. • Stores that are affiliates, who sell books online using Bookshop (by sharing links their Bookshop link on social media, email newsletters, or on their websites) will earn 25% commission directly on any sales they generate, without having to do the work of keeping inventory, picking, packing, shipping or handling complaints and returns.

Welcome to the most lovingly curated selection of Amazon and Prime alternatives anywhere. We aim to make giving up Amazon easy and to encourage more people While Amazon's monopolistic stranglehold on our economy has made it increasingly difficult to completely avoid supporting them, we've discovered that—contrary to conventional wisdom—it’s often possible to find lower prices, sometimes substantially, by shopping elsewhere. You just have to know where to look...

An interview with Drew Fairweather about The Worst Things for Sale.’ Q: Does a tiny part of you think it's sort of wonderful that these horrible things exist, and that someone out there presumably owns them? A: Absolutely not. The issue I'm trying to get at with this body of writing is that our happiness has been pulled from us bit by bit, by industry, by labor, by law, and is being sold back to us at a profit. I have empathy for the seven billion people in the world that try to quiet their own sadness by purchasing products. The products themselves are a global self-perpetuating emotional and economic problem.

This is the watch Lauren got me for Christmas in 2012.

468 votes and 407 comments so far on Reddit

Affordable Art Prints

How music became ‘un-bundled’ from CDs as consumers downloaded the one or two songs they actually wanted, and how direct-to-fan sales have re-bundled that music into not just CDs but digital releases, vinyl, and every manner of special package imaginable. “As artists get their arms around all their rights and build direct relationships with their fans we’re seeing artists’ output RE-BUNDLED into higher value packages and average revenue per transaction greater than those delivered by the Compact Disc.”

Copying a successful business plan is safe, and tons of companies are copying Groupon. The differentiating strategies of the more successful copycats are interesting, as is the arms-race and recursion of deal aggregators. I find it fascinating that people sign up for this stuff, because I find it wasteful. This is insane: “In just over two years, Groupon has accumulated 60 million subscribers, more than $1 billion in venture capital and $760 million in annual revenue to become the fastest-growing Web company ever. In December, it declined a $6 billion buyout offer from Google.”

Makes nice little wooden voice recorders. “I am an artist. I like sound. I build things. I grew up in the country. I now live in the city. I believe everyone’s voice should be heard. I like wooden toys. I like electronics and technology. I hold hope for the future. I believe in experimenting. My interest in expanding how we experience and control sound has led to my developing prototypes intended to reinforce musical instruments as collaborative, sociable objects to be experienced in community.”

Is Forever 21’s Chang family capitalist geniuses or just exploitative and plagiaristic?

No one should ever spend $180 on a clock, but goddamn I want this thing.

What to stop buying and what to replace those things with. A nice list.

Up to 2GB storage, pretty good battery life, stylish and very useful design. Gift idea: buy one, put a personalized mix on it before giving.

The coop local organic grocer right down the street from our apartment in Honolulu. Beautiful.

Watercolored badge pins and stickers. Excellent!!

If you haven't opted-out yet, do so in your Facebook preferences under "Privacy" "External Websites."

DO WANT.

This is my longboard, recently acquired and from which I've twice fallen.

Customer service done right.

It takes time and a lot of guts, but you'll save money. "It really works... but it works only if you truly are willing to walk away... and then refuse to bend when they try to put you off or change the terms. Stay civil, do not let any emotion in."

"Ponoko is the world's first personal manufacturing platform. It's the online space for a community of creators and consumers to use a global network of digital manufacturing hardware to co-create, make and trade individualized product ideas on demand."

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"The point is not so much that you can equip a real kitchen without much money, but that the fear of buying the wrong kind of equipment is unfounded. It needs only to be functional, not prestigious, lavish or expensive."

"Put all of your club cards onto just one card." CVS, Stop & Shop, Big Y, etc. etc.