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Play it Safe When Buying from Infomercials

May 30, 2011 By

The following is a guest post from The Infomercial Guys.


Infomercials are good at making their products seem great. Sometimes the products live up to the hype, but not always. If it looks good on TV, and you’re thinking about buying it, here are some tips to make sure you’re getting thing most for your money.

First of all, go online and search for the name of the product and the word “reviews”. An example might be “topsy turvy tomato tree reviews”. This will give you some sites where people have posted how they feel about the product after buying and using it. Beware of sites where all of the reviews are 5-star ones, because that site may only be publishing the reviews that make the product look good, in an attempt to increase sales.

If enough other people have had a positive reaction that you’re convinced you still want the product, call the number on the infomercial or go online to find the item. Make sure you read the fine print, though. The companies that ship “as seen on TV” products are sometimes known for bad customer service, extremely long shipping times, and exorbitant shipping and handling rates. There are other companies where you can buy the product directly, such as through Amazon.com or through Carol Wright Gifts. However, make sure to find out what their policies are on things like shipping times, shipping rates, their return/refund policy, and how they handle reports of defective products.

When you receive the product, make sure you read through any including instructions to make the most of your purchase. You don’t want to ruin your Gyro Bowl by putting it in the microwave, or to shrink your Snuggie by washing it in hot water. Failure to properly use and care for the products may void the warranty too, so protect your investment by learning how to use and clean it properly.

Some of the best products available are marketing on television, and they can spark an interest in all of us, even children (who are actively marketed to from infomercials). You shouldn’t be scared to purchase products that are famous for this marketing method, but you do want to be a savvy shopper and spend your money wisely.

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Filed Under: Online Shopping Tagged With: , ,

Superior Promos For Branded Products

April 24, 2011 By

The opportunities to spread the word about your business or website with Promotional Items are endless thanks to Superior Promos! They have pretty much anything you would ever want to brand, from clothing to coffee mugs, tote bags to pens. They asked me to take a look at their website and I have to say, I’m impressed with the level of customer service I’m reading about on their testimonials page.

But first, a little about branding. If you own a business, either a brick-and-mortar store or an online business of any kind (including your blog!), there are so many ways you can get people to see your URL.  Think about summer, which is coming up soon. You’re at the playground with your kids. You could have the URL for your blog on your tote bag, t-shirt, water bottles, or on a stash of pens in your purse.  While you are sitting on the benches watching your kids play, the person sitting next to you is noticing your promotional product and might just become your newest site visitor!

The testimonials page on the site mentions the excellent customer service that customers received. What you do is either place your order on the website or by calling customer service. The art department contacts you in 24-48 hours to let you know a proof of your order is ready on the site. You log in to approve your design. If it isn’t exactly right, call customer service and they will work with you until your order is exactly what you want!

Approve your order and it moves to production. Within another 24-48 hours you’ll have an estimated ship date for your order. Once it ships you’ll be emailed full tracking information, cost of shipping, and whether your order is less or more than estimated.  It seems like Superior Promos really wants their customers to be happy from beginning to end!  Check out the site for yourself and see if there’s something you can use to advertise your business.

Filed Under: Website Reviews Tagged With: , ,

Wonka Easter Candy Review

April 24, 2011 By

Running out to the store today to buy last-minute easter candy ? It’s okay, I forgot to buy a HAM for dinner! We might end up eating fried chicken from the Meijer deli for dinner instead! Anyway, I have some suggestions for last minute treats from Wonka that will make excellent additions to plastic eggs or Easter baskets.

Wonka sent me a few samples of their Easter candy, including the super-cute SweeTARTS Candy Carrot. It’s a clear, carrot-shaped bag filled with orange flavored Wonka SweeTART Jelly Beans that is almost too cute to open and eat!

DoubleYummy Gummies- Individually wrapped large gummy bunnies and chicks in natural orange, lemon and strawberry flavors. The back side of the gummy is a “soft mallow” which tastes sort of like a marshmallow gummy. It mellows the tartness of the fruit flavor.

Wonka Exceptionals Chocolate Waterfall Eggs- Milk chocolate eggs with a white chocolate “waterfall” marbled throughout. My husband loves white chocolate and claimed most of these for his own!  I did get one to try and it was delicious.

Wonka Exceptionals Scrumptious Chocolate Eggs- Chocolate eggs with crispies and toffee in them. I was tempted to not share these with the kids and keep them for myself! Ryan and I are the big toffee fans, and we both agreed that these are incredibly good!

Egg Fillers- All of the Wonka favorites like sweeTARTS, Gobstoppers, Spree and Bottlecaps in little packets perfect for filling plastic eggs. As the one who’s job it is to fill the eggs every year, I like looking for individually wrapped candy. After all, those little plastic eggs sometimes break open when grabbed by excited kids, and who wants to pick candy out of the grass?

The shelves at Walgreens yesterday were still pretty full, so I would check there or CVS if you have to run in somewhere quick. Otherwise, Target and Walmart should still have candy left today.  Check out the Wonka website to learn more about all of their products, play games, even listen to music. And also, HAPPY EASTER!

disclosure: Wonka sent me samples of their Easter candy to faciliate this review. No other compensation was received.

Filed Under: Food, holidays Tagged With: , , , ,
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