Welcome to Shopping and Product Reviews


Saturday, February 09, 2008

Product Review Sites - Good Or Bad?

Product review sites, are now every where you look.

Is this a good thing? Yes, I personally believe that review sites, ( the ones that I have used anyway), have helped me, and many other consumers, find, and purchase the products that we as members of the great British Public are searching for every day!

I have seen a lot of web sites, now days that seem to "be-little", or slightly ridicule these up and coming product review sites, WHY!.

What is a product review site?

Product review sites, display a selection, of merchandise, from small items, such as watches, to every day products, like kettles. You can then choose, and purchase the product, on-line. From my experience, looking for a particular product, can be a daunting task especially on the web. We are bombarded with prices, and different makes/models , colours you name it,and you are then confused, and of put!

Now some genius, has decided to do all the searching for us, at no cost to the consumer "us" . What can possibly be so bad about that?

I have recently read an article, where an individual quoted, " that these sites will trick you into purchasing a particular product" , rubbish, we as members of the public, are already on the web, searching for this product in the first place! (why else would you be on a review site otherwise).

Anyway, the sites then give you a list of the products you have asked to review, and if that wasn't outstanding enough, you are also given,the price,picture of the product, and even a short description of it.

You are even given a direct link to the web site that you can then purchase the product from. Genius.

This article I am writing,I guess is just to maybe set the record straight (as I see it anyway), or maybe to thank these sites. not really sure, just felt compelled to I suppose!

By the way a great site I have used recently was for "the every day products", the site features only a small selection of products, which I thought was great, as you can see what you want straight away, without having to many options, which can be of putting.

5 Reasons to Join Wealthy Affiliate

Often when you start out in Internet marketing to make money online, you are looking to enroll in the right program. With scamsters galore and so many fake gurus on the lookout to rip your hard earned money, it is important to join the best of the lot. Wealthy affiliate is the numero uno off the Internet marketing programs. Wealthy affiliate is designed in a such a matter at the books for beginners, intermediates and advanced Internet marketers.

1. Wealthy Affiliate offers weekly lesson plans that take you from the basics of Internet marketing the most advanced levels. In these lesson plans you will not out to start making money online without any investment, which is otherwise popularly known as Bum marketing.

2. Wealthy affiliate offers free website and free web hosting services to all its members. The website builder, Rubix is very user-friendly and you can start building your website within minutes off joining the program. The best feature of Rubix is that it requires no HTML knowledge.

3. Wealthy affiliate has the most sophisticated tools to conduct research. You can perform keyword research, find out the best selling products and Clickbank, analyze your competition and start building your PPC campaigns with free guidance and monitoring by Kyle and Carson, the founders of wealthy affiliate.

4. Wealthy affiliate also has a job section where you can earn money by working on projects posted by other members in the Forum.

5. The best feature of wealthy affiliate is the forum. The forum is a wonderful avenue to get free advise, tips, and guidance for your marketing endeavors. You'd be surprised to find how much you learn from the forums because just like you many have the same questions, face the same problems, and I looking for the same answers.

Friday, February 08, 2008

Review of Online Shopping Via My Power Mall

I'm sure you probably know how difficult of a task shopping can be at times. Plowing through the mall with kids on a weekend is far from fun. But what if you could get your shopping done from home while saving a bunch of money in the process?

This is where My Power Mall comes in. MPM is an international online shopping mall. They currently have over 1000 stores to shop at and over 1 million products. Starbucks, Dell, GAP, Best Buy, and many more are all part of the your store. If the fact that your own store will save you a bunch of time and stress isn't enough to convince you that a this program is a great deal, I should also mention that this online program is 100% free.

Not only is My Power Mall free and easy but they also offer discounts on every single product found in the international shopping mall. Every store offers rebates through your own store. Each store has their own discounts and rebates that are clearly stated at the top of each page. The online program offers a toolbar that allows its members to find the best deals on the web as soon as they are available, which optimizes the huge amount of money you can save with this free online program.

Sure, saving money is great, but making money is even better! My Power Mall also allows its members to set up their own online shopping malls. When people come to your free website and purchase an item you get a cut of the final sales price. You may be asking yourself, "but how do I get people to my online shopping mall? I can't go into any detail, but this free program will provide its members with all the information they need to get people to start visiting their free web site. With millions of items to choose from, there's something for everybody and with big name brands behind them your visitors won't hesitate to purchase something. Every member will be personally trained to make as much money as possible.

My Power Mall is only about 3 years old and they've already had more than 80,000 people join for free. The program's members are a very diverse group of people. Adults, teens, business executive, and many other have join My Power Mall from hundred of different countries across the globe. This company is obviously onto something big!

Buying Costumes Online

You are probably already aware of the numerous advantages of buying online. And there is exactly no difference with costumes. There are many stores online which sell various costumes that come in literally thousands of styles, sizes and colors. You probably would not have as many options when shopping at a brick-and-mortar store.

With the great number of online stores today, not to mention the new ones, which go in business everyday, you might find it a bit tricky to decide where to buy from. As a lot of online shoppers already know, the security of the transactions that you make online, including your credit card information would be a very crucial factor. It would be advisable to check how long the company has been in business online to know just how dependable a particular online merchant is. Because a lot of websites today are able to offer a safe and secure experience as you online shop, there is a good chance that you would already be dealing with a pretty reliable company. So you would then need to check the other factors like the quality of the merchandise, the reputation of the online merchant, as well as their price guarantee. Look for those online stores, which specialize in costumes to be able to locate the best costume selections.

Now if you are planning to buy a costume, then a tip would be to look for costumes early online so that you would not end up wearing a inappropriate costume or no costume at all. You could probably browse through several online costume stores to find one that would be perfect for the occasion or event. Another advantage in buying early would be that you could return the costume and exchange it for something else if it does not fit you well.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

A Review Of The Fujikura 1000 Massage Chair

Of the three Fujikura massage chair models on offer - the 900, 1000, and 2000 - the 1000 chair is the mid-priced model. It's very competitively priced and you get a lot for your money. Here's a review of the Fujikura 1000 chair and what you get and don't get.

First off, the 1000 Fujikura massage chair looks stylist and contemporary. It's upholstered in synthetic leather and is available in black, brown or ivory. Don't think that synthetic leather means cheap. The fact is real leather isn't the best material for a robotic massage chair; it simply isn't durable enough to cope with the moving rollers and air bags. Probably the world's best massage chairs are made by Inada and they're all upholstered in synthetic leather.

We'll compare the features of the 1000 with the Human Touch HT 100 massage chair. The HT100 chair is a very popular model and is only slightly more expensive, so it's a very good yardstick. We'll also compare it to the iJoy 300 robotic massage chair - again, another very popular model that retails for a little less than the Fujikura 1000.

The vertical rolling stroke of a chair is something to be seriously considered. The taller you are the longer vertical stroke the better. On this point the 1000 wins hands down against its competition. The 1000 comes with a vertical rolling stroke of 29" whereas the HT 100 chair comes with a paltry 20". The iJoy 300 chair - the cheapest of the three - does better at 25".

All three chairs feature power recline but not all offer the same reclining angle; the more degrees the chair reclines the better, both in build quality and user benefit. The iJoy chair offers the least recline, between 115 and 155 degrees; the HT massage chair does better, offering between 120 and 170 degrees, but again the 1000 comes top with a range between 110 and 170 degrees.

Foot massage is now incorporated with better quality chairs. Disappointingly, the iJoy has no foot rest (although you can buy an ottoman with no massage function). The Human Touch massage 100 chair does come with a foot massage but you have to manually move it to massage either the calves or the feet. It's only the 1000 that offers a complete foot rest with both a calf and foot massager. The calf rest is fitted with 14 air bags that provide four air-massage combinations - with 2 intensity levels. The foot rest is fitted with 12 airbags, and provides 4 modes of massage.

All 3 models offer various massage functions. The Fujikura 1000 comes with 6 functions: rolling (back stretch), kneading, flapping, kneading & flapping, shiatsu, knocking and vibrating. You have the choice of automatic or manual massage operations and that can target certain areas of the body. There are 3 speed settings. The HT100 comes with rolling, kneading, compression and percussion (with just one speed setting). What's better about the HT100 over the 1000 is the Range Control option. You can either have spot or partial. The spot option allows more specific areas of the body to be massaged and the partial massage strokes 3" up and down for kneading or compression. The iJoy offers the same functions of the HT except there's no spot option.

Which offers the best massage is a subjective matter. The 1000 chair offers a firmer massage perhaps, but the HT100 does seem to offer a slightly more varied massage routine.

Overall, the Fujikura 1000 massage chair really does offer the best in terms or function at this price range. I find it hard to find any faults with it, you could want more features but then you'd have to pay a lot more. However, there is one complaint I have and that has to do with the power recline. It isn't a one push system; you have to continually press the button as the chair reclines. This does mean that those with a short reach will have difficulty in keeping it pressed until the maximum recline position has been reached. I think some will have to remain seated and wait for the seat to full recline before then lying back on the chair.

A Review Of My Sedu Flat Iron

I bought my Sedu flat iron about 6 months ago and am really pleased with how my hair looks. After my old faithful Corioliss flat iron broke - after 3 years - I wanted to find a replacement that would give me straight, shiny hair every time but was anxious as I'd read lots of horror stories about ones that broke hair ends or even burned hair. I was going to buy a Corioliss again but at the last minute bought a Sedu instead and, like I said, I'm really glad I did.

I didn't buy the Corioliss because of two things; it is expensive and my friend, Debbie, already had a Sedu flat iron and I really liked the way her hair looked. We have very similar hair types; both are thick and a little dry, mine being a little bit longer. After I tried using her hair straightener myself I had no doubt that the Sedu was perfect for my hair.

I ordered the Sedu Ionic Ceramic Tourmaline flat iron online. There are two models available; 1" and 1 1/2", I chose the one with larger plates. It cost me $100.

I tried it out as soon as I took it out of the box. I washed my hair - I use Redken Smooth Down shampoo and conditioner. I also use Redken AntiSnap Leavin to stop split ends - it's an excellent product - and Frederic Fekkai Straight Away Straightening Balm.

The Sedu flat iron heats up in just 25 seconds and it has variable temperature control anywhere between 240F and 410F (120C - 200C). Because of my hair type I set it on the maximum, but you really should test it out first on a lower setting, gradually turning it up until you find the temperature that works best for you.

My hair just glided between the plates, no pulling or snagging. The plates are really smooth and I didn't have to clamp them down hard to get my hair straight. The company says that most hair can be straightened in just one pass but I found that I had to pass it through 2 times, which is what I had to do with my old Corioliss flat iron anyway.

Another thing I like about it is the swivel cord. I know just about ever new model now has one but my old one didn't and I used to find the cord twisting and getting knots, but with this tool the cord stays perfectly straight making it really easy to use the straightener.

It's also very light. It weighs only 1lb so I don't feel my arms or wrists getting tired - it usually takes me around 35 minutes to do my hair.

I really am pleased with how my hair looks using my new Sedu flat iron. I guess I should really thank Debbie for showing me hers and letting me test it out. It just makes it so much easier to know if something will work best for you if you can test it first.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Furniture Shopping Top 5 Money Saving Tips

Gas prices are high, we are uncertain about our economy, and most of us have less to spend on luxuries and things we want, but I want to help all of you out and let you in on a few industry tips to save some dollars and cents when making that next furniture purchase. If we have to spend, we might as well try to spend it where we can live better with nicer furniture in our homes, and you can now save some money while you do it too.

1. Plan to buy during Sales - when do you know there's going to be a sale in most furniture stores? Everyone tells you to buy during sales, but most of the time you don't know when there will be one, and you can't sleep on the floor waiting for a sale to buy a bed. So let me get you in on an industry secret. Plan to buy your furniture around March and April, because furniture stores know this is tax season for everyone and they want keep sales up by having promotions during that time. The next best time is around the end of the year/beginning of the year, when everyone is on vacation during the after Christmas week and New Years week, there is very little demand going around, and you'll be sure to find some good deals around those times. So plan the timing of your major furniture purchases around those times and you'll be bound to find some good furniture deals.

2. Price match on the internet - find something you really love at the store and you know you want it? Before you haggle with the sales people you can just reference the items in the catalog and do a product search online for it and you will know some good pricing by haggling with the sales people. Better yet is if you know there is a good deal on the store, you can contact the online retailer, and they will more often than not offer you an even better deal, delivered and sometimes assembled.

3. Buy in Bulk when you can - if you are planning to furnish or re-furnish multiple pieces or rooms in your home, then you should try to go to one place to get it, online or in a retail store. Gather up the total items you want and the total cost of your purchase, and ask for a bulk discount. Most of the time you can get up to 10% to 20% off already discounted prices and/or even a deal on free delivery and assembly.

4. Ask about the warranty - if you are buying something that may be pricey, be sure to check the warranty so you don't have to lose money spending on a replacement. Leather sofas usually come with a limited lifetime warranty on any stretching or discoloration defects that occur on the leather. This is when you can take it back to the store or call the manufacturer to honor their warranty.

5. Assemble it yourself - this may be a hassle, but Ikea got it right the first time around. You can buy it in a box and take it home (easier I might add) and assembly it your self. If you can't do it, I am sure someone in your family or friends will be glad to help you out. Many times, furniture stores make money off of the labor rather than the item itself to charge you a mark up in providing that service. So set a date, buy the items, invite some family to have a nice afternoon together with you in assembly-furnishing your home.

Safety With Jumpking Trampolines

What many people do not realize is that one of the main areas of safety is the actual bounce mat. Overtime it can wear out, loose its grip and can result in whoever is using it to slip over. At the end of the day, even though the bounce mat is made of strong stitched fabric, it is still just material which is not immune to wear and tear. Stitches can fray, break or just weaken leaving the bed to be less bouncy, but also a safety risk. This does happen over a long period of time but many trampoline stores enable you to purchase a replacement.

There are many different makes of trampoline, which also come in several different variations such as round, rectangular and oval with individual makes such as Jumpking and SuperTramp. What is very useful are the bounce mats which include a target image stitched into the fabric. This shows whereabouts the middle of the trampoline is which is very good for safety, as bouncing up and down is great fun but also distracting to whereabouts on the mat you are actually landing.

Each trampoline has a different warranty, with different parts having different warranty periods. Parts include the bounce bed, metal springs and safety enclosure as found on the Jumpking trampoline. When replacing the bounce mat and other items, going for the cheapest price is not always the best way of going as a cheaper item could possibly wear out quicker due to the cheaper manufacturing costs so could also effect the overall safety. The saying "you pay for what you get" is quiet in place here so be aware. For the overall trampoline, a 5 year warranty is great.

Even though bouncing and constant use can wear the trampoline and its bounce mat out, covering the trampoline when not in use can prolong its life. Anything from heat and rain to animals landing on the mat and scratching can lead to wearing out quicker, so a cover is a good item to invest in. Most family sized trampolines are rather large but it is still worth considering storing it away in the winter months if you have room in a shed or garage. During the UK, we have very wet winters to the likelihood of a trampoline being used in those months is much less than other countries.

If you do notice that parts of the material are fraying, tears or deep scratches have started to appear, then do replace the bounce mat or particular part as soon as possible. If the part was to tear or fail completely, it could cause serious injury. It is much better to invest in a new part than to risk someone getting hurt. A trampoline is for fun so don't let the fun get spoiled. Jumpking Trampolines come with a fully surrounded safety net. If this tears it is not to much of a problem as you are not bouncing on it. Year in year out, Trampolines are one of the most popular outdoor toys no matter what the weather.