Monday, May 18, 2009

I needed nice sandals, the winner ... Amazon.com! (again)

My summer casual sandals are pretty gross, so I decided to buy new ones. My brother, who has better taste and a better budget, had some nice ones he raved about, so I decided to jump in and get the same ones (justifying it, because I'll where them for the next 10 years!)

They're those half sandals/half gym shoe types, called Keen Newports. He told me they'd probably be just under $100. Yep. For in store visits, I went to DSW (didn't have them), JC Penny (nope, just knock offs), Sears (nothing close), and Nordstrom's. Nordstrom's had them (figures) and they were $89.95. Plus tax, would make them about $100 where I live.

Through 2clickfundraising.com, shoes.com has a $10 off $50 orders coupon this month (SPRING10), so I started there. The shoes were $97. The Bad news was, that Keen wasn't part of the coupon, so I couldn't use that. But, with NO Shipping & NO Tax, I still would have saved $3 over Nordstroms. AND (this made the decision tough), Shoes.com purchases create 10% going back to the Fisher House, so that was $9.70. Not bad.

But, on Amazon.com, they were on sale for $78.50 plus $6.50 shipping and NO Tax. So, it was only $85 total. And, Amazon.com is about 4.5% to the groups, so about $3.50 will go to Fisher House (Hey, I have to look out for number 1!).

If you know someone looking for shoes, share this with them.
If you know a good 2click success story, share it with me! (jeff@2clickfundraising.com)

Smart saving and happy clicking,
Jeff.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Tell small businesses about OfficeDepot.com

Pick up the phone and call everyone you know involved in a small business! Well, read this first, but then call them, they will thank you for saving the company money. AND, your organization will start making money on their regular purchases. Everybody wins.

The KEY: When you go through 2clickfundraising.com, find Office Depot and click on the DEAL link. There is a coupon for $30 off any order over $150. That's 20%! (although, it comes down if you order way over that, of course) But, you can use it as often as you'd like and for the rest of the year, until 12/31/09. Using this coupon makes this a very easy decision.

The DETAILS: I run a small business. So, I needed supplies, including ink, windowed envelopes, bubble mailers and more. I went to both Office Depot and Staples, both online and in store. Office Depot had the same or lower prices on ALL of my items, especially ink, where Staples (in-store) was over double what I paid. I also called a friend of mine who runs a small business and asked for the printout of a recent order from Staples.com to compare. The big ticket item, The Toner cartridges, were exactly the same price, so now she's saving $30 every time they need one (remember to get the $30 coupon, you need to click through 2clickfundraising.com!).

Both online stores are free Next Day shipping on orders over $50.

The WRAP-UP: My supplies arrived at my front door the very next day. The order was exactly as I'd placed it, and I didn't leave my house.

If you know someone involved in a small business, share this with them.
If you know a good 2click success story, share it with me! (Jeff@2clickfundraising.com)

Smart saving and happy clicking,
Jeff

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Diapers.com makes good cents!

I have the three cutest little kids in the world. I know, I know, everyone says that. But, with my kids it's actually true. Everyone says it, my wife, my mom ... everyone.

Anyways, before 2clickfundraising.com, we bought our diapers at Target. It's the cheapest place around.

Enter Diapers.com. It's great, you think about needing diapers at 3 am, and walk downstairs to the computer to shop (clicking through 2click first, of course!!). A couple days later, the box is waiting for you at your front door. No lugging huge boxes of diapers, just drag it inside and open the box. But, that convenience (and the commission for the organization of your choice) isn't worth too much money. It was time for a price comparison. My youngest son is 18 months and in size 5s, so we'll start there (quick side story: My wife wrote a note for my Mom when she was taking care of the kids, saying "Put him in 5 diapies", meaning size 5. So, my Mom being very confused, put him in 5 diapers!!! Too funny.)

Drum roll, please ... Diapers.com wins! And, similar to Amazon, the No Tax and No Shipping is the key (they always have no shipping over $50). After breaking it down to the "per Diaper" price, and taking into account tax and shipping (but not gas money to Target), the Target price is .25 cents per diaper, and the Diapers.com price is .23 cents per. Doesn't seem like a lot, but when you go through as many diapers as this little poop machines go through ... it adds up.

Also, for first timers ... $10 off your first order of Diapers with code AFF10! ($49 minimum total order.)

Your purchase also makes a commission for your organziation of choice. Starting to look like a no-brainer, right?

If you know someone with Diaper-Age kids, share this with them.
If you know a good 2click success story, share it with me! (Jeff@2clickfundraising.com)

Smart saving and happy clicking,
Jeff.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Need Electronics. Think Amazon.com!

Last month, the TV in my bedroom finally died. It lived a long, good life. The armoir could fit a 32 inch TV, so that's what I was looking for.

I went to Best Buy, and wrote down the prices for three or four brands, with various bells and whistles. Then I logged on to 2clickfundraising.com and clicked on Fisher House (the cause I support on 2click). I decided to check out the prices on three different websites.

ABT Electronics and TigerDirect.com both had the TVs I had just priced out and 3 out of the 4 were the exact same price (the other was more expensive then Best Buy). ABT has 1,000s of products with Free Shipping and that was one and TigerDirect.com was running a special with $2.99 shipping on most items. So, that was close enough for a wash.

Then, I went to Amazon.com (clicking through 2click first, of course!) and typed in the same model numbers. Amazon had the exact same prices as Best Buy on all four models. The kicker is, I got NO SHIPPING and NO TAX! The tax alone saved me $60 (I live in Cook County, ouch).

On top of that, Amazon gives 6%. So, minus the 2click fee, Fisher House got 4.2% of my $600 purchase, or over $24. Just for making 2 extra clicks!!

The TV came to my front door, two days later and is now installed upstairs in the bedroom. Where I end my day watching Important Things with Demetri Martin (have you seen that? he's hysterical! It's on Comedy Central.).

If you know someone in the market for electronics, share this with them.
If you know a good 2click success story, share it with me! (Jeff@2clickfundraising.com)

Smart saving and happy clicking,
Jeff.