Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Extracurriculars, Ripoffs and Scams, Health

As I might have pointed out once or twice, I am a former smoker. As such, I would have to argue that I’m a little more sensitive to cigarettes than most. Whereas the average non-smoker merely has to deal with a little unwanted smoke, I have to deal with unwanted smoke while attempting to quell the demon inside that is telling me to steal the cigarette, suck it down, and go on a nicotine bender. In spite of this, however, I try to be a nice non-smoker. I don’t fake cough, I try to avoid getting into preachy discussions about the dangers of the evil weed, and I generally do my best to live and let live. With this in mind, I can’t help but feel that anti-smoking laws in Canada may have jumped the shark…

The first thing is the anti-smoking warnings. Since 2000, the Canadian government has mandated that cigarette packages must sport huge warnings that take up roughly 50% of the available display space. These warnings, which have to appear in both French and English, feature highly specific information about the means by which cigarettes harm health. Best of all, they come with flashy and disturbing pictures.

Canada’s latest tool in its war against nicotine delivery devices is a law requiring that stores can’t openly display cigarettes. By the end of this year, all Canadian cigarette retailers must either keep their cancer sticks in drawers or hide them behind gray wall hangings that cost approximately $1,000 US. The idea is that, if children cannot see cigarettes, then they’ll not be inclined to start smoking. On the other hand, talking as someone who started smoking in his early 20’s, I’d have to state that there’s a slight flaw in the plan.Another flaw is the apparent hypocrisy of Canada’s anti-smoking stance. As several retailers have noted, Canada grants alcohol and pornographic magazines to be displayed within view of kids. Anti-smoking activists have countered that, unlike pornography, cigarettes kill 50% of their regular users.

Ultimately, this is a good point. After all, the primary danger of pornography is chafing, which pales beside cancer. That having been stated, it seems like Canada’s costly gray shields are, effectively, a fine that’s being levied against smoking retailers. Perhaps Canada should consider whether its quest for health is getting in the way of its democratic ideals.

Then again, who am I to talk? My country just taxes the damn things into oblivion!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. If he was still smoking like he did in the late 1990’s, it would cost him about $25 a day.

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Filed under: Bargains, Budgets, Ripoffs and Scams, Shopping, Simplification

Even though New York is definitely not the book wonderland that it once was, it still has quite a few places for the hard-core bibliophile to curl up, search the stacks, and find a great book at a great price.

However, as a cheapskate and recovering bookaholic, I tend to check out books from the library first, choosing only to purchase the ones that I really, really need. By following this method, I’ve managed to cut down my yearly book purchases to only a few dozen volumes; by my standards, this is just a small fix, a tiny something to get me through.

This, by the way, is the bibliomaniac version of methadone treatment.
At any rate, I currently have a list of five or six books that I really, really need. A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip to a few of my favorite bookstores to check out their prices on used duplicates, only to find that the stores were charging pretty high prices. Later, I searched my favorite internet used book sites, ABEbooks and Half.com, where I found the books at steep discounts. I added up the books on ABE, hit the “total” button and watched as the price almost doubled. I’d forgotten about postage.

As the price of gas has risen, so has the cost of moving items from point A to point B. While most carriers, such as DHL, UPS, and FedEx haven’t officially raised their rates, they add a flexible surcharge to the price of a shipment. This surcharge, which covers the cost of gas, has gone up precipitously over the past few months. For example, in late 2007, UPS was charging a 4.75% surcharge. They’re currently tacking on an 8.5% surcharge. According to a recent PayPal survey, 43% of consumers who change their minds at checkout do so because of the high cost of shipping.

What can you do about this? Well, the first option you’ve is the good old US Postal Service. Even though it raised itsrates about a month ago, the USPS still generally represents the ideal bargain in small-package shipping, particularly if you don’t mind waiting in line!

Another option is to order multiple items from the same seller. Admittedly, this isn’t as helpful on sites like ABEbooks and Half.com, where the sellers tend to have a small, diverse collection of items. However, on eBay, Amazon, and other sites, many sellers are willing to package items together to reduce shipping costs, or even drop shipping costs if your buy is sufficiently expensive. Another option that Amazon offers is “Amazon Prime,” which grants a user to get unlimited shipping for an annual fee. If you regularly use Amazon, this can end up being a great bargain.

Finally, one last option is actually getting off your butt and going to a store. After I compared the shipping-adjusted prices of my books, only one of them was still cheaper on the internet. All the others were less high-priced at the real-life bookstore!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. He’s kicked cigarettes, Mickey D’s, and his pizza addiction. Books, however, he’ll take to the grave.

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Filed under: Extracurriculars, Ripoffs and Scams, Technology, Health, Fraud

The next time you see a good deal on Craigslist, you might want to give this a little thought…

According to New York City police, a gang in Brooklyn has been offering discounted iPhones on Craigslist to lure mugging victims. In at least one instance, the four suspects put up a posting in which they offered ten iPhones for the attractive price of $2000. They then negotiated with the potential buyers to meet in deserted areas in Brooklyn, where they proceeded to rob the hapless bargain hunters. On April 10, one would-be buyer scared them off by honking his car’s horn, but on June 4, the men managed to steal $2000, a cellphone, and a handheld navigation device from one would-be buyer. Not long afterward, a police officer, posing as a customer, arranged a meeting, at which several officers converged upon the robbers. Since the arrest, the four men have been tied to four robberies and are being investigated in connection with eight more.

The first key element in this scam was the fact that, while the iPhones were selling for a discounted rate, their price was still somewhat reasonable. Moreover, the fact that Craigslist, like eBay, is largely unpoliced, makes it very easy for robbers to take advantage of the unwary. The next time you meet with someone you found on Craigslist, you might want to follow a few precautions.

• First off, don’t concur to any situation that’ll have you carrying big sums of money. If the sale involves a lot of cash, both you and your fellow Craigslister will be better off if you use traveler’s checks, counter checks, or money orders.
• Second, be sure to travel with a friend when meeting for a sale, as many would-be robbers will be discouraged when they discover that you’re not alone.
• Third, when you concur to meet with someone you’ve never met, be sure that the meeting place is somewhere that you know, or at least in a public area where there are a lot of witnesses. A legitimate buyer or seller should be perfectly happy to meet in a well-traveled area.
• Finally, use your common sense: if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

  Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. He doesn’t like iPhones, anyway!

More scams to watch for:

The ATM scam that could cost you dearly

Save $300 this year on bank fees

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