A couple of days before we found out this distressful bit of info, our realtor brought to my attention that we’d been shown 137 houses in three months. We’d made five offers, all of which had fallen through in negotiations. Her tone conveyed that we were running out of options if we wanted to beat the deadline.

Negotiations. If there was anything during these hard times I’d heard over most of 2009 with regard to home buying, it was: “It’s a buyer’s market”. “If a seller can’t pay your closing costs then they’re being unreasonable”. “NO ONE pays list price on a house nowadays”. None of these suggestions came directly from our realtor, but she also didn’t disagree with them. And so we approached our offers with these jewels of advice in mind.

It just never worked out the way we heard that it would. On two of the houses, the sellers were insulted by our offers of a few thousand below list and closing costs – so incredibly insulted that they considered not even counter-offering. Hey, we were just entering the negotiations expecting the seller to counteroffer, not trying to lowball them. But on all of the five houses, there was just no compromise. We’d been told that paying list price was just ridiculous, yet any time we entered negotiations the sellers seemed unwilling to come much off their list price even if their home had been on the market for 30, 60, 90 or 180 days!

I’m so glad we didn’t jump into a mortgage just to beat some deadline. Was our negative first-time homebuyer experience in this economy just a result of an unfortunate series of unreasonable sellers? Or was word of mouth wrong about it being a “buyer’s market”?

Growing up my Mom taught my Sister and I how to make the edible kind of Buckeyes which are super yummy peanut butter balls dipped in milk chocolate.  I remember gathering around in the kitchen before Christmas making these treats with them for hours.  They are quite a chore to make but if you ask my family are worth the hard work once you get to pop one in your mouth.  I wish I could say the more you make the less of them you mess up but that was never the case with us.  We never could make them as perfect as what we would find in the store.  We had lots of fun and made great memories though!  Fortunately for you, I have found some Peanut Butter Buckeyes for you to enjoy without the time spent making them and a 25% off coupon to purchase them with.

Where I lived,  there weren’t too many places to shop and serious bargain hunting required me to travel to the malls in the larger cities.  I knew precisely which stores to hit and what time of year to hit them.  It was a science…a well planned out calculation of codes, numbers, dates and lists.  To go or not to go.  To buy or not to buy.  Should I grab it now or wait?  It was a game of chance.  It was a shoppers Russian roulette.  In the end, I save.  I win.  And, to those who would listen, I would brag.

Down the road something changed.  People woke up and realized that the area I lived in was a heavy tourist attraction in the Summer and Fall.  The tourists wanted something more than chain restaurants to eat at, a pretty lake to look at, overpriced lake house rentals and the usual New Hampshire souvenirs.  They wanted to shop.  It was then that the Tilton Factory Outlets was born; a huge shoppers paradise that offered nothing but outlet stores…and lots of them.  It was like taking all of the stores at the mall on the best day to shop for deals and putting them into one place.  It was a bargain hunters haven for year round deals.

I remember my first visit there and the amazement of how large this outlet plaza was.  I got out of the car, sucked in my breath and just stood there with my mouth hanging down to the ground.  Time stood still.  My eyeballs shifted from one end of the outlet to the other.  Where do I start?  There must have been at least 50 stores.  Breath in.  Breath out.  I shivered at the excitement.  People starred at me.  Is she okay?  Yes.  I was having a moment.  It was better than…okay, you get the picture.

The trend quickly spread and outlet malls and plazas were popping up everywhere.  The malls were a thing of the past.  I no longer needed to cling to that fine science.  It became simple.  I could get great deals all the time at the outlets.  Conversations shifted too.  It was no longer cool to brag about how much you paid for something.  People were no longer impressed.  They didn’t care.  They shifted their attention to those that bragged about how much money they saved.  I could finally, with enthusiasm and no fake smiles, participate in these conversations.

With time, and a large dose of modern technology, came the ease of online shopping and retailers got the hint that people wanted to save money and get the some killer deals online that were offered in the stores.  We love the sales and the online clearance pages, but how about those year round deals that didn’t require the hit or miss threat?  They listened.  Over the past couple of years more and more of the online retail stores are now offering outlet pages…a bargain shoppers dream!

What does that mean for you?  It means you can get amazing deals year round on just about everything while saving up to 95%!  Which stores have outlet selections?  A lot of them do.  Don’t have the time to click on your favorite stores and find out?  Well, we’ve done that for you.  DealTaker has over 1800 stores and searching for the stores that have outlet pages takes time, but so far, we’ve found 100 of them for you!  It’s an ongoing project, but we are determined to find them all!  And, we will.  So, while we’re searching, why not check out what we have so far.  Happy shopping my friends.

Bird.com (coupons):  They carry the most comprehensive selection of bird supplies online, at the lowest guaranteed prices. By listening to customer feedback, they feel that they have developed a broad product base where owners can find everything for their pet, whether it’s a Parakeet or a Macaw.

Ferret.com (coupons):  Carries the most comprehensive selection of ferret supplies online, at the lowest guaranteed prices. By listening to customer feedback, they have developed a broad product base where owners can find everything for their fuzzy friend.

Fish.com (coupons):  Is proud to carry the most comprehensive selection of aquatic supplies online, at the lowest guaranteed prices. By listening to customer feedback, they have developed a broad selection of products where you can find everything for your aquarium, whether it’s a freshwater wonder or a remarkable reef.

Harry and David (coupons):  Delicious since 1934. Harry and David offers an extensive collection of gourmet gifts designed to delight all, including gift baskets filled with gourmet foods, Royal Riviera pears, chocolates, and much more.

Beyond the Rack (coupons):  An online shopping club that provides members with exclusive access to private sales of coveted designer apparel and accessory brands at prices up to 70% off retail!

101 inks (coupons):  Is the leading provider of high quality ink cartridges and laser toners online. They have been in business since 2000 and have set the standard for online sales of printer supplies.

VRBO.com (coupons):  They are the largest for rent by owner website connecting travelers with great vacation rental accommodations.

Kidrobot (coupons):  The world’s premier designer and retailer of limited edition art toys and apparel. Kidrobot merges urban street trends, fashion, and pop art to produce limited edition, collectible toys and apparel.

UseNeXT (coupons):  Offers very fast, anonymous and uncensored access to the Usenet – the mother of all file sharing services. With UseNeXT’s unique software you get an easy-to-use access to the Usenet, which used to be so complicated that only internet experts could use it – until now.

Poster Brain (coupons):  Is the easiest and best way to create archival quality poster prints and not spend a fortune doing it. Simply upload your digital print, select from several sizes and you’re done.

Total Pet Supply (coupons):  One of the biggest and most affordable pet pharmacy online. We provide over-the-counter and prescription products safely and directly to your door.  Their prices are the most competitive online, which translate into savings of up to 60% for the customers. They also offer 125% price match guarantee.

Wrangler (coupons):  Offers an entire collection of jeans, pants, shirts and jackets for the whole family with products for all occasions: rodeo & riding, workwear & safety and more.

Haute Look (coupons):  Brings the thrill of shopping back to the consumer with exclusive, limited time, online shopping events featuring the hottest fashion and lifestyle brands. Free to join, HauteLook gives all its members access to savings of up to 75% off retail prices on top designer name brands.

Blinds Express (coupons):  Is one of the largest and most affordable Blind, Shade and Shutter company in the world.  They sell only the biggest and best brand names in the industry.

Brace Shop (coupons):  Provides one of the largest selections of extremity braces, therapy products & accessories on the internet. Braceshop.com represents some of the most recognized manufacturers in the world of orthopedic braces and supports.

Exclusively Weddings (coupons):  Since 1992 ExclusivelyWeddings.com has been serving discriminating brides. With the addition of our Web site ExclusivelyWeddings.com, brides can now see our extensive selection of upscale wedding accessories, invitations, wedding party gifts, and favors.

Great Big Canvas (coupons):  Premium provider of canvas wall art and panoramic canvas photos. Here you’ll find an amazingly eclectic collection of beautiful and LARGE canvas prints.  You can also use a personal photo and have it made into a Great Big Canvas.

Lighting Catalog (coupons):  An online leader in Home Lighting, Chandeliers, Pendants, Wall Lighting, Lamps, Lighting Fixtures, Ceiling Fans, Outdoor Lighting, Landscape Lighting and accessories.

Lydias Uniforms (coupons):  A top retailer of scrubs, medical uniforms, nursing shoes and medical supplies for over 40 years. They feature our own signature scrubs, as well as top names like Katherine Heigl, Urbane, Landau, Cherokee & Dickies.

We have three weeks and two days until the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  We want our team to beat the $50,000 goal that has been set and we want to raise all the awareness we can.  Please help us in this endeavor.

B&H The Professional's Source

Earlier this week I attended Affiliate Summit in NYC.  DealTaker has worked online with B&H Photo – Video – Pro Audio for a long time.  Rarely do we get to actually meet with one of our merchants offline, let alone get a personal tour of their store.  However, B&H is the consummate consumer experience and the gentleman that runs their online affiliate business invited us to tour their store and made sure that Alan and I understood, from top to bottom, exactly what B&H stood for and how they do business.  At B&H, the motto is “we don’t make sales, we make customers”.  That is apparent in all that they do.  They have one store (yes only one store for the whole company) at 9th Avenue and 34th St. in the heart of NYC.  When you walk in the door, the place is buzzing with thousands of customers (and it was a “slow day” when we were there) complete with conveyor belts to move items to the checkout, associates in every aisle to always answer questions, and every kind of imaginable product right there to be touched, tested and understood.  Check out this video they have produced that shows their store - B&H in NYC.

Meanwhile I am reading a book called Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz (save 40% through buy.com).  As I am reading it I realize time and time again that B&H is the embodiment of a concept that feeds word of mouth marketing.  They provide service people want to talk about.  They sell products people need that then tell others where to find it.  They have free candy on their counters.  They close for ten days at a time to celebrate holidays – and people respect them for that.  They make customers – not sales.  It is no wonder they are successful – not just in their one store in NYC; not just online in the US, but world-wide.

“Impressed” does not begin to describe how I feel about this valuable partner with whom we have the privilege to work; nor does “amazed”, “proud”, or “awe-inspired”.  I am glad that DealTaker.com gets the chance to help B&H make customers.

Yola (coupons):  One of the leaders in browser-based website building, their easy-to-use tools and exceptional support has led to over 1.5 million sign ups in under a year.

Candy.com (coupons):  They have fast delivery, the largest selections of candy on the web and guaranteed quality ensuring you the best tasting candy experience around.

Disk Doctors (coupons):  Their labs have designed and developed several PC Recovery, Optimization and Security applications and they are committed to providing more innovative applications in the time to come along with frequent updates to support the ever changing tech world.

Joma Shop (coupons):  Provide a wide variety of luxury, fashion and sport watches as well as a broad selection of luxury designer handbags, all at the deepest discounted prices. All of their items are brand name, 100% Authentic and brand new.

A2 Hosting (coupons):  Offer a wide range of highly regarded Linux Hosting products include shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated hosting.

philosophy (coupons):  From skin care to bath and body products, they manufacture and sell the best products online that are endorsed by doctors, celebrities, their customers.

Vivid Seats (coupons):  One of the nation’s largest independently owned and operated ticket marketplaces that buy and sell tickets to Sports, Concerts and Theater events nationwide.

DEB Shops (coupons):  They specialize in junior and plus-sized apparel and accessories for women aged 13 to 25.

Rock.com (coupons):  Offers the most amazing collection of licensed logo band merchandise available online.  At Rock.com you will find men’s and women’s t-shirts and hoodies, posters and fabric posters, infant and toddler apparel, hats and caps and much more.