One Item for BM a Day (2010-2012)

[DustHand]

Mister says I break easy, but its more like I just hurt myself doing simple things, like walking.

Hilarious! I can totally relate. The wife says very similar things....

[lazerfox]

We got both our bikes secured. Holy weight-off-my-back Batman!!

[tamarakay]

I want to make a huge Frogfuffic statue that we can all deface on the playa.

[Dr. Pyro]

And then set it on fire.

[Patsh]

New item for my list...
Recipes for burned, pureed frogs legs.

[junglesmacks]

Amazon is where I learned patience.

I so wanted to post this in the Q&A section, but decided it would seem too commercial.. but.. check this out!

You probably know about Amazon "Prime".. free 2 day shipping on almost anything for $80/year. You get one free month of trial membership every 13 months, and new signups get access to the free trial right away. I just finished my trial month and was bummed about it.

Until I thought.. wait.. what happens if I just make a new account? So i used a different email address.. and literally used all of my identical info. Same name/shipping/billing address/bank account/credit card everything.. just different email address.

It still gave me access to a FREE month of Prime all over again! At this rate, I'll just make 10 more email addresses and always have a Prime subscription. You don't even pay up front.. just give them a CC# to hold. The key is to go in your Prime subscription preferences and set it to NOT auto-renew. You won't pay a dime.





Question.. is this too commercial to publicly post? This could help tons of people get their stuff in time. Also, since Amazon uses FedEx.. you could have things shipped 2-day to the Kinkos in Reno for pickup. I'm planning on doing that with a few gallons of bubble solution that are too heavy to bring on the plane.

[waxpraxis]

Hmm... that skirts a fine line I think. I mean, it's not stealing exactly, but it's also not 100% legit. It also seems like the more you share the idea the quicker Amazon will shut it down.

[junglesmacks]

Hmm... that skirts a fine line I think. I mean, it's not stealing exactly, but it's also not 100% legit. It also seems like the more you share the idea the quicker Amazon will shut it down.

If they're giving, I'm taking. I give them plenty of money.

[C.f.M.]

I signed up for Amazon Prime (with the intention of cancelling right away) but the stuff didn't come in the..what, two-day promised time? So I would've cancelled, anyways. What's the point of signing up for something with the purpose of getting there quickly, if it doesn't get there quickly...

[junglesmacks]

I signed up for Amazon Prime (with the intention of cancelling right away) but the stuff didn't come in the..what, two-day promised time? So I would've cancelled, anyways. What's the point of signing up for something with the purpose of getting there quickly, if it doesn't get there quickly...

The shipping is two day.. but sometimes takes a day to process. It's free, anyway. I've had great luck with it. I even order grocery items through there sometimes..

[Foxfur]

Hmm... that skirts a fine line I think. I mean, it's not stealing exactly, but it's also not 100% legit. It also seems like the more you share the idea the quicker Amazon will shut it down.

If they're giving, I'm taking. I give them plenty of money.

I say it's a GREAT idea and we should all screw it and do it! If they were concerned about it they'd have taken care of it already. Even if they do end up 'fixing' this 'oversight', who cares? Seize the day and take advantage of it!

[illy dilly]

It still gave me access to a FREE month of Prime all over again! At this rate, I'll just make 10 more email addresses and always have a Prime subscription. You don't even pay up front.. just give them a CC# to hold. The key is to go in your Prime subscription preferences and set it to NOT auto-renew. You won't pay a dime.





Question.. is this too commercial to publicly post? This could help tons of people get their stuff in time. Also, since Amazon uses FedEx.. you could have things shipped 2-day to the Kinkos in Reno for pickup. I'm planning on doing that with a few gallons of bubble solution that are too heavy to bring on the plane.

You sir are a genius.
And shit, even if you only do it once a year, lets say mid July-mid August, you're not really screwing with them.
The only times I need stuff shipped quick are August and December.

[Elderberry]

In which case, I don't want to hear any of you that support this idea complaining one bit about people trying to make a profit selling Burning Man tickets!

Geez, that attitude is so wrong. Stealing is stealing.

Hmm... that skirts a fine line I think. I mean, it's not stealing exactly, but it's also not 100% legit. It also seems like the more you share the idea the quicker Amazon will shut it down.

If they're giving, I'm taking. I give them plenty of money.

I say it's a GREAT idea and we should all screw it and do it! If they were concerned about it they'd have taken care of it already. Even if they do end up 'fixing' this 'oversight', who cares? Seize the day and take advantage of it!

[Drawingablank]

Went to a local big box store last night to start stocking up - picked up about 100 batteries, moisturizer, purel, fruit cups, peanut butter crackers, granola bars, huge pack of sharpies, 3 pack of small canned hams, and a bunch of of other crap (all in enormous bulk packs of course).

Plus my wife found a cheap pair of Ugg knockoffs for playa wear. Definitely comfort over style on that one.

[junglesmacks]

In which case, I don't want to hear any of you that support this idea complaining one bit about people trying to make a profit selling Burning Man tickets!

Geez, that attitude is so wrong. Stealing is stealing.

Interesting philosophy question we have going here. Is finding loopholes in the system stealing? I mean.. I didn't lie about a single thing. Gave them my same name, address.. everything. FF is right that if they were that concerned, that they would easily have patched this via any of a multitude of duplicate vital pieces of info. Where they make their money is people not turning off the auto-renew on accident and being charged for it all.

Have any of you ever seen "Extreme Couponing" on TLC.. where people find loopholes in sales and coupons to get massive amounts of groceries for next to nothing? Is that stealing?

What about collecting multiple coupons from multiple sources and loading up on this?

Where do you draw the line with "stealing" and using free offers from corporations?

[theCryptofishist]

...I just hurt myself doing simple things, like walking.

Belive me, there's nothing simple about walking!

[illy dilly]

In which case, I don't want to hear any of you that support this idea complaining one bit about people trying to make a profit selling Burning Man tickets!

Geez, that attitude is so wrong. Stealing is stealing.

I will bitch about scalpers, not because it is stealing, but because it goes against everything Bman is about. I've up saled Global Dance Fest tickets, cause one of the most commercial raves around.

If Amazon is offering expedited shipping for 1 month a year, and I need expedited shipping for 1 or 2 months a year, am I really stealing?
No, I'm just doubling the manufacturers coupon

The idea of Amazon is to get great deals, well, free expedited shipping is a great deal.
I feel that Burning Man tickets aren't so much an event ticket, as each individuals pitch on making an amazing camping trip/party/art festival happen. I don't think the BMorg is trying to turn some huge profit.

[essjay]

In which case, I don't want to hear any of you that support this idea complaining one bit about people trying to make a profit selling Burning Man tickets!

Geez, that attitude is so wrong. Stealing is stealing.

I will bitch about scalpers, not because it is stealing, but because it goes against everything Bman is about. I've up saled Global Dance Fest tickets, cause one of the most commercial raves around.

If Amazon is offering expedited shipping for 1 month a year, and I need expedited shipping for 1 or 2 months a year, am I really stealing?
No, I'm just doubling the manufacturers coupon

The idea of Amazon is to get great deals, well, free expedited shipping is a great deal.
I feel that Burning Man tickets aren't so much an event ticket, as each individuals pitch on making an amazing camping trip/party/art festival happen. I don't think the BMorg is trying to turn some huge profit.

+1 I don't see the correlation between bm tickets and taking advantage of legitimate store promotions. Amazon knows that it takes 5 minutes to create a throw-away email address - they are e-commerce leaders, not morons. It is a scenario they no doubt considered and decided it was worth it to offer the promotion anyway. Amazon makes money off of this arrangement in more ways than just the annual fee. They have probably have run this scenario in every way imaginable and decided it was still worth it to have people get Prime for free if it means that they will buy that much more stuff at Amazon.

[Drawingablank]

Probably one of the reasons why Amazon's sales have doubled since last year while many businesses are struggling to stay solvent in this economy.

Plus think of all the free publicity they are getting from threads like this and others talking about it. There is no such thing as bad publicity - the cost of some folks manipulating the system is likely far less than the cost of an ad campaign with the same reach.

[melodiousdirge]

Amazon makes money off the one month trial period because if you know you have 'free' expidited shipping for a fixed amount of time, you'll buy more crap in that amount of time, even if the savings are not really mathematically significant. They know that people love getting things for free, and it's all a marketing ploy to make you spend more money there, even if they don't have the lowest price on the net, or if it's not even something you really need right now. I don't think they are terribly worried about people making secondary and tertiary accounts, and while representing yourself as a different user to take double advantage isn't 100% honest, and probably violates the terms of service, it's not what I'd call "stealing".

I wish I still lived somewhere where I could take advantage of free shipping to the continental US. Getting shit shipped to where I live is a major pain in the ass.

[melodiousdirge]

Back on topic.

Went to dollar store, picked up buttload of button cell batteries for my uvie hat, among other things.

[ohCarie]

Reviewed collection of battery string lights, wondered where they all went, remembered what the playa did to them last year, then ordered more on eBay, now crossing fingers it's not too late and vowed to improve system of tethering said lights. Ordered my polarized sunglasses on Amazon (!), finished my sticker design on zazzle (50% off today), oh and yesterday got my sweety a deconstructed cowboy hat from Goodwill (discovered a new location-yay!). Still need to light up the coat, and probably the hat--shoot!

[illy dilly]

Amazon makes money off the one month trial period because if you know you have 'free' expidited shipping for a fixed amount of time, you'll buy more crap in that amount of time, even if the savings are not really mathematically significant. They know that people love getting things for free, and it's all a marketing ploy to make you spend more money there, even if they don't have the lowest price on the net, or if it's not even something you really need right now. I don't think they are terribly worried about people making secondary and tertiary accounts, and while representing yourself as a different user to take double advantage isn't 100% honest, and probably violates the terms of service, it's not what I'd call "stealing".

I wish I still lived somewhere where I could take advantage of free shipping to the continental US. Getting shit shipped to where I live is a major pain in the ass.

O man, hate to do this after we just got back on topic.
So I just got a bunch of stuff, from the "Amazon Prime". It was all stuff I was afraid I was going to have to pay full price for since I waited to long to order it.
I was able to select items that were part of the "free super shipping" then you add the "Prime free 2 day".
Then after reading your post I went back to look and see if I actually saved any money by selecting sellers that were part of the Prime program. Turns out I saved about $23 bucks in shipping, and I spent about $72. So had I not worked with the Prime and "Free Super Shipping" it would have been a 100 tab.
Also, they say about 10 times, while you're signing up that all you have to do is uncheck the "renew" box before the end of the month, and just don't "upgrade". So, right after I got signed up for my free trial, I unchecked the renew box.
But you are very right, I bought a few things I would have other wise got from the big box stores.

Back to the regular scheduled programming
I just ordered a couple 35' strands of Solar Xmas lights for inside our dome. And got two spot lights for out side the dome, to light it at night, 40 finger lights, 100 glow sticks, and this neat color changing ball thing.

[junglesmacks]

Just a note that with Prime, there's no minimum like there is for normal shipping there. You can have anything.. anything.. that is marked "eligible for Prime" shipped free 2 day..

EDIT: Today I picked up two extra small "kids" fanny packs to hold the EL wire driver and battery pack for the girl, and my circuit board and battery pack for my 1360 LED light suit. $6.75 each with free 2 day shipping from the now overly mentioned internet superseller.

[Savannah]

Whatever you do with Amazon--whom I'm sure is raking in the dough with Prime, yes--be able to comfortably defend your decision should you need customer service to help you out. They can see accounts that share a credit card or billing information (etc). I'm not saying they will refuse to help you, but they can see what you're doing. So if you and your multiple personalities ever have to contact them I recommend being polite and hoping that whatever has gone wrong is not your fault . . . or you risk looking shady AND foolish.

Cancelling use of Prime within the agreed-upon amount of time is slick, but easier to defend.

[VeganChoirGirl]

Today I:

made final list, double checked AAA card, insurance, and registration, and found a kitty sitter.

[melodiousdirge]

Glued another panel into my dome canopy.

12 more #@%^%^*& seams to go, then I gotta get to work on the zippers.

[FaeTora]

I got my sleeping bag!

Slowly but surely this will come together!

[tamarakay]

Today was big box store day. I've tried to shop local mom & pop shops as much as possible, ordered some stuff from shops off the resources list from bmorg, I did buy some LED items from amazon, but some items (batteries, keurig coffee pods, printer ink) just have to bought in bulk and cheaply. Stocked up on camp obligation items (pancake mix, tequila, etc). Believe it or not CostCo had Tasty Bites! Only two flavors, but still... Found a pair of pants at a thrift store that we can cannibalize for the Sparkle's utility belt, will finish that tomorrow.
Bought a mountain of hamburger and bacon, going to cook up and freeze.

Tomorrow, more tetris in the trailer and some minor truck work.

[NellieX]

I'm getting ahead of myself, but next week I'll be visiting my local surplus store (Ax-man! They're amazing), and looking for canteens or camelback-type things, LEDs, and any other camping crap I may need.