Month: January 2010

I Was Scammed at the Mall

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Are mall kiosk salespeople like Internet sharketers? I think so.

I had just left Dillard’s and was headed back to Victoria’s Secret to pick up my wife. No, really. That’s where she was. But before you get any big ideas about what she was shopping for, think of this: my daughter was with her. So yeah. I guarantee they weren’t shopping for Valentine’s Day gifts for me. (At least I hope not, because…the horror!)

All I wanted to do was get from point A to point B. Shopping for shoes in the mall was bad enough. I kind of prefer Target where all the shoes are right smack in the middle of the store, and there are only six varieties so I don’t get confused. So I’m walking with my new shoes minding my own business when this slick (read: young, cute) sales girl smiled at me and said, “May I?”

I had to stop. I mean, she smiled at me. Cute young girls haven’t smiled at me since pre-marriage days. Excluding my four-year-old. She’s cute and young, but it’s not the same, you know?

So I stopped (that was my first mistake) and let this girl tut-tut over my dry hands. There was no question about it: they were dry. And such a shame, too, good looking guy like me, she says. Next thing I know, she’s buffing my thumbnail with some kind of buffer thingy. I don’t know what it was. It was blue. And it left my thumbnail shiny.

Meanwhile, she learned that I am a writer, that I am married and have children, that I had just bought shoes, that I was at the mall for dinner with my wife and daughter, and that I had not yet bought her a Valentine’s day present.

I mean I’m so not a chatty person. That’s more than my coworkers know about me! I swear, if she had asked me for my social security number and my deepest hopes and dreams, I would have given them to her.

See, the thing is, I’m not even sure how it really happened. One minute we were just friends and the next I was a customer and had spent $40 I didn’t plan to spend on stuff my wife already has sitting on the dresser. Cuticle oil (WTF?) and some kind of lotion. She might have called it “butter” or something. Oh yeah, and salt from the Dead Sea. For scrubbing into your skin. To make it soft.

It was just so fast. And she seemed so sincere and I thought she really liked me and I believed her when she said that the softness on my hands would last for a week and the shine on my nail would last for three. I mean, why would she lie? We bonded, I tell you!

So what do you think? Are there any parallels? Discuss.

Is Virtual Juror a Legitimate Job?

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Quick Summary

Rating: 1 out of 5 gavels.

Pros: Might save you a few hours of research.

Cons: The price point to buy a list of URLs is way too high. We’re all for convenience, but come’on.

Our Recommendation: Making money as an online juror sounds interesting, but really, it’s jury duty online. Long hours, poor pay, boring cases. If you want to learn how to build a real, sustainable stream of income from home, click here to check out our top recommendation. It’s free to get started as well and you won’t ever have to pay for a chance at jury duty.

Full Review

This one is new to me, though the concept has been around for some time. It seems to be picking up some steam, though, so I thought we should take a closer look.

What Is a Virtual Juror?

Several sites are advertising a “virtual juror” job, which allegedly pays up to $10 hour. The sites include virtualjuror.com, ejury.com, onlinejury.com, and a couple of others.

These sites claim that attorneys will pay you to review cases, or parts of their cases, so that they can sort of “test drive” their case on people that might be like people that will be on real juries. You review the case under consideration and then answer questions about it in an online format. The site that gave you the case pays you via PayPal.

The Truth

Like many online opportunities, this one has a grain of truth to it. There is at least one site that appears to have a legitimate business model: ejury.com. It costs you nothing to sign up, the terms and conditions are easy to find and clearly stated, and it is as clear as possible about what exactly you will be doing. Even more important, it is clear about your income potential:

“For each verdict rendered, eJurors are paid $5 – $10 depending on the length of the case. The amount to be paid will be shown at the top of each case. You certainly won’t get rich serving as an eJuror, but just one case a week would probably pay for your Internet access.”

The problem with the concept and with ejury.com is that your chances of getting a case are very slim. Few number of cases divided by a large number in the jury pool means don’t count on this to pay your cable bill.

The Dark Side

You knew there was a dark side, didn’t you? This post is credited to alert reader, Erik, who read about ejury.com and went to do some research about the virtual juror concept.

What did he find? A Web site that charges you $97 for access to a list of companies that are paying for such work. This site is virtualjuror.com, and I recommend you stay away. What do you get for your $97?

Within 48 hours [business days only] of Paypals confirmation to Virtual Juror of your payment, you will receive special links that will take you where you will start the application process. Again, there is nothing else to pay for. Should you provide excellent service we believe you will be chosen time and again to review many cases. [Emphasis mine]

No Terms and Conditions and a clearly stated “no refunds” policy. You see, the list of links is an electronic product so they can’t offer refunds.

I won’t be paying the $97 to find out, but I would bet that ejury.com is on the list. In fact, here’s a challenge to you, VirtualJuror.com Internet sharketer dude: pay me $97, show me your list, and if ejury.com isn’t on it, I’ll publish an “I Was Wrong” post. (Oh, and since a blog post is an electronic product, the $97 is non-refundable.)

Stay Away from VirtualJuror.com

So yeah, Erik was right. He said he knows that any site that wants you to pay for a job isn’t legitimate. Virtualjuror.com is not offering you a job. It’s trying to sell you information that is not worth much and freely available elsewhere.

I don’t think virtualjuror.com is setting out to deceive anyone. In fact, it even states in fine print at the bottom of the page:

The websites we send you too have no fees and can be found by anyone, but we save you the hours of research and provide these specials links to you for a one time administration fee.

I have no problem with that: there is value in compiling information and presenting it in a convenient format for people. But $97 is too much for a list of companies that offer such small income potential.

Enjoy a Free 3-Month Trial of Amazon Prime.

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READ: This applies to all Amazon users, even those who had signed up for a Prime trial in the past!

I love Amazon. I’m already a paid Prime member, but now you can take advantage of their free two-day shipping offers for a whole three months! That’s right, you won’t have to pay a dime on any Prime eligible purchase you make on Amazon and you get it within two days! I live close enough to a shipping center that all of my purchases come next day. I’m saving tons of money by shopping exclusively with Amazon.

Sign Up Instructions

1. Click here to open an eligible Amazon.com product.
2. Add the book to cart using the “Add to cart with free 2-day shipping” button on the right of the page (if visible)
– If the button is not visible, simply add the book to cart
3. Go to your cart, click proceed to checkout and login to (or create) your account. Sign up for free 3-month trial of Amazon Prime on the next page.
– If the button was not visible in (2), in cart switch to “FREE Two-Day Shipping with a free trial of Amazon Prime” shipping
– Sign up for trial as prompted
4. Once sign up is completed, close order page and remove the book from your cart.
5. Enjoy your free 3-month trial of Amazon Prime

How to prevent Amazon from charging you for a full year.

Amazon is giving away trial memberships to Amazon prime for three months only. Your account will automatically renew for a yearly membership at $79 if you don’t decline to upgrade. If you’re extremely satisfied with Prime and wish to keep it, then by all means do nothing and you’ll be set with free shipping for a full year. However, follow the steps below if you do not wish to upgrade.

  • Login to your Amazon.com account and go to the ‘My Account’ page.
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Enjoy totally free shipping!