I wanted to apologize to everyone yesterday that subscribes to our newsletter. The link that TigerDirect sent us for the HP 32GB TouchPad was invalid, and we didn’t find out until the last minute! We’re going to try to make up for it again with a special offer that’s even better, so be sure to sign up for our deals newsletter to take advantage of special promotions only available to our premium members!

http://bargainjack.com/lists

Also, we’re going to start including more premium content in our newsletter, mainly because we want to make sure our premium members get first access to any exclusives we have at BargainJack.  So be sure to check back soon!

Thanks,
Jack

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is follow me on Twitter or Facebook, tweet about BargainJack, post a blurb about BargainJack on your Facebook wall, or subscribe to my deals newsletter. Please use this widget below (NOTE: if you don’t use the widget and follow the instructions specifically, you will not be entered into the contest!):

Although you’re only required to do one of these options, you can do all five and increase your odds of winning by 500%!

The contest ends on Tuesday, September 13th at 12:01 a.m., so be sure to enter asap!

Also, we reserve the right to choose a new winner if the chosen winner is suspected of cheating in any way, shape, or form.  Also, if the winner doesn’t come forward to claim the prize within a timely manner (three business days), a new winner will be chosen.

Finally, if you already have an Amazon Kindle, don’t fret.  You can opt for an Amazon gift card for the same amount as the Kindle!

All contestants must abide by the contest rules, outlined in our Standard Contest Rules.

As of today, 16 states recognize tax-free holidays. So, if you’re lucky enough to live in one of those states, you can take advantage of the savings. Back-to-school shopping on the right weekend will save you quite a bit of change, so pay attention to the date of your state’s tax holidays since some are right around the corner.

States with a tax holiday of Aug. 5-7 are as follows: Alabama, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia (Iowa and Louisiana: Aug. 5-6, Arkansas: Aug 6-7). Mostly school-related items are the feature of these upcoming tax holidays.  See the chart below:

Before you get too excited though, I should make note of the fact that most states place a dollar limit on what is tax-exempt. For example, Alabama’s tax holiday offers a tax break on any articles of clothing $100 or less. This means that a pair of jeans costing $125 would be taxed but a jacket for $99 would be tax-free, so be aware of any specific rules your state may have during tax holidays.

Over the years, tax holidays have grown to include all kinds of things from Energy Star appliances, generators, and hurricane supplies to air conditioners, computers, and firearms (Louisiana only). Each state will specify a list of items that are tax exempt each tax holiday, so it’s just a matter of knowing what to buy when.

THE HISTORY

January 1997 marked the first ever Tax Holiday. It occurred in New York, and since then a total of 16 states have enacted similar tax-free legislations. Most of the 16 tax-free friendly states offer tax-free weekends in August, in order to provide tax breaks on certain necessities like school supplies, books and clothing.

In more recent years, states like Texas, Virginia, Maryland and Missouri have extended this idea to include Energy Star appliances. The main purpose of tax holidays is to provide tax relief to low and middle income households on certain necessities, but that doesn’t prevent everyone from reaping the benefits.

DOUBLE-UP ON SAVINGS ON TAX FREE DAYS!

In addition to tax-free shopping days, many retailers (local and national) will be promoting special back-to-school and tax-free weekend sales. At BargainJack.com, we’ll be monitoring all the top sales and promotional events going on at your local retail stores!  Be sure to check back early and often to find out what kind of great savings you can find–tax free, of course!

With sales tax producing an average of half or more of states’ revenues, it is the silent killer when it comes to taxes.  So, while tax holidays may be far and few between a little planning could turn into hundreds of dollars saved each year.

Who can pass this up?  I broke down the instant it passed my inbox.  If you are new to LivingSocial, they are similar to Groupon and will ask for your email address and zip code so that they can send you local daily deals for 50% off or more on local businesses like restaurants, spas, bowling and whatnot.  They know what you crazy locals are into.  This Amazon deal is a rare, national deal and is good TODAY ONLY so act pronto,people!

Cheers!
Jack

Also, there are many other great ideas for last minute gifts, such as gift certificates.  Restaurant.com is offering 80% off their already-discounted restaurant gift certificates with coupon code PRESENT.  Typical $25 gift certificates are discounted to $10, and with the coupon code, you can get these gift certificates for only $2!

If you’re unfamiliar with Restaurant.com, these are electronic gift certificates that you can print out and give to friends and family, or even send via email.

Another option for gift certificates includes eBillMe’s gift card promotion.  You can save on holiday gift cards by receiving a $15 mail-in rebate or 10% cash back on any gift card purchases.  Valid merchants include Home Depot, Amazon, Dell, JC Penney, Foot Locker, Zappos, Cabella’s, and more!  Like Restaurant.com, these are electronic gift cards which can be sent directly to the recipient–no need to wait on the mail.

-Jack

In the past, you would come to BargainJack to browse our special deals, coupons, and promotions.  It was sorta like a fish boat coming in each day.  Some day we’d have flounder, other days we’d have trout and mackerel, and, well, that’s a really bad analogy, but you know what I mean.  We would only feature the products that had some sort of sale, meaning that if you were shopping for a specific laptop or a specific hard drive, you were out of luck unless we just happened to have a deal on that product.

That all changed today, as we unveiled the new and improved BargainJack with a new snazzy feature: price comparison!

So now you can search for a product and we’ll show you all the deals we have available.  If there aren’t any deals, you can still see the prices at various merchants so that you get the best deal on the product you want.

Because of this, we have also redesigned the homepage.  Now, you’ll notice a big search box.  And before anyone asks, yes, it is mobile friendly, meaning you can use this new feature when you’re in the store and trying to decide if the product you’re looking at is a good deal or not.

We hope you enjoy these new features, and invite you to share any feedback you might have, good or bad.  We’re always looking for ways to improve the bargain shopping experience on BargainJack.com, so please let us know how we can help, or let us know if we’re headed in the right direction!

Also, please be sure to share this email with your friends and family, so they too can reap the rewards of our new and improved functionality.  We really want to get the word out about BargainJack and only you can help!

Thanks,
Jack

Well not to worry, because I have now revamped my Twitter feed, using it to publish breaking news on hot deals, sales, and coupons!

Of course, you can always look to the newsletter or the website to find important information about deals, but with the Twitter feed, you can actually find out about those deals as they happen.  Use your favorite Twitter program, or sign up for mobile SMS alerts via Twitter and let me deliver deals straight to your cell phone (normal text charges apply, ask your carrier).

What’s next?  Well, I’m thinking about doing the same with Facebook!  So stay tuned!

-Jack

On our Cyber Monday Sale Events page, you’ll see great savings from stores like NewEgg, Buy.com, Best Buy, Toys R Us, Sears, and more!  Use this is an excuse to load up on gifts for the holiday season.

If there are any hot sales that we missed, please let us know, and we’ll add them immediately.  Also, be sure to forward this to your friends and family, as they won’t want to miss out on the great sales going on right now!

Enjoy!
-Jack

If you’re not already subscribed to the newsletter, please visit this page to sign up!  You can also automatically join our newsletter when you create an account on BargainJack.com, which is actually the recommended method (an account lets you participate in our forums and discuss deals with other users).

We’re really excited about finally overhauling the newsletter.  Now, not only will you get the most popular deals delivered to your inbox once a day, but you’ll also get updated announcements (which we mentioned already), Jack’s exclusive picks, and deals expiring soon!

So please enjoy the new newsletter.  If you have any problems viewing it, please send a note to jack@bargainjack.com with a description of the problem, the email client or webmail tool you’re using, and whatever else you think we might need to fix the issue.

Also, one last note, we will be revamping the BargainJill and OneDayBuys newsletters asap, as well as our integration with Twitter and Facebook.  Look for these changes soon!

Thanks!
-Jack

P.S. We offer our sincerest apologies to anyone who received this newsletter twice.  There was a glitch that we’ve fixed, and it won’t happen again!

Six hours and $1.6M in losses later, 6pm.com realized the mistake and quickly fixed it.  However, the damage had already been done.

Surprisingly enough, 6pm.com decided to honor the price on their site, even if it did cost them $1.6M.  How’s that for customer service?

Here’s to 6pm.com and Zappos for placing value on their customers instead of their wallets!