Hi everyone.
Much is up for discussion tonight so put on your thinking caps and pull out your pencils! Taxes, I-Deal issues, Acquisis terms, Brandarama, Central Coast Nutraceuticals using Oprah? It’s all here! Ruction over Brandarama letters will come first though.
After waiting nearly two years on $4,160.00 in gifts, I am expected to front thousands of dollars, collect receipt copies from various merchants, then mail them within 30 days…This ticks me off. For some, they did less than 1K in gifts, so it’s not as bad. Still, not everyone can blow hundreds of thousands of dollars, or spend the extra $500.00+ on trivial items/gcs. I suppose people could drum up charges on their credit cards, but not everyone’s limits are 1.5K+. They know that. Their scheme is to thrive off those who cannot fulfill this requirement. I mean, they give us only 30 days? Make us pay up front? Can they reimburse us within 8-10 weeks, if at all, with the queue as long as it is? Their intent is to hasten the shipping process by allowing Mpell Solutions, another company, to take over. I appreciate them making an effort to remit payment after such a long period of time, but it isn’t exactly what I call “sincere.” It’s much like rebate redemption, you know? Companies like Brandarama hire third party vendors to jump in. Below is taken from doylnea, who couldn’t have said it any better.
“Kingston or Crucial don’t actually pay your rebates directly, they hire a third party vendor (TPV) who fulfills all the rebates. The TPV gets a check/wire transfer at the beginning of the promotion and then fulfills gifts based on the check. In most cases, the TPV profits on the difference between what they have to fulfill, and what the company offering the rebate pays. In all cases, it’s less costly for the TPV than the money that they’re paid at the beginning of the promotion because of “breakage.” “Breakage” occurs when people don’t follow the directions to the letter; example: not including the UPC, not postmarking the letter in time, etc.”
That should give you an idea. The problem is they combine the months. Say you’re in the Oct 07-Dec 08 CTS range and have $2,000.00 total in gifts, you must pay that amount all-at-once as they mail you letters for each of them at the same time. Below is how the two page letters appear.
Page 1.
“Dear you,
Thank you for participating in TrustedRewards promotion for a
TrustedRewards takes great pride in listening to our customers and we have now developed an ever easier way for you to get your
Enclosed please find your certificate good for
All you have to do is 1)visit a local retailer or favorite online store and purchase a
Don’t want a
Questions Please contact our customer support at our fulfillment center, Mpell Solutions at XXX-XXX-XXXX from 9:00am to 5:00pm pacific time or at a@b.com at anytime. Your gift certificate code is xxxxxxxxxxx.
Thank you!
TrustedRewards Customer Care Team.”
Page 2.
“Your Gift Certificate for Cash-back up to
How to use this certificate:
1) Provide your U.S. shipping address below
2) Enclose a copy of the purchase receipt for the purchase of a
3)Sign this certificate (required). By signing you are agreeing to receive additional offers by email and/or US mail.
4) Enclose a copy of a valid ID
5) Mail this original certificate to: x address
6) You will receive a Cash-back check for the value of your purchase up to
Terms and conditions of offer:
This original certificate, a copy of your prize purchase receipt for up to
A U.S. address is required for delivery. By participating in this promotion, recipient releases and hols harmless Mpell and its affiliates from any liability. This offer is void under he following conditions: Where prohibited, taxes, or restricted by law; if the original certificate and requested documentation are not received by the specified date; if the promotion is misrepresented or abused by the Sponsor. Only one of the Mpell certificate is valid per prize, per person, or household. Make copies of the mailed documentation for your records. Mpell is not responsible for and will not honor damaged, late, lost, in complete, or illegible mail or postage due requests.”
Seeming malfeasant, but they aren’t. They’re offering a solution in terms of payment, it’s how they chose to go about it that inconveniences many individuals. My hope is this changes once they catch up, or else they should close shop. Even Acquisis are lagging these days, which I will touch on in a moment. So this is what we learnt. Oct 07-Dec 08 CTS is the range they’re in. They reimburse you for ONE item per certificate, so there aren’t limitations to how many gifts you earn. You receive your check within 8-10 weeks, and you’ve got 30 days from the time you read your letter(s) to finish. Anything else can be found in the letters.
Mpell Solutions web site: http://www.mpellinc.com/
Brandarama letters thread: http://www.anything4free.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=147946&st=0
Acquisis updates! The new terms are now in tact. 105 days for crediting… ehhhh, seems a wee bit long, but they probably want more time for shipping/ordering as many requests are made on particular prizes. But they still respond to e-mails, and are now working on my MCR. That I can live with.
“Dear me,
Thank you for sending along this confirmation. We will contact the sponsor to confirm your participation in this offer. We will get back to you as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
Customer Support”
They also shipped two members $2,500.00 in Apple gift cards. Things are looking up! ^^
Taxation time all! By far this is the most dreaded topic, but paying our taxes is important, especially in today’s world. Different types of taxes exist; income tax, property tax, and sales taxes to name a few. Taxation goes on the principle of taking a little money from all for the greater good of all. Let’s do the greater good and pay our taxes! w9s! 1099s! Yay!! Okay, so my “I’m going to sound excited about taxes to motivate others to learn more about them” approach isn’t going so well. We must realize taxation is founded to help, not hurt. Many good things come from paying taxes; roads are built, education flourishes, it aids in paying for healthcare, and much more! Most of you know the drill. Fill out the w9, get the 1099 back in the mail, etc. What I will do is provide some information I found based on the inquiries I received this week. Be informed. Brush up on your taxes below!
I know it’s a lot to read, take it a day at a time if you have to. It’s just the basics, and some conditions have changed. I feel like I’m in school again, lol. Reading and taking notes all night. My most recent question:
“(hi wozniack!)
do we have to pay taxes for things that did not require a w-9 form? say if you did one gift for a company and it was under 600 dollars? i got to reading the taxes thread in the DIY section, and people are saying even if you don’t get the 1099 form you have to report it and now i’m confused. blink.gif do you have any experience with this from years past?
-kinneylamb
p.s. supposed to be paranoid face ^ above ^ but i cant find it ”
No matter the amount of the gift(s) you MUST report all freebies earned during the fiscal year. Even if you never received the 1099. The $600.00 threshold is there because the freebie companies must collect and retain the w9, then mail you the 1099. It’s for them to keep track of their records. If you do an I-Deal site that’s a $500.00 gift, you owe taxes on that gift even if you don’t have to fill out the w9. It’s like paying for candy and a soda, small value, but you gotta pay extra.
Speaking of I-Deal, let’s move on…
They seem to be the saviour of DIY, and, eh, maybe Acquisis, lol. This time a year and a half ago I never thought I would utter those words.
I stalled on this question:
“Since you seem to know alot about DIY sites and I-deal, I figured I’d ask you. I am very certain I’ve never done an I-deal site. I might have signed up for one, but never have completed any offers on them. I really want to do christmasonus, but it won’t let me.
You are not eligible for this reward for one of the following reasons:
* You previously qualified for this reward on ChristmasOnUs.com
* You have qualified for other rewards offered by Bullseye Media, Inc. with a total reward value of $1,000 or more in the last six months.
* You have previously requested not to receive communications from Bullseye Media, Inc., or have otherwise agreed to be excluded from its promotions.
If eligible, please visit other Bullseye Media, Inc. promotional sites after the six-month period has expired.
I HAVE gone into e-mails and unsubscribed before because I was sick of spam, but what I was wondering is, since apparently I must have just unsubscribed, is it allowed for me to sign up using another e-mail? It kinda seems like a stupid question, but I want to ask before I do 8 offers and it decided to not give me the cards. Thanks.”
I’m not sure. I’d like to think they wouldn’t care about signing up with another e-mail as long as you never did any offers using that e-mail. Maybe when that happens they can rectify it somehow. I don’t know. Any thoughts?
I don’t have any new links, but I should have some Canadian links soon. Just keep refreshing this page because I will pop in and update it. 
Attention is drawn to Central Coast Nutraceuticals and the legitimacy of their advertisements. You may have seen the Acai Berry weight loss drug spring up on referral-based sites, DIYs, and the web. In a scheme called “negative option” advertising, dozens of companies nationwide offer “free” trials of Acai diet products, claiming endorsements from Oprah Winfrey, Rachael Ray and others, but then charge month after month unless the consumer cancels the order. So they mislead millions nationwide with those endorsements, lmao. You know this reminds me of what happened with Taster’s Choice coffee. In the 80′s a man’s face graced their labels, and he made 15.8 million. He was paid a mere $250.00 for a photo shoot back in 1986, and Nestle used it without his consent. He didn’t recognize it until 2002, just kinda funny to me. But like his picture, Oprah’s face was used as well.
I grabbed this from a column, “Consumers trust Oprah and unfortunately, if they are tricked into believing that she is putting her stamp of approval on a product then they are definitely more likely to purchase it.”
See how easy it is to slap someone’s face and/or body on an image? I bet other makers of weight loss products have done the celebrity thing, too. If anything I wish that 12-n-1 Dual Action Cleanse commercial was banished from television. It’s gross. I mean, um, did Klee Irwin really have to detail his daughter’s bathroom dilemma? I understand the significance of lacking enzymes and maintaining a healthy weight and diet, but not all of it was believable. Some of my peers felt sick after taking the 12-n-1 pill. I was scared of it, so I gave it away, lol. Watch this clip, you’ll see what I mean.
I rest my case.
*links ‘n such*
Acquisis–
http://www.elaptopsaver.com/offer?CID=2553…50&c1=44053 – 12 offers, Macbook Air
http://www.elaptopsaver.com/offer?CID=2524…99&c1=44053 – 12 offers, Pink Macbook Air
Anyway, I pray our Brandarama issue goes well for us all. But I cannot say I am surprised it turned out this way. I may return with more links over the weekend, so continue to visit my blog, or if you have any you would like to see here hit me up. February’s blog will be up next month, but I wanted to post another to get all this out of the way.
Later everyone,
wozniack
