CheapTweet Blog

Our sponsor Jockey is giving away a Ford Mustang!

This summer, you could win a classic Ford Mustang just by entering Jockey’s contest. And there are a ton of other cool prizes, like Jockey gift certificates and merchandise.

Click on the image below for more details. And be sure to follow @Jockey on Twitter, so you can stay updated on all their sales and contests (for example, there just might be some giveaways coming up in April). Good luck!

We’re excited to introduce our newest CheapTweet Store – The Discovery Channel Store!

The Discovery Channel Store is filled with unique gifts, games, toys and gear. Find educational toys and games, books and DVDs, telescopes, health & fitness equipment, cutting-edge gadgets and electronics, and items from your favorite Discovery Channel shows.

And best of all, they’re having a great holiday sale today and tomorrow! Get 50% off all toys in the Discovery Channel Store until 12/16 at 11:59 p.m. PST. Use code EMPLOYEE50 for your discount.

So, go check out the Discovery Channel CheapTweet Store and be sure to follow the Discovery Channel on Twitter at @Discovery.

We’d like to introduce our newest CheapTweet Store – Intel Business Exchange.

Don’t let their name fool you – Intel Business Exchange has great deals on “competitively priced software and services for businesses, developers and consumers.” In the Intel BX Software CheapTweet Store, you’ll find discounts on all kinds of software products, including security, business, education and software developer tools, from well-known brands like Intuit, Magix, Salesforce.com and more.

So, go check out the Intel Business Exchange CheapTweet Store. You can also follow @Intel_BX on Twitter.

Note: This post is part of our holiday sponsorship by Best Buy. Though this is part of an official sponsorship, this content is completely our own.

Have you heard of the Twelpforce? It’s Best Buy’s Twitter-based customer support service.

The Twelpforce’s Twitter account describes itself as “a collective force of Best Buy technology pros offering tech advice in Tweet form.” It’s a giant Twitter account run by actual Best Buy employees who can answer customer questions, help make purchasing decisions and just generally be available when customers need them.

Best Buy employees can voluntarily add their Twitter accounts to the Twelpforce and then whenever they tweet with the hashtag #twelpforce, their tweets become part of the @Twelpforce Twitter account. So, the Twitter account is run by numerous actual Best Buy employees, from all across their stores.

We think the Twelpforce is a great idea. Best Buy employees – Blue Shirts – have the hands-on knowledge and experience that allows them to answer customer questions. And there are lots of times when I might want to ask a question about a product before physically going into a store or making a purchase online. Twitter is a great channel for that. We also think it reflects well on Best Buy that they would trust their employees and let them tweet on Best Buy’s behalf.

How do I use the Twelpforce?

Getting your questions answered by a member of the Twelpforce is really easy. Just log into your Twitter account and tweet your question, starting with @Twelpforce. One of the Twelpforce employees will see it and reply to you. That’s it. It easy, fast, and free. You should try it next time you have a question about a gadget or some electronics. For example, it might be helpful if you’re trying to decide what to get someone this holiday season. Hint, hint.

Plus, the Twelpforce made these fun caroling videos (you can watch them all here).

So, if you have any questions about gifts this holiday season, ask the Twelpforce! And be sure to check out all of Best Buy’s great deals on electronics.

We’re happy to announce the launch of our newest CheapTweet Store – NASCAR Superstore!

The NASCAR.com Superstore offers the largest online selection of officially licensed NASCAR merchandise. They have great deals on merchandise for all your favorite NASCAR drivers and really cool holiday gift ideas. And we happen to know that they’re going to be offering some amazing deals during the holiday season, starting on Thanksgiving day. So, check out the new NASCAR Superstore CheapTweet Store to find deals on all kinds of great NASCAR merchandise.

Also, be sure to follow @NASCARDeals on Twitter.

We’d like to welcome our newest CheapTweet Store – The Body Shop!

We’re very excited about this store – we’ve been fans of The Body Shop and their products for a long time. The Body Shop has an extensive selection of naturally inspired, ethically produced beauty and cosmetics products, ranging from hair, makeup and bath products to candles and other items for the home.  The Body Shop believes that there is only one way to beautiful — Nature’s Way.

Check out The Body Shop CheapTweet Store – they have a lot of holiday specials right now!

Just in time for the holidays, we’re happy to announce the launch of our newest CheapTweet Store – Stein Mart!

Stein Mart is a nationwide discount department store, with fashion, accessories, home decor, bedding and shoes for men and women, at prices up to 60% less than department store prices.  They have high quality merchandise for a great price, and we think they’re a perfect fit for CheapTweet. We’re very excited to have them on board.

So, whether you’re shopping for yourself or looking for a holiday gift for a loved one, check out the exclusive deals and discounts in the CheapTweet Stein Mart Store.

Note: This post is part of our holiday sponsorship by Best Buy. Though this is part of an official sponsorship, the experience and this write-up are completely our own.

At CheapTweet, we only partner with brands we think will provide value to you, our users. We absolutely will not promote a retailer if we wouldn’t shop in their stores ourselves.

So, we thought we should check out Best Buy’s value proposition. Our goal was to see if we would feel comfortable encouraging you to do your holiday shopping at Best Buy. So on a recent rainy Sunday, I visited the nearest Best Buy retail store. Specifically, I wanted to learn more about Best Buy’s price match guarantee and their employees, otherwise known as the “Blue Shirts.” Here’s what I found out.

Price Match Guarantee

Best Buy offers a price match guarantee. I wanted to know how that price matching works and in what situations.

I spoke to several Best Buy employees. The way the price match guarantee works is simple: If you can find a lower price on the same item at a nearby store, Best Buy will match that price. That offer only extends to other physical stores and does not include websites like Amazon.com, unfortunately.

To see how the price match guarantee works, I talked to a Blue Shirt who helped confirm competitor prices (we called Fry’s and Conn’s) of a couple HDTV models I was looking at. Only in one case was the HDTV priced lower at another store, and the Blue Shirt said he could sell me the Best Buy HDTV for that price, eliminating my need to drive or even call around to other stores myself. It only took a couple minutes, and I was confident knowing I could save $40 on that TV. The other thing to watch out for is that the lower-priced item needs to be in stock at the other store for Best Buy to price match it. Some other limitations apply (more details here about the price match guarantee).

Blue Shirts

I also wanted to test out the customer service at Best Buy. The store was pretty crowded (it was a Sunday afternoon, and lots of people were out shopping). It took several minutes before I could get a Blue Shirt’s attention; they were all busy helping other customers, so at least I wasn’t being ignored. Once I got a free Blue Shirt, I started asking questions about HDTVs.

The Blue Shirt I talked to – Devin – was quite knowledgeable about the different kinds of HDTVs. For example, this Best Buy store had a big display with some of the new, ultra-thin LED HDTVs and I was curious what he thought about LEDs versus LCDs. He was honest – they’re a fairly new product line – and encouraging – they save more energy than other HDTVs and have great picture quality. He even told me about a customer who had come in that morning and saved $200 on the 46″ LED TV with a price match. He also shared his opinions on which TV brands he liked. He said Samsung is their best-selling TV brand, and he really likes Sony electronics. We discussed price and size, and what would work best for my needs and my home.

The store was packed, but Devin took the time to really explain my options. He did not pressure me at all (he said he does not work on commission) and he seemed honest and helpful.

Product Selection and Value

Best Buy certainly has a large selection of HDTVs. While I was browsing, I used my cell phone to check the prices at Amazon.com for certain models. Though they weren’t having an advertised sale at Best Buy, a number of models were marked down between $50 and $500, which made them competitively priced to Amazon. For example, a 32” Samsung LCD HDTV at Best Buy for $549.99 and at Amazon.com it was $534.00; that’s a difference of only $15. The 40” Samsung LED HDTV was the exact same price at Best Buy as it was on Amazon.com and in some other cases, Best Buy was even cheaper than Amazon.

Best Buy also offers a number of in-home setup options and warranty plans. Devin said that, for a fee, Best Buy technicians can even test the light in your home and adjust your TV’s setting for the optimal picture in your space.

So, after this exercise, how do I feel about Best Buy? I feel good. They offer a ton of different products at excellent prices, and their employees are courteous and helpful. I tested out the price match guarantee, and it works. So on that note, I feel confident we can recommend that you do your holiday shopping at Best Buy.

We’re very excited to announce the launch of the new Dell Outlet CheapTweet Store! Dell Outlet offers big discounts on all kinds of Dell products, from laptops and desktops to monitors, printers, and all kinds of electronics, software and computer accessories, and they all come with the trusted Dell warranty and support. And starting today, you can now find all those great deals on CheapTweet.com.

The @DellOutlet Twitter account was created in June 2007, and has more than 1.4 million followers. Dell Outlet has already earned more than $3 million in revenue from Twitter by posting Twitter-only offers and Dell Outlet deals. Dell Outlet is a pioneer in the use of Twitter for both customer service and sharing deals. Since we started CheapTweet, we’ve admired @DellOutlet as one of the most innovative brands on Twitter and we’re incredibly pleased to be announcing their store.

So, if you’re looking for a great deal on a computer (or any other electronics item), check out the Dell Outlet CheapTweet Store.

Great news! We’re excited to announce that we’re partnering with Best Buy for the holiday shopping season. You may remember that we did something like this in August for back to school.

Throughout the months of November and December, we’ll be engaging in conversations on Twitter, sharing good deals and ways Best Buy can save you money this holiday season.

As you know by now, we work very hard to find and share with you the very best deals. To do this, we often work with sponsors we think will be valuable to you, our users. We have lots of respect for Best Buy, and admire their social media efforts. We’re very excited to be working with them again.

We want to be clear when we’re engaging in sponsored activities, whether it’s here on the blog or on Twitter. All the tweets that are part of this partnership will be clearly labeled as sponsored – we’ll include the hashtag #BestBuyHoliday so you’ll know something is a sponsored tweet. And we’ll clearly label blog posts, as well. We won’t be posting pre-written marketing messages, but we will be passing along information given to us by Best Buy to help you make informed purchasing decisions and hopefully save you some money on your holiday shopping.