Consumers like gift cards because they make the joys of obligatory generosity easier and thus more joyous. A recent survey noted that 80% of shoppers said they were going to purchase a gift card this holiday season, for an estimated total of $27.8 billion. Companies like them too, because companies like free money. According to the Wall Street Journal, from 2005 to the present, $41 billion worth of money on gift cards has been lost or will never be redeemed. This doesn't include any of the $800 billion cost of Iraq War that President Bush attempted to pay for with old gift cards to Applebee's. more ›

Back in the end of September Amazon made a big splash when it announced its Android-based Kindle Fire tablet. But what caught our eye at that media event was the much cheaper, ad-supported Kindle which the company now sells for $79. At that price point, how could we say no? And since we got ours in the mail we've been pretty smitten with the device. Until, that is, it started butt-buying Amazon Local deals for us without our permission! more ›

With more and more consumers needing to be told where to eat, what to buy, and the best place to be jailed, businesses see a legitimate reason to outsource illegitimate, positive reviews of their products and services. The stakes are high! One Craigslist ad asking jobseekers (AKA everyone) to "Write Yelp Reviews" is looking for people who "have an active Yelp account and would like to make very easy money." You mean, we can't trust everything we read on the internet? more ›

Borders, the Michigan-based bookstore chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning. The company says it will close 200 underperforming stores and "shed much of its staff." Borders Group President Mike Edwards said, "It has become increasingly clear that in light of the environment of curtailed customer spending... and the company's lack of liquidity, Borders Group does not have the capital resources it needs to be a viable competitor." In other words, Amazon has really taken a bite of out their business. more ›

So you got yourself a Kindle or a Nook or an iPad or what have you for Christmas and you went and bought an ebook or two while you were snowed in. Those things are awesome, right? But now you've got this digital version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo you probably aren't going to touch again. What to do? It isn't like you can bring it over to Housing Works. So, why not lend it to someone else? more ›

The fallout from this weekend's Gawker hack keeps coming. But are things going to get more "Gawkward" (oh, New York Post)? If the hackers have as much data as some suspect, they might soon! more ›

The latest development in the WikiLeaks saga? The site's DNS provider, EveryDNS.net, decided to terminate their relationship with the embattled website last night at 10 p.m. In a statement on their website EveryDNS cites the many denial of service attacks the site had been fighting off, which they claim threatened to bring down their entire infrastructure. But, just like when Amazon decided to stop hosting their servers earlier this week, the leakers have gotten back on their feet and moved to Switzerland. So, if you are in the mood for some leaked diplomatic cables, you can find them at http://88.80.13.160 or wikileaks.ch. more ›

Here's some non-Assange, non-leak WikiLeaks news: the embattled website lost one of its major servers today when Amazon decided (after pressure form Sen. Joe Lieberman) to stop hosting the site. Earlier this afternoon WikiLeaks tweeted "WikiLeaks servers at Amazon ousted. Free speech the land of the free--fine our $ are now spent to employ people in Europe." Though the site, which says it has been fighting off hackers, appeared to go down briefly after losing its Amazon servers it is back up now. And just to rub it in, the site pointed out "If Amazon are so uncomfortable with the first amendment, they should get out of the business of selling books." more ›

Interesting: Amazon is offering same-day delivery for certain items—and for an additional fee (Amazon Prime members would pay $6; non-Prime members would pay $15)—in NYC and six other cities. The Bits blog reminds us of the olden days of Kozmo.com and Urbanfetch: "Of course, those earlier players did not have sustainable business models: Urbanfetch and Kozmo were saddled with huge delivery costs (paying a fleet of bike messengers) that they tried to offset with higher-margin products (DVD players and video-game consoles), but it didn’t work—most people just ordered a pint of Cherry Garcia and a pack of Marlboros." more ›

Last May, Amazon.com sued NY State over Governor Paterson's new law requiring out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax from consumers in New York State. NY requires residents to pay tax on out-of-state purchases for which sales tax wasn’t collected, but the argument is over who should collect it—and the new law would make Amazon responsible. Yesterday, State Supreme Court Judge Ellen Bransten dismissed Amazon's lawsuit, as well as one from Overstock.com, finding, "The neutral statute simply obligates out-of-state sellers to shoulder their fair share of the tax collection burden when using New Yorkers to earn profit from other New Yorkers." This could be headed to the Court of Appeals, should the online retailers wish to pursue it. And Paterson offered other tax ideas last month. more ›

Last week Governor Paterson signed off on a new tax law requiring out-of-state retailers to collect sales tax from consumers in New York State. Like other states, New York requires residents to pay tax on out-of-state purchases for which sales tax wasn’t collected. The big argument is over who’s responsible for collecting; the new law puts that onus vendors like Amazon, which is now fighting the bill in State Supreme Court. more ›

New Yorkers are supposed to be honest at tax time and indicate how much they've purchased from online retailers--like Amazon.com--that don't charge NY State sales tax. Now the NY State tax department wants online retailers to charge sales tax, or else be subject to audits going "back as far" as tax officials want. more ›