Here are some of the companies in Arizona and around the country with the best deals…

Kmart: Yeah I know,  are they still around? Yes you can find a couple here in Phoenix. I am assuming they are on the comeback trail, so this black Friday should prove to be good. They have even gone as far as to rename it “Blue Friday” in honor of the once famous blue light special….I guess!

Old Navy: This staple of cheapness will try to out do themselves for sure. They are already the home of affordable cargo shorts and the never say die approach to rugby shirts. They refuse to let trends die and will surly have some unbeatable deals. If you end up with the same rugby shirt you had in high school…don’t say I didn’t worn you!

Wal-Mart: Ole Sam Walton is probably turning in the grave in anticipation of this years Black Friday. He epitomized the idea of pre-black Friday. Once gunning with the motto “name-brands at low prices” to his brilliance of inventory turn, Wal-Mart will not be undersold! Well, whatever, Wal-mart will have the best deals and will definitely have them first….so get in line. Also, for entertainment value, and I am sure this is going to be true, keep an eye out for priceless pic’s for peopleofwalmart.com

Best Buy: There is split opinion at iTourAz about this one. You say best buy, I say NOT! either way, they will be slashing some prices and will have some really great deals online. For example, using PayPal to get $20 cash back on $100 purchases.  And since NOTHING at best buy is less than $100 you are sure to get that deal. They are also boasting a No Shipping, No Waiting offer that will allow you to buy online, have it shipped to the store, and pick it up without waiting in line. Maybe Wal-mart should employ that strategy. There must be some fire code being broken there.

Sears: The creature of the online hoopla. The leaked ad that is destined for your newspapers began the insanity we call black Friday 2009. Why is it called black Friday? Lets just say it involves death, suits, sales, and corporate shenanigans. All very fitting I would say. But Sears will prove to be the very best deal of the year on the necessary tech bargains such as TV’s, Cameras, and DVD players so don’t miss out.

Kohl’s: The Grand Daddy of them all. Phoenix, Arizona’s Finest! This is hands down iTourAz’s Go-To Black Friday experience. They too have caught the online bug and will be offering some major online pre-black Friday gifts, with a buy one get  one free coupon to kick it off. We will be online and in person at Kohl’s this year, like usual.  The group with the walkie talkies and the over filled carts is us. Feel free to say Hi!

For a complete guide to Pre-Black Friday. Although mostly online you can definitely find in store deals  all over Arizona. Remember, Shop with Caution….and buy American!

Ok…..here is the story of black Friday. Did you really think I would leave you hanging? Black Friday Origin

That’s right folks… that right there is a life sized Human Skeleton just “perfect” for you scary Halloween haunted house. $95 smackaroos and it even includes a stand!

This one’s for you Dano! Check it ladies and gentleman… that’s a real deal holyfield plexiglass pimp hat right there! Nothing… and I mean nothin… Says B.A.M.F like a plexiglass tophat!

Ever wonder what $1500 worth of Halloween junk looks like? Me neither… but in case you did here it is! Wow, from the looks of it that’s some sweet Halloween swag right there! Not sure I’m that in love with Halloween though… can’t see my self spending$750 bucks to score some teenyboppers.

“The Queen of Halloween is downsizing her Halloween collection” – Wow. If this is the bottom of the barrel stuff that she’s willing to part with she must indeed be the Queen of Halloween! This stuff looks nothing short of AWESOME! Check out the full list of items here.

Dr. Issuckblood is getting rid of his collection… and you can profit from it! Check out these super-sweet, super-sized hand made halloween decorations! We’ve got some very creative and Halloween loving folks here in the AZ!

This is just gross. Please, I beg of you… don’t show up to our Halloween party wearing this. Ladies… feel free to show up in something nice from this site.

This costume is Rad! Seriously… guaranteed to get you some play from the ladies! Okay, okay…. lets be honest here… showing up in this thing is not going to get you play…. but I’ve got a nephew named Jake that might just worship you.

Want to give Antionio Banderas a run for his money in the Unique Guitar Case category? Just drop a few bones on this bad boy and perhaps you’ll be walking away from this year’s Halloween Shindig with a hottie like Salma Hayek on your arm too!

2008 had a multitude of costume idea but here are the Top 10 of 2008

1. (Adult)
2. (Adult) Pirate
3. (Adult) Vampire
4. (Adult) Cat
5. (Adult) Fairy
6. (Adult) Nurse
7. (Adult) Batman
8. (Adult) Political
9. (Adult) Ghost
10. (Adult) Angel

Halloween 2009 is the year of the Couples Costume. This year there are more costumes for couples than ever before. Couples costume for Halloween 2009 are just plain fun. Why not match your mate when your going to a Halloween costume party! Picking a Costume for Couples is easy. There are many themed costumes such as 70′s and 80′s, Fun Themed Costumes for Couples, Sexy Themed Costumes for Couples, or TV and Movie Themed Costumes for Couples. It is easier than before to match up your costume with a significant other or just a friend. They do all the work for you. There is no doubt there will be an abundance of diverce costumes this year, so choose wisely, and remember…Less is Better!

Craigslist.org is now the worlds largest online classifieds. They are actually the worlds most used classifieds ever known. This phenomenon known as craigslist has been around since 1995. Started by a fella named Craig Newmark in the San Francisco Bay area. It now spans approximately 570 cities and

50 countries. Here are a few statistics to better understand the mammoth we know as craigslist.

• 570 cities worldwide
• 50 countries worldwide
• Only 29 Staff Members
• 20 billion page views per month
• 50 million unique visitors per month
• They receive over 1 million new job postings per month
• The theory at craigslist is to give the people a voice, and a sense of community trust.

One of the most popular sites in the world is to be run by the people for the people. They don’t disclose revenue formally, they don’t offer banner advertising or PPC, and only charge for job postings in a select amount of cities. They  once explained their drive for maximizing profits as “we have little interest in maximizing profit, instead preferring to help users find cars, apartments, jobs, and dates.” A brilliant strategy that appears to be working on many levels. Although they are tight lipped about finances at craigslist, there are reports of revenues in the $150 million mark in 2007. That’s impressive considering they only take money from roughly  2% of the cities they are in.

With all of this “self governing” it is obvious that some dishonest people are using craigslist to prey on the innocent, who are simply looking for a deal. One person’s trash is another persons treasure and many scam artists know that. Also, considering the site has not been technically upgraded since its inception, poses some safety issues. We have all heard the stories of scam artists, and worse, some more gruesome crimes associated with craigslist. We all know it exists, yet in the spirit of America, we continue to support this site in an attempt to find that one unbelievable deal. The “too good to be true moment.”

After using phoenix craigslist and buying and selling online through eBay I thought I could shed some light on things that I have found to work. Name a few scams and how they work, as well as things to look for, and use to make the craigslist experience a good one. First we can start with Scams. Craigslist does have an entire page  on how to handle would-be scammers as well as giving some basics on recognizing craigslist scams. They also give real examples of scams.

Offering to Pay With Cashiers Check

Many times in many situations a person will offer to buy your item, or rent your apartment or house sight unseen. They will claim they are very excited and sometimes will ask you to take the item off of craigslist to ensure they are serious. They will then announce plans to pay by cashiers check, and sometimes claim to have a local buyer that can pick up the item. They tell you they accidentally made the check to large, and would be willing to give you some of the extra money if you would be willing to cash it and send the remaining  back. Lets be clear here. The ONLY way to be safe is to deal in CASH and LOCALLY. But we can get to that in a minute.   More than likely the account numbers on the check are stolen from somewhere and the check itself is fraudulent. Meaning they probably printed the cashiers check themselves. Although the account number is real, the funds do not belong to the person sending the check. In the end the check will come back as fraud and you will be liable for cashing it. Then the person you sent it to will be nowhere to be found. Not only do you have to pay back all the money, which sometimes is a hefty amount, but also may have criminal charges brought upon you.

Using An Escrow Account

Often when dealing with large transactions like cars or very expensive furniture a common scam develops. Phoenix craigslist is notorious for this one. First, it is likely they will tell you a sob story or claim to be in the military over seas and can not be around to handle the transaction. To sweeten the deal they claim the government is helping them ship the furniture or car for free so you have no shipping costs. To further sweeten the deal they  claim they will only use an escrow service to handle the transaction. This is where the scam is. Although using an escrow service such as eBay or escrow.com are often very safe, if you receive a fake email pretending to be them, it is not safe. So basically the scam starts by making a decent report with you as the buyer, by exchanging emails and some personal information.  All along insisting on using an escrow account for your safety. After they have gained a little trust they will send you an email link, or page that is similar to the “real” page an escrow service would send you. However, it will not be an official email. It will take your information and send it to another bank account. They can then get you one of two ways, or both. If you send the money to the escrow account using their email or link they sent you, usually the money is instantly gone. They take the money and run because it is not actually being sent to a secure account. Most likely to their personal account of some sort. Secondly, if you don’t send money right away, or the deal falls through, chances are the email or link has a keystroke generator or cookie stealing script that will allow the scammer to get your personal information. This day in age, simply getting one or two passwords is enough to do some serious damage.

A Job Scam

A common job scam uses the front of a foreign company offering “account representative” positions in which they are operating in many different currencies. Therefore, they need someone to help deposit payroll and distribute payments. They will claim they are unable to receive the money directly and ask you to deposit the money, take a huge commission and wire the money to them. Again, any money wiring for craigslist purposes is just asking for trouble.

A Housing Scam

I read about this one, and still, it is astonishing that it works! This is the easiest scam out there. Basically a person will list a house, apartment, or timeshare for rent. They will provide a real address and real information about this particular property. They then demand their money up front. The kicker here is that the actual property does not exist for rent. It only works on people who are not in the same city,  and apparently  there is an enormous amount of people looking online for rentals in other cities. They take the money, and often “rent” the same property up to 20 times. I read an account where a person put a house, that he had absolutely no affiliation to,  for rent online for $1000 a month. Took 1/2 of the rent upfront from 30 people before he left town.  That’s $15000 this person scammed. The article went on to say he has done it more than once and the scammer was explaining how easy it was. I would like to add a personal note here. I have rented out a timeshare that I own using Phoenix craigslist. The first person who contacted me sent me  1/2 the rent within the first week of talking to them. basically one email.  The only source of reference they had was a website address I placed on the the ad, and the word of someone in a state 12 hours away. It was actually unnerving on my end to witness such trust for someone they don’t know. So I can see how this could work. Just a piece of advice here,  looking into and researching things can go along way. And NEVER follow all of the sellers rules, always ask questions and err on the side of caution. This person that rented from me has no idea if I truly own or who I am, or if that is truly my address she sent the money to.

Things To Look For

There are many things to look at in a posted ad on craigslist that might tip you off, or raise some flags. The most important for me is gut feeling. If it suspect  it probably is. Trust yourself and your feelings. Second, if its too good to be true it probably is. Here is a list of things I look for when dealing online.

• Spelling is a major issue. Many spam ad generators, and overseas scammers have terrible spelling and grammar.
• Check the information in the ad to have relevant and up to date information. If they are selling a car with pictures. Make sure the backgrounds of the pictures appear to have the landscaping native to the area they are selling from. Example: if selling a car on phoenix craigslist and the background is Victorian houses and weeping willows…..maybe second guess that one.
• There are many car scams on Craigslist, so it might be easier to look for dealerships like the Nissan of Peoria dealership, so you can be assured you’re not a victim of a scam.
• Anyone that leaves a phone number or personal information in their ad is usually legit. If they are not afraid to talk to you there is a higher chance of the transaction being real.
• A story that makes sense. Use some logic and avoid anything “free” to sweeten a deal. (i.e. free shipping of anything.)
• Never meet at your own house. Always meet in public place
  • Tell a friend or family member what you are doing
  • Always have a cell phone along
  • Ty to take a friend with you
• If anyone ever asks for your full information. Requesting Name, Address, Phone #, Email etc. Is potentially a scam
• Always remember craigslist has very basic functionality. Virus and spyware can happen. Always Trust your instincts.

Craigslist can be a beautiful thing if handled correctly. Especially the phoenix craigslist. I am officially deeming Phoenix Arizona as the unofficial home of the barter. Unfortunately there will always be someone out there who is willing to prey on the honest. From experience, many great things can be done on craigslist by being fair and understanding fair market value of what you are selling. Remember to always trust your gut feeling and remember the golden rule…..Yes the golden rule you learned in kindergarten. Lastly, the true way to tell if the transaction was a good one, look for an unsolicited fist bump or high five. or any final references such as “sweeeet…pound it” “up top” “yes!…give me some skin” or any sort of dancing…….. That my friends is success!