I'm not buying it...

[ultrarunner]

After comparatively very little Internet solicitations for almost 2 years my inbox has exploded with special offers, coupons, discounts, etc...

My though is where were you all when I did have things to buy?

Maybe I'm just more tight fisted now and have come to appreciate less is often more...

 

[Roadworthy]

I do not get many offers for unwanted stuff. Why? I use Thunderbird, a free Mozilla product to access my email. It has a pretty good junk filter. If I get junk I can flag it as junk and won't receive it again. If something inadvertently goes into the junk folder (it happens from time to time) I can mark it as not junk and that sender can get through to my inbox again.

 

[ultrarunner]

Mostly companies I have ordered from in the past either for work or home…
Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, My Pillow, Zoro, plus many more…

 

[TheMan419]

I noticed an uptick starting a few months ago. I use gmail and it usually did a great job filtering spam. So I spent a good bit of time flagging things as spam. The spam has now slowed down greatly.

 

[Mendonsy]

The spam seems to be very cyclic around here. My wife was getting loads of spam about six weeks ago, then it slowed down after about two weeks. The next week my neighbor stated getting lots of spam which also lasted about two weeks. When hers slowed I started getting a lot of spam. That has lasted about two weeks and is now slowing down.

This spam seems to be all the same stuff repeated several times per day and is easily detected as spam by looking a the sender's email address. Most of it is "you have won a (something)" or "your (vendor) antivirus subscription has expired".

 

[RoyJackson]

I just assign (set rules in Outlook) most to "block Sender" or move directly to the Deleted folder
Problem with the Spam is they change the sender's e-mail address very frequently. As soon as I see Norton or McAfee, I know it's spam

 

[ultrarunner]

I’m sure part is sellers making up for lost time…

Often no where to be found 12 to 18 months ago and appears collectively back in the game…

Maybe over all a good thing as sellers compete…

Couldn’t buy pesticide and paint respirators for love or money… so many now telling me plenty in stock…

 

[bdhsfz6]

Buying anything from an email solicitation is risky. Too many scammers.

 

[RjCorazza]

Buying anything from an email solicitation is risky. Too many scammers.

I totally agree. If I don't already have a relationship with the company, no way I'm dealing with unsolicited offers.

 

[ponytug]

I’m sure part is sellers making up for lost time…

Often no where to be found 12 to 18 months ago and appears collectively back in the game…

Maybe over all a good thing as sellers compete…

Couldn’t buy pesticide and paint respirators for love or money… so many now telling me plenty in stock…

I am not sure what the cause is; I am sure that you're right that when there isn't inventory, there is no point in advertising or offering coupons.

There is another possible reason. Due to tracking shifts by Google and Apple, many (most?) companies are switching to direct targeting of their existing customers and website visitors.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ultrarunner]

My best guess is inventory is ramping up and the rush is on...

Have not bought anything from Sears in a very long time and at least several years from Harbor Freight and Northern Tool...

Now it seems they collectively put marketing in overdrive.

During the last 2 years it was a struggle to secure hospital supplies for work.

In my opinion the best supply chain model was to to give everyone a portion of past business...

I might order my usual order of 1000 N95 and receive 100... totally understandable.

Lots of new players soliciting my hospital business... but no where to be found when I needed them...

I realize the pandemic is not over... still waiting for city hall to open!

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Mostly companies I have ordered from in the past either for work or home…
Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, My Pillow, Zoro, plus many more…

I sign up for things I am interested in, so get appropriate offers. One of the companies I discovered was Banggood, a direct-from-China discount outfit. I started by ordering small stuff, and found it exactly as advertised, so bought a small CNC router and an oscilloscope from them, cheaper than I could find anywhere else. They ship orders air freight, so avoid the backlog at the ocean shipping ports. Recommended, if you are a little bit of a techno-nerd.

banggood.com

 

[ultrarunner]

Always been more of a brick and mortar but times change..

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Always been more of a brick and mortar but times change..

When the closest town within an hour and a half is population 24,000, brick and mortar is not a great option. It does have the largest tool store in the state, but otherwise we are stuck with Walmart, Costco, the Farmer's Co-Op, Coastal Farm and Tractor Supply. And of course, Kubota and John Deere dealerships. There are three NAPA stores in easy driving distance. Consumer goods are everywhere, and farm supplies, feed, fertilizer, etc. Oh, and there are a couple welding supply stores in town, two independent lumber yards, Lowes, Home Depot, and a decent steel supplier.

When I was looking for an oscilloscope, there wasn't one, even though Tektronics is an Oregon company. Radio Shack was the last outfit to sell electronics components, and they are long gone, so resistors, transistors, ICs, printed circuit boards, etc. are internet only. I wear size 15EEE shoes. If I walk into a shoe store, they will offer to order for me off the internet, but have nothing in stock that will fit me. The last bookstore in town closed a decade ago. There are, however, about 15 brick and mortar burger joints that I don't patronize. I'm pretty resigned to being out of step with local rural culture. The upscale sorts like the local wineries, but I think wine is just rotten grape juice.