Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
There original reason for being was never to buy books and media. That was just the jumping off point. Bezos always envisioned a massive online marketplace where he could sell anything and everything. Books and then eventually CD's were just a simple starting point.
As it relates to media there is obviously a growing trend of "renting" music in the form of the various media streaming services. This is a direct outcome of Apple's desire to eliminate the concept of the album and allow people to buy individual songs. This, IMO, has further eroded the quality of music that is produced today and most people don't want to buy an album with 2 good tracks and 11 other garbage ones thrown in. If artists start making respectable music again more people will buy the entire album.
Renting would also be an attractive option on other things such as home appliances which are built like absolute garbage these days. I'd gladly rent a dishwasher for $10/month on a 5 year contract if it was repaired/replaced by the company when it inevitably breaks after 2 years (I speak from experience on this one).
I think I remember seeing a report that less than a fifth of the US population under 30 years old don't have a single credit card. Most people in my generation I think don't see the need to have one. My credit score is in the 700s right now on student loan and medical bill payments alone. I recently bought a new car, and those payments will also fuel my credit score. However, in the hopes of buying my own home in the near future I did finally cave in and got a credit card to work on getting my credit score even higher. But the only thing I put on it right now is gas...Agree, and I see it in my own line of work peddling higher end "toy" car stuff. The customer is changing, the cars are changing, the buying habits and expectations are changing, none of it for the better from a profit making standpoint. Pretty much everyone I know between 25 and 40 now is really not into the whole buy crap scene. Especially anything on credit. I think Amazon and the like know it too and are, sporadically, acting on it. I'd hate to be selling cars or big ticket stuff for a living these days.
9/10 now i buy products simply because i need them to fulfill a function not because i Want them for some existential reason. And if I don't need something, then i simply won't buy it, and you can advertise spam me all you want.
I'm pretty sure I don't know even one person who prefers to rent things over buy.
Yeah but increasing the wage for McDonald's employees to $15/hour will surely make prices of things go up which is why wages obviously have to be kept low. Actually, let's lower minimum wage so that prices for things at the store will be cheaper because apparently that's how economics works here in the U.S.
this is how I feel.
this would only happen in America. Once they up minimum wage, prices of everything will go up. Those folks making the new minimum wage won't go anywhere. they still make the same amount of money...BUT the folks like myself that make good money, it hurts us because my salary isn't going to magically go up by 7 dollars an hour.
I think I remember seeing a report that less than a fifth of the US population under 30 years old don't have a single credit card. Most people in my generation I think don't see the need to have one. My credit score is in the 700s right now on student loan and medical bill payments alone. I recently bought a new car, and those payments will also fuel my credit score. However, in the hopes of buying my own home in the near future I did finally cave in and got a credit card to work on getting my credit score even higher. But the only thing I put on it right now is gas...
Some don't want the hassle of a House and prefer to rent.
Why not? McDonald's in Denmark pays their employees the equivalent of $20 USD, and a Big Mac there only costs $0.80 cents more. So in a country with massively higher taxes and 4x the employee wage, McDonalds can somehow magically still make a profit, with only a 16% increase in the price of the good.
With Mortgages lasting 15-30 years and endless property tax, buying a house seems more like renting to me.
With Mortgages lasting 15-30 years and endless property tax, buying a house seems more like renting to me.
I'm gonna bet those McDonald's are run much more efficiently and with a significantly smaller number of employees per unit sales than your average US McDonald's.
That isn't what happened in Washington or California (San Francisco and San Diego).this is how I feel.
this would only happen in America. Once they up minimum wage, prices of everything will go up. Those folks making the new minimum wage won't go anywhere. they still make the same amount of money...BUT the folks like myself that make good money, it hurts us because my salary isn't going to magically go up by 7 dollars an hour.
Not to mention that they front-load the interest payments. Shouldn't even be legal.
With Mortgages lasting 15-30 years and endless property tax, buying a house seems more like renting to me.
This is basic financial mathematics, the longer the term of the loan and the higher the rate, the more interest you will be paying (this even happens on your 5 year car loan). If you take out a 30 year mortgage, you are paying interest based on that 30 years. This is the opposite of compounded interest on savings, where you earn interest on the interest you already collected.
If you are only going to live in a place for a few years, then you should consider renting instead of buying.
Please don't sign loan papers if you don't understand how interest works. That's how many people end up in financial distress. Try renting instead, then you can deal with higher rent payments every year instead of a fixed payment for the next 30.
That isn't what happened in Washington or California (San Francisco and San Diego).
I understand it fine and I haven't signed anything, so don't talk down to me.
Point is that they charge you the interest of the entire term first (well, mostly), rather than paying interest as it accrues over time.
If I take out a 30 year loan and move after 5 years and pay the loan off, I should have around 5/30 equity. But no - almost all of that went into interest payments.
Except you clearly don't understand how amortization works.
If I take out a 30 year loan and move after 5 years and pay the loan off, I should have around 5/30 equity. But no - almost all of that went into interest payments.
Make sure you actually understand how to raise your credit score. Check out creditboards.com. I have 19 credit accounts with a aggregate of $95k limit and maintain a 750+ credit score.I think I remember seeing a report that less than a fifth of the US population under 30 years old don't have a single credit card. Most people in my generation I think don't see the need to have one. My credit score is in the 700s right now on student loan and medical bill payments alone. I recently bought a new car, and those payments will also fuel my credit score. However, in the hopes of buying my own home in the near future I did finally cave in and got a credit card to work on getting my credit score even higher. But the only thing I put on it right now is gas...
Make sure you actually understand how to raise your credit score. Check out creditboards.com. I have 19 credit accounts with a aggregate of $95k limit and maintain a 750+ credit score.
Remeber also that even if you have credit that you don't use, the total available credit that one has avaiable to them can actually hurt their credit score.
I was carrying zero debt and my score was dinged specifically because I didn't have a big enough line of credit vs. the average balance I carried on my credit card (which was always paid in full monthly).
Most of history, employers paid their employees the very least that they could in order to get qualified workers. That hasn't changed. There aren't a lot of Henry Fords out there; nearly all companies are run by pricks who don't give a crap about their workers, which is why in the early to mid 20th century so many unions cropped up. Then the companies without them had to compete, and so they added worker's benefits to the compensation package. Now, it's reversing again, and employees are slowly losing those same benefits and having to pay for them on their own. I think this kind of thing runs in cycles. Like someone else said, change usually comes in violence type events, and this is no different; the union members WERE violently removing scab workers during those years to bring about change. I wonder what it will be like this time around.That is how the middle class grows, wages going to more employees, Henry Fords making sure his employees can buy his goods.
Make sure you actually understand how to raise your credit score. Check out creditboards.com. I have 19 credit accounts with a aggregate of $95k limit and maintain a 750+ credit score.
a number of us already knew the reality from research, but now it's moving across the nation in a big way and the examples are rolling in that higher minimum wages are boosting the local economies where they are passedCosts aren't passed on to consumers? Minimum wage increases just incentivizes additional automation.
Well, charging so much at launch for a forked version of android with 18 month old specs AND limiting it to one carrier?
They just had WIN written all over it....
There aren't a lot of Henry Fords out there; nearly all companies are run by pricks who don't give a crap about their workers, which is why in the early to mid 20th century so many unions cropped up.
a number of us already knew the reality from research, but now it's moving across the nation in a big way and the examples are rolling in that higher minimum wages are boosting the local economies where they are passed
http://mic.com/articles/92983/here-...-states-that-increased-minimum-wage-this-year
How about ruinous tax rates? The amount of money the feds, state and local "authorities" remove from my paycheck every week is more than some people earn in the same time period.
I think I know better how to spend my money then some faceless bureaucrat but I digress.
The idiot governor of the state where I'm living pushed through the largest tax increase in history and can't figure out why people are fleeing the state in droves or why the pool of people working here has been unchanged for over 2 decades.
I'd have more money to spend on goods and services if fewer people were in my wallet before me.
You said it in your comment, many people believe media, leaders, etc. for the truth. Our propaganda is far more sophisticated than it was in the early to mid 20th century. You say this is a cycle, if so, I think this time it's going to be a very long cycle. You can't bring about change without some sort of cohesion and everyone seems to be pulling in different directions. I'm pessimistic and think nothing short of widespread starvation would bring about real change, and we're still a long ways from that.Most of history, employers paid their employees the very least that they could in order to get qualified workers. That hasn't changed. There aren't a lot of Henry Fords out there; nearly all companies are run by pricks who don't give a crap about their workers, which is why in the early to mid 20th century so many unions cropped up. Then the companies without them had to compete, and so they added worker's benefits to the compensation package. Now, it's reversing again, and employees are slowly losing those same benefits and having to pay for them on their own. I think this kind of thing runs in cycles. Like someone else said, change usually comes in violence type events, and this is no different; the union members WERE violently removing scab workers during those years to bring about change. I wonder what it will be like this time around.
But the average worker is still not much more than a moron, believing that commercials, politicians, and religious leaders all tell the truth.
We live in a consumer society. People only stop buying things when they can't afford it anymore. Hmmmm. I wonder how many people just think along the lines of this: 'Like the U.S. gov't, I guess I'll have to raise my debt ceiling.'
My wife has longer history but far less accounts and her score has been similar to mine, since we married it has gone up about 25 points for her, but almost everything is in my name so I don't know how the effects hers. Do some reading at creditboards.com credit is a fickle beast and my understanding that the only will hurt me with a large number of accounts is that some insurance (All State) charge you more. I don't carry a balance and pay off in full every statement. You will actually show a lower utilization if you pay off the account prior to the statement closing.Your credit score is probably lower than it should be due to the high limit and the large number of cards you have.
Generally, you want fewer cards (less than 10), with a total limit no higher than your gross income.
Plus, pay them off every month and don't use more than 1/3 of the credit available on the card.
Parja said:Except you clearly don't understand how amortization works.
Point is that they charge you the interest of the entire term first (well, mostly), rather than paying interest as it accrues over time.
If I take out a 30 year loan and move after 5 years and pay the loan off, I should have around 5/30 equity. But no - almost all of that went into interest payments.
The place you could have called me out is that doing this helps them keep rates lower overall because they make a lot of their profit this way (people who keep moving and don't get to the point where they have much equity). But that is a type of subsidization.