A strong Christmas push helped propel U.S. online holiday spending to $35.3 billion this year, up 15 percent versus 2010, according to market research firm comScore. U.S. consumers hopped online and spent $2.8 billion in the week leading up to Christmas day, marking a 16 percent increase over the same week one year ago.
Time is running out if you still haven't slid any presents underneath the Christmas tree (for those of you who celebrate the holiday), and you have even less time if you prefer to shop online. But it's not too late to snag a Kindle online, not yet anyway. Amazon is offering free two-day shipping -- a deal normally reserved for Prime members -- to customers who order any Kindle device, including the Kindle Fire, by 8PM PT on December 21 (tomorrow).
Tis the season to spend, spend, and spend some more, and it doesn't look like online shoppers are having any trouble doing that, and then some. According to Internet marketing research company comScore, holiday retail e-commerce spending for the first 46 days of the November to December 2011 season is $30.9 billion to date, up 15 percent compared to the same period one year ago.
In case you partied too hard over the weekend and forgot the date, today is September 19th. So fill up your mug with grog and put on your eye-patch, lest you be labled a scallywag on Talk Like a Pirate Day! With your remaining good eye, be on the lookout for deals, like the one from Telltale games.
Enemies yesterday, friends today. That about sums up the relationship between online eCommerce giant Amazon and the state of California, two sides that have been bickering over sales tax. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Amazon and California legislatures took off the boxing gloves long enough to shake hands and sign a deal where Amazon would be off the hook for sales tax for one more year.
It will be up to California residents to decide whether or not Amazon and other online retailers will have to collect sales tax in their state. According to the Associated Press, the California Attorney General's Office approved Amazon's petition for a referendum that will give voters the chance to overturn a new controversial law that altered what it means to have a physical presence in the state.
Every time a state draws up a new bill to force Amazon's hand at ponying up sales tax for products sold and shipped to its residents, the online retailer responds by killing off its associate program in that state and ending any business deals. It's akin to Amazon taking it's ball and going home, or at least going elsewhere, the only problem with that approach is Amazon is running out of places to, well, run. California is the most 
The United States has a long history of fighting against unfair taxes (Boston Tea Party, anyone?), and while Amazon's battle is of a different sort than when the country was founded, the e-tailer feels as though it's the victim of greed by state officials who have the audacity to seek sales tax. Rather than comply with new laws that keep popping up around the country, Amazon has chosen to take its ball and run to different playgrounds, most recently turning its back on Connecticut.
You might already be familiar with Facebook's Check-In Deals, a service the social networking site launched a few months back and designed to help users take advantage of special offers when checking in at a local business from a mobile device. Deals on Facebook is different. This newly launched service is more akin to what Groupon is doing, in that it serves up discounts to select establishments that you purchase online and redeem offline.
Don't throw away your Sharper Image gift card just yet. In the coming weeks, you may be able to use it. Not for merchandise, mind you, but in exchange for cold, hard cash. Sharper Image, which is now called TSIC, wants to reimburse gift card holders almost three years after the company closed up shop. It's now up to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware whether or not the company formerly known as Sharper Image will be allowed to pay that money back.
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