@ybmuG In the past the tax was refunded in proportion to the final cost of the IRK. Has this changed? I would expect the final cost to be ~$1.08 after spending $99 or more on known junk to offset the surprise junk in the IRK. Will that not happen this time?
@psantora@ybmuG Much will depend upon state law in your jurisdiction as well. A few truly greedy locales demand collection of sales tax on the price of the item prior to the application of rebates, allowances, discounts, etc. In any event, the sales tax applicable will be determined on the basis of the delivery address.
@blaineg@tinamarie1974 I tried that last time. But by the time I had convinced myself there was $100+ stuff for sale that would enhance my …
life, the IRK was sold out.
Believe it or don’t, there are enough suckers willing takers for it at most any price point.
I can fill up about half the requirement just with snack foods, and such, like the Finger Lickin’ wafels today.
@blaineg@phendrick so far I havent seen anything that has compelled me to hit the buy button. I guess we will see, but I also dont feel the need to check back on the regular like when there are random Irks on the loose. This years bday is just very less than meh
@blaineg@tinamarie1974 “This years bday is just very less than meh”
For you mehbe, but not for them. I think 9 years is a better-than-good run for the average discount e-commerce site.
It will be interesting to see if they mehture as they reach adolescence. Part of me hopes not.
@blaineg@phendrick for me and based on comments for lots of others - them too. You know, customers who keep a company viable.
It has been said before but Meh has changed, it is not as quirky and fun as it use to be. Mehbe your analogy about the comapny “growing up” nailed it. When Meh was new and infantile it was a fun and unexpected pleasure. It has become very predictable and boring. Here is hoping for rowdy teenage years.
@blaineg@phendrick @tinamarie1974 Hah - I hadn’t seen this comment from you but I was thinking “Meh must age in dog or cat years” because the early Meh was so much crazier and weirder and willing to take chances, and now it’s almost like any other respectable middle-aged person business, focused on making money instead of having fun!
It has been said before but Meh has changed, it is not as quirky and fun as it use to be.
@blaineg@phendrick@tinamarie1974 I feel it all boils down to product and price. If it’s something really useful, there’s discussion. If it’s something at a stupid cheap price, there’s discussion. If neither, meh … and limited discussion.
THIS IS BEAT!!
It’s just not the same, our relationship is changing Meh. What’s the sense of having a mehrathon without the thrill of the chase? Having a count down with a timer seems kind of silly when there’s ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE of having a IRK come up!
WHY on earth would I want to hang around here all day without the anticipation or anxiety of scoring an IRK?Being able to afford $100 worth of stuff to get a free IRK isn’t what it’s all about! Personally, I miss the anticipation, the anxiety that fills my body as the timer counts down! Is it going to be another charger , is it going to be another set of headphones , or is it going to be the coveted IRK?
It’s like the gamblers high… Sweaty palms, dry mouth and maybe even a bit light headed. Oh how I miss that dreaded feeling.
It’s just not the same, especially when it’s your birthday, I miss those fun birthday games! This pretty much stinks!
You’ve definitely lived up to your name, you’re now totally MEH!
@Lynnerizer Meh-rathons used to be a series of sprints. This one seems more like a slow walk with no scenery. Very strange. I mean not even a cameo from @KoolHandJoe. Clearly some prefer this. Kind of like some prefer milk chocolate, elevator “jazz” or the Pacer. Different strokes. In the end it’s a business and the market will decide. It just seems to be devoid of personality which, frankly, was a big part of the product.
@Koolhandjoe@Lynnerizer@ybmuG I would seriously lurk for the chance to buy a al@KoolHandJoe original. But I’m not missing the non-stop disappointment of lurking for IRKs.
@pmarin@ybmuG
Different strokes is spot on! And oh how I can’t stand those damn Pacers! They give me dirty old man vibes and that’s because when I was 15-16 years old this creepy old (extremely large) gross man picked me up in one and didn’t want to let me out. Granted, it was my fault for getting in the car in the first place but ever since then I get physically sick just seeing one. Guess I’m lucky they never caught on like the SUV has, I can’t imagine seeing them everywhere! Lol
@Lynnerizer hey now, there was a single slightly discounted Playstation 5, slipped in there without you knowing, to chase! .
Personally I think it’s a bit of a mistake making IRK refund redemption $100… That’s a decent chunk of money that many people right now feel is more than fun “discretionary” spending. Part of the magic of meh is somehow getting us to buy junk we usually don’t need because it’s usually fun and cheap. But putting the $100 gate up it makes us actually stop, pay attention and account for or spending and then we realize that’s a lot/too much random stuff we don’t need for more risk than we want to spend.
Of course, I don’t know the numbers, maybe they do sell much, much more overall this way . It would be really interesting to see which method gets more sales though.
@Lynnerizer Yeah, the thrill is gone. No skill required. It’s like picking your seat at the movies 3 months in advance. Back when I was a kid we would wait in lines for HOURS to see Star Wars, and we liked it because we EARNED IT!
@troy I also check back periodically to see if I missed anything as I just did overnight and nope-nothing I needed or wanted.
Having gotten over 30 IRKs, the excitement of getting one is long gone although still like opening a box not knowing what is in it. Obviously having to spend $ 20 to get one vs $ 100 on stuff I may or may not need affects my excitement.
Ummm, it’s a no from me. The Irk’s have consistently gone up in price; with the value/expectations not quite matching up. Meh please let go of the greed and gimmicks.
@Enigma@SpocKirk In the past we had everyone fighting over the chance to get them for $5 and the quality matched what you paid, but probably not the effort required to get one. These days we removed the fighting and replaced it with a “earn your discount through participation” method which can make them only $1 if you’re spending money on the event already. Not everyone will spend that much, but the end cost of $1 for the original’s same $5 quality means you’re getting 80% off with no loss of quality of the product. And to be fair, not everyone was getting them when they were $5 either, but I think that was for a worse reason. $100 might not be the “sweet spot” but we get far fewer “this price is stupid” posts at the end than the number of “stupid captcha” or “really?!? sold out in 1 second!!!” posts we had before.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Now that I have two tattoos and get billions of irks, I’m not in this game anymore
But it might be cool, the kind of combine the incentives
Some irks offered at 100 bucks or whatever with corresponding purchases required to get the discounts
And perhaps some irks that are offers up in the “kill or be killed”, who has the best reflexes an Internet connection scramble for survival and dominance.
@ExtraMedium are the irks valued differently due to what’s possibly going into the box? Like this 100 one gonna be better than the last one I bought that gave me 48 mascara, 12 hair extension heat protection, 5 pixel tags that can’t even work?
@ExtraMedium@SpocKirk “earn your discount through participation” basically means earn your discount through purchasing other items. I’m already making my monthly VMP donation. It’s still a no from me.
@Enigma@ExtraMedium@SpocKirk You are using the wrong measuring stick. I suspect the real, secret, measuring stick for which way to offer an irk is total $$$ in sales.
@ExtraMedium There was always the option of blocking bots better and not throwing captchas up against long-time, obviously-human, paid-you-$5/month-for-years accounts, but hey.
@Telanis Funny you should mention that. We have still never been able to verify the use of bots to place IRK orders. Everyone underestimates how quickly 20 of one desirable item can sell out via legitimate means when you have greater than 1,000 people trying to get it at the same time. To be clear, we have more than 2,000 active VMP accounts lurking around even now. If anyone had a bot coded to buy them up we’d certainly have seen them during the IRK-a-thon as someone buying multiples but even during that event only 2-3 people bought more than 2. And they were regulars.
@tinamarie1974 One of my cousin’s kids would do that. He was about 3 at the time and would stomp off into the tall grass at the farm, looking back repeatedly to make sure someone was watching him. He’d finally do that same arm and face move and then sit down. If you’d ignore him he’d poke his head up occasionally look around and repeat if he saw someone was watching. If you ignored him long enough he’d walk out like nothing had happened. The kid was into drama.
@tinamarie1974 I’d agree on the fonts and it is a pity you have spend $40 more to get it. That is a lot of money!!! I was just cracking up that that giphy looked exactly like how my cousin’s kid #3 (who is now 30 something) would behave.
@tinamarie1974@ybmuG Well they did sell dog treats somewhere along the line but I have no idea if charlie dog liked them or not. Seems unlikely that would come to $40 even if he did.
@Kidsandliz@ybmuG i know, I need to figure out something. Its a no on the treats, I am kind of particular on what he eats. Had a doggo years ago that passed away from the whole poisened chinese dog food/treat issue. What was that like 2006-2008 or so???
Invisible plane, YES!!! I could fly around visiting all my meh friends w Charlie riding shotgun!
@Kidsandliz@tinamarie1974 i think it was about then. We didn’t have yekoP yet then (got him in 2012), but were acutely aware of that and have been very careful since. We always read labels in full before buying, including with toys. I figure if i do that with my food, i should do it with his.
@f00l@ybmuG no coffee grinder, but I dont drink coffee. Just grabbed a set of those blankets. Looks like I know what my secret santa gift will be at christmas
@tinamarie1974@ybmuG I knew nothing about the dog treats. I am sorry you found out the problems with chinese treats the hard way. That must have been horrible.
@Kidsandliz@ybmuG it was absolutely terrible and unnecessary. I was feeding him old roy (walmart) food and treats. Never again. For a long time after I did 100% homemade dog food with vitamin suppliments
Now my pups only get all US sourced ingredients or I make them home made.
@f00l@tinamarie1974@ybmuG about what $40 is worth or $100 is worth for that matter, it changed when just filling up a small car with gas cost $100. I remember when I used to commute every day and was alarmed when it cost over $20 to fill up.
now my car is plugged-in outside and used about 35 cents of electricity for my trip to the store this morning.
Yeah, no. Spent too much time buying too many things I really don’t need, or even really want. I know there’s not going to be anything I really need in this farce or on Morning Save, so … no.
If something pops up that’s actually useful and necessary, I’ll just buy it, but not going to go through this IRK manipulation.
What I actually kinda like about this arrangement is that it rewards the type of good customer that doesn’t have either the time to stick around for every update of a mehrathon, or the technical prowess to snag an IRK even if they did, but yet is able/willing to spend more than the average bear. What I don’t get though, is why not also have a handful of IRKs scattered about in the mehrathon for those other good customers who can stick around but can’t (or don’t need to) make that many purchases. Wouldn’t that be a win-win? This way is great in one sense, but really makes the mehrathon quite boring (with IRKs now out of reach for different reasons) in another. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Maybe if my last IRK wasn’t the shittiest one I have had in a long time. (That pillow is still waiting to “air out” and get to size) Maybe if they had $100 of decent products. Maybe…
As it is, at least I won’t waste any time at the computer these two days.
@KNmeh7 my pillow smelled like straight up mildew and never got to size, went in the trash and the only useful thing I got last round was the irk bag but I’ve also ended up with some really great ones over the years.
@KNmeh7@kuzakiObjection! Your Honor, Meh is merely as Meh as it has always been. It says so right in the name. Clearly it showed poor judgement of the customer to assume anything more and no representation of such quality was ever stated.
Update: Picked up paincakes, sleeping pad, waterless hand cleaning kit, chill ice cooling accessories, and the eye massager for $101.99 (before taxes). Sadly the Meh cups were sold out, but I’m pretty happy with these other purchases and what will now be my third IRK. Woohoo!!
One con to this weekend’s Mehrathon: So many drink accessories, but not a single beverage on sale.
@brainmist After collecting all of the validated photos from the Ink for IRKs thread I go through each of those accounts one-by-one to see if they already have an IRK from the current event. If they do, I don’t send out the Ink IRK since it’s one per account per event. This still applies for the two-day event since it’s one event across two days. 1 (one) IRK. The only exception was back in the day when SideDeal had “hidden IRKs” that weren’t counted against randomly appearing event IRKs, but we haven’t had them hidden in a while. Not to say we never will again, but that’s the only way to sneak in an extra without a rule violation.
@brainmist@ExtraMedium The other exception was I I think it might have been a birthday but maybe not when there were irks giving away randomly or as prizes for comments in the Forum and they didn’t count against the one you paid for
@Cerridwyn@ExtraMedium That was my first encounter with IRKs… I think I ended up with 3-4, and they were all pretty decent! The start of my addiction, thwarted by slow internet speeds. I think I managed to beat the clock once. Maybe twice?
I liked the story treasure hunt ones… I can’t remember if multiples were possible that way.
The current buy other crap/ get a refund actually worked pretty well for me, except I forgot to use all the credit last time. Busy during the day, dozed off. Ah well.
@brainmist@Cerridwyn@ExtraMedium
The adventure story on Sidedeal is how I got my first-ever Irk, too. I liked following the Byzantine twists and turns of that wild story and then happening on the Irk just like a real treasure hunt!
I got that one too I remember that. But my first ever one that I won I guess I would call it because I was never fast enough on the original ones and my only f*** who I think that I ever got was the captcha one I loved it I just zoom zoomed through it while other people would cursing
The one where they gave them to random people for comments in the thread is the best thing I ever got and it was one of the ninja blender sets that has all the attachments to it new in box not a refurb
@Cerridwyn@ExtraMedium@Kyeh I’m glad they try new things, and glad Meh cares enough to try to offer different routes for those who are internet-impaired. Of course, even going to fiber, I was still usually too slow!
I do love amusing typos - or as a friend of mine once misstyped, “typso.”
Also when people use the wrong homonym, like “bare with me.” (Umm, I’ll pass.)
Or when autocorrect obviously substitutes the wrong word - an infamous one I heard about was when some document with references to paint colors wrongly replaced “black” with “African-American” throughout.
@brainmist@ExtraMedium@f00l@yakkoTDI
Reminds me if Mary McCarthy’s insult of Lillian Hellman: “every word she writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the’.”
Update: Two of the items I was considering sold out (Laminator and straws) so I’m keeping an eye on the Meh branded wristbrands and cups, ice cooling accessories, stroopwafels, waterless cleaning kit, and eye massager. That puts me at $99.98 ($94.98 with coupon). I haven’t bought the IRK yet until I know I can pass that $100 threshold but I’m having fun seeing what Meh is offering and might drop some of the listings above if something else is of higher interest.
If I don’t end up buying anything, so be it. Reading posts reacting to the Mehrathon is also entertaining and I will have another shot at IRKs if/when they do something like this again.
@JT954 Better make sure you don’t have to buy $105 if you use the coupon to actually spend $100 to get an irk. That might need some clarification @extramedium ???
@JT954@Kidsandliz@scilynt I’m honestly not sure how they’re counting the coupons, but it doesn’t change much. You don’t have to hit $100 to get a discount. Hell, $1 gets you a discount. You just won’t max out the refund total until you’re up over the $99 hump.
@OnionSoup@blaineg Yes, that’s the way it works. So, yes, you can wait. However there is a chance of the IRK selling out on SideDeal, though at the $100 entry price, it’s less likely to happen quickly.
@OnionSoup you’re going to need to have an approved PO 30 days in advance for a transaction at that level, but the good news is that with that kind of volume you could get them at $99 each.
They’re also just likely to redirect an inbound trailer of Morningsave sports bras and face cleaners to you to fulfill that volume and ship you a case of IRK bags to assemble them yourself.
@djslack@pmarin no loading dock but I’ve got plenty of land to dump irks on. Could probably fill the creek with trackrs, they would be like nice round pebbles on the base.
@djslack@OnionSoup Good plan, just make sure to take out the CR2016 (Or whatever they are) batteries out first for recycling. Don’t want to dump that stuff in the creek.
If I’d already spent 80 bucks in the mehrathon I’d probably do it, just because I do feel like irk quality has improved since they started these shenanigans. I’m not going to spend 100 on something random that’s probably worth less when there are so many ways spending 80+ in a mehrathon could go sideways.
At that point though, why not just offer it to people for 10 bucks when they spend 90 or a dollar at 99? Seems silly to have to put a hold on 100 for some unknown amount of time, when the only reason a person would spend that much would be if something went wrong.
If I were to buy an IRK today, does all the spending I did yesterday count towards the refund? Like if I spent $100 yesterday and bought the IRK today, do I get $99 refunded still?
@DubbaD My understanding is that any spending on 'Thon items - but ONLY 'Thon items - counts toward the $100. Spending from Friday(EDT) and prior, and spending on SideDeal or Casemates or Morningsave, does not count. And if you used your CHEAPGIFTS coupon, you didn’t spend that $5; only the bottom line before tax and shipping is relevant.
@DubbaD@medz good to know, cus I see like $50 of stuff I want, waiting for another $50 before buying the irk. Hopefully I find some nice garbage in the next 11 hours, would be my first irk
I assume Membership doesn’t count towards the $100, right?
@wplumleyz Yes you get a refund for the creditable amount PLUS tax. It does take about 2 weeks to be processed so don’t panic. I’ve done a few of these this year and it always worked out (questionable value of IRK contents notwithstanding)
Though if you think you’ll likely want at least $99 of stuff over 2 days, it’s essentially $1 ($9 in New Tax York)
So basically I just bought a $99 gift card for $108 that has to be spent in 48 hrs
I may be dumber than I thought 10 min ago
@ybmuG In the past the tax was refunded in proportion to the final cost of the IRK. Has this changed? I would expect the final cost to be ~$1.08 after spending $99 or more on known junk to offset the surprise junk in the IRK. Will that not happen this time?
@psantora I stand corrected. A little better than I had calculated, but it does add to my dumbness…
And given the offering this far, I’m feeling even dumberer
@psantora @ybmuG Much will depend upon state law in your jurisdiction as well. A few truly greedy locales demand collection of sales tax on the price of the item prior to the application of rebates, allowances, discounts, etc. In any event, the sales tax applicable will be determined on the basis of the delivery address.
Don’t say they didn’t warn you. It’s right there.
@werehatrack
I don’t need another box of TrackR pixels and a handful of mascara!
@lonocat I’m thinking the same thing.
@lonocat but its only $100. Those trackrs will be worth millions when archaeologists discover them in the future.
@lonocat You got mascara?! That would go great with my eyephone accessories.
@lonocat Yeah, my last sidedeal IRK sent to my father in NY had 6 purses, about 24 black mascaras, and a half dozen face/eyebrow trimmers
@caffeineguy @lonocat That is vastly better than any of my BoC / Fuko / IRKs, tbh
Why was I even excited about the bday Irk. No way I am taking a chance on $100.00
@tinamarie1974 Chance doesn’t enter into it. If you find a hundred bucks worth of stuff you actually want, THEN buy the IRK.
@blaineg that would be the only way. It does remove all the fun from the process
@blaineg @tinamarie1974 I tried that last time. But by the time I had convinced myself there was $100+ stuff for sale that would enhance my …
life, the IRK was sold out.
Believe it or don’t, there are enough
suckerswilling takers for it at most any price point.I can fill up about half the requirement just with snack foods, and such, like the Finger Lickin’ wafels today.
@blaineg @phendrick so far I havent seen anything that has compelled me to hit the buy button. I guess we will see, but I also dont feel the need to check back on the regular like when there are random Irks on the loose. This years bday is just very less than meh
@blaineg @tinamarie1974 “This years bday is just very less than meh”
For you mehbe, but not for them. I think 9 years is a better-than-good run for the average discount e-commerce site.
It will be interesting to see if they mehture as they reach adolescence. Part of me hopes not.
@blaineg @phendrick for me and based on comments for lots of others - them too. You know, customers who keep a company viable.
It has been said before but Meh has changed, it is not as quirky and fun as it use to be. Mehbe your analogy about the comapny “growing up” nailed it. When Meh was new and infantile it was a fun and unexpected pleasure. It has become very predictable and boring. Here is hoping for rowdy teenage years.
@blaineg @phendrick
@tinamarie1974 Hah - I hadn’t seen this comment from you but I was thinking “Meh must age in dog or cat years” because the early Meh was so much crazier and weirder and willing to take chances, and now it’s almost like any other respectable middle-aged
personbusiness, focused on making money instead of having fun!@blaineg @phendrick @tinamarie1974 I feel it all boils down to product and price. If it’s something really useful, there’s discussion. If it’s something at a stupid cheap price, there’s discussion. If neither, meh … and limited discussion.
I was looking forward to the birthday weekend…but for $100, like others, I’m out. Have fun to those of you getting them. I’ll be watching the reveals.
THIS IS BEAT!!
It’s just not the same, our relationship is changing Meh. What’s the sense of having a mehrathon without the thrill of the chase? Having a count down with a timer seems kind of silly when there’s ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE of having a IRK come up!
WHY on earth would I want to hang around here all day without the anticipation or anxiety of scoring an IRK?Being able to afford $100 worth of stuff to get a free IRK isn’t what it’s all about! Personally, I miss the anticipation, the anxiety that fills my body as the timer counts down! Is it going to be another charger , is it going to be another set of headphones , or is it going to be the coveted IRK?
It’s like the gamblers high… Sweaty palms, dry mouth and maybe even a bit light headed. Oh how I miss that dreaded feeling.
It’s just not the same, especially when it’s your birthday, I miss those fun birthday games! This pretty much stinks!
You’ve definitely lived up to your name, you’re now totally MEH!
Oh yeah,
/giphy HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEH!
@Lynnerizer Meh-rathons used to be a series of sprints. This one seems more like a slow walk with no scenery. Very strange. I mean not even a cameo from @KoolHandJoe. Clearly some prefer this. Kind of like some prefer milk chocolate, elevator “jazz” or the Pacer. Different strokes. In the end it’s a business and the market will decide. It just seems to be devoid of personality which, frankly, was a big part of the product.
@Koolhandjoe @Lynnerizer @ybmuG hey are you mocking the visionary design of the AMC Pacer?
@Koolhandjoe @Lynnerizer @pmarin
/image AMC Pacer
/image AMC Pacer wagon
…yep!
@Koolhandjoe @Lynnerizer @ybmuG I would seriously lurk for the chance to buy a al@KoolHandJoe original. But I’m not missing the non-stop disappointment of lurking for IRKs.
@pmarin @ybmuG
Different strokes is spot on! And oh how I can’t stand those damn Pacers! They give me dirty old man vibes and that’s because when I was 15-16 years old this creepy old (extremely large) gross man picked me up in one and didn’t want to let me out. Granted, it was my fault for getting in the car in the first place but ever since then I get physically sick just seeing one. Guess I’m lucky they never caught on like the SUV has, I can’t imagine seeing them everywhere! Lol
@Lynnerizer hey now, there was a single slightly discounted Playstation 5, slipped in there without you knowing, to chase! .
Personally I think it’s a bit of a mistake making IRK refund redemption $100… That’s a decent chunk of money that many people right now feel is more than fun “discretionary” spending. Part of the magic of meh is somehow getting us to buy junk we usually don’t need because it’s usually fun and cheap. But putting the $100 gate up it makes us actually stop, pay attention and account for or spending and then we realize that’s a lot/too much random stuff we don’t need for more risk than we want to spend.
Of course, I don’t know the numbers, maybe they do sell much, much more overall this way . It would be really interesting to see which method gets more sales though.
you’re an all-star
@Lynnerizer Yeah, the thrill is gone. No skill required. It’s like picking your seat at the movies 3 months in advance. Back when I was a kid we would wait in lines for HOURS to see Star Wars, and we liked it because we EARNED IT!
@cfg83 EXACTLY!
I’ve managed to get one IRK. It had decent stuff in it that I could use, so I decided to quit while I’m ahead.
@lisagd What are you doing in this forum? You’re so logical and mature! So sensible!
@Kyeh Wow, I don’t hear those words very often!
@lisagd
I thought they finally were done with this crap and hit the “sweet spot” last time with a pretty reasonable price for the side deal irk+rebate?!
Count me out on this one-got better things to do with my $ 100 and two days of my time.
@Felton10 Just visit during the final hour and review all of the day’s deals – no need to monitor all day, but of course you might find some sellouts
@Felton10 Well…it should be a more productive and/or enjoyable wknd now with less time and attention on this fiesta.
@troy that’s pretty much what I do every time they price IRKs like this. Worked out well a couple times.
@troy can we monitor 2 days of deals tomorrow or do we need to check tonight before midnight? Thanks
@troy I also check back periodically to see if I missed anything as I just did overnight and nope-nothing I needed or wanted.
Having gotten over 30 IRKs, the excitement of getting one is long gone although still like opening a box not knowing what is in it. Obviously having to spend $ 20 to get one vs $ 100 on stuff I may or may not need affects my excitement.
@Felton10 @troy if you’re looking for a sell out, may i suggest woot.com?
Ummm, it’s a no from me. The Irk’s have consistently gone up in price; with the value/expectations not quite matching up. Meh please let go of the greed and gimmicks.
@Enigma inflation at work
@SpocKirk I get inflation but $5 to $100 for a Mystery Box is a bit more then inflation. It’s greed.
@Enigma @SpocKirk In the past we had everyone fighting over the chance to get them for $5 and the quality matched what you paid, but probably not the effort required to get one. These days we removed the fighting and replaced it with a “earn your discount through participation” method which can make them only $1 if you’re spending money on the event already. Not everyone will spend that much, but the end cost of $1 for the original’s same $5 quality means you’re getting 80% off with no loss of quality of the product. And to be fair, not everyone was getting them when they were $5 either, but I think that was for a worse reason. $100 might not be the “sweet spot” but we get far fewer “this price is stupid” posts at the end than the number of “stupid captcha” or “really?!? sold out in 1 second!!!” posts we had before.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@Enigma @ExtraMedium @SpocKirk
Now that I have two tattoos and get billions of irks, I’m not in this game anymore
But it might be cool, the kind of combine the incentives
Some irks offered at 100 bucks or whatever with corresponding purchases required to get the discounts
And perhaps some irks that are offers up in the “kill or be killed”, who has the best reflexes an Internet connection scramble for survival and dominance.
The combo would increase the Whining
Whining is entertaining so I see that as a good
/giphy whine whine whine
@ExtraMedium are the irks valued differently due to what’s possibly going into the box? Like this 100 one gonna be better than the last one I bought that gave me 48 mascara, 12 hair extension heat protection, 5 pixel tags that can’t even work?
@davidaddor @ExtraMedium Only in your dreams.
Remember IRK’s middle name.
@davidaddor @ExtraMedium nope
@ExtraMedium @SpocKirk “earn your discount through participation” basically means earn your discount through purchasing other items. I’m already making my monthly VMP donation. It’s still a no from me.
@ExtraMedium @f00l @SpocKirk Nah, I’m not into tattoos.
@ExtraMedium
That analysis is too well-thought-out.
No wonder you weren’t made Secretary of Commerce.
Personally, I like it better this new way.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@Enigma @ExtraMedium @SpocKirk You are using the wrong measuring stick. I suspect the real, secret, measuring stick for which way to offer an irk is total $$$ in sales.
@ExtraMedium @Kidsandliz @SpocKirk Whatever measuring stick they use, I’m cool with it. It’s still a No from me.
@ExtraMedium There was always the option of blocking bots better and not throwing captchas up against long-time, obviously-human, paid-you-$5/month-for-years accounts, but hey.
As a fellow robot, I understand your pain.
@Telanis Funny you should mention that. We have still never been able to verify the use of bots to place IRK orders. Everyone underestimates how quickly 20 of one desirable item can sell out via legitimate means when you have greater than 1,000 people trying to get it at the same time. To be clear, we have more than 2,000 active VMP accounts lurking around even now. If anyone had a bot coded to buy them up we’d certainly have seen them during the IRK-a-thon as someone buying multiples but even during that event only 2-3 people bought more than 2. And they were regulars.
@ExtraMedium @Telanis Interesting - more than 2000 VMP’s still? What was the maximum?
Well, I already spent $60 so I took the plunge. But under duress and I’m not happy about the process
/giphy pout
@tinamarie1974 One of my cousin’s kids would do that. He was about 3 at the time and would stomp off into the tall grass at the farm, looking back repeatedly to make sure someone was watching him. He’d finally do that same arm and face move and then sit down. If you’d ignore him he’d poke his head up occasionally look around and repeat if he saw someone was watching. If you ignored him long enough he’d walk out like nothing had happened. The kid was into drama.
@Kidsandliz well, I am not a very dramatic person. The difference is here I HAVE to tell you I am pouting, otherwise no one would know!!!
We need special fonts that identifies specific moods!!!
@tinamarie1974 I’d agree on the fonts and it is a pity you have spend $40 more to get it. That is a lot of money!!! I was just cracking up that that giphy looked exactly like how my cousin’s kid #3 (who is now 30 something) would behave.
@tinamarie1974 you should start a thread listing things you want that you’d be willing to pay $40 for.
PB treats for you know who?
Invisible plane?
Just spitballing here
@tinamarie1974 @ybmuG Well they did sell dog treats somewhere along the line but I have no idea if charlie dog liked them or not. Seems unlikely that would come to $40 even if he did.
@Kidsandliz @ybmuG i know, I need to figure out something. Its a no on the treats, I am kind of particular on what he eats. Had a doggo years ago that passed away from the whole poisened chinese dog food/treat issue. What was that like 2006-2008 or so???
Invisible plane, YES!!! I could fly around visiting all my meh friends w Charlie riding shotgun!
@Kidsandliz @tinamarie1974 i think it was about then. We didn’t have yekoP yet then (got him in 2012), but were acutely aware of that and have been very careful since. We always read labels in full before buying, including with toys. I figure if i do that with my food, i should do it with his.
Let us know when you get the jet!
@tinamarie1974 @ybmuG
Do you have a coffee grinder?
If not, do you want one?
The burr grinder listed yesterday is supposedly decent.
I think it’s $25 or $30 or somesuch.
@f00l @ybmuG no coffee grinder, but I dont drink coffee. Just grabbed a set of those blankets. Looks like I know what my secret santa gift will be at christmas
@tinamarie1974 @ybmuG I knew nothing about the dog treats. I am sorry you found out the problems with chinese treats the hard way. That must have been horrible.
@Kidsandliz @ybmuG it was absolutely terrible and unnecessary. I was feeding him old roy (walmart) food and treats. Never again. For a long time after I did 100% homemade dog food with vitamin suppliments
Now my pups only get all US sourced ingredients or I make them home made.
@f00l @tinamarie1974 @ybmuG about what $40 is worth or $100 is worth for that matter, it changed when just filling up a small car with gas cost $100. I remember when I used to commute every day and was alarmed when it cost over $20 to fill up.
now my car is plugged-in outside and used about 35 cents of electricity for my trip to the store this morning.
nonetheless I bought the IRK.
Yeah, no. Spent too much time buying too many things I really don’t need, or even really want. I know there’s not going to be anything I really need in this farce or on Morning Save, so … no.
If something pops up that’s actually useful and necessary, I’ll just buy it, but not going to go through this IRK manipulation.
What I actually kinda like about this arrangement is that it rewards the type of good customer that doesn’t have either the time to stick around for every update of a mehrathon, or the technical prowess to snag an IRK even if they did, but yet is able/willing to spend more than the average bear. What I don’t get though, is why not also have a handful of IRKs scattered about in the mehrathon for those other good customers who can stick around but can’t (or don’t need to) make that many purchases. Wouldn’t that be a win-win? This way is great in one sense, but really makes the mehrathon quite boring (with IRKs now out of reach for different reasons) in another. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
@jester747 I think it’s a good idea in theory.
$100 is a bit steep though.
just make it cost a penny if you spend 100 bucks. it’s really lame to be out 100 dollars for two weeks for no good reason.
@omally Sounds more like a $100 birthday gift to Meh.
Goodnight, see you next week.
@blaineg No I want good chocolate and ice cream with that whine.
@blaineg @Kidsandliz and Stroopwafels! They are good with ice cream.
Maybe if my last IRK wasn’t the shittiest one I have had in a long time. (That pillow is still waiting to “air out” and get to size) Maybe if they had $100 of decent products. Maybe…
As it is, at least I won’t waste any time at the computer these two days.
@KNmeh7 my pillow smelled like straight up mildew and never got to size, went in the trash and the only useful thing I got last round was the irk bag but I’ve also ended up with some really great ones over the years.
@KNmeh7 meh is just objectively bad these days…
@KNmeh7 @kuzaki Objection! Your Honor, Meh is merely as Meh as it has always been. It says so right in the name. Clearly it showed poor judgement of the customer to assume anything more and no representation of such quality was ever stated.
@KNmeh7 my pillow never fluffed either. All 48 mascaras, 12 hair extension sprays, 5 pixelites, and 3 packs of car cig to usb devices ended up binned.
Was gonna get a tattoo for the final open enrollment but couldn’t get a shop to have availability for me.
@KNmeh7 @pmarin that is a nonsense argument and you know it. Solution is simple, don’t buy from meh. It all sucks these days.
@KNmeh7 @kuzaki @pmarin
Like it says in the IRK writeup over on SideDeal…
Absolutely not
Yeah nice way to screw VMP’s
@membrr You’re getting a $5 coupon code, what more do you want?
@blaineg @membrr Apparently everyone got the $5 coupon (per another thread).
@blaineg i pay them 5 a month. They get the 5
@blaineg @membrr Honestly it provides more entertainment than the 7-10 streaming services I’ve somehow signed up for which I often never use.
So far I’m tempted by the laminator and the cooling wraps. Had my last can of Celsius last night so it would be nice to see some beverages appear.
I’m at $20 day one. If tommorow is the same, the Irk would cost me $60…
…that’s a hard pass.
Yay! This is the only way I can get one.
Update: Picked up paincakes, sleeping pad, waterless hand cleaning kit, chill ice cooling accessories, and the eye massager for $101.99 (before taxes). Sadly the Meh cups were sold out, but I’m pretty happy with these other purchases and what will now be my third IRK. Woohoo!!
One con to this weekend’s Mehrathon: So many drink accessories, but not a single beverage on sale.
@JT954 Hey, we had the WithCo mixers! No beverages in stock currently, but keep your eye out over the next week or two!
@JT954 @troy 'Bout time for an actual margarita machine here?
(Before the impeding doom of the agave plant? Googe it.)
Having bought a few items that would cover this… How does this work with ink for irk? Can I do both? Is it one irk per person?
@brainmist one irk per person is a good rule to go by.
@djslack per account is more accurate.
@brainmist After collecting all of the validated photos from the Ink for IRKs thread I go through each of those accounts one-by-one to see if they already have an IRK from the current event. If they do, I don’t send out the Ink IRK since it’s one per account per event. This still applies for the two-day event since it’s one event across two days. 1 (one) IRK. The only exception was back in the day when SideDeal had “hidden IRKs” that weren’t counted against randomly appearing event IRKs, but we haven’t had them hidden in a while. Not to say we never will again, but that’s the only way to sneak in an extra without a rule violation.
@brainmist @ExtraMedium
Except that I get 2 IRKs right?
Because I got 2 Meh tattoos, and because I’m an annoying and greedy fuck. Right?
/giphy annoying greed
@ExtraMedium Thanks for the clarification!
@brainmist @ExtraMedium @f00l But you lose 3 Irks because of your typo.
@brainmist @ExtraMedium The other exception was I I think it might have been a birthday but maybe not when there were irks giving away randomly or as prizes for comments in the Forum and they didn’t count against the one you paid for
@Cerridwyn @ExtraMedium That was my first encounter with IRKs… I think I ended up with 3-4, and they were all pretty decent! The start of my addiction, thwarted by slow internet speeds. I think I managed to beat the clock once. Maybe twice?
I liked the story treasure hunt ones… I can’t remember if multiples were possible that way.
The current buy other crap/ get a refund actually worked pretty well for me, except I forgot to use all the credit last time. Busy during the day, dozed off. Ah well.
@brainmist @Cerridwyn @ExtraMedium
The adventure story on Sidedeal is how I got my first-ever Irk, too. I liked following the Byzantine twists and turns of that wild story and then happening on the Irk just like a real treasure hunt!
@brainmist @ExtraMedium @Kyeh
I got that one too I remember that. But my first ever one that I won I guess I would call it because I was never fast enough on the original ones and my only f*** who I think that I ever got was the captcha one I loved it I just zoom zoomed through it while other people would cursing
The one where they gave them to random people for comments in the thread is the best thing I ever got and it was one of the ninja blender sets that has all the attachments to it new in box not a refurb
Beep beep boop boop. (I assume if you failed CAPTCHA you now understand Robot.)
@brainmist @ExtraMedium @yakkoTDI
STFU
I’ll have you know that TYPOS are my signature move.
Nobody else better even think of trying to best my typos!
/giphy typo
@Cerridwyn @ExtraMedium @Kyeh I’m glad they try new things, and glad Meh cares enough to try to offer different routes for those who are internet-impaired. Of course, even going to fiber, I was still usually too slow!
@brainmist @ExtraMedium @f00l @yakkoTDI
But I couldn’t find that typo … ?
I do love amusing typos - or as a friend of mine once misstyped, “typso.”
Also when people use the wrong homonym, like “bare with me.” (Umm, I’ll pass.)
Or when autocorrect obviously substitutes the wrong word - an infamous one I heard about was when some document with references to paint colors wrongly replaced “black” with “African-American” throughout.
@brainmist @ExtraMedium @yakkoTDI
@kyeh, are you intending to insult me???!!!
I’ll have you know that everything I write is a typo!
@brainmist @ExtraMedium @f00l @yakkoTDI But this very comment is all correctly spelled and perfectly grammatical!
Maybe you meant to write “inslut”?
@brainmist @ExtraMedium @Kyeh @yakkoTDI
Pay attention!
When I type/dictate “the” or “and” or “or”
… and when I type anything else:
those are TYPOS.
No matter how much autocorrect or Siri try to “help” me.
It’s a personal branding thing
I’m thinking about going the trademark office and patent office legal route, so that typos are exclusive to me.
(As they well should be).
I’m so annoyed, that other people think they get to imitate me that way.
@brainmist @ExtraMedium @f00l @yakkoTDI
Reminds me if Mary McCarthy’s insult of Lillian Hellman:
“every word she writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the’.”
@brainmist @ExtraMedium @Kyeh @yakkoTDI
/giphy excellent!
—
Remember writer Dorothy Parker’s classic whip-sharp retort to an ageist comment:
When a younger woman opened a door for her with the words:
“Age before beauty.”
Parker’s reply?
“And pearls before swine.”
@brainmist @ExtraMedium @yakkoTDI
@f00l Yes, I love that one!
Remember mehstalker, it’s your friend on days like these.
Update: Two of the items I was considering sold out (Laminator and straws) so I’m keeping an eye on the Meh branded wristbrands and cups, ice cooling accessories, stroopwafels, waterless cleaning kit, and eye massager. That puts me at $99.98 ($94.98 with coupon). I haven’t bought the IRK yet until I know I can pass that $100 threshold but I’m having fun seeing what Meh is offering and might drop some of the listings above if something else is of higher interest.
If I don’t end up buying anything, so be it. Reading posts reacting to the Mehrathon is also entertaining and I will have another shot at IRKs if/when they do something like this again.
@JT954 Better make sure you don’t have to buy $105 if you use the coupon to actually spend $100 to get an irk. That might need some clarification @extramedium ???
@ExtraMedium @JT954 @Kidsandliz yes it has to be before taxes and shipping, and likely the coupon. Would suck to miss out based on that lol.
@JT954 @Kidsandliz @scilynt I’m honestly not sure how they’re counting the coupons, but it doesn’t change much. You don’t have to hit $100 to get a discount. Hell, $1 gets you a discount. You just won’t max out the refund total until you’re up over the $99 hump.
Awe some!!
@yakkoTDI
/giphy knot
Do you have to buy the Irk … or can you spend $100 and then buy the Irk and get refunded?
I doubt I will spend that much, but if you guys have Ferraris for sale for $100, I might bite.
@OnionSoup I missed the word first off my first post.
To clarify… Asking if it matters the order… Can we wait to see if we’ve already spent close to $100 first before getting Irk?
@OnionSoup I’m not official, but that worked for me in a previous $100 IRK.
@OnionSoup @blaineg Yes, that’s the way it works. So, yes, you can wait. However there is a chance of the IRK selling out on SideDeal, though at the $100 entry price, it’s less likely to happen quickly.
Is there a way to buy 1000 of these for $100 each, or are we still limited to one?
I think I can sell them for $200 each on the black market.
@OnionSoup Curious:
/giphy black market
@phendrick I was being a little silly. No Irk black market exists…
… I think. Although, I’m not familiar with all the parts of the dark web… The type of places where repurposed irks are traded.
@OnionSoup you’re going to need to have an approved PO 30 days in advance for a transaction at that level, but the good news is that with that kind of volume you could get them at $99 each.
They’re also just likely to redirect an inbound trailer of Morningsave sports bras and face cleaners to you to fulfill that volume and ship you a case of IRK bags to assemble them yourself.
@djslack @OnionSoup you do have a loading dock at your place, right?
@djslack @pmarin no loading dock but I’ve got plenty of land to dump irks on. Could probably fill the creek with trackrs, they would be like nice round pebbles on the base.
@djslack @OnionSoup Good plan, just make sure to take out the CR2016 (Or whatever they are) batteries out first for recycling. Don’t want to dump that stuff in the creek.
If I’d already spent 80 bucks in the mehrathon I’d probably do it, just because I do feel like irk quality has improved since they started these shenanigans. I’m not going to spend 100 on something random that’s probably worth less when there are so many ways spending 80+ in a mehrathon could go sideways.
At that point though, why not just offer it to people for 10 bucks when they spend 90 or a dollar at 99? Seems silly to have to put a hold on 100 for some unknown amount of time, when the only reason a person would spend that much would be if something went wrong.
@Seeds that’s probably about my break-point too… so far not been much on this mehrathon that I want.
@Seeds Actually, you can spend $90 & get the IRK for $10! Or spend $75 & get it for $25; spend $80, get it for $20. Here’s a recap of how it works:
Let’s try some examples:
@IndifferentDude i understand that, thanks.
If I were to buy an IRK today, does all the spending I did yesterday count towards the refund? Like if I spent $100 yesterday and bought the IRK today, do I get $99 refunded still?
@DubbaD yes
@DubbaD My understanding is that any spending on 'Thon items - but ONLY 'Thon items - counts toward the $100. Spending from Friday(EDT) and prior, and spending on SideDeal or Casemates or Morningsave, does not count. And if you used your CHEAPGIFTS coupon, you didn’t spend that $5; only the bottom line before tax and shipping is relevant.
@DubbaD @medz good to know, cus I see like $50 of stuff I want, waiting for another $50 before buying the irk. Hopefully I find some nice garbage in the next 11 hours, would be my first irk
I assume Membership doesn’t count towards the $100, right?
@werehatrack
Thank you. I will pull the trigger on the IRK then!
@medz
Thanks.
@DubbaD @flooners @medz
Correct, it doesn’t.
Does this IRK refund also include deals that are up prior to the meh-rathon?
@kwalta no, nor does it include ones after it is done. It only includes meh (not side deal or any other site) ones during the mehrathon.
I may have missed it, but I’m assuming the tax will be refunded or recalculated?
@wplumleyz Nope. The following is from the SideDeal IRK page:
“Every dollar you spend over at Meh (not counting tax or shipping) up to $99 will be refunded off that $100 you spent on this IRK.”
@wplumleyz Yes you get a refund for the creditable amount PLUS tax. It does take about 2 weeks to be processed so don’t panic. I’ve done a few of these this year and it always worked out (questionable value of IRK contents notwithstanding)