So, about Meh-rathons…
11It’s getting kind of hard to come up with awesome Meh-rathon themes to keep everybody engaged and interested (and buying shit) for hours and hours.
In the spirit of you doing our work for us for free, who has some ideas about how to run one of these things?
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FOOLS! TOOLS! JEWELS! AWESOME!
@mediocrebot ಠ_ಠ
@jouest @mediocrebot No one is immune.
My favorite one ever was this one, with the meandering adventure tale that might or might not have led you to an Irk: (April 1, 2020.)
Not obvious from the image, but it links to one section of the story.
It was fun, back in the old days, when Meh offered real junk on the cheap. I used to keep an eye on phone or screen to catch a good buy on a limited number of items or the elusive IRK. The wonderful stories Mehitizens told about the huge boxes of random IRK junk they received or the few that found hidden treasures actually hidden in the IRK! Maybe a few “throwback Mehrathons would renew people’s interest.
@emt305 ugh. and we’ve just been taking the trash out to the curb every week.
@emt305 @jouest
Not all of it. We see lots of that trash in our irks
Mehrathon around the world. IRK and Glen travel the world and spin the items as if they were from different countries, and how they are used in a smart-ass way other than how us 'Mehricans would use them.
Literary Mehrathon. Stories written as if the item for sale is the author and the description of each item is written as an autobiography.
@cbilyak high brow
@cbilyak Variations: Some get descriptions that are Harlequin-level bodice-rippers, some get the Stephen King treatment, some are straight from a '50s SF pulp, a couple are obvious ripoffs of Ian Fleming, etc. And at least one goes all the way to full-on conspiracy theory. (That should obviously be the most simple and straightforward ordinary item in the entire 'Thon, something like a 50-pack of shop towels or the like.)
I miss contests. If there were random mini contests like drawing, designing or finding stuff throughout the Mehrathon it would keep mehmbers engaged, and possibly sleep deprived and broke. For example, I remember once we used a site where we could create a cake for Meh’s birthday. If we did something along those lines then we could vote on the best one and the winner would win an IRK. Or something along those lines.
@heartny you had us at sleep deprived and broke
@heartny
The contest were really fun, I liked those a lot.
@heartny Yes I liked those too. Sometimes (without any advanced warning) everyone who entered was a winner too.
The Garage Sale of the Dread Inn at Death Rock
A departed guest had received an impractical number of packages prior to vanishing, leaving behind a note bequeathing the lot to the table lamp in the lobby.
I got one of the first 3, i think, of the captcha ones, it was hysterical and like my only fk
i do think you do them too damned often
As a fellow robot, I understand your pain.
Voyage to the Center of the Warehouse.
Presumably, that’s all the prompt you need.
@werehatrack there’s a troll in there
@werehatrack @jouest That journey takes you through a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. A very old D&D player is your guide/DM/ Warehouse Foreman…
@jouest @OldCatLady Plugh!
@jouest @OldCatLady @werehatrack
Xyzzy!
(Nothing happens. But you hear a voice explaining you have neither the tools nor the expertise)
Also, where’s my Glen puppet?
Um … how about an IRK-athon?? All IRKs - All Day long!! Have the jolly fella introduce each offering, and sell 'em at different prices each time!
Or, you could peddle your normal wares and give an option to get an IRK added to the order for a variable amount. No need to buy stuff you don’t need plus get an optional chance to actually get stuff you may (or may not) need!
@IndifferentDude More diabolical idea: On all of the $5 items, have a second option of “or an IRK (Not guaranteed)”, and pick some buyers at random to substitute their straight-item purchase with the IRK option. They would not know what was coming until it arrived. Most get the item they ordered; a few get Regret Galore, some get “it seemed like a good idea at the time”, some get “Holy wow!”
@IndifferentDude I seem to remember a meh-rathon that had 5 irks in a row
@lonocat Me too; I believe they all happened during a “members only” hour if I recall correctly.
@IndifferentDude @lonocat There was a 'thon with mostly (if not all) just IRKs, but each new batch went up in price by $5 until it hit OMFG-you’re-nucking-futs level. The buyers got $5 coupons to use against future purchases through the end of that year. The last batch failed to sell out; the number sold kept going up and down as people who’d just checked in before midnight EST realized what they’d just done, and cancelled the purchase.
How about a BPBBD-athon??
Translation: Barely Past Best-By Date-athon??
@IndifferentDude This could apply to so much more than snacks. Out-of-season coats and jackets, two-generations-back electronics (still useful, widely deprecated as “not cutting edge”), “it’s been in the supplier’s warehouse so long that the dust bunny families have sent their kids off to college”, etc.
@IndifferentDude Sophia! (Pictured here barely past her best by date)
How about “Is this the best deal-athon”
Is this the best price? Or is it cheaper on Sidedeal or morningsave? And maybe the other sites items have a link or clue to an Irk.
The “Koolhandjoe-athon” was pretty spectacular.
@Kyeh What ever happened to @koolhandjoe ?? A search shows he hasn’t posted in the past 30 days so I assume he’s not with meh anymore?
@IndifferentDude @Koolhandjoe @Kyeh
Those were a lot of fun, I’ve often wondered about him too.
Maybe someone else could take over and every couple of month there could be a new challenge. January-create a snowman, February- bloody valentine, March ?, April- create a diorama, may-sweetest flowers, June- best beach bag, July-most outrageous sunglasses, August- craziest hat, September- sep 16 national play-doh day, create something out of play-doh, October-spookiest Halloween decoration, November-best dressed turkey, December-some kind of ornament
@IndifferentDude @Koolhandjoe @Kyeh @Star2236 I feel like doing something regularly beats the novelty of it… which is why they’ve come to us with this question…
IRK raffle. A certain number of IRKs up for grabs. Every purchase or dollar spent gets you a ticket in the drawing.
@callow Opt-in only, lots of people would look at the description and not want one.
@callow @werehatrack idk, they are pretty popular. If it is a win at no cost I would be suprised if folks wouldnt want a shot at a “free irk”
@callow @tinamarie1974 I live with someone who would definitely opt-out for a variety of reasons. I am sure that he is not alone in this, and I am sure that his reasons are not the only ones.
I think I would be more interested in meh-rathons if they had more varied stuff than just reruns of whatever’s been on Meh and SideDeal lately but for a few dollars cheaper. If that means fewer meh-rathons then I’m fine with that.
The current style feels more like a death mehrch.
@lljk death mehrch tho
@lljk that’s actually not a bad idea, to have it be what’s new in the warehouse, first run so to speak, and so items might actually be a bit more than when they are ‘older’
@jouest @lljk I agree… nothing is selling out anymore. I can wait until the end of the meh-rathon and go to the ICYMI page and just scroll to see if I want to buy anything. There’s no need to impulse buy or even watch the screen all day. Woot had a woot off on Friday which felt like a throw back and I was really engaged and watching the screen. Everything was like a great price (like a $500 xbox for $200, several household items that were less than $5, for example) and they were selling quick - like I would have to answer an email, go back to woot and I would have missed a deal or two just in a 5ish minutes.
It’s not as fun if nothing is selling out and it’s all the same stuff I can find on sidedeal.
@jouest @lljk @mbersiam I miss the occasional Archie McPhee stuff. Not the inflatable turkey though.
A Mehstery-item-a-thon. Five or ten bucks. Limit one. Maybe you get a meh face hockey puck. Maybe you get 4 boxes of granola bars. Maybe you get the rear bumper from a 1987 Ford Tempo. You get what you get.
And we have community Mad-libs all day.
@Nate311 could I get a muffler instead? Mine fell off in the woods.
@lichen Only if you can make the muffler from a 2016 Fiat 500 work. (At least, I think it’s one of those.)
@werehatrack I’m up for the challenge
@Nate311 Isn’t that just an IRK?
@callow I didn’t think All IRKs all the time was a starter.
Idea will be whispered from here since I can’t whisper off main post.
@jouest did I correctly whisper the above to you? I added your name when creating the whisper but it just says whispered to me on the comment, doesn’t include you.
@jouest @OnionSoup replace your name with jouest’s in the whisper
@Kyeh won’t let me edit after four hours but I did a copy/paste.
@OnionSoup Yeah, I meant that’s how you’d do it in the future.
@Kyeh yeah… Thats what I thought I did the first time.
My retro theme would be selling old school meh items: Bluetooth speakers or speaker docks, water bottles or drinking glasses, batteries, flashlights or lamps and anything just weird(farm to table kit).
@sjohannes KNIFES
do a Farmer’s Mehrket, and offer a wide assortment of locally grown produce and locally made art, crafts and goods. you could either use people local to Meh in Texas and use ice packs to ship the food, or you could have 50 individual subsections for every state, each with its own local assortment of goods. you can also have .wav files of local musical acts playing in the background while you browse the assortment of goods for sale. the irks would be a random assortment of stuff from the farmer’s market like eggs, alpaca yarn, soap, a tomato plant, a sandwich, etc.
i’m sure this would be trivially simple to set up and not a logistical nightmare.
@omally so help me if anyone who can green light this mess reads this…
@jouest @omally I like it
sorta like a csa box
@omally
Thank you for volunteering…
Also.
Limited quantity items.
Start them off at one price for say… 10 mins… Then drop them down to a lower price for next 10mins. Make it a little bit of a game… Those people that really…really… Want the item, will they pay fill price, or wait for the drop.
It will be fun spectator sport too… Guessing if it will sell out at higher price, and how much lower meh will go on the second pass.
I wish the mehrathons were tagged, so I could more easily find the tech options, the kid or pet items, the clothing/bedding/kitchen/office items. I also kinda hate the last item listed has the shortest expiration period.
@docF94 For the sake of perversity, every other hour should have a theme that is proudly trumpeted but requires a bit of a stretch to put the items into the category. (And I mean less directly apropos than listing dark roast coffee beans during Mental Health Hour.) (Well, okay, maybe exactly like coffee during MHH.) (Except please, make it chocolate. Valrhona one-kilo bars, by preference.)
What about a scavenger hunt for limited number of irks selling at a lower price. The clues could also lead to money off coupons good for the first so many users (but make them good on morningsave too), or it would lead us to the product for sale. It would definitely be interactive.
@Star2236 We’ve had scavenger hunts in the past over on sidedeal for irks with a string of clues that would send us to other clues (if I recall correctly that is).
Really did like the scavenger hunts. Other options:
@lehigh I am pretty sure #3 has been done before which people liked.
How about delayed gratification Irks? You buy stuff and then on random purchases you get a message that - “You’ve got an Irk!” Only it doesn’t show up until an hour later, so people can’t just buy something and then cancel it.
And it’s not all the same items, but various different ones for different buyers.
The days of them being fun and exciting are Long gone. Too many people bitching about it getting a Irk when there is a chance and it’s not that fun when you can just buy one. Also, no big surprises anymore. Long time ago I got a tractor trailer delivery at my house and there were over 30 cases of Novelty “trippin” glasses that came with a warning not the wear the if you didn’t like flashing lights. Like most things, after a while everything kinda gets stale. I love meh, been here since day zero and still an in the special club to this date.
@somf69 I think in the past there was more variety in irks (well the fuku’s and fuko’s) and less of the same stuff stuff over and over and over. I remember where once meh went and bought a ton of used t-shirts and we all got one in the fuku/fuko. The one I got that by pure luck fit a kid in the family. And it was half way decent.
You could try Seasonal Mehrathons.
As in, sell winter stuff in the fall. Spring stuff in the winter. You get the idea.
Also, as long as you’re reading this, I still would love for Meh to sell a hammock stand again, like you did four years ago for $59.
What ever things you try it is worth thinking about the fact that some people have more money than others, some have much slower with high latency internet speed (thus generally lose out on things that speed matter due to incredibly limited numbers) and make sure that EVERYONE, if they were to want to do so, regardless of circumstances get some chance at an irk.
IRKs and ERKs
You have instant regret kits and expected regret kits – cheap, named bundles (a little more detail than the “mystery food bundle”). So a “$15 wire bundle” would be various cables, extension cords, coat hangers, and maybe a DVD copy of the Wire. A “liquid non-refreshment bundle” would be soaps, mouthwash, wax, etc.
@pakopako One with all metal things would be a (S)MIRK, (Scrap?) Metal Instant Regret Kit? If I could get one that contained a 14" chunk of mainline heavy railroad rail, I’d be delighted.
@pakopako @werehatrack That would make a decent anvil. Or an effective, yet impractical doorstop.
@G1 I want it as an anvil, and it’s surprisingly hard to get.
@G1 @werehatrack I happen to have just such a treasure (inherited from my pack-rat Dad) and can confirm that it works well for the purpose.
Russian Irklette.
The IRKs are all stocked with really good merchandise… No regret for most.
Except… 1 in 6 will instead contain an explosive device that will explode killing the recipient upon opening.
Might not be very good for business though as it would be expensive and you would be killing off 16% of your most loyal customers… But it would be fun and a good PR event so might bring in curious new ones.
Should be worth noting, this is not actually a serious suggestion incase the FBi are reading this.
@OnionSoup Instead of exploding, it should include a reflashed Staples “Easy Button” that plays the sad Trombone womp-womp when mashed.
Hmmm. Meh should get a batch of such buttons made that cycle through the Sad Trombone, a whoopee cushion fart, and two or three of Irk’s signature lines.
@OnionSoup @werehatrack if we are staying “on brand” maybe just the last suggestion. Or maybe it bothers me more than it should.
@OnionSoup I think the Russian IRK or KMC (
) should be that conscript troops come to your house and take a random amount of junk and miscellaneous items to be placed in yellow IRK/KMC bags without your consent or permission as rightfully theirs while ignoring international law and threatening to use the nuclear option, if you use U.S. military force.
If you complain, you will be met with a blank stare and a question, “What is problem?”
@OnionSoup given this is Meh, maybe Cuban spinner is more accurate.
Bring back the VMP only hour. New item every minute or two. Say 4 o’clock members and 6 o’clock VMP.
Add Kickstarter only specials
@heartny sniff
i was too late, but … something available to K for 1/2 a minute, then VMP > 9 years, etc down to M
How about a KRI (kit de regret instantané), which is, of course, French.
The KRI could contain in addition to the usual detritus one or two items such as berets/toques, striped shirts/sweaters (marinière); items considered somewhat romantic or having to do with fashion (odd bits of outer clothing, underwear, heels, makeup, potions, lotions, parfumes, and stuff to smear on the skin); faible
cuisine as opposed to haute cuisine to include somethings to do with cheese, snails, onions, frogs (with or without the legs), wine (!), beans, baguettes/croissants; and/or accordions…
All questions, comments and excuses would be both haughty and rude as would be the adcopy.
On the whole, if done, well the KRI would draw rebukes from Francophiles, some Canadians, and the French Embassy.
@Jackinga I love it, and it will never happen to me.
@Jackinga Or since it is a KRI, thus the reverse of an IRK it could be a NO REGRET kit. You know. All the good stuff and none of the regret stuff.
/giphy and the sky will rain money Yeah right
@Kidsandliz Could be a No Regret, I suppose, just as an IRK to one isn’t necessarily an IRK to another.
But consider initialisms e.g., “FBI,” “YMCA,” or “ACLU” which in some cases later become acronyms, e.g., RADAR, NATO, LASER, etc.
The French invariably reverse the letter ordering of an initialism, e.g., MRI becomes IRM.
So IRK, which could be either an initialism or an acronym, if pronounced as a word, would be KRI en français.
And it was that peculiarity, which I was emphasizing as an excuse to toss in a bunch of French stereotypical associations.
Just a poor and feeble attempt at humor on my part, me thinks.
@Jackinga
and now you are afraid that irks people?
@Jackinga I found it amusing. And more, actually, because it shows thought, and quirkiness, and an appreciation of oddball style just for its own sake.
And, as noted, even if implemented, I have every confidence that it wouldn’t happen to me. I just hope it would happen to someone who would appreciate it, and not pick it apart and trash it.
@Kidsandliz No, not at all. I have no fear of irking others.
Renaissance Fair
Write all entries in the completely faux-English-Renaissance phrase choices. Perhaps even describe the items you are trying to sell like a befuddled Elizabethan who can’t make heads or tails out of the items being sold.
Maybe do some games like “jousts” between various items. Or make good natured fun of all the other tropes one might find at the Ren Fair.
That is all, and good day!
@damon Of course, use Middle English spellings and terms.
@OldCatLady absolutely! Fill the whole thing with corny thous, thus, thys and such!
i don’t normally like ideas from people named Damon, but i like this one. @damon, you have restored my faith in Damons. thou art deserving of kudos, and kudos thee shall have.
@damon and the random golden irk has a kids plastic sword
If the next Mehrathon is for Meh’s birthday in July, since it’s the 10th year (can you believe it?!), you should do something
torturousfun based on tens or tenth. I’m sure it would be just as much fun for the programmer(s).@heartny Woot just finished celebrating their 20th. And 10 years. Wow. I still have the emails from way back then.
@heartny @pakopako absolutely!!!
Another idea. Not for mehrathon but for an irk.
There should be a golden irk. Just one per mehrathon. The box wrapped (sloppily) in gold paper. Not a high value irk, not necessarily the best irk… But maybe one deliberately curated to be a little odd.
It would be fun to see who gets the random golden IRK each time.
@OnionSoup this reminds me of both an old folk tale and a merry melody.
The classic Asian folk tale of a child who accidentally drops their axe into a river, chases it down to the lake, only to meet a fairy who offers to dive down and retrieve it. (She brings back a bejeweled silver axe first, then a giant golden axe, but the naive child only wants their wood cutting axe.)
And the Looney Tunes Merrie Melodie that parodies Let’s Make A Deal, offering Bugs and Daffey a choice of a big plain box or a fancy car-shaped box. (The car shaped box was something like cheese and the big box was filled with more boxes.)
(Not saying Meh should start handing out Zonks… Maybe different colored bags to see who posts they got the golden fukuboro. And rewarding the poster with a golden coupon code or annual subscription or something.)
Maybe I’m thinking about this too much but…
The 'Not-For-Me’h-rathon. You’re not allowed to buy just one IRK- you have to buy two. The gotcha being- the second IRK can’t be for yourself or anyone with your street address. The second IRK is to be gifted to a random person from the meh community. You’re asked to provide the user name of someone to send a secret second IRK to upon purchase. If you don’t provide a name- it will instead be sent to a random person who has bought an IRK from Meh in the last 12 months. (someone who has bought an IRK so that you know it’s someone up for that kind of thing).
The idea being… some people may be down about not getting an IRK- but there’s always a second chance… you might be someone’s secret second IRK. Heck, you might have missed getting an IRK… but might be a dozen people’s secret second IRK and get bombarded with boxes full of junk.
@OnionSoup That’s sort of what happens on Steam/GoG on Christmas video game sales. But that’s also easily done via directly sharing coupon codes
Laziest idea ever: **I.O.U.**s
Irks of Unusual Size (buffet)
I know it’s not always possible to save on shipping by sending the stuff out all at once in a single box (would be nice), but you can create the illusion of doing so.
You start with the silhouette of the approximate IOU size available (a fridge, a printer, a breadbox, whatever). For placeholder’s sakes I’ll say the venti box is $100, the grande is $60, the tall is $40,
and the entire wrapped pallet is $5000; it’s your very own Mercatalyst starter kit.Now why the sizes? Mix and matched IRKs. A big box can have a big IRK, or multiple smaller IRKs (two grands or four tallboys). Note: no actual boxes are being used because I assume IRKs and Meh/SD/MS/etc. come from different storage units across the country.
SuckersCustomers buy the IOU box first (one IOU per account), then spend time filling their shopping carts with Mehrathon goods OR Sidedeals to offset the (combined) IRK costs. A colossal IOU ($100) can have a super-size IRK or two massive IRKs or four regular IRKs.It would be an IRK buffet, with every Sidedeal immediately available and new Mehrathon goods every hour, while box sizes are set (say 50 of each, with “stock” topping off every 6 hours) to sort of match with the IRK stock. Do the mediocrity want to get a big IOU first and go for multiple small IRKs (knowing they’re probably ginger chews), stake claim to the bigger IRKs (knowing bigger doesn’t always mean better), or are forced to take what’s left by dinnertime?
/giphy Rodents of Unusual Size
Numbers might need adjusting (like one giant IOU is three small IRKs at $45 a pop)
The disadvantage to taking a big box is that the refunds (when you buy from Mercatalyst that day) only go up to 80% ($100 to $20)
The smaller IOU goes down to 10 ($60 to 10)
The smallest IOU would go down to 5 ($45 to 5)
Irks where we get to pick the color of bag we want. Or alternatively the color we least want (and no that is NOT the color you will give us).
Hello… Me again…
You HAVE TO do a nostalgia mehrathon!
Maybe (just for a joke) have brief appearances of Candy Corn, Trackrs, fidget spinners, Martha Stewart Paint, Pocket Knives, and Speaker Docks.
Maybe have a nostalgia item appear just for 5 minutes at the start of each hour before switching to what you’re really trying to sell. Just have a few in stock of each in case anyone actually tries to buy them.
@OnionSoup day-job view IRKs? (Deja vu-IRK)
I was going to make a special post about this tonight when I got an overwhelming feeling that a Meh-rathon might unexpectedly pop up soon but then I saw this thread and it was the perfect place for my request!
It would be really nice to have just a random surprise Meh-rathon, like the $5/$10 ones that aren’t seen much these days. And not around the first week of the month like they’ve been lately. Having two a month every once in a while would be nice too. The surprise factor is big!