ERICOPOLY

These are the prices Solar City quoted me today. Notice how their prices scale linearly with the size of the system? It's somewhat unbelievable. None of the efficiencies of scale flow to their customers. ****** 5,000 kwh ******* System Cost $25,211 (before rebates and credits) ****** 7,000 kwh ******* System Cost $34,815 (before rebates and credits) ****** 10,000 kwh ******* SYSTEM COST System Cost $50,421 (before rebates and credits)

I wish your handle were "buxom blonde" instead of "muscleman". EDIT: The comment is about your new profile picture. Sorry English is not my first language. I searched for "buxom", and I got: 1. (esp of a woman) healthily plump, attractive, and vigorous 2. (of a woman) full-bosomed Description of a woman? :o I updated mine. Now there is something better to look at. ;D ;D ;D ;D Eric wins! ;) Thanks for that, ragu, The $2 million is based on performance (which, I'm assuming he's not getting currently). The $4.5 million is restricted stock, right? A quick glance looks like it. Now I just need a signature added to my posts: "What would like first, your beer or your xxxxxxx backrub?" EDIT: Don't worry, I wouldn't really do that.

I wish your handle were "buxom blonde" instead of "muscleman". EDIT: The comment is about your new profile picture. Sorry English is not my first language. I searched for "buxom", and I got: 1. (esp of a woman) healthily plump, attractive, and vigorous 2. (of a woman) full-bosomed Description of a woman? :o I updated mine. Now there is something better to look at.

I wish your handle were "buxom blonde" instead of "muscleman". EDIT: The comment is about your new profile picture.

Ballmer resigns right after it is disclosed that David Einhorn has sold out of MSFT. Hostages were freed right after Jimmy Carter left office.

As for that search on this item: Craftsman 255 pc. Mechanics Tool Set with Lift Top Storage Chest Perhaps the most concerning is that three identical search results are found. The first result is the discounted one, where the discounted price goes up by $90 after you click on it. The second result is the undiscounted $299 price. Exactly the same item. The third result claims it's "out of stock" (but claims the old price is actually $349.40). Now how's that for a database, huh? More on that second search result, the one for the undiscounted $299 price. Go ahead and click on it. They don't let you add it to your cart at ShopYourWay. Instead, they make you go to the Craftsman website to complete the sale. So let me get this straight. They have a strategy of trying to get everyone on to the shopyourway website, but then redirect you over to Craftsman's website in order to complete the transaction? How bizarre is that??? Then I have to enter all my shipping info because I don't have a Craftsman.com account.

I hear what you are saying. BTW, I wrote some September puts on Friday despite selling my common on Thursday. Part of this is "make it back" syndrome, and part of it is my original thesis that the stock is very low relative to the asset values that haven't moved over the past few months. All that's changed is perceptions over what will be done and when. And of course, the lower stock price alters psychology as well. I know they suck at SYW, but I know it can be fixed. I don't know if they can fix it, but I know it can be fixed. Something tells me it's going to be a huge fix, because these problems I'm seeing with "shifting sands pricing" are obvious and yet they took the website live with these problems. I don't expect a patch by Monday. Hey, I know that you get it. It's the other folks I'm trying to persuade. ;D I liked your post, btw, on your own mentality and how that tends to affect what type of companies you invest in. Not to pick on any particular board members (thus, I won't mention any names), but I distinctly recall some folks who were very "bullish" on SHLD who almost did a 180 after the share price tanked down to around $25. In fact, I remember someone commenting that they sold a large part of their position at that time, when there was, in fact, the most MOS. And then they missed a short squeeze -- not that that's particularly important to the SHLD thesis. Emotion runs high with SHLD, especially amongst the SHLD lovers scorned. It reminds me a lot of my RIM/BBRY investment. There is certainly a different amount of emotional control you need to master for these kinds of uncertainty plays. I wonder if we could start a training program for portfolio managers. The big firms like Fidelity could pay us a fee to send their portfolio managers to our camp. We would then send them back the scores. We would simply water-board the people, see how they react. Score them on this. It's like the BUDS training for the Navy Seals. They have one exam where the candidates have to get into the pool with their feet tied together at the ankles and their wrists tied behind their backs. They then have to do laps in the pool by bouncing off the bottom with their feet, and then taking a breath at the surface, and then bound off the bottom again, then take another breath, etc... etc... It's about emotional control. Those who panic get given a second or third try. If they still can't control their emotions, they are bounced from the program. The SEALS know that it's important to identify people who can't be calm under stress. They get rid of those candidates before the bullets are flying. Maybe in money management that would be a good thing too.

Amazon does this because the manufacturer won't allow them to advertise a lower sales price. That shouldn't be a problem for KCD products at Sears! Unless they have an agreement with the resellers (like Costco and TrueValueHardware) that prevents them from having sales that undercut the pricing of the resellers. Sure, there might be conflicts between KCD and SHLD. But they only exist because Eddie wants to play Battlin' Business Units. KCD should be run to maximize the value of SHLD, not to maximize its own value. Or we might just be trying to give them an excuse for the pricing flubs. Perhaps this is just bad back end systems after all. I searched on "Craftsman" and got a lot of items that are displayed at deep discounts. Like this one: Craftsman 255 pc. Mechanics Tool Set with Lift Top Storage Chest That item is listed at "$299.99 $179.99". Click on it, and the price goes up to "$299.99 $269.99". So they raise the price by $90 on you!

I recently met another local Dad who went to Harvard and Stanford (our daughters ride horses together). He was econ/business at those schools. In fact, he knows Ben Bernanke because they were down the hall from each other at Harvard. So, I asked him if it were possible to do worse than the market, because the market is efficient. He laughed at that one. Says he had never thought of it like that before.

Amazon does this because the manufacturer won't allow them to advertise a lower sales price. That shouldn't be a problem for KCD products at Sears! Unless they have an agreement with the resellers (like Costco and TrueValueHardware) that prevents them from having sales that undercut the pricing of the resellers.

I hear what you are saying. BTW, I wrote some September puts on Friday despite selling my common on Thursday. Part of this is "make it back" syndrome, and part of it is my original thesis that the stock is very low relative to the asset values that haven't moved over the past few months. All that's changed is perceptions over what will be done and when. And of course, the lower stock price alters psychology as well. I know they suck at SYW, but I know it can be fixed. I don't know if they can fix it, but I know it can be fixed. Something tells me it's going to be a huge fix, because these problems I'm seeing with "shifting sands pricing" are obvious and yet they took the website live with these problems. I don't expect a patch by Monday.

Not if it left them short of cash and needing to sell properties/assets that they didn't want to let go of. Eddie has commented that they didn't want to sell some of what they sold. You should only return to shareholders cash that isn't needed by the business. It clearly was needed, given Eddie's comments. Thus, a mistake.

Add to the Cart to see the final price is common, no? It's not in the cart yet. I encourage you to go to ShopYourWay.com. Search on "Hammer". Then it displays the results with prices. At this point you say "TOO HIGH" and walk away from the store window. Now, instead you like the item so you click on it. Then they lower the price for you. Still not in the cart.

Well, although he claims that SYW and online shopping are the core of the strategy, you have to keep in mind that online is only ~2% of sales. Most customers are probably not aware of the websites, and even most SYW members have probably not used the websites. Getting the technology wrong spills over to the brick-and-mortar customer experience: Employees said they like the iPads in theory but have trouble with them in practice. One challenge has been getting Sears' antiquated systems to communicate with the devices, which can lead to frustrating moments when customers and staff are waiting for information, current and former employees said. That is a particular challenge for appliance sales staff, who rely on the devices to look up product specs. One appliance associate said he has a "love hate" relationship with his iPad. He's supposed to ring up customer purchases on the device, but he often uses the register instead because it is quicker. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323665504579028371672070930.html?KEYWORDS=Sears

Search on "Hammer". Each of the first 6 items listed are on sale, but the sale prices aren't known to the shopper until after they've been clicked on. These are all "Craftsmen" items. The bread and butter of Sears sales. Or perhaps, one of the crown jewels if not the bread and butter. They've got them at full price in the store window, but then lower the prices after you enter the store. This is truly reverse psychology! Now, if you go back to the last earnings call transcript you'll note that management says mistakes were made in doubling down some of the promotional pricing. Could it be related to database issues we are seeing here? Perhaps, they don't have control because their back end systems are so badly F'ed up? It gives quite a bit of hope actually... if it's something technological that's driving the margins lower (something as basic as lack of control over promotional pricing), it can be fixed. But when?

Well, although he claims that SYW and online shopping are the core of the strategy, you have to keep in mind that online is only ~2% of sales. Most customers are probably not aware of the websites, and even most SYW members have probably not used the websites. That's "integrated retail", but when you open Eddie's letter to shareholders, it's back to "integrated retail". Sorry for the joke ;D

Don't worry, the black one, the next one over, actually drops in price by 63 cents when clicked on it. Their databases must be a total mess.

And no, this can't be explained away with a hand wave about 3rd party sellers. Try to search on "LEGO Briefs". You'll get a result priced as "$18.00 $12.60". Click on it and it's back to "$18.00". It's available from seller... You guessed it... Sears.com. Now add it to your cart. Those generous people knock the price down to "$16.20" at this point. (not to be confused with $12.60, the originally listed sale price) The cart says it's "sold by Sears and fulfilled by Sears". What an interesting experience!

Hell hath no fury like a ShopYourWay customer scorned. I spent another 5 minutes today on a different search. This time Surf Boards. About the fourth item I clicked on did the old price switch trick on me again. Search on "Atom Softtop Surfboard". The first item is blue. Price listed is "$226.78 $192.77". After clicking on it the price discount goes away. It's back at $226.78". You know this kind of thing might really be destroying their quarterly numbers. It could be worthwhile to monitor that website for signs of getting this kind of thing fixed. Would you believe that the only two types of items I've bothered to search on have all this bad price data going on? Well, it's true. Based on this, why would I be interested in continuing to shop with them? This is his entire strategy -- it's kind of important to make it work.

The web browsers aren't ready for it. Try this in IE 10 or Google Chrome browsers: 1) Click the scroll bar with the mouse on the right side of the page, and hold the button down. Now you can move the scroll bar up and down with the mouse curser. 2) Notice how the scrollbar wanders off on you when the page downloads more items. And that's why I hate it! You've then got to chase down the scroll bar again, click on it, and then it only wanders off on you again as the page dynamically downloads more items. Frustrating and supremely annoying.

Lots. But let's do a narrower search now. Search for this text on ShopYourWay.com: Lighting EVER 6 Watt LED Bulbs, Replace 50 Watt Incandescent Bulb The first result (after clicking on it) tells you that you'll find out what the price is when you get to the checkout. So you try to add it to your cart. Then it tells you that the item isn't available and that you might try again later. Fine. So go to the second item: The price is listed at $14.60. Then click on it. They raise the price on you to $15.08. WTF! Have you ever seen a price listed on the shelf, and when you go to pick up the item to get a closer look at it they raise the price on you?????? I'm telling you guys, just try to use the website. It's a barrel of laughs. Prehaps the most stupid thing is it forces you to log in to add stuffs to the cart. I didn't notice that because I'm logged in automatically (probably a cookie). Anyhow, I feel like they just waste my time. Jerking me around when I'm trying to just buy an effing light bulb. "Here's an item, do you like this one? Add it to your cart, we'll give you a deal at checkout. Oh sorry, we don't even have that item, my bad." "Oh, and how about this item? I'll give it to you for this price... oh now I see you like it, well I've now decided to raise the price on you. Do you still want it?" I mean, this is the absolute worst treatment I've ever had in any store, online or not. Can you guys name any worse retailer? They sure didn't mean that, they probably did some performance optimization such as caching that caused this. I don't disagree. However this is the live website. They are undoubtedly losing real sales while they test their Beta implementation. I didn't spend days trying all sort of things just to find a couple of bugs to whine about. I've only searched for LED Bulbs and nothing else. The results -- I've only clicked on a few items and it's been just a disaster.

Lots. But let's do a narrower search now. Search for this text on ShopYourWay.com: Lighting EVER 6 Watt LED Bulbs, Replace 50 Watt Incandescent Bulb The first result (after clicking on it) tells you that you'll find out what the price is when you get to the checkout. So you try to add it to your cart. Then it tells you that the item isn't available and that you might try again later. Fine. So go to the second item: The price is listed at $14.60. Then click on it. They raise the price on you to $15.08. WTF! Have you ever seen a price listed on the shelf, and when you go to pick up the item to get a closer look at it they raise the price on you?????? I'm telling you guys, just try to use the website. It's a barrel of laughs. who buys light bulbs online? what a waste of a thread... I do of course. Why else was I shopping for one online? Let me ask you a question: Where do you shop for LED bulbs where the salespeople can help you with their own personal experience using the very same bulbs? I like to read the comments from Amazon customers about each bulb. They'll tell you if there is a delay before the light comes on... etc... etc... The house I rent (and now have a purchase option for) has a lot of designer lighting all throughout. The bulbs are incandescent and obscure types/sizes. I can't just go get replacement LED bulbs at Safeway. I don't want to go to the local hardware store and pay full markup price, and see empty spaces on the shelves for the rare types of bulbs I'm looking for, if they even have it at all. In fact, I will ONLY think about online for this type of item. So this is exactly the kind of thing that would succeed in the online format... so for me it's a great test about whether ShopYourWay offers anything that would make me prefer it as an online shopping experience. Okay???

Lots. But let's do a narrower search now. Search for this text on ShopYourWay.com: Lighting EVER 6 Watt LED Bulbs, Replace 50 Watt Incandescent Bulb The first result (after clicking on it) tells you that you'll find out what the price is when you get to the checkout. So you try to add it to your cart. Then it tells you that the item isn't available and that you might try again later. Fine. So go to the second item: The price is listed at $14.60. Then click on it. They raise the price on you to $15.08. WTF! Have you ever seen a price listed on the shelf, and when you go to pick up the item to get a closer look at it they raise the price on you?????? I'm telling you guys, just try to use the website. It's a barrel of laughs. Prehaps the most stupid thing is it forces you to log in to add stuffs to the cart. I didn't notice that because I'm logged in automatically (probably a cookie). Anyhow, I feel like they just waste my time. Jerking me around when I'm trying to just buy an effing light bulb. "Here's an item, do you like this one? Add it to your cart, we'll give you a deal at checkout. Oh sorry, we don't even have that item, my bad." "Oh, and how about this item? I'll give it to you for this price... oh now I see you like it, well I've now decided to raise the price on you. Do you still want it?" I mean, this is the absolute worst treatment I've ever had in any store, online or not. Can you guys name any worse retailer?

Lots. But let's do a narrower search now. Search for this text on ShopYourWay.com: Lighting EVER 6 Watt LED Bulbs, Replace 50 Watt Incandescent Bulb The first result (after clicking on it) tells you that you'll find out what the price is when you get to the checkout. So you try to add it to your cart. Then it tells you that the item isn't available and that you might try again later. Fine. So go to the second item: The price is listed at $14.60. Then click on it. They raise the price on you to $15.08. WTF! Have you ever seen a price listed on the shelf, and when you go to pick up the item to get a closer look at it they raise the price on you?????? I'm telling you guys, just try to use the website. It's a barrel of laughs.

For what it's worth, I stopped travelling to countries where you can't get the price stated clearly upfront. I don't like bartering. That's partly why I hate SYW.com. It just waste's my time when I just want to buy some LED Bulbs. I don't want a social experience from the website -- I can go checkout fine legs at the real brick and mortar stores when I want a social experience 8) Only it's better at Nordstrom.