Infomercial products that have helped you

Crystallas · #1 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 01:46 AM

I research my investments in great detail, but seem to find a lack of information on certain products I see in infomercials.
Usually searching for these products bombards you with 100 sites that have as seen on TV sales before you find any reliable information on the product from 3rd party reviewers. Some would say opinions about some of these items are better as water cooler talk, than internet information. I agree to a apoint, but that doesnt stop me from talking on open forums about opinions about as-seen-on-TV products.

Recently I purchased the Homedics Tony Little pillows because I needed a few new pillows, aswell as a few chiropractic friends of mine said they actually were very good pillows and recommended them. I havent recieved them yet to see for myself, but I found myself suckered into another informercial.

I bought a few "Sweep and Mops" and refils for my mom for mothers day. I didnt have a good gift idea, and I knew she was getting frustrated over buying a nice non cloth mop to only see the replacement heads and mops become discontinued after shes satisfied with a design. They were actually a reasonable price for everything, so this wasnt a bad buy, but by no means were they as good as the infomercial.

I also bought a ronco food dehydrator years ago. That has paid itself off many times over. What a great, reliable product.
George Forman Grills are awesome, and Im glad I eventually bought one.

Last that I can remember, I bought some kinda hard arch supports once, and thats because I didnt want to spend $300 after insurance for a new set at the time. I worse them for 2 weeks, and my feet hurt real bad, they were the worst infomercial product that I have ever bought.

I know people that have bought the Ronco Rotisserie, set it and forget it, deal. I get mixed opinions on it and I considered it at one point, but it looks more like a fad item.

Im just curious about everyone elses experiences with specific products.

lynclarke · #2 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 04:48 AM

Good topic Crystallas- I can't think of anything I bought off TV but I do remember going to a home show and buying two bottles of pink stuff that I think was supposed to make things shiny. I bet they are in one of the cleaner bins. I'll have to look!! lynclarke

Kris10Leigh · #3 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 06:20 AM

This should be a fun topic!

Boy, your research must make it really difficult to not spend money.

My MIL bought me the magic bullet. I really do like it! I do NOT like it for shredding cheese or veggies though. Cheese ends up in little balls and veggies ends up juice. It is lightening fast so it is a bit hard to control veggies. But it's great for frozen drinks, desserts, salsas....all kinds of things.

I bought a Turbo Cooker once. Now that was stupid buy! It was a long time ago, I can't remember why I hated it, but I gave it away within a month.

greedy4chips · #4 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 07:56 AM

We bought one of those hand made woks ($39.95) that were all the rage about 10 years ago and it is awesome! We make chinese all the time.

My wife bought a couple excercise tapes and thighmaster that I can sell to you for almost new or barely used prices...lol

I would like to see a show that actually tests some of the products and gives feedback to their validity, especially the make money in your spare time junk infomercials.

I am sure so many people have been ripped off by these plans that their should be a law against them. Then again ultimately we are all responsible for using our purchases or don't buy them.

We do buy the Oxyclean and it does work, but we buy it from the store when it is on sale not from tv ads.

Why do I find myself watching Carlton Sheets for the 1000th time? I have never bought his kit, but watch the ads far too often!

pearlieq · #5 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 09:06 AM

I picked myself up one of those IGIA perfect touch hair trimmers at Big Lots for about $4. It's a great place to go for "as seen on TV" stuff.

I love the trimmer! It works very well!

I've always been leery of buying things off of the TV because I've heard horror stories of ourtrageous extra changes and getting signed up for "subscriptions" or recurring charges against your will. The industry just seems way too shady for me to release any of my personal info, so I wait until they come to the stores near me.

I also cannot live without my Clapper!

#6 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 11:02 AM

I too am curious about many of the items sold on infomercial and places like QVC, but have also heard the stories about them getting your cc number and charging items to the hilt.

You can normally buy those items in real life and can check out some of the items on places like Amazon and epinions.com.

Things sold by QVC can be checked out on their discussion forum. I can't believe it but they seem to allow people to talk about how gross that food is, and how that product keeps breaking down and isn't worth a ####.

PrincessPerky · #7 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 12:04 PM

Space bags (bought from store, as seen on TV) puncture easily..so while they do work, they also only work for short gentle term.

IMO george forman grill works, but is small...so if you have a small family it is great, once you start haivng kids it is a waste of counter space (no way am I doing it three times for one meal!) but when I had an apartment..no outside grilloption, and only DH and I it was very nice.

Crystallas · #8 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 02:32 PM

Oh yeah, I bought the space bags. Very nice. But I didnt buy the ones I saw on TV. I bought some improved version that are a bit thicker. I ran out of ideas for things to use them for, but for the smalla mount of things that I did use it for, it wasnt bad at all, and I havent had any bad seals yet.

lrjohnson · #9 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 04:00 PM

Oh my, I'm gonna go a tad off topic, but...I adore infomercials. Now I have never once bought one of these products, but I adore them.

I joked yesterday that I wanted to be the actress who was doing things the "old way" in infomercials...you know, standing in front of a cuisinart freaking out at the complexity, or scrubbing the filthy non-silicon muffin tins...the drama, the burden, of these products for these actresses? I love it! The old bad knife that smooshes a tomato...I could do that!

I used to have an all informerical channel...I miss it. I love the food ones.....Chef Tony talking about light cooking with his buddha belly knocking into things.....the Nicer Dicer ....I loved the one, perhaps Turbo cooker, where it was "Oven Quality, Microwave fast..." There used to be a pseudo host, Nancy, who was the best gusher, queen of the infomercials.

Ima saver · #10 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 04:15 PM

I use to buy a lot from QVC. Still buy what few clothes I need from there. I never had a bit of a problem, if i didn't like it I sent it back and got a full refund! I don't buy from the informercials.

MarianneJ · #11 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 04:43 PM

Both my mother and my MIL have the Ron Popeil Rotisserie - the full sized digital one. WE LOVE IT!!! It works great and makes everything taste better (from cooking in the juices).

I bought the "Window Wizard" (with the trianglular head) from a CVS near me, and hate it. It really doesn't work at all.

I also love to watch infomercials and it drives my DH nuts. *LOL*

I have bought quite a few things from QVC, including my "sleep number bed" and several "diamonique" jewelry items. I do not really count them as true "infomercials" since they have a 30 day money back guarantee...which they actually do honor. I've never been unhappy with them because of that. To me true infomercials are fly-by-night type deals where it is all hype and silliness.

This is a fun topic!

Ima saver · #12 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 04:52 PM

I like 4 hours round trip from a mall. I buy my shirts, jeans and shorts on QVC and I don't have to drive 4 hours. We have no stores in my area to speak of. We do have a wal mart 25 miles away and I buy some clothes there.

greedy4chips · #13 (**permalink**) 08-13-2006, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lrjohnson

I joked yesterday that I wanted to be the actress who was doing things the "old way" in infomercials...you know, standing in front of a cuisinart freaking out at the complexity, or scrubbing the filthy non-silicon muffin tins...the drama, the burden, of these products for these actresses? I love it! The old bad knife that smooshes a tomato...I could do that!

Could you play the unsatisfied wife/girlfriend in the Ron Jeremy infomercial about male enhancement. J/K Don't take me seriously I forget what that product was

since it comes in a discrete package...lmao!

Space bag repair tip...duct tape on the inside and outside of the hole.

lynclarke · #14 (**permalink**) 08-14-2006, 03:39 AM

Anyone ever see the Ron Popeil life story? Really interesting! He is the one who developed the selling spiel which always adds items at the end to rachet up the value. When i was a little kid, I loved going into Boston to the large department store and watching the man who demonstrated the machine that cut up vegetables. My mother could shop for hours while I remained transfixed by the man and the flying vegetables. By the way, we are space bag travelers. We love them. My best friends used to have one of those turbo cookers- infact, i think they went through two of them over the years. They loved it especially for leftovers. lynclarke

Crystallas · #15 (**permalink**) 08-15-2006, 11:10 PM

I recieved those homedic pillows. I dont know why they have such good reviews on HSN's website. They dont stay as cool as the infomercial says they do, and they didnt make my sleep any better. Oh well, might return these. Damn you Tony Little!

lisajane · #16 (**permalink**) 08-16-2006, 02:44 AM

Now that I think of it, we bought the magic bullet at the National Home show, we haven't yet used it. We bought OxiClean and it works great, we used some jewelry cleaner and that works great. My dad wants to by the Nicer Dicer.

I too find myself perplexed at the TV, watching Real Estate riches infomercials, carleton sheets included.

We bought one of those mandolin slicers and we use that quite a bit, hasn't broken yet. It's hit or miss with those things, but I've always wanted the dehydrator. I NEED one, I love dehydrated apples, strawberries etc. I can't stand fresh food.

jodi · #17 (**permalink**) 08-16-2006, 06:55 AM

I don't recall ever having bought anything directly from the tv, but I do have some infomercial items that had popped up later in stores. I used to use my Miracle Thaw all the time, but it got packed away when we moved and I never got it back out. But I am a little better at remembering to defrost things in the fridge first. Used to be that I never thought about dinner until an hour before. Anyway, that product worked well. I think I bought it for a few bucks at a garage sale.
We used the george Foreman grills for a while, but then we phased them out too. Took up too much space and it was just easier to grill outside.
I always wanted to get the space bags, but never got around to it.