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Savvy mom-of-five reveals how she rakes in HUNDREDS of dollars on Amazon – by buying

admin — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 15:14:22 +0000

Tiffany Moore-McIntos, 34, took to TikTok to explain how she’s been cashing in
The mom, from Ohio, said they had been reselling discounted products online
Other social media users have been left mesmerized by the nifty trick

Published: 16:57 EDT, 19 September 2023 | Updated: 11:11 EDT, 20 September 2023

One savvy family has revealed how they rake in hundreds of dollars on Amazon with a very simple method.

Tiffany Moore-McIntosh, 34, took to TikTok to explain how she has been cashing in on the discounted rates at Dollar Tree.

The mom-of-five, originally from Ohio, said that her family had been reselling the cut-price products online for as much as five times the original cost.

And other social media users have praised her for the nifty trick.

Tiffany Moore-McIntosh took to TikTok to explain how she has been cashing in on the discounted rates at Dollar Tree

The mom-of-five, originally from Ohio, said that her family had been reselling the cut-price products online for as much as five times the original cost

In the clip, which has so far been viewed more than 1.2 million times, Tiffany records her daughter and niece – ages 15 and 16 – in the aisles of Dollar Tree.

Both are carrying a large boxes of candy – one of which is stuffed full of packets of Ring Pops.

The overlaid text reads: ‘Our family Amazon-Dollar Tree haul. Spent $120 to make $750.’

Tiffany, who works as a business coach, uploaded the clip alongside a caption that read: ‘My Kids Are Entrepreneurs On Amazon Too!’

It seems as though the family have been achieving a healthy profit with their ‘retail arbitrage’ endeavors.

Retail arbitrage, which has become increasingly popular in recent months, is defined as the process of buying discounted products from retailers to resell on Amazon for a profit.

And Tiffany’s brief video appears to have already inspired a whole host of other businesspeople.

One wrote: ‘Raising them right! The future leaders – awesome job! Many blessings.’

Tiffany, who is also now a grandmother, has laid bare her own story on her website, which explains how she had previously ‘worked dead-end jobs’ before testing out a new venture

And Tiffany’s brief video appears to have already inspired a whole host of other businesspeople

Another added: ‘Good practice! Teach them business.’

And a third simply said: ‘Wait how do I do this?’

Tiffany, who is also now a grandmother, has laid bare her own story on her website, which explains how she had previously ‘worked dead-end jobs’ before testing out a new venture.

She has also since set up empowerment group ‘6 Figure Chics’ to help empower women in the business world.

Investor group opposed to Liontrust buying GAM alleges asset manager spread ‘false

admin — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 16:53:57 +0000

Investor group opposed to Liontrust buying GAM alleges asset manager spread ‘false rumours and information’

Liontrust’s proposed acquisition of GAM would create a firm with £53bn of AUM
NewGAMe and Bruellan claim the bid ‘significantly undervalues’ the business
Albert Saporta, NewGAMe’s CEO, accused Liontrust of trying to scare investors

By Harry Wise

Updated: 11:37 EDT, 23 August 2023

A war of words has erupted over the potential takeover of GAM, after a rebel investor group accused Liontrust of transmitting ‘false rumours and information’ to try and scupper their rival offer.

It comes just a day before the deadline for the Swiss fund manager’s shareholders to accept GAM’s proposed acquisition by Liontrust Asset Management.

The £96million deal would create a business holding £53billion of assets under management and a more enhanced fund range and asset class offering.

Allegations: NewGAMe has accused Liontrust Asset Management of spreading ‘false rumours and information’ to try and scupper its proposed partial cash offer for GAM

But NewGAMe and Bruellan, which hold an estimated 10 per cent stake in GAM, have claimed the bid is lopsided, ‘significantly undervalues’ the company and contains unappealing execution contingencies.

They have put forward a partial counter-proposal that includes issuing a 25million Swiss francs (£22.3million) loan, electing a new board of directors, and increasing the share of high value-added investment products.

An email sent by Liontrust’s head of corporate development, David Boyle, on behalf of the firm’s chief executive, John Ions, to some GAM investors said that John Seo, the managing director of Fermat Capital, an external manager of GAM, had ‘questioned the integrity of NewGAMe.’

He added that the Fermat co-founder was ‘in no mind to lunge straight into a relationship with people he does not trust.’

As a result, Seo was ‘seriously thinking’ about ending Fermat’s relationship with GAM if the NewGAMe offer was successful.

But Albert Saporta, the chief executive of NewGAMe, has published a conversation between him and Seo where the latter described being ‘shocked and dismayed’ by the email.

Seo also asserted that he ‘never wrote those words, and… would never approve of those words’ and had contacted Ions, who vowed to ‘retract’ the email.

Saporta remarked: ‘With these emails, Liontrust is now disseminating false rumours and information in order to panic shareholders into tendering at the last minute.

‘As we should come to the end of this ordeal with the Liontrust tender deadline tomorrow, we are grateful to shareholders that have expressed support for our turnaround plan by seeing through GAM and Liontrust’s misleading statements and not tendering to this deal.’

A spokesman for NewGAMe confirmed the email exchange between the Seo and Saporta to This is Money.

Liontrust acknowledged the email sent by Boyle but would not comment on whether Ions had disavowed it.

Anthony Maarek, managing director of NJJ Holding, which oversees NewGAMe, has told Liontrust’s chairman, Alastair Barbour, in a letter that the Swiss Takeover Board has been contacted regarding the emails.

Maarek accused Liontrust of exceeding the ‘limits to what can be decently and legally be undertaken’ to persuade investors to accept a buyout bid.

Liontrust Asset Management shares were 1.2 per cent, or 7p, higher at 605p on late Wednesday afternoon, although they have plummeted by around 70 per cent in the past two years.

The company’s operating profits slumped by over a third to £49.3million for the 12 months ending March after its UK retail funds and managed portfolio service saw investors withdraw more funds from riskier asset classes.

Stock markets have taken a hit from rising economic uncertainty caused partly by central banks hiking interest rates to try and dampen inflation.

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

Tourists are only just discovering this game-changer app that makes buying food and

admin — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 00:35:18 +0000

Have you ever ordered the wrong food on holiday because you couldn’t read the menu?

Or perhaps you’ve found yourself wandering around a city for hours, unable to get to your destination because the signs weren’t in English.

Well, a little-known app could save you from these two major holiday stresses.

Google Lens is a free app, available on both Android and iOS, and is described as a ‘travel companion’ during the holiday season.

Google Lens is a free app, available on both Android and iOS, and uses the built-in smartphone camera to identify real-world objects

It is essentially a real-life Google search and uses the built-in camera on a smartphone to scan and identify real-world objects.

According to the Google blog website: ‘[It] can instantly translate the text in front of you, whether you’re looking at a menu or street sign.

‘Point Lens at any text and it will automatically detect the language and overlay the translations right on top of the original words.’

You can find Google Lens in the Google app, it’s the tiny camera icon next to the search bar.

Once you’ve tapped it you are given several options including ‘Search’ and ‘Translate’.

The app directly translates more than 100 languages, and will instantly detect the native dialect and translate it into the language of your choice.

Many people have used it to solve their menu woes by simply hovering the camera above the menu and watching it ac

The travel hack has been well appreciated by TikTokers, who are only just discovering the feature.

The app directly translates more than 100 languages, and will instantly detect the native dialect and translate it into the language of your choice

It is able to translate real-world objects such as medicine labels, food packages and menus

One user @TravelTok described the app as a ‘game changer,’ and demonstrated that it was quickly able to translate both medicines and food packaging.

Another frequent traveller, who goes by the username @raimeetravels, showed how quickly the app can identify buildings or objects.

Hovering her phone outside the entrance of Centre Pompidou Malaga, the app instantly gave Raimee the name of the contemporary art museum.

Adding in the caption, she wrote: ‘My new favourite thing.’

Some TikTokers have only just found the hidden feature, and are sharing their discovery on the app

One TikTok traveller demonstrated how to get Google Lens to identify buildings, and scanned a building before her

The app quickly identified the building as an art museum in Spain called, Centre Pompidou Malaga

TikTokers flocked to the comment section, grateful of the post, one said: ‘I used the translate option a lot last week in Japan. So helpful!’

The same feature is also available on the Google Translate app, which TikTok user Kate Bacon demonstrated.

Posting a tutorial to her account @kbacon, she said: ‘You go to the Google Translate app, select your languages, click on the camera icon, and it will translate all of the text you see.’

Phone owners can access the same feature via the Google Translate app, all you need to do is click on the camera option

The app will access Google Lens and translate word for word the object before them

The ‘quick and easy life hack’ was appreciated by her followers, who commented ‘Thank you’ and ‘That’s definitely been a tremendous help!’

Not only does Google lens work for travel, you can also sharpen your shopping skills.

For example, if you see a random item you want, outside of the store, all you need to do is scan it and Google Lens will provide similar suggestions – all without having to articulate what you’re looking for.

Supermarket giant Coles reveals shoppers have stopped buying steak during the

admin — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 17:43:14 +0000

Supermarket giant Coles has revealed customers are buying less steak to cope with the cost-of-living crisis.

Vittoria Bon, the group’s manager of government and business relations, told a parliamentary hearing certain meats had become a luxury item as customers focused on weekly specials.

‘So customers are more conscious of those and with cost of living, they are trading down into more value products,’ she told the House of Representatives economics committee hearing on Tuesday.

‘So, for example, instead of perhaps buying steak, people will buy mince, which we’ve got dropped and locked at $12 for a kilo, so there is a change in what people are buying as well as when they shop.’

This is less than half the price of T-bone steak, with 1kg selling for $30.

Supermarket Coles has revealed customers are buying less steak to cope with the cost of living crisis (pictured is T-bone at $30 a kilogram)

Ms Bon said Coles data also showed customers were shopping more often, hoping for a special.

‘I think there’s a move away from the once a week, large grocery shop – there are smaller baskets happening more frequently,’ she said.

‘So people might shop around, daily or every second day rather than one, weekly shop.

‘People do pay attention to when there are specials which are released at different points in time.’

Woolworths chief commercial officer Paul Harker said milk prices were more likely to stay higher, with official data showing retail dairy prices rose by 15.1 per cent in the year to May, well above the already high 5.6 per cent inflation rate.

‘The biggest area we’ve seen with cost increases has been across the dairy category and that’s been a function of the significant lift in farmgate milk prices across the board,’ he said.

Elevated crude oil and grain prices would also feed into meat prices, but these wholesale pressures were moderating.

‘We are starting to see meat prices, in some instances, come down if you think of beef and lamb, less so in pork,’ Mr Harker said.

Mr Harker said Woolworths operated on a three-month cycle when it came to buying beef cattle livestock to be slaughtered, processed and put on supermarket shelves.

‘We know that meat is a very important staple for our customers,’ he said.

Coles said customers were increasingly turning to minced meat instead of steak (pictured is one kilogram of mince for $12)

Mr Harker also noted that more suppliers than usual had asked to raise their wholesale prices, which meant consumers would have to wait to see lower prices.

‘It was a fivefold increase in terms of the number of requests, it’s now sitting at two to three times normal levels,’ he said.

‘Although we are starting to see some relief in some of the drivers of inflation, that’s yet to come through the supply chain.

Vittoria Bon, Coles group’s manager of government and business relations, told a parliamentary hearing certain meats had become a luxury item as customers focused on weekly specials

‘Various of our suppliers have contracts that are locked in.

‘At the moment, it’s very early days.’

High inflation also meant shoppers were now much less likely to only shop at one supermarket, with Coles noting the competition from German chain Aldi, IGA owner Metcash, its main rival Woolworths, warehouse grocer Costco and online American giant Amazon.

‘Given the cost-of-living pressures people are facing, they’re being more selective in terms of where they shop,’ Ms Bon said.

‘They may have just shopped at one supermarket previously and one greengrocer.

‘People now are more conscious about specials offered by all of the retailers – so you’ve got Aldi, you’ve got Coles, you’ve got Metcash, you’ve got Woolworths, you’ve got Costco, you’ve got Amazon.

‘Then you’ve got all of the smaller retailers and markets that offer products to customers – I think customers are shopping more broadly so they can get the best value for their family.’

Coles has an estimated 30 per cent market share with 120,000 employees, compared with Woolworths’ larger 37 per cent share and 198,000 staff.

Westpac’s Red Book report released on Tuesday found a ‘risk aversion’ measure in June had risen to a record high.

A quarter or 27 per cent of the 1,200 consumers surveyed nominated paying down debt as the wisest use of savings.

This was the highest score since the question was first asked in 1997, demonstrating consumers are now more worried than they were during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 as a result of the Reserve Bank’s 12 interest rate rises since May last year.

Just five per cent of consumers favoured real estate compared with eight per cent for shares, with both riskier approaches to investment near historical lows.

The vast majority or 80 per cent of consumers are expecting more rate rises in the coming year, with inflation still well above the Reserve Bank’s two to three per cent target.

Only 6.8 per cent of consumers are expecting rate cuts that would give them more money to spend.

Next thrives by buying up iconic British brands like Cath Kidston

admin — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 08:38:17 +0000

Cath Kidston closed its last remaining shop in London’s Piccadilly this week after it was last year salvaged from administration in an £8.5million takeover by Next.

Next bought the the vintage-inspired clothing and homeware firm’s brand, domain names and intellectual property, but the retail giant saw Cath Kidston’s bricks-and-mortar presence as surplus to requirements.

But Cath Kidston is just one of several major British brands Next has acquired, partnered with or invested in over recent tumultuous years.

Success story: Next proved to be a beneficiary of both pandemic restrictions and the rebound in retail footfall once curbs subsided

Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Reiss, Joules, JoJo Maman Bebe and Made.com are all now helping to drive the group’s growth via its ‘Total’ platform.

The retail giant’s flexibility and size has taken it from strength to strength since 2019.

Next was a major beneficiary of the pandemic, and has continued to thrive against a backdrop of high costs and consumer pressure that drove its smaller rivals to the edge of extinction.

It revealed an £870.4million pre-tax profit for the year to January, up 5.7 per cent on the previous year and 16.3 per cent up on the 12-month reporting period before the emergence of Covid-19 in Britain in 2020.

Next’s online presence left it in a relatively strong position as Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions were brought in, while other retailers with a weaker or no e-commerce offering suffered by comparison.

Since the pandemic hit, Next’s active online customers have grown by around a third.

And when Covid-19 curbs began to dissipate, Next again thrived during the rebound in footfall to its bricks and mortar stores.

Head of money and markets at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown Susannah Streeter said: ‘Next’s prowess as an omnichannel retailer has really come to the fore.

‘It’s really diversified – It’s not just diversifying in terms of the brands on its platform, but also the services that are offered to other retailers.’

High Street giants profit from selling smaller brands

Next is not the only retail behemoth to use its size and scale to take advantage of what relatively weaker brands can offer.

Marks & Spencer is now selling Skechers, Crocs and Toms footwear via its ‘Brands at M&S’ platform, and House of Fraser and Sports Direct owner Frasers – owned by Mike Ashley – has been buying up chunks of Curry’s, Boohoo, Asos and AO World.

Next bought Cath Kidston out of administration last year in an £8.5million deal

Streeter said: ‘It’s a similar strategy. I think what’s happened is that other companies have seen how well Next does it and are almost emulating it.’

She added that there has been a ‘survival of the fittest’ shift in the retail sector, as larger firms have shown their dominance in a difficult trading environment.

For the firms Next scooped out of administration, partnered with, or invested in, its Total platform allows them to leverage the group’s size to grow the business via services like logistics, distribution and customer service.

Next also sells third-party brands online via its Label business, which is primarily for commission, and through its licensing unit.

Streeter said: ‘By bringing them onto the Total platform, Next is enabling brands to become slicker in terms of ordering and delivery, for example.

Miranda Kerr during the 11th Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The group’s UK arm joined Next’s Total platform in 2021

‘The idea is they rehabilitate these brands and rebuild that brand power.

‘And the very fact that it’s able to offer this kind of umbrella of brands on its platform has actually helped its resilience.’

Investment in the Total platform appears to be paying off, with the unit’s revenues rocketing 269 per cent last year to £144.4million.

The impact on its bottom line, when including gains in the equity value of the stakes it has taken in these businesses, has been a 135 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to £16.3million. Next expects this figure to top £20million this year.

John Stevenson, analyst at Peel Hunt, said: ‘That’s a relatively small percentage [of Next’s total profits], but for something relatively nascent with respect to the overall business, [the group] is getting a meaningful contribution by participating in the equity upside it has created in those businesses. And that’s exactly the rationale.

‘You’ve had retail businesses that have gone into administration, like Made, Cath Kidston and Joules, and these are businesses that resonate strongly with and are relevant to consumers.

‘The other side of the coin to that is [Next] creates a very consumer-relevant offering that makes people want to shop on Next – and that’s also going to drive sales of [Next-brand goods].’

Sale of Princess of Wales’ favourite brand Reiss could spell further success for Next

Next could also soon be set for the strategy’s biggest success yet, with the group reportedly lining up a sale of upmarket favourite of the Princess of Wales Reiss.

New York-based fund manager Elliot is said to among bidders in a deal that could value Reiss at £500million. This would represent a significant profit to Next, which has built a 51 per cent stake in the group.

Gap’s e-commerce offering was transferred over to Next’s Total Platform in September

It was dubbed ‘an outstanding brand with enormous potential’ by Next chief executive Lord Wolfson when he first snapped up a 25 per cent stake in the company in 2021.

HL’s Streeter said: ‘If that offer comes through at the top end of expectations, it would certainly show Next has done very well with Reiss. It’s too early to say how well it has done with some of the others.

‘But in terms of Next’s overall strategy, it’s clearly working because it keeps surpassing expectations.’

Surprisingly strong UK consumer spending over the festive period helped Next boost profit expectations early this year and warm weather-driven clothing sales aided another upgrade in June, though the group did caution that it expects sales to moderate in the second half of 2023.

Streeter added: ‘The mix Next has on the platform now appears to be the right mix, and that suggests these turnaround strategies appear to be working.’

While insolvency levels are expected to calm later this year, government data shows a 40 per cent year-on-year rise in company insolvencies in May as businesses continue to crumble under high costs, rising interest rates and weak economic growth.

Should more attractive opportunities emerge through this route, Streeter said ‘Next could look to snap [other businesses] out of the bargain bin’.

But Peel Hunt’s Stevenson cautioned Next faces a logistical challenge in ensuring it has sufficient systems and distribution capabilities to bring in new brands while also building up existing ones.

He said: ‘These deals have been on pause while Next lays down sufficient capability.

‘But Next has been getting faster and faster at onboarding brands, so we should get to the stage in the next 12 to 18 months where it can bring brands in much more easily.’

Is Next a good investment?

While Next’s growth ambitions have been largely successful so far, investors are arguably yet to be fully rewarded.

Next shares have jumped 50.2 per cent since October 2022 when it ramped up deals, but they have yet to regain their pre-Covid crash price of £71.28.

Streeter said: ‘Next’s share price hasn’t regained complete form despite the fact that it keeps surprising on the upside.

‘If you compare it to Inditex, the owner of Zara, its price to earnings ratio is a lot higher compared to Next. So you could say that there is still potential for Next going forward in terms of its share price.’

Brokers are split on their view on Next

Allwyn’s revenue surges 80% after buying National Lottery operator Camelot

admin — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 19:23:15 +0000

New National lottery operator Allwyn sees revenues surge 80% to £1.4bn following takeover of Camelot

The Czech-owned company said its first-quarter revenue grew to €1.65bn
Allwyn claimed to experience a ‘limited impact’ from inflationary pressures
From February 2024, Allwyn will run the UK’s National Lottery for a decade

By Harry Wise For This Is Money

Updated: 11:26 EDT, 13 June 2023

Allwyn International has reported an 80 per cent jump in first-quarter turnover after acquiring Camelot, the longtime operator of the UK’s National Lottery.

The Czech-owned company said its revenue rose to €1.65billion (£1.41billion) in the first three months of 2023, compared to €914million in the equivalent period last year.

Though acquisitions of Camelot UK and Camelot Lottery Solutions, which runs the Illinois Lottery, provided the overwhelming bulk of growth, organic sales still expanded by 17 per cent to over €1billion.

Turnover: Allwyn International, the future operator of the UK’s National Lottery, said its revenue rose to €1.65billion in the first three months of 2023

Allwyn credited the boost to solid performances across all territories and product lines, progress in its digital channels, and the lack of any impact from Covid-related restrictions.

Despite widespread cost-of-living pressures across Europe, the firm claimed to experience a ‘limited impact’ from inflation due to its large number of regular players and low average spend per customer.

This helped boost adjusted underlying earnings by 28 per cent to €346.7million, as did minimal energy costs and the fact that a major portion of its total costs are linked to revenues.

Robert Chvatal, Allwyn’s chief executive, said: We once again saw the resilience of demand for our products, even in an environment where consumer spending remains under pressure.

‘We continued to deliver strong margins and to generate robust free cash flow, reflecting our favourable cost structure and focus on cost and capital efficiency.’

Allwyn will begin running the UK’s National Lottery for a decade from February 2024 after selection by the Gambling Commission.

During its first licence term, the group has vowed to return more than £30billion to good causes. Camelot gave out £45billion in the years since the lottery was started.

It has also promised to offer more super-national lotteries and use its tie-up with Vodafone to try and attract younger demographics.

The company is owned by KKCG, the business empire of Czech billionaire Karel Komarek, whose interests cover oil and gas, entertainment, property and technology, and is one of the largest lottery operators in Europe.

It planned to list on the New York Stock Exchange last year via a £7.4billion special purpose acquisition merger with Cohn Robbins Holdings but decided not to go ahead due to ‘significant market volatility.’

Former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King chairs Allwyn UK’s board of directors, while other board members include Air Miles loyalty programmes founder Sir Keith Mills.

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