Category: Strategies and Tips

We all want to stay safe. One way to do that is to light our way after dark with the power of the sun along our sidewalk or garden pathway.

You guessed it. I’m writing about the solar powered garden pathway lamps that we can shop for on DealDash.com. To make sure we do not miss the next auction all we have to do is press the blue “Alert Me” button.

These fully solar powered garden or sidewalk lights have a BIN of $140 and the size is 2.4 inches by 16.8 inches. They are made of weatherproof glass and stainless-steel casing and come in sets of four.

During the day, these lamps absorb energy and automatically switch on at dusk for illumination and go off again at daybreak. Working time is 6 to 8 hours, but they include a built-in solar powered 1.2 Volt AA rechargeable battery. The stakes can be simply pushed into the soil or gravel when used and stored inside the stainless-steel casing of the lamp when not in use.

Seeing a well-lit walkway is very welcoming for guests.

A brief history of solar lights

From my research I learned that in 1883 New York inventor Charles Fritts created the first solar cell by coating selenium with a thin layer of gold, but Frank B. Nightingale is considered the father of garden (landscape) lighting.

The first solar cell only had about 1 percent electrical efficiency. The best solar panels today can have more than 20 percent. Most solar lights have four main components: the solar photovoltanic (PV) panel, battery, control electronics and the light fixture. Whenever the sun is out the solar panel takes the light from the sun and produces electrical energy. The energy can then be used immediately or stored in a battery.

One of the greatest advantages of solar lights is that they are self-powered, but bad weather is the greatest disadvantage because it can diminish optimal lighting. On average solar garden lights last for up to 600 charges so they usually need replacement within two years.

Sometimes you may think these lights are broken when they are not. They might only need a battery replacement. NiMH and NiCd batteries are recommended for use in solar lights, so it’s a good idea to keep some of these replacement batteries on hand. Regular alkaline-based batteries are not designed for solar units but can be used for a short period if the correct batteries are not available.

The use of outdoor lighting of private and public garden landscapes can enhance safety and security and improve aesthetics for recreation and sports and social and private events.

Some people want to know if these solar lights can be left out in the winter. From what I read, the glass and materials are not made to handle frigid weather such as ice and snow. In places that do not get frigid weather we can leave durable solar lights outside but we should bring the decorative solar lights indoors for storage.

The bottom line

Solar lighting has both advantages and disadvantages. Some users love them and some do not. How well they work might partly depend on how much sun some areas get compared to others. However, solar lights do not need direct sunlight to charge them. While solar lights do need light in some form to power them on, they can get charged from artificial light.

For more information read the full description of this auction and check out the reviews of previous winners. If you have any more questions, it may be a good idea to talk with a DealDash customer service representative.

This sponsored blog post was submitted by: Barbara L. Sellers. Barbara was compensated by DealDash for this blog post. Blog posts are written by real DealDash customers. The opinions and advice here represent our customers’ views and not those of the company.

Two of my favorite childhood songs were “Wait for the Wagon” and “Wagon Wheels.”

DealDash.com has a different kind of wagon up for auction but one thing it has in common with the words to the covered wagon song I used to sing are the words “firm and strong.”

This “mighty foldable” wagon with the “sturdy steel frame and strong wheels” is 39.3 inches long by 21.2 inches wide and 43.7 inches in height and has a 175 pound weight limit. The bed of the wagon is made out of a durable waterproof fabric. It also comes with a long handle.

We never know when an awesome wagon like this might come in handy. For example, at this time of the year we will see local and state fairs and parents often pull their toddlers around the fairgrounds in a wagon. That sure beats carrying them on your back and it makes fair time more enjoyable for the parents, too.

I have also seen some people walk to a nursery or other retail store with a wagon, load some tall plants that would be crushed in a car and haul them home. So there are many uses for having a good, strong wagon.

The BIN on this wagon is $550. However, many of the previous winners paid far less than that. Below are some of the deals previous winners received:

• On June 1, this auction sold for $25.96. The winner paid a total of $49.78 including the cost of the 184 bids placed.
• On May 11, this auction sold for $26.13. The winner paid a total of $62.61 including the cost of the 300 bids placed.
• On May 21, this auction sold for $41.20. The winner paid a total of $114 including the cost of the 364 bids placed.

The above examples show some shoppers have already won this wagon at a bargain price.

A brief history of toy wagons

In my childhood days the most common wagons were the vintage red Radio Flyer wagons and nearly every family had one.

My online research shows that Antonio Pasin, of Chicago, Illinois, was the founder of these wagons in 1917. He started as a cabinetmaker and first created wooden wagons to carry items around his shop. Before long he was selling more wagons than cabinets, so he followed what worked. These wagons were named as a tribute to two famous men of the day: Marconi and Lindbergh.

In 2016, through a partnership with Tesla, Radio Flyer launched the “Tesla Model S for Kids.” This vehicle is the first and only ride-on for kids to use Flight Speed TM Lithium Ion Batteries and is the only customizable kid’s car on the market.

The bottom line

DealDash.com shoppers can now shop for a new foldable version of the old wagons that were invented more than 100 years ago. We cannot get them at the same old prices, but we can save a lot of money by winning one on this awesome auction site.

This sponsored blog post was submitted by: Barbara L. Sellers. Barbara was compensated by DealDash for this blog post. Blog posts are written by real DealDash customers. The opinions and advice here represent our customers’ views and not those of the company.

Have you ever dreamed of having a 4K UHD Smart 70-inch LED TV?  If so, you are shopping in the right place because DealDash.com has this awesome TV up for auction, and so far all of the winners have won it for less than market value.

How would you like to experience the next generation of ultra-high definition viewing? According to the DealDash auction description, this 70-inch TV “features more than 8 million pixels – four times as many as a regular HD TV.” Can you imagine the clarity and sharpness of a TV like this? 

To learn more about the specifications, please read the entire auction description.

This TV has a BIN of $4,200. Let’s take a look at some of the best deals previous winners have already received:

Previous winners

• May 17 this TV sold for $118.16 the winner paid a total of $550.42 counting the cost of the 2,693 bids placed.
• May 19 this TV sold for $367.33 and the winner paid a total of $149.93 counting the 566 bids placed. This must have been during a feature deal where DealDash paid part of the final cost.
• May 23 this TV sold for $148.10 and the winner paid a total of $466.30 including the cost of the 1,591 bids placed.

A brief history of television sets

The first practical TV sets were demonstrated and sold to the public at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York.

According to television facts and history on Google, Philo Farnsworth, an American inventor who was a technical prodigy from an early age, developed the first all-electronic television system. However, it’s difficult to determine who actually invented the first TV. Four inventors are given credit – Philo Farnsworth, Kenjiro Takayanagi, John Logie Baird and Charles Francis Jenkins.

John Logie Baird was the first one to transmit the first ever television picture on Oct. 2, 1925, but the first-ever American television mechanical TV station W3XK started working in 1928, and the first broadcast was on July 2, 1928. Television’s first drama, “The Queen’s Messenger” was broadcast from Schenectady, New York station WGY on Sept. 11, 1928. BBC transmission began in 1930.

However, television did not become widely popular until after the end of World War II. The number of television sets in use in America rose from 6,000 in 1946 to some 12 million by 1951. No new invention entered American homes faster than black and white television sets. By 1955 half of all U.S. homes had one. Between 1959 and 1970, the percentage of households in the U.S. with at least one TV went from 88 percent to 96 percent.

 By 1953, RCA devised the first complete electronic color TV system, and I remember a few years later when I was in second grade only one “rich family” in my home town owned a color TV set. Besides how much a color TV cost, according to my research, the main reason it took nearly three decades to go from black and white TV sets to color TV sets is because Cinema (movie theaters) retained the monopoly on color moving images and they feared if the public had access to color TV in their homes they would stop going to movies in the theater.

The first TV sets were extremely expensive. The RCA, one of the oldest and well-known brands in consumer electronics, sold a TV set with a 15-inch screen for $1,000, which was the buying power of $7,850 today. Between the 1940s to the 2000s, commercial television had a profound and wide-ranging impact on American society and culture. It influenced the way people think about social issues such as race, gender and class.

From 1961 until the early 1990s, there were only three major networks.

Samsung Electronics is the largest TV manufacturer in the world.

The bottom line

TV has come a long way in less than 100 years, and the 70-inch TV up for auction on DealDash.com proves it. Happy shopping everyone!

This sponsored blog post was submitted by: Barbara L. Sellers. Barbara was compensated by DealDash for this blog post. Blog posts are written by real DealDash customers. The opinions and advice here represent our customers’ views and not those of the company.

It’s not too early to start shopping for a Father’s Day gift and DealDash.com is a good place to do it.

If you are looking for a unique gift, an autographed basketball might be perfect. The basketball now up for auction is personally hand-signed by Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves in black ink and comes with a protective glass display case. This one might be sold by the time you see this, but more autographed basketballs are coming up.

In fact, a basketball autographed in silver ink by Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers is coming up for auction today, Monday, May 30. Hopefully, it will not be too late to get in on that auction. However, if you miss this auction, too, keep your eyes open for more similar auctions coming up. Can you imagine the surprised look on your father’s face when he sees who autographed this basketball?

According to the DealDash description, “It is officially licensed by the National Basketball Association and comes with an individually numbered, tamper-evident hologram…To ensure authenticity, the hologram can be reviewed online … “This ensures the product purchased is authentic and eliminates the possibility of fraud.

The history of basketball

Let’s take a look at a little basketball history.

According to my research, James Naismith, a 31-year-old physical education teacher at a YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, invented basketball in 1891. He wanted to create a less injury-prone sport than football while keeping players indoors during the winter. For the first game of basketball, Naismith used two half-bushel peach baskets as goals, which gave the sport its name. The game became very popular in the 20^th century.

In the early days of basketball, however, the game was played with a soccer ball instead of a basketball, dribbling was not allowed and the game was much shorter. The first recorded game was played between two college teams Feb. 9, 1895, when Hamline University faced Minnesota A&M (which later became a part of the University of Minnesota) and Minnesota A&M won the game.

The game became an official Olympic event in the Summer Games in Berlin, Germany in 1936, but the “slam dunk” was not created until the 1940s. The 1979 NCAA tournament was the start of basketball greats.

Today, the National Basketball Association (established in 1946) games consist of four twelve-minute quarters, for a total game length of forty-eight minutes. However, the game clock stops throughout that forty-eight minute period for various reasons, including fouls, halftime and time-outs. Only five players per team are allowed on the court and the ball and the ball handler must remain inbounds. There must be at least four players to start a game and there must be a minimum of four players to finish a game. There are 30 NBA teams that (normally) play 82 games every season.

Nat Hickey, at age 45 years and 363 days old, still holds the record for being the oldest NBA player ever, and he set that record back in 1948.

Now basketball is the third most popular sport on earth with about 2.2 billion fans – falling just under football and cricket.

The bottom line

The game of basketball has a fascinating history, and winning an autographed basketball on DealDash.com for a Father’s Day gift would definitely be the highlight on his special day!

This sponsored blog post was submitted by: Barbara L. Sellers. Barbara was compensated by DealDash for this blog post. Blog posts are written by real DealDash customers. The opinions and advice here represent our customers’ views and not those of the company.