Sam Pocker

Gave up on Retail Anarchy after about 30 pages (even tried flipping through to other sections to see if it would get better, but no). As other reviewers have mentioned, the author seemed to delight in calling everyone 'retards' (be they the retail employees he considers to be lazy and stupid or the other shoppers who don't follow his system) and revels in wasting products just because he was able to get them for little cost. I really can't fathom why anyone would be proud of buying hundreds show more of bottles of soy sauce that they don't need (and can't seem to give away), or how he rationalizes that he can actually make a profit doing so. Sounds like voo-doo economics to me. show less

I'm somewhat divided on Retail Anarchy: A Radical Shopper's Adventures in Consumption by Sam Pocker. It's a nonfiction book by a "stand-up economist," which so far as I can tell means that he hasn't had any formal training and he thinks he's funny. OK, he is funny sometimes, but he's also annoying as hell.

I suppose I should start by talking about the positives of the book. It does have lots of good advice on how to save money. This is a summary of it all:Always use coupons. If the store your show more at allows it, use store coupons and manufacturers coupons to save as much money as possible. Always use rebates if they're available. Don't hesitate to get a hundred of an item if you're getting it for free or nearly free, because you shouldn't have to worry about being fair to the other customers or the retailers. Always purchase things with a credit card that gives good rewards and has no annual fee and always pay your bill off every month. Always look online for bargains. Don't hesitate to treat store employees like shit, because they're there to serve yo. If you don't follow my advice you're a moron.

As you might guess from the last two "pieces of advice," Pocker comes of as a big asshole in the book--a useful asshole, but still an asshole. He seems to believe that everyone who doesn't shop the way he does is a moron, and that all retail employees are lazy, rude, morons. Never mind that judging by the way he comes across in the book, the employees are probably being rude to him because he's a dick who treats people like shit. The guy also seem to think that every restaurant is overpriced and serves bad food. He also believe that every item it a piece of overpriced shit, though I think he has no idea how much work goes into some of this stuff-- he says video games are "software on a plastic disc, essentially a 25-cent item," which strikes me as way undervaluing them even though there's no way in Hell I think they're worth what the stores charge for them. The guy also seem to think that every restaurant is overpriced and serves bad food.

As I said, he sounds like an asshole, and at times a remarkably stupid asshole. Still his advice is probably useful, and he has a website at www.retail anarchy.com and an online talk show called YMMV, which the back of the book describes as popular, though I never heard of it. Anyway, in the spirit of saving money, I recommend not wasting it on this book. show less

Sam Pocker is a self described "stand up" economist which means he has no formal training in economics but believes himself qualified to make assessments about consumer habits. Mr. Pocker starts out being hilarious but his routine gets really old by the time you have to read 218 pages of it. He states many things that are true about American consumer behavior like spending ridiculous amounts of money at Starbucks for a cup of coffee, the exceedingly poor state of customer service and the show more gobs of money you could save if your use coupons. But all in all, Mr. Pocker comes across as a smug and snarky individual who believes that his way of retail shopping is the right and only way of making purchases. He is quick to tell you that retail store employees are rude, obnoxious. lacking in proper training and many times have no idea of what services the store they work for offers. While many of us can sympathize with this feeling as we have all had customer service experiences that have been less than encouraging, his response and reaction to this behavior is to act equally as obnoxious and annoying as the very people he criticizes. He proudly tells of buying things that he does not really need with coupons,rebates or whatever other money saving strategy he can employ and throwing the stuff away. I am truly at a loss as to how this makes sense. To him it is better that he, an educated shopper, buys all these needless quantities and then throws then away than a shopper who pays full price for just one or two units of the same product. For him the payoff is whatever coupons he earns from making these meaningless purchases that he can later use on other things. Its a bit bizarre and I think very few people will walk away from reading of his exploits in retail with a sense of admiration for the author. Yes, we should all clip coupons and use rebates whenever available. This is indeed sound advice. But traveling three states away because there is a sale on pudding or Kikkoman teriyaki sauce and making my entire house and car look like it is a grocery store warehouse is not in my opinion very smart. show less