sales

People who've received unwanted sales calls from Dish Network may yet get some satisfaction.

The company is the target of a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission alleging that it made sales calls to millions of consumers even though they had asked not to be called again.

The calls reportedly violated the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule. According to that rule, a telemarketer cannot call someone who has asked to be taken off the company's call list, even if the person is not registered with the National Do Not Call list.

The FTC's lawsuit alleges that Dish … Read more

Russians are some of the world's biggest consumers of Apple goods. However, one of the main places they buy iPads, iPhones, and Macs is on eBay. That's because Apple doesn't directly sell its devices to Russia or have any retail stores there.

This may all change in the near future, however.

According to the Moscow News, Apple recently registered a company called Apple Rus and assigned it to the tech giant's local legal adviser -- Vitaly Morozko. Apparently, direct sales could begin as soon as 2013, yet it's still unclear when an Apple Store may … Read more

Daily-deals provider Groupon is having a tough time keeping its salespeople happy, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, has reported that increasing numbers of Groupon salespeople are looking for new jobs after becoming disgruntled with the way they're treated by their employer. The Journal sat down with Mike Silagadze, CEO of software firm Top Hat Monocle, who revealed that he has received "hundreds of resumes" from Groupon salespeople.

According to the Journal, the daily-deals provider has made it too difficult for its sales force, which accounts for nearly half of its more … Read more

The Senate could soon decide whether consumers will have to shell out taxes on more of their online purchases.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is scheduled to hold a hearing today to examine the current policy that exempts many online retailers from collecting sales tax. The present ruling is based on a 1992 Supreme Court decision, which found that businesses without a physical presence in a state are not required to collect state sales tax.

But up for debate this afternoon is the Marketplace Fairness Act (PDF), which would reverse the Supreme Court decision. Senators … Read more

Apple and Microsoft could once again join forces to bid on a collection of patents from a beleaguered technology giant, says a new report.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the two companies -- along with Nathan Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures -- plan to band together to snatch up some or all of Kodak's patent portfolio. Initial bids for that collection of 1,100 patents are due at the beginning of next week.

The companies could face an opposing team made up of other rivals including Google, Samsung, HTC, and LG, along with San Francisco-based patent buyer and licensor … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 show:

- 'People' defend Chic-fil-A on Facebook.

- Chick-fil-A cashier fired for racist receipts.

- Old records outsell new ones for the first time.

- Circuit City's in-home TV calibration is a total scam.… Read more

Update: 3:10 p.m. PT.

Apple sold 26 million iPhones in its third quarter, the company announced today, coming in slightly below what analysts had expected.

The number of iPhones sold grew 28 percent year-over-year. The company's other revenue came from 17 million iPads -- an 84 percent increase -- and 4 million Macs, a 2 percent increase. All sales amount to $35 billion in revenue total.

Apple is clearly celebrating the incredible growth in iPad sales and not highlighting its iPhone sales. Analysts predicted that Apple would sell 29 million iPhones, down from its numbers for the … Read more

iPhones and iPads once again led the way in a record quarter for Apple, but the results were less than what Wall Street expected.

During its third fiscal quarter, which ran through June 30, Apple reported revenue of $35 billion and earnings of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per share. That was up from the $28.57 billion in revenue and profits of $7.31 billion, or $7.79 per share, the company reported for the same quarter a year ago.

Wall Street was expecting Apple to pull in earnings of $10.35 a share on revenue of $37.… Read more

In the PC-gaming world, one sale each year electrifies the community to spend, spend, and spend some more: the Steam summer sale.

Aside from thousands of discounted games, some interesting bundles and featured offers appear right up a spendthrift's alley. The summer sale offers daily deals, multiple random flash sales, and a unique community choice vote where voters choose on the next heavily discounted game (which revolves every eight hours). … Read more