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“Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape (2008)

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11–20 of 42 posts

Re: “Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape (2008)

#11
The town I'm at is infested with so-called "bandit signs" advertising "Soandso buys houses. Soandso pays cash." with a phone number to call.

It strikes me as odd that there's little to no enforcement of not only the signs but of the extremely shady business practices therein.

Re: “Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape (2008)

#12
post #7
post #4

> company charges their customers from $3,000 to over $15,000 for their matchmaking services Wait, what, how?!

High-pressure sales tactics. They target people who are feeling vulnerable due to not being able to find a good relationship. They get them in a room, pitch them on a match telling them how perfect it is and how lucky they are to make this connection. Then they say: you have to pay $3,000 or we won't give you the name or contact info. And the offer is only good until you leave the room. edit: I can't find a good link…

[deleted]

Re: “Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape (2008)

#13

I remember seeing one of these signs in 2013. I was immediately intrigued since, outside of facebook and craigslist, there was very little web activity in my state, much less my impoverished hometown of 4000. The fact that the town's name was misspelled in the URL was even more interesting. I also tracked the source down to NuStar Solutions. After a bit of digging, I found that just before the signs went up, a Craigs…

Aren't those signed usually referred to as "bandit signs"?

Yup and they're illegal in most places I'm aware of. Public signage requires permits. Private property usually doesn't take kindly to people putting garbage in their lawn. Etc.

Re: “Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape (2008)

#14
The article states: "Remember when I said that certain dating businesses can print money? This is one of them. A 2006 reveals that the company was then bringing in about $45 Million of revenue a year."

I'm wondering what the missing word is after "2006". Any clues? Where did the revenue figure come from?

Re: “Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape (2008)

#15
post #7
post #4

> company charges their customers from $3,000 to over $15,000 for their matchmaking services Wait, what, how?!

High-pressure sales tactics. They target people who are feeling vulnerable due to not being able to find a good relationship. They get them in a room, pitch them on a match telling them how perfect it is and how lucky they are to make this connection. Then they say: you have to pay $3,000 or we won't give you the name or contact info. And the offer is only good until you leave the room. edit: I can't find a good link…

There's another reply there that talks about the service more in-depth by a user named "Crumb."

What's interesting is that he got the same $3,000 service for $500. And he actually got to have some low-quality dates! I figured these were full-blown scams. They also sell their leads to other dating companies.

Re: “Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape (2008)

#16
post #5

I remember seeing one of these signs in 2013. I was immediately intrigued since, outside of facebook and craigslist, there was very little web activity in my state, much less my impoverished hometown of 4000. The fact that the town's name was misspelled in the URL was even more interesting. I also tracked the source down to NuStar Solutions. After a bit of digging, I found that just before the signs went up, a Craigs…

Seems bit odd to risk a scam (and the attention it brings along) if you are generating $45M revenue. I would rather just pay out and keep under the radar, considering that the company seems shady enough as-is.

[deleted]

Re: “Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape (2008)

#17
I never saw any "Single?" signs, but I do wonder about all the signs I see around here offering cash for diabetic test strips... I'm guessing those are given out free by some program and then sold, but don't you kind of need those if you are getting them?

Re: “Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape (2008)

#18

I never saw any "Single?" signs, but I do wonder about all the signs I see around here offering cash for diabetic test strips... I'm guessing those are given out free by some program and then sold, but don't you kind of need those if you are getting them?

You also need your blood plasma, but I have plenty of friends who sold theirs in college for some extra money. Economic privation makes people do sad things.

Re: “Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape (2008)

#19

The town I'm at is infested with so-called "bandit signs" advertising "Soandso buys houses. Soandso pays cash." with a phone number to call. It strikes me as odd that there's little to no enforcement of not only the signs but of the extremely shady business practices therein.

[deleted]

Re: “Single?” Lawn Signs Conquer the American Landscape (2008)

#20

I never saw any "Single?" signs, but I do wonder about all the signs I see around here offering cash for diabetic test strips... I'm guessing those are given out free by some program and then sold, but don't you kind of need those if you are getting them?

My assumption with the diabetic strips is that well insured people can get large quantities from their doctors at the expense of the insurance provider and then sell them for a profit for cash. Alternatively, people in the medical supply supply chain likely have good sources for large amounts of test strips they could offload at a profit.

This is purely my guess having seen the same signs and wondered the same things.

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