For those of you who may be involved with the Radio Shopping Show, they are having what they call a Marathon Sale coming up next weekend.

The idea behind this is selling discounts from vendors who do not participate on a daily basis. These often include shows and restaurants not normally seen on the program. They usually spread them thin throughout the marathon and require a minimum purchase to be eligible to buy them.

For instance, they might have 20 Hash House A Go Go certificates, and require a $50 minimum purchase to buy it. The catch is...they might only offer 1 certificate every 2 hours, and it might be a $30 certificate that they are selling for $18. You may call and buy $50 worth of stuff at the regular discount rate, only to find that there are no more HHAGG left. It's not a horrible deal, because there are lots and lots of marathon items, and there's always something good to buy. But if you are focused on just one item, you may feel doinked if your item is gone by the time you get through. And if more items are available the next hour, you have to spend another $50 to be eligible for those.

Personally, I don't normally go for the marathon items because I buy most of my certificates on the daily shows when they are on sale. There are some good deals on the marathon, I just don't play the game.

My favorite part of the marathon usually happens twice, and that is the "off-air" specials. If you are on their mailing list, they send out a list of items AND the sale price, AND it is almost always a deeply discounted sale price. You call the office number instead of the on the air number and order from there. It's usually quick and easy with no waiting, and you get some great deals. The second try is usually after the marathon, they will have an e-mailed off the air special for left over marathon items. Of course, the really good stuff is gone and not even listed, but there are usually some items that are at a good price, no minimum purchase, and you don't have to wait on hold to order them. Sometimes these specials are on the website, sometimes they are e-mail only. If there is a method to their maddness, I haven't figured it out yet. They have recently experimented with the option of ordering the off air specials via e-mail. You just e-mail Jayme, tell her what you want, and she sends you a confirmation e-mail.