Promo email from eBay called me a "fashionista"

[ellbee]

Does this mean I pass with them? :strugglin :laughing:

[sara66]

Yes you pass! Your money is as green as anybody's.
Sara :heehee:

[Leslie Langford]

I'm constantly getting promo mailings and special "Family and Friends" discount offers from Liz Rodbell, the CEO of the Hudson's Bay Company, a major department store here in Canada - to the point where I am starting to believe that she wants to become my BFF and accompany me when I go clothes shopping in her stores. ;)

Must have something to do with all the purchases that I have made there over the years and which they can detect from my account history with them. Seems I now have "V.I.P." status along with all their other shop-a-holic GG customers, but somehow the "fashionista" designation that has been bestowed upon you by eBay resonates more with my inner "girl"...sigh! ;) :heehee: :daydreaming:

[Tracy Irving]

Just don't become a slave to fashion. That gets expensive!

[ReineD]

What's scary is that I was looking at a company's website that offers river cruises the other night. Outside of facebook. Yet a few hours later, there was a facebook ad for this company.

It's amazing how sophisticated have become tracking practices. They really do keep track of every website we visit, for marketing purposes ... which doesn't bother me. Advertising used to be limited to broadcasting on major networks and radio, reaching only a percentage of people who might be interested in the product. Website tracking habits are making it possible to engage in narrowcasting (targeting only those interested, with products the algorhythms consider are a match to the websites or products visited).

[Tracii G]

Don't click on stuff because you will get added to something you may not want.

[Leslie Langford]

Well, Reine, two can play that game, and my typical response is to use guerilla tactics and go into counter-intelligence mode, feeding these intrusive retailers all manner of sometimes false or misleading information just to screw up their databases and show them that they aren't as smart or as sophisticated as they think they are.

All those retailers of women's clothing, shoes etc. that constantly bombard me with requests for feedback or to fill out surveys?...They don't know that I am a crossdresser, but all my replies are given from a crossdresser's perspective - and ones which may sometimes differ in outlook or value proposition from what a typical GG might reply. Does that skew their results? Maybe, but we deserve a voice, too.

Conversely, sometimes I will provide an unsolicited on-line review of an article of women's clothing that I have just purchased. Would these retailers and their customers be happy knowing that this review actually came from a crossdresser, and would that negatively impact how they viewed it? Who knows?...but that doesn't detract from my right to do so.

Bottom line - data mining is not the end-all or be-all no matter how sophisticated or tech savvy the perpetrators might think they are. It can even be a trap that they walk into with eyes wide shut. Surveys and statistics can be massaged to say whatever one wants them to say or believe, and are predicated on the assumption that the respondent replies truthfully and factually. It is the wise retailer who looks at them objectively and with a healthy dose of skepticism, rather than simply take them at face value.

I'm sure that anyone over a Amazon.com who decides to look at my browsing history on their site will have a "W.T.F.???" moment when they see it ranging from ink jet printer cartridges to cell phone batteries to books to bedding to after-market automobile back up cameras and then back to breast forms.. ;) :eek: :heehee:

[Stephanie47]

My wife loves it when we received promotional material at our house from Victoria Secret, especially any free panty promotions. The mail comes in my name. Years ago when my daughter was in college, she used my credit card. That's one potential consequence of using a credit card. My email and gmail accounts are flooded constantly with promotions for women from JC Penny and Macy's. The JC Penny ads are something I would not share since most of the women's clothing ads are for "tall" women, not short like my five foot two wife.

[carisa]

That so resonates with me. I do must say I love to get solicitations for clothing and heels for my femme self. Just makes it more real and I feel more taken serious, even though the suggestions are coming from a machine..... But I will take what I can get :)))

[Traci H]

One of the more rewarding purchases I have made was an online order for Soma Sensous Lace panties. Not only are the panties to die for, but I now get their emails. Nothing floats my boat like an personalized email advising that "Traci, you should look at these beautiful bras we have on sale, just for you" A rotating gif of images of beautiful bras is embeded and it makes for a joyous email.

[Lana Mae]

Yes , I get about 5-10 emails on all the sales everyone is having and it is always over at midnight tonite!! It is funny that they are all big conglomerates! Look at Blair. It is one of about 8 different divisions of one company! Roaman's and all its members also! And each division sends their own ads! A lot of wasted space. Hugs Lana Mae

[ReineD]

Well, Reine, two can play that game, and my typical response is to use guerilla tactics and go into counter-intelligence mode, feeding these intrusive retailers all manner of sometimes false or misleading information just to screw up their databases and show them that they aren't as smart or as sophisticated as they think they are.

Have at it if it makes you feel better! :)

But honestly, you're just one voice out of millions. They gather data from averages and this drives their marketing strategies. So effectively, you're fighting with software that doesn't care what you write.

It's difficult to not get innundated with ads and unsollicited emails, but I keep it down by:

1. Having a dedicated mailbox from which I make all purchases or join all websites. This mailbox gets hundreds of spams per month, but I don't even read them. Once monthly I go in and delete all, takes 2 minutes.

2. Clear out my browser cache every few days, on all my browsers. Takes 2 minutes.

3. Use ad blockers.

4. Don't visit websites where more than 50% of their website real estate is ads. You KNOW they exist only to gather data. On the websites where there are unobtrusive ads, I simply ignore the ads.

5. I never log into anything using my facebook profile. Ever, not even those cute quizzes they have as click bait. And I NEVER log into google. Also, I did meander through all the google privacy maze to keep it from logging my history, so I'll have to go back in to make sure my settings haven't changed. Here's how to do that:

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/4540094?hl=en

[docrobbysherry]

Well, u R one well dwessed wabbit, Laura----:daydreaming:

[sharpestcookie]

ReineD,

I'd also add two things if they consider themselves an intermediate/advanced user:

1. An anti-Javascript plugin, like NoScript or ScriptSafe; malicious websites and all advertisers use JS for tracking/ad purposes, and

2. Go to websites where you purchase items - for example, Amazon - and turn off your browsing history (at the top of the screen, next to Departments) marketing emails (https://www.amazon.com/gp/cpc/homepage), and personalized ads (https://www.amazon.com/adprefs/). They were the worst offender by far for me.

Hope this helps!

[ReineD]

Thanks Cookie, I'll look into it. :)

There's umatrix and httpswitchboard too!