Purchasing Books

You will find a guide in this book about how to find the supplies you need to run your company. The book progresses through internal and external considerations when selecting supply sources. The author also shows you how to indentify sources and engage in the bidding process. Also provides what to look for in Early Supplier Involvement programs.
It was written by an experienced practitioner that is for sure.
I would have liked a more extensive list of resources , however there is some included here .

The title of this book and the sponsorship by the Purchasing Magazine create relatively lofty expectations. Unfortunately none of the expectations are met. This book reads like a poor high school project, offers no real discussion of "global" elements of sourcing, and provides virtually no insights to sourcing managers.

I bought this book because I am in the market for a Jag and I am new to the make. I wanted some specifications, history, options, problem areas to look for ect. I was extremely disappointed. This book is very lacking in content. It only list a very very few specification for a few models and gives hardly any detail on options that were available through the years. The same could be said for any reviews on the cars. The XJ12 info was especialy lacking, and this happens to be a model of particular intrest to me. There was no mention of problem areas for this model, such as where they rust, what common mechanical problems they have ect. The last two books I have bought in this series were disappointments. From now on I will review the book more before I decide to throw money away.

This book is a very useful overview of the more popular Jaguars. I think Michael Cook does an excellent job, within the scope of the book. Good coverage of the E-type, XK's, and sedans. A great book for readers who are new to the marque. If you are already a Jaguar expert, you won't learn much here. Also, if you already have selected one particular model to buy (say, and XK 120 OTS) then there are more specialized books for you. But if you're looking for an overall introduction to the marque, and some basic advice on model selection and what to look for -- this book hits the mark, especialy considering the price. Great value!

Other than a 1 to 5 star ranking that placed many of the Tbirds ahead of the 55 to 57 range.

It had really no value as a buyers guide. Other books give you more on the history, and even breakdowns of which had which engines in regard to quantity.

Only good thing is it is not expensive.

I appreciated the lists of standard and optional equipment available for each year, and the cost and production numbers for each model each year. Reasons were given for changes made. The narrative gave a good history of the car and Ford. I only wish more pictures of standard (not prototype)cars were shown. Color pictures would have been better.

An abandoned property doesn't necessarily mean it's empty, forgotten, and run-down--it just means nobody cares about it any more (and may still be living inside).

This book is comprised of mostly the material from their last book "Short Sales and Foreclosure Purchases." They simply added a new twist to an old rope, slapped a new cover on it, and released it as another book. Funny how that works with the public.

"Abandoned" can mean abandoned of debts, physical abandonment, or mental abandonment (a "don't wanter")--in any case, these homes are all purchased the same way, regardless of owner circumstance. Then, they're all fixed and flipped (or kept) the same way. Nothing new here.

Clearly the authors have a very comprehensive and rich knowledge of the real estate market and they share a great deal of valuable information in this book. The problem with the book is that although it makes the attempt of being methodical, the authors often get swept into tangential discussions within any particular section. It reads more like a narrative with subsections of glossary-like listings. This, unfortunately, causes the book to be scattered, and is useless for any reference purposes. For instance, the book describes the advantages of purchases from Fanny May, illustrated by a personal story, in the section dedicated to locating distressed sellers. I can see the logic of how they got there, but this would hardly be the logical place for such a lengthy excursion, in my opinion. I think the book could stand a significant revision for purposes of clarity and structure. Again, a lot of information is there to excavate, just not laid out in the best manner.

I bought this book for my merchandising principles class at the fashion school. I never once referred to this book for any information. If you're interested in learning about retail buying and the accounting principles and math behind it, I would recommend purchasing a book that is specifically for that purpose. Usually, in accounting and mathematics books, there are general summary of the industry and practices, then they delve into the quantitative portion. There is no use getting this book. It will put you to sleep. FAST!

Diamond and Pintel's 5th Edition continues to focus solely on Retail Buying for the Fashion (softlines) industry. The focus is on high end retailers Macys, Nieman Marcus and The Limited. There is only cursory mentions of other retail types.

While some of their basic principles are sound, the technology is 20 - 30 years behind the times. Therefore, a student interested in improving their marketability is sorely served by text that constantly refers to paper forms, "the growing use of computers" and the increased use of the UPC.

Only a good read if you are interested in how retail fashion buying was conducted in the 1970's.

I used this book and the 1999 version of "Shopping for Furniture" by the same author when I moved in 2004. I had absoultely no knowledge about furniture, live in NYC where prices are high and had limited financial resources. This was the first time in my life that I was going to buy a large quantity of furniture at one time. I had heard about the North Carolina furniture outlets, but with a small child I did not have the ability to go there. Having faith in the merchandising power of the internet, I bought this book and "Shopping for Furniture" and proceeded to search. Through e-mails, and armed with the knowledge and terminology set forth in Mr. Lewin's books, I was able to find out a lot in regard to the quality and pricing for many pieces. I had been told by one manufacturer that I was "very educated" regarding the construction of furniture.
Through the use of both books I learned what to look for in a quality piece and how to go about finding the furniture I wanted for the best prices. Although I did not use the any of the merchants listed in these books, I did use the information in them as a springboard for finding other merchants.
I did look for furniture makers that Mr. Lewin recommended, searching their lines on the internet, finding out where they sold in my area, and going to these stores to check them out in person. Thanks to Mr. Lewin, I was able to rule out a lot of pieces that looked good but actually were quite poor in quality. For example, each time I opened a drawer on a piece and I noticed that it did not contain dove-tailed joints, I immediately closed the drawer and walked away, knowing that it was an inferior piece of furniture and that it would not last.
For my bedroom furniture I decided I wanted Louis Phillipe furniture manufactured by Pennsylvania House (which no longer makes furniture in the USA), a company on the same level as Ethan Allen which waas not really affordable for me). Through the internet I found a merchant whose prices were excellent. Since the merchant was not listed in Mr. Lewin's book, I e-mailed him and he immediately responded that the furniture was good quality, the price was excellent and the seller was reputable. I was able to furnish my bedroom for approx. $5,500 when using local merchants would have cost me well over $10,000 for the same furniture.
My dining room and entertainment unit I got for $2800 fully delivered when locally I would have had to pay $3500 for the same pieces (on sale for Memorial Day)plus local tax (which is high here in NY) and delivery. I figure that buying locally would have cost over $4200 for the same pieces.
Thanks to these books I was able to get alot of "bang for my buck" insofar as furnishing my house was concerned. Not only did I get info from the books but I also was able to receive advice and info from Mr. Lewin who was happy to hear from me and most gracious with his quick responses.
One of my colleagues is in the process of furnishing a new home and I have highly recommended that she buy these books, since she wants to get good quality furniture for as little expenditure as possible. I really look foward to seeing what she comes up with.

Interesting that a book advertised to help you navigate the internet and avoid rip offs is the biggest rip off itself. All of the links are to search engines or are outdated and the authors email is no longer valid. All the other info you can find yourself. Save your money and dont buy this book!!

I wish I had read other people's reviews of this book, before I bought it. While I am new to landlording, I am not new to real estate. The methods described by the Milins may work in their particular rental market. However, I have serious doubts the same methods would work in very many other rental markets.

While interesting to read; I didn't find the book to be very informative at all.

There are other books, that are much more informative, on the subject of rental properties. Be a wise investor; invest your hard earned dollars in a different book than this one.

The Milins duped some publisher. They claim to understand how to control vacancies and costs in rental properties while admittedly only landlording for 3-4 years total...so how many rental cycles exactly is that? In their first 3-4 years, they've probably never had to replace a roof, fix a foundation problem, heck they probably never even replaced carpet! So how can they possibly know the "real" expenses of owning real estate as an asset class?

Second point, in one of their examples, they cite how they buy a property with no money down...but it includes a $10,000 cash payment from a second mortgage elsewhere and total PITI of $500 (never mind maintenance, improvements, or management) on rental revenues of $350. So, they're touting as brilliant, their strategy of buying properties that have a -30% cash flow before even calculating in vacancy or other expenses! Furthermore, I can't imagine what they're using to finance "cruising to an island" and not work, given that their properties don't seem to cash flow even on a gross-gross level. I think they're full of crap.

The ridiculousness continues. They make claims that are directly contrary to Federal Fair Housing Laws; in fairness I don't know what the law looked like in 1985-1989, but advertising "Pets and Children Welcome" and "we want...middle Americans." Let's see, that's familial status, possibly age discrimination, and possibly racial / religious violations all in less than a page.

Finally, the authors should at least acknowledge the liability and potential pitfalls of a program where your tenants are making a lot of repairs and improvements on a property. If they don't pull permits, do so incorrectly, built crappy additions, or screw up the house (not to mention if they or anyone subsequently gets hurt by their repairs), it's the landlord's insurance and butt that will be in court. After all, you own the asset and still have a few "bundle of rights" that courts are going to want you to exercise. You can let tenants do work if you want to, but be prepared for deck railing to fall off, crooked doors, and altogether crazy additions to the house you didn't want and can't unwind. Some states have also found in court that this arrangement makes them de facto employees of the landlord, in which case the landlord can be found liable for everything from lack of Worker's Comp insurance, to tax evasion, to personal liability suits.

Absurdly near-illegal advice.

STAY AWAY from this book as a guide for anything...except for how to be full of yourself with limited real experience.

This book will go into the circular file, if you know what I mean. It is difficult for me to understand why there are so many people like this who only see others as dollar signs and 'pets' (as they call renters) they can take advantage of. I will NOT be using their con strategies as a landlord. I hate the idea about leading someone to believe your office is in a building but you not even having one. We unfortunately were duped like this except the guy had a post office box that he led us to believe was his 'office suite.' Whatever. Just don't buy this book, instead look for a book that is morally and ethically teaching you how to provide a good service or product in this world and your business will then flourish!

There are many awesome books from Amazon but this is not one of them. This book is very informative, interesting as well as enlightening though how they, the authors, think and act.

People are not animals. Where is dignity? This book gives landlords a bad name and the industry of renting.

The cover is well done and that is misleading. The contents is degrading and lacks soul. Ethics?

The majority of landlords do not run their rentals like this.

This book was my landlord bible when we started in 1998. I would trade in a dozen of my other real estate books before giving up this one. You can't get a more information-packed book than this for the price of a Starbuck's coffee! I created all my rental forms and my rental agreement with this little handbook. Of course, my letters and agreement have been modified with the times but this book was indispensable advice for us first-time landlords. There may be better books out there today but I have to give credit where credit is due. This book was the backbone to our aspirations and success today.

Much more useful for information on how to buy a retirement home than how to buy a country house for younger people. Lots of general info on house buying rather than specifics for a vacation property.

There was more basic information about real estate in general, than in second homes in particular. As most people considering a second home have already been through the buying,selling, or building a few times they know most of this stuff through experience. But I understand Tiger Woods works on the fundamentals routinely, so an evening going over the basics didn't hurt.

This is a good book particularly for first time buyers. About half the information is devoted to general real estate matters, and half specifically to second homes in particular. More specific information about specific problems and advantages in certain areas would help (what to look for in beachfront property, mountain property, etc.). Competent but not the only resource you'll want to read.

This little book covers a lot of the basics, but I was hoping to actually see more examples of second homes. Not a pretty book but, as I said, it gives basic information. Just wasn't what I was looking for. I know a lot of home buying and shopping basics, and a lot of it is common sense. I wanted something a little more inspiring.

I just finished a Cost Accounting class and the professor did not have us use this book! He used his own notes and said the book was not very good.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with one of the previous review. The book lacks consistency and logic. Just to mention one of the numerous flops - how you can talk about economic order quantity and not mention a material planner. The book is supposed to help an instructor. Well, it does the opposite.

This book is garbage. It is just thrown together for the publisher and author to make money. It is a very superficial review of cost accounting.

I was pleased with with this book. At the end of each chapter, a demonstration problem is provided with step by step instructions. Also available are template spreadsheet at the Southwestern website which are very helpful in understanding some end of chapter exercises.

I was hopping to get a book containing information on 220 franchises that had been rated "best" by some criteria. This book does not attempt to do that. It gives pretty good information on 220 franchises, but it makes no claim that they are best by any standard.

In the introduction to the information on the 220 franchises, the book states the franchises "..represent a wide variety of franchise opportunities. Chosen to provide a sampling of the many types of franchising opportunities available...".

This is not what the title leades the buyer to expect and is not what I wanted to buy.

The first section of the book provides good basic council if you are early in the process. The majority of the book lists franchise opportunities by category. This may be very helpful in narrowing down what might be appealing based on individual preferences.

This book is a big disapointment. The begining chapters have some useful information, but much of it can easily be found on the web. The 220 franchises they list have no supporting information on why they're the best. The information they provide seem like condensed versions of the franchisor's flyers.