TravelZoo Still Willing To Pay For Gimmick Shares
from the odd dept
Earlier this year we noted that many, many people appeared to have completely forgotten that they had signed up with TravelZoo during the bubble. Travelzoo's initial gimmick to get users is that they gave you free shares in the company for signing up. It appeared that most people assumed, like so many bubble-era gimmicks, that the company behind it simply faded away. However, the company survived, and the stock actually has done quite well. The only problem was that those who owned shares were supposed to make a claim by April. However, after that news came out, some people got upset that they missed the deadline and (amazingly) Travelzoo decided to honor those requests, saying they would pay out in cash what the shares were worth... and yet still most people have completely ignored the offer, which can be worth somewhere between $500 to $1600 for an awful lot of people.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
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I was a shareholder
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Re: I was a shareholder
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I was a shareholder too until a month ago...
It was nice to get $410 for nothing more than signing up for a web site. I've never even used the product. But-they do have great earnings and profit from-gasp-internet advertising.
The reason for the run-up was due to the small number of shares available to trade. A lot of people sold this stock short before their last quarter earnings. Shares needed to be purchased to cover the short positions. Due to the high demand for so little available stock to cover those positions, the price went at a premium. Since most short sellers are now covered, the stock is coming back down to earth. The average share was held for less than a day during the peak of trading.
There are 2 reasons for the lack of shares. 1) The CEO owns about 80% I think, of all shares. 2) There are, by my best guess, a lot of people like me, with a handful of shares, that are just sitting idle and unclaimed.
The extension mentioned is for those who did not sign up for their updated stockholder information. I had to send in some share forms, opened a Sharebuilder account and sold the stocks for $15 commision. It cost me about $40 out of pocket with overnight fees and trips to the bank, but it was worth the effort.
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Re: I was a shareholder too until a month ago...
Travelzoo doesn't make it easy.
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Re: Re: I was a shareholder too until a month ago.
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Re: I was a shareholder too until a month ago...
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Travelzoo free shares
I was one of those who subscribed for Travelzoo's newsletter and received three free shares of the company.
By now I have lost information on the account, and since I changed email address I stopped receiving their newsletter as well.
The company's web site suggests in lieu of account number that I enter email address I was registered under... but then says "unknown email address".
Their contact list does not have a phone number or email address. I wrote them a letter but not sure they will make good on the promise (they can say "we don't have any information").
Is there a way for me to recover my shares or whatever they are worth now?
I will highly appreciate any advice you can give.
Thank you,
--- Steve
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Re: Travelzoo free shares
Thanks a lot!
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Re: Travelzoo free shares
Hopefully, I can help you and all the others here wondering about those free TravelZoo shares.
I have been thinking about the shares in TravelZoo I earned for free when they were starting for years, assuming it was nothing. Recently, I saw an ad for them on TV and wondered whatever happened to those shares. So, I searched the gov website in the state I lived in when I signed up and found that they had unclaimed property for me from TravelZoo. Shocker! All I know is it's more than $50 but, since I lost my job 4 months ago without any jobs in my profession in my area, free money is good money.
Good Luck!
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Re: Re: Travelzoo free shares
I would suggest everyone check it out... Especially if you signed up for the free shares.
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Re: Re: Re: Travelzoo free shares
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Re: Re: Travelzoo free shares
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Shares of Stock in Travelzoo
Thanks.
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Free Travelzoo Stock
Not a bad return on an investment of only time and patience.
If there are ever any more free stock offerings, I will be the first in line. It is quite amusing to read the skeptical stories that you can still find on the internet from 1998 when the offer was made. I figured I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. This time I was right.
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Re: Free Travelzoo Stock
http://www.emax.net/?rid=22845e746cea4a0b64
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Unclaimed Travelzoo Free Stocks
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Re: Unclaimed Travelzoo Free Stocks
Sharlene Frintz 309-266-6608
3o5 N Third
Morton,IL 61550
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Re: Re: Unclaimed Travelzoo Free Stocks
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shares
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TravelZoo
I don't think travel zoo is going to fail.
You did have to convert your free shares into real shares a couple years back. I did and requested the stock certificates.
hopefully they will grow and the stocks will split and continue to do well.
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TravelZoo
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Travelzoo free shares
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eMax
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Free Shares from Travelzoo
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Travelzoo free shares
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free shares
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travelzoo stock
Thanks,
Sharon
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Re: travelzoo stock
Joanne
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shares
I think I am going to write to the company.
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shares
I think I am going to write to the company.
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___________________________________________________________
arabela anya
real estate
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Are my stocks still valid
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Are my stocks still valid
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Link to redeem shares
link to redeeming shares
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Travel Zoo Stocks free Bee
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Re: Travel Zoo Stocks free Bee
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Re: Re: Travel Zoo Stocks free Bee
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Travelzoo - Just got my check
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Re: Travelzoo - Just got my check
Thanks,
Ron
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Re: Travelzoo - Just got my check
Good for you! Have you had the same email address or did you have the stock cert. numbers?
I have been struggling to figure out what my email address was when I signed up for the free shares. I am just going to take an estimated guess, fill out the papers, send them in and cross my fingers.
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Re: Travelzoo - Just got my check
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Travelzoo
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Re: Travelzoo
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Shares
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Travelzoo - letter from Computershare c/o Georgeson
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Re: Travelzoo - letter from Computershare c/o Georgeson
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Re: Re: Travelzoo - letter from Computershare c/o Georgeson
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Re: Travelzoo - letter from Computershare c/o Georgeson
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Re: Re: Travelzoo - letter from Computershare c/o Georgeson
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Re: Travelzoo - letter from Computershare c/o Georgeson
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Travelzoo stock certificate
Found that you can have them send you the certificate directly, so that you can use your own broker - only downside is you need to get a medallion signature (which our bank does with no fuss) -
https://corporate.travelzoo.com/ir/services/certificate/Form.asp
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Travelzoo Buyback through Georgeson
The 3% fee to sell your shares, assuming you have 6 or 10 shares like most of the people they're sending these letters to, will amount to a max of a $7.50 fee - not bad.
In all it looks like a fair offer, especially considering that most people got these shares for adding their email address to a mailing list (and then being taken off the mailing list as soon as they received their shares).
Time for me to cash in on the 1 minute that it took me to obtain 10 shares of TZOO for free. I expect to get about $230 for them. Annualized, $230/minute is $28,704,000 - not a bad rate of pay, even for just a minute.
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Re: Travelzoo Buyback through Georgeson
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Re: Re: Travelzoo Buyback through Georgeson
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Re: Re: Re: Travelzoo Buyback through Georgeson
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Re: Re: Travelzoo Buyback of free stock from 1998
Travelzoo shareholders approved a reverse/forward stock split transaction consisting of a 1-for-25 reverse stock split of Travelzoo's outstanding common stock, followed immediately by a 25-for-1 forward stock split. As a result of the reverse/forward split, shareholders who held fewer than 25 shares of Travelzoo common stock immediately prior to the execution of the reverse/forward stock split have had their shares converted into the right to receive a cash payment. A description of the terms and conditions of the reverse/forward split was set forth in Travelzoo's definitive Proxy Statement for the 2013 annual shareholders meeting filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on July 25, 2013.
To better process this payment, we respectfully request that you complete a W-9 tax-payer form found here.The IRS requires proceeds from such transactions to be reported on a form 1099-B, Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions. In order to comply with this responsibility, we need your taxpayer identification number. If we do not receive your taxpayer ID prior to our payment to you, we will be required to deduct backup withholding from the payment at the rate specified by the IRS, which is currently 28%.
In order to avoid backup withholding, please print and complete a Form W-9 found here and return to our transfer agent, Computershare:
Computershare Tax Operations
P.O. Box 43078
Providence RI 02940-3078
Please ensure that "Travelzoo" is added under the Company Name field on the printed Form W-9 to allow Computershare to accurately update your records with your tax information. If you do not know your "Holder Account Number" you can leave blank.This completed W-9 information must be returned to Computershare no later than 30 days from the date of this letter in order to ensure we consider it for the appropriate tax withholding treatment before a check is sent to you.
End of e-mail
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Re: Travelzoo Buyback through Georgeson
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They can't find my stock
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Re: They can't find my stock
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travelzoo stock
Share # 8944480
Share # 8944481
Share # 8944482
Please let me know the status of these stocks. Thank you
A Howard
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Taxes?
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Re: Taxes?
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Re: Re: Taxes?
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how do i cash these in and were
any help will be a help
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What to do?
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travelzoo free stocks
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Free shares from Travelzoo
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Free money, thanks Travelzoo!
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Received a Cheque
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reporting to IRS
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TravelZoo
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Response to: Anonymous Coward on Feb 23rd, 2014 @ 10:25pm
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Travel Zoo - Email I used TWELVE YEARS AGO
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Re: Travel Zoo - Email I used TWELVE YEARS AGO
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Re: Re: Travel Zoo - Email I used TWELVE YEARS AGO
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Re: Travel Zoo - Email I used TWELVE YEARS AGO
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Travel Zoo - Email I used TWELVE YEARS AGO
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Money claimed from state....
My sister alerted me that she spotted my name on the unclaimed property list with our state. I filed my claim for it. I received a check over the weekend for $185 referencing TravelZoo. I had no memory of it until I found this thread. Now I recall signing up. Thanks for refreshing my memory.
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Free shares of stock
Well it must of been for real because I just recently received a check from Travelzoo for about $100. I called them up and the lady said that they sold my shares of stock and closed up my account. Hell, I didn't even know I had an account. I asked her, why did they sell these shares of stock I supposedly owned? She told me that their policy has changed as to how many shares of stock you must have to stay with the company.
I didn't try to cash the check yet because I wasn't sure if it is a scam or not. But by reading the other posts on here, I guess it's legit.
Now I'm wondering. What do I have to do for taxes on this next year?
Oh yeah I also received a W-9 tax form asking for my social security number. This is why I thought it was some kind of a scam because and they also want me to send it back to Computershare at a P.O. box # in Texas.
The lady I talked also said she will send me more info in the mail. So, I'm not going to cash this check or give out any kind of information until I receive it.
Has anyone else on here had this happen to them recently?
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Travel Zoo shares
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travelzoo stock
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travel zoo shares
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money owed
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Original shares
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liquidation
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Travelzoo initial share signer
If you have information to connect with the company please send me that information.
Thank you
Sheree Victorian
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Re: Travelzoo initial share signer
It's only 9$ ish.
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Travelzoo stocks
Please advise
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travelzoo
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I have some stock
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Travelzoo free shares
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Travelzoo shares
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How do I found out about
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Barbara Lewis
1-510-670-1719
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Check your state's unclaimed property
I ended up getting my funds through Maryland's unclaimed property ($186.26). I had no idea what money they were holding. When I received my check it was identified as coming from TravelZoo. I had totally forgotten about the shares, but TravelZoo kept their word.
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Re: Check your state's unclaimed property
Hi Dave - I am in the process of going through Washington's unclaimed property site and they just came back to me saying I need a notarized Travelzoo.com affidavit. Did you have to get one of these and if so, how did you get it? Thanks so much. Jen Andrews
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Travelzoo Shares
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Travelzoo initial stock offering
On July 1, 1998 I received 7 shares of Travelzoo stock. I have the share numbers and the original email. Since my email address changed at some point, I never received any further info.
How do I go about re-registering these shares or selling them? Can you help?
Thank you,
Heidi
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