Now, it appears that Google is ready to put their ability to serve up truly relevant search content on the shelf in favor of providing search results that are tempered by what our friends may have searched for or what we may have looked for in the past.

This is Google’s latest attempt to take on Facebook in an arena that Facebook owns, and lots of Google users are unhappy about it.

Instead of seeing information that the internet as a whole values because of the quality of the content (what is on the page and who links to it) you are more likely to see results based on your friends and colleagues have searched for.

I like my friends, but they are not who I normally choose to turn to when I want the kind of search results I used to get on Google.  They are good people, but I don’t think of them as primary resources for the kind of information I am usually seeking.

What might be even more important is that Google has been quiet about what they are doing.  Most people don’t realize that their search results might be very different than someone across the office or in the next dorm room.

The result of this change in Google’s search code,  something that might well be called “Facebook envy” has reminded me that there are lots of other useful search engines available that now better meet my needs.

Google needs to get back to what made them so successful in the first place.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We are proud to feature extension cords from Hosatech.

Today, Dec. 29, has been proposed as boycott Godaddy day, and thousands of customers are threatening to leave Godaddy in the dust and move their hosting and registrar accounts to someone else.

H.R. 3261, the Congressional bill, is bad legislation and threatens to remake the internet at its core.  It would allow a major transfer of internet control to a few major players and allow those who claim control of digital intellectual property to shut down small time web sites without due process.

We currently have in excess of three hundred domains registered with Godaddy and use them to host many of our sites.  We’re ready to see them in our rear view mirror if they don’t step up and get this right, and do it quickly. If  you are a Godaddy customer and want to put pressure on them to stand up and fight for their customers, give them a call at 480-505-8877.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We are proud to feature extension cords from Hosatech.  We believe that a free and open internet is the key to job growth, economic development and more opportunity for everyone.

Particularly dangerous are the small “button” type batteries that power many toys and electronic devices.  They are small enough for a child to easily put into their mouth and they look just enough like something edible to make this scenario a likelihood.

Look for toys that have a screw cover for the battery compartment that can only be opened with a small screw driver and make sure that the door is securely latched before giving the toy to the child.

Check to see if the batteries are already installed in the device.  Toys that have loose batteries in the packaging are particularly dangerous, since they can be overlooked when the package is opened and then found later by the child.

Finally, double check to make sure that there are no spare batteries included with the device.  What might seem like a generous act by the manufacturer demands extra diligence on the part of the parent in order to make sure spares go into a safe storage location.

Wishing you and yours a joyous season from The Good Buy Guys.  You can see your holiday greeting by clicking here.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We are prod to feature extension cords from Hosatech.  Our Duracell Procell batteries are the real thing and we sell them “Satisfaction Guaranteed”.

This is not news in itself, but the willingness of these CEO’s to make a commitment to have a program in place in 2013 is a very positive development.

The presidents of Duracell, Energizer, Kodak, Rayovac and Panasonic began discussions in 2010 regarding getting a nationwide recycling program in place and now finally seem willing to commit to a date for a program roll out.

Certainly, the logistics and science in getting a program into place are complicated, but it is hard to see how plans and discussions could be going into their fourth year.

We would love to be able to point our customers towards a reliable recycling option in their community, regardless of where they live.

Check back here and also at Recyclebattery.org to track their progress.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We are prod to feature extension cords from Hosatech.  Our Duracell Procell batteries are the real thing and we sell them “Satisfaction Guaranteed”.

Importers and unscrupulous retailers can dramatically boost their bottom line by taking a low quality battery and rebranding/repainting it with the graphics from a more expensive brand.

It can be difficult to spot a counterfeit, but here are a few clues.

All major battery manufcaturers (Duracell, Procell, Everready, etc.) always include an expiration date printed directly on the battery.  Counterfeits often don’t include this info so that the product will have a longer perceived shelf life

Quality painting on a round surface is an expensive process.  Batteries that have a brand name but low resolution graphics are probably bogus.

Major manufacturers control their distribution chain carefully.  It is highly unlikely that someone selling batteries on a street corner in a large city is part of this chain.  Batteries sold this way are usually counterfeits.

Counterfeit batteries will not only have a shorter life than the real thing, but are more prone to leak acid which can quickly destroy expensive electronics and can be a serious health hazard if it gets on your skin or in your eyes.

Legitimate branded batteries are more expensive for a good reason.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We are prod to feature extension cords from Hosatech.  Our Duracell Procell batteries are the real thing and we sell them “Satisfaction Guaranteed”.

One of the things that always surprises me when we have issues with suppliers is how some of them seem to think that being “nice” to us, their customer, is what is really important.  That might have been the case in the day of the business lunch and the phone order, but electronic communication has pushed “nice” to the back burner, particularly when a supplier thinks that being polite can take the place of being informed.

It’s really difficult to be tough with a supplier when they think that kind words and thoughtful pauses can make up for not being able to tell me the status of my order or why i was shipped the wrong product.

What we want is information.  One of the greatest things about electronic communication is that it’s easy to set a business like tone without being compromised by someone’s attempt to “nice” their way out of a situation when they don’t have the answer you want.

In this day and age, being a good “listener” really means that you are a good reader.  We like it that way.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

I have spent the last hour trying to come up with a usable set up for the latest version of Google’s G Mail, and I’m getting nowhere.  How can a company as progressive and powerful as Google completely fail to understand what users want in an email platform?

Now, I realize that Google is an advertising company and I am willing to accept some ads on the G Mail screen, so a little clutter is inevitable, but I have learned to tune it out.

However, not having the ability to control how the information on the screen is organized or having a logical way to index saved emails is incredibly frustrating.

Email was never intended to be a “conversation” and Google can’t change that, no matter how hard they try.  It is the lack of immediacy that makes it so much more powerful than a chat client or a message sent from a social networking platform.

Use of valuable Google tools like Google+ and Google Adwords requires having and using a G Mail account, so simply ignoring G Mail is not a realistic option.

How about giving us the option of a straight forward and simple interface that doesn’t look different every time I log on to my account.

It’s just a suggestion.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

Still, there is a big bump in the road before online sales can really take off.  That problem is consumer concerns about security.

We get orders every day from customers who find us on the web, but then insist on calling us to place the order because they are uncomfortable with using their credit card at our web sites.

We’re happy to hear from them, of course, but  they never seem to realize that placing an order at a secure web site is much safer than giving your credit card info to a stranger over the phone.

We host and manage our own e-commerce web sites and can always assure you that you want be presented by any pop ups or phishing scams that originate from our server.

Unfortunately, if you don’t know what to look for, it is difficult to know when you are at a web site where you can make a secure purchase.

When you move from the catalog portion of one of the goodbuyguys web sites to begin an actual checkout, you will see that the “http:” part of the web address at the top of the page, changes to “https:”   That “s” means “secure“.  The “s” is an indicator that the details of your purchase will be encrypted before they are submitted over the web.

You’ll also see a tiny image of a padlock at the end of the address line.  Click on that padlock image if you want to know the details regarding who is certifying that the site is secure.

Here are some more tips to insure the security of your online purchase.

-Never provide your credit number in an email or instant message

-Use long, complicated passwords that use numbers, letters, upper case and lower case

-Purchase only from sites that have an “s” in the address line or show the padlock image

-If you have security concerns but still want to consider making a purchase, look for a phone number

-Check your credit card bill carefully every month.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords andOnStage Stand mic stands.  Your security is our top concern.

Our (and your) security is certified by Usertrust.  You can read more about it here.

Why is it taking twenty minutes?  Because I am a “Returning Customer”.  That’s why.

I’m sure you have had this experience.  Because I have ordered from this company before, there is an account in their customer data base associated with my email address, so they won’t let me complete the order process without logging in to the account that I did not want to create in the first place.  So far, I have requested at least six times that they email me my password, but I still haven’t received one.  If I was a new customer my order would have already been completed, but because I am showing some loyalty by placing a second order, I am stuck at the entrance and the door has been slammed in my face.

We’ve found a way around this at our own web sites which will allow you to place orders as a “guest”, no matter how many times you want to order, so we know it can be done.  Our web developer has nicknamed this “no hoops”, as in “you don’t have to jump through any hoops to place an order“. You can use the same email address every time and never be turned away because your email address is already associated with an account.

I started this blog post when I requested my password and I have now completed it and have still not received it.  \

Time to find another toner cartridge supplier.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

Today  Seth’s posting deals with how a business can keep prices down by having a customer do some of the work.  This is what internet pricing is all about.  When we are able to get you to do most of the time consuming work in setting up an account (read-data entry) and processing payments (read-credit card authorization), then there are savings that can be applied to our pricing.  A more direct  route between us and our customers means a more efficient operation. Thus, a narrower profit margin is acceptable.  No need for a middle man to do any hand holding on either side of the transaction.

We get the same phone call almost every day (different caller-same script).  It always starts out “ I found you on the internet.”  “We are a reseller and I was wondering if you have reseller pricing?“  I patiently try to explain that we do have scaled pricing, but it is based on how much you buy, not who you are.  It’s not like you found us on some sort of “secret” internet.  If you found us online, then so can your customer.

By asking for “reseller pricing” you are asking me to pay you to do work that I have already done-making our company easy to find by anyone who might need our products.

Unless you can convince me that by selling through you that some sort of value is added for the end user, then we will continue to do all we can to avoid the middle man.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

October is national fire safety month, a time when everyone is reminded to change the batteries in their smoke detectors.

Purchasing a Firehouse Subs medallion funds a program called the Firehouse Public Safety Foundation which has donated over $3 million in life saving equipment to public safety agencies.

Duracell is providing 27, 180 9 volts in support of the program.

Don’t forget to change your smoke detector battery this month.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

He started with axes with elaborately painted handles and has moved on to other objects, each with some sort of embellishment.

Paying a premium price for one of his axes with a hand painted handle made some sense, because it combined a useful item with hand work done by a well known artist.

Bestmade.com’s latest offering, however, mystifies me.  It is a line of extension cords designed to look like extension cords looked 50 years ago.  They are covered in cloth rather than rubber insulation and appear to be almost impossible to properly coil.  They are restricted to indoor use and the offering says they are intended for “small” appliances, but the specs do not list a wire size.  If they are UL approved, I can’t find that info anywhere on the web site.

Retro for art’s sake is fine, and there is plenty about mid 20th century design that is worth preserving.  However this particular item looks like a good way to burn your house down.  Cloth covered extension cords were known to be subject to easy abrasion of the outer covering and were subject to being gnawed through by mice and squirrels.  Their cotton outer covering is flammable and they don’t have the ability to “grip” the connectors like a rubber-jacketed cable does.

We will continue to enjoy looking at Bestmade.com’s product offerings, but really think they should reconsider selling this product.

Oh, by the way.  The cost for their 10 foot extension cord?  $34.00!

_______________

Click here for extension cord safety tips.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Extension cords are one of our specialties.

I reference this story as an introduction to one of the most vexing, but easily solvable problems I face every day.  We make an effort to make sure customers and reach us on the phone, even though we are a web based business, and we usually prefer to conduct transactions online.  Still, we’ve had the same toll free phone number for 25 years and try to insure that it is answered by the third ring.

More and more, the caller on the other end of the line is a non-native English speaker and this usually means trouble.  We deal in some fairly technical issues (product specs, tracking info, etc.) and language barriers can be a real problem.  We’re a small business and, do date, no one in our shop is fluent in any other languages.  Sometimes the confusion is humorous, but usually it is just frustrating-on both ends of the line.

In just about every case the problem, or inquiry, could be much more easily resolved if the customer would go to the web rather than the phone.  In most cases, the answer to their question is readily available on one of our thousands of web pages.  If not, our email address and contact form are easy to find.

Best of all, new translation software from Google means that the inquiry doesn’t even need to be posted in English. An inquiry in Spanish about a ”micrófono se encuentra” can quickly be translated to “microphone stand” and a term like UPS tracking numberbecomes “Número de rastreo de UPS” with a couple of key strokes.  It’s almost like having an international customer service department.

We’ll continue to prominently publish our toll free phone numbers and cheerfully answer the phone, but if you want the best customer service we can offer, then you’ll be happiest by sticking to the web.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Tell us how you use online translation services.

Pressure from manufacturers to control the price that online merchants charge for certain items mean that more and more web sites are no longer posting pricing with their items.

What may first look like an unwillingness of the seller to show you the price may actually be an effort on their part to keep the manufacturer from forcing them to charge a price dictated to them.

When you look at an item on a web site but can’t see the price until you “put it in your shopping cart”, it may be an effort on the merchant’s part to keep the manufacturer from easily seeing what price is being charged.  Because the price doesn’t appear with the item,  it won’t be indexed at popular shopping “bots” like Shopzilla and Pricegrabber, making it a lot harder for the manufacturer to control.

New interpretations of anti-trust law have given the manufacturers a lot more power in dictating prices to sellers.  Posting “lower than approved” pricing at a web site may violate advertising agreements.  This is likely why you can’t see the price until you add the item to a shopping cart.

This makes comparison shopping a whole lot tougher.

Periodically we are approached by manufacturers who would like us to sell their products, but negotiations always quickly end if they attempt to dictate the price we will charge our customers.  So called “MAP” pricing (minimum advertised pricing)does not come into play when we determine how to price what we sell to you.

We will always strive to give you the best price without regard to what the manufacturer thinks we should charge.  If we can take advantage of lower overhead and other efficiencies to offer you a better price than the competition, we are happy to share the savings.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Share your ideas on internet pricing with our readers.

One of the ideas that comes up over and over is the timeless concept that “the customer is always right”. After many years of selling specialty products online and through catalog sales, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth.

I field at least a couple of phone calls every day from a prospective customer who needs to be talked out of making a purchase from us. This is sometimes harder to do than one might think, but I would always prefer to lose a sale than to sell you the wrong item.

Over and over, a customer will try to talk me out of recommending that they not use a tape product for an outdoor application because it does not have UV protection and is not intended to stand up to exposure to sunlight.

Time after time, I have to convince a customer that using an extension cord of too small a gauge will create a fire hazard.

I wish I had a nickel for all the times I have tried (unsuccessfully) to convince a caller that the performance of a ProCell battery is identical to that of a Duracell CopperTop.

It has always been our hope that by creating web sites that were deep with informationthat we could lead customers to make the right choice-a purchasing choice that would provide a product that met their needs. The same theory is at work when we provide information that should help a prospective customer realize that they product they are considering is not the right item to meet their needs.

Sometimes we lose a sale by insisting that the customer is not always right, but, in the end, this is a lot more satisfying than trying to always make the sale.

Are you someone who believes that conventional business wisdom is not always the way to go? Share your thoughts with us!

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Enterainment 1 extension cords , OnStage Stand mic stands and quality speaker cables.

One of the ideas that comes up over and over is the timeless concept that “the customer is always right”. After many years of selling specialty products online and through catalog sales, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth.

I field at least a couple of phone calls every day from a prospective customer who needs to be talked out of making a purchase from us. This is sometimes harder to do than one might think, but I would always prefer to lose a sale than to sell you the wrong item.

Over and over, a customer will try to talk me out of recommending that they not use a tape product for an outdoor application because it does not have UV protection and is not intended to stand up to exposure to sunlight.

Time after time, I have to convince a customer that using an extension cord of too small a gauge will create a fire hazard.

I wish I had a nickel for all the times I have tried (unsuccessfully) to convince a caller that the performance of a ProCell battery is identical to that of a Duracell CopperTop.

It has always been our hope that by creating web sites that were deep with information that we could lead customers to make the right choice-a purchasing choice that would provide a product that met their needs. The same theory is at work when we provide information that should help a prospective customer realize that they product they are considering is not the right item to meet their needs.

Sometimes we lose a sale by insisting that the customer is not always right, but, in the end, this is a lot more satisfying than trying to always make the sale.

Are you someone who believes that conventional business wisdom is not always the way to go? Share your thoughts with us!

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Enterainment 1 extension cords , OnStage Stand mic stands and quality speaker cables.

I’m not talking about customer service or sales calls. I am talking about calls from an existing customer to a supplier who spends millions trying to get us to buy and distribute their products.

I can understand the need to use voice mail and message taking when absolutely necessary, but it is difficult to imagine anything of more value to someone who sells a product or service than talking to your customer. After all, my calls are all about my desire to give your company money. What could be more important than that?

The advent of e-commerce and online sales has been incredibly liberating for us atGoodBuyGuys.com. We’ve always tried to make sure that a customer got a live human being when they called to order gaffers tape or batteries, or when they called for product info. Our phone rings less and less often, even though our sales are increasing, so we have lots more time and resources to field every phone call without adding phone lines or employees. It is the most important customer service function anyone around here performs. It’s easy and it is a service that is rarely abused by customers or prospects. They don’t call unless an interaction with a human voice is really needed.

We have resisted adding hold music or, even worse, some sort of recorded message to bore you while you are put on hold. If a caller is left on hold for more than 45 sec. the phone starts making a really loud and annoying beeping sound.

Occasionally, you may get voice mail if all our incoming lines are busy, but we strive to return ALL calls within the hour. It’s something that really matters.

When we make decisions on adding new suppliers and expanding our relationship with exisiting ones, how they handle the telephone is a very big part of our decision making process.

Why more companies don’t take advantage of the decrease in demand that e-commerce puts on their human resources is a mystery to me. Having a human answer the phone is a great way to build business relationships in a way that online interactions will never replace. You miss an awful lot when you are unwilling to answer the phone.

Got an insight into good customer service? Share it with us!

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands, and lots of other useful production supplies.

The current congressional debate over the banking regulations that determine the fees that banks can charge merchants for debit card transactions will have an impact on everything you buy, whether you use a debit card or not.

Many consumers are not aware that when a merchant lets you use a debit or credit card to make a payment that the merchant is charged both a “per transaction” fee and another fee that is based on a percentage of the overall cost of the purchase.  One way or the other, those fees have to be reflected in the price of the items you are purchasing.

Banks are currently allowed to charge merchants as much as $.44 per debit card transaction.  This fee, called a “swipe” fee because of the physical act of “swiping” the card through a card reader, is higher in the United States than it is anywhere else in the world.  It means that on a purchase of about $5.00, the merchant might have to pay almost 10% of the total value of the purchase in fees to the bank.

We accept both credit and debit cards through our internet sales and don’t have any way of differentiating what kind of card is used until we get our monthly statement from the bank which shows the fees that we have been charged in order to accept debit and credit card payments.  Those fees have to be reflected in the amount we charge for our products and it is part of the final amount you pay.

In yesterday’s congressional debate, the Senate stood up to powerful banking lobbyists and empowered the Federal Reserve to limit the fees banks can charge on the use of debit cards.

Unfortunately, there is too much money at stake to hope that a single vote in the Senate is going to settle this matter.  The next round of “big banks vs. big merchants” is scheduled for next week in the House.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

I know you’re closed.  I can tell because the door is locked and the lights are out.

What the sign really says is “we don’t want your business“.  No information about when they will reopen.  Nothing in the way of getting in touch.  No enticement to get me to come back.  Just a message that says ” we don’t know that you are here and we don’t care.”

I’m glad that your business is so good that you don’t need mine.  Maybe I’ll try the store across the the street whose sign says “Welcome“.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Occasionally we also rant!

It turns out that the manufacturer of this product had reformulated it to use a thinner film and that the new film made the roll diameter smaller.  Still 10 yards.

In addition to not telling us about the thickness change, the tape manufacturer had also failed to tell us that the new version of this product was now designed to glow up to ten hours as opposed to the older version which glowed only eight.   Apparently, the thinner film also makes the tape hand tearable, so it can be used without a cutting tool.

We are  happy to pass this information along to our customers.  These manufacturing changes improve the product (another plus-lower shipping weight!) and we think end users will approve.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Every extension cord we sell is “Satisfaction Guaranteed“.

You don’t have to apply much thought to this before it becomes apparent that the cost of shipping has to be rolled into the cost of the product. The merchant would not be able to survive, much less be profitable, if this was not the case. “Free” is, no doubt, the most powerful word in marketing, but there is a catch. A big catch!

Customers ask us every day if we will give them free shipping.  Regrettably, the answer is always “no“.  Here’s why.

Everything we sell is heavy.  A case of gaffers tape weighs 48 lbs.  When you place an order online, our shopping cart asks for your zip code, calculates the weight of the shipment, and gets your shipping cost directly from a UPS shipping database.  This cost is added as a separate line item when you complete the purchase transaction.

We ship our products nationwide from North Carolina warehouse.  If you are ordering from Greenville,  SC your shipping cost would be $18.14.  The same order shipped to Phoenix, AZ would have a $43.19  freight cost.  If we offered free shipping, then the customer in Greenville would have to pay more for the product to cover the cost of “free” when we shipped the same case of tape to Arizona.

Following the same logic, the customer in Reno, NV who orders a pair of shoes from Zappos (they are located in Las Vegas) and pays the same price as someone who orders those shoes and has them shipped to Norfolk, VA is paying more for the shoes than is necessary.  That’s because they have to cover  Zappos’ costs when they ship something across the country.

I don’t know when or if the “Free Shipping” craze in e-commerce will fade from fashion, but I do know that it is not free.

Share your observations on free shipping.  We’ll pass them on to our readers.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Every extension cord we sell is “Satisfaction Guaranteed“.

One of the things that always surprises me when we have issues with suppliers is how some of them seem to think that being “nice” to us, their customer, is what is really important.  That might have been the case in the day of the business lunch and the phone order, but electronic communication has pushed “nice” to the back burner, particularly when a supplier thinks that being polite can take the place of being informed.

It’s really difficult to be tough with a supplier when they think that kind words and thoughtful pauses can make up for not being able to tell me the status of my order or why i was shipped the wrong product.

What we want is information.  One of the greatest things about electronic communication is that it’s easy to set a business like tone without being compromised by someone’s attempt to “nice” their way out of a situation when they don’t have the answer you want.

In this day and age, being a good “listener” really means that you are a good reader.  We like it that way.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

I recently went on a “round up” and moved all the domain registrations to a single registrar because it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with renewals.

I chose to use Godaddy.com because their pricing seemed a little lower and they offer hosting services as well.

Now I am reconsidering that decision.

Godaddy.com is the “hands down winner” of the contest for the “most characters per page contest” and they lead the competition by miles in the “most in-your-face upselling contest” as well.  It is impossible to complete any sort of transaction at their site without their making dozens of attempts to sell you more products and services, and completing any sort of complicated administrative tasks almost always requires a phone call.

There ought to be some way to turn off all the special offers, deals and contests and choose a simple menu option for the task you came there to get done.

It is past time for Godaddy.com to provide a simple-to-navigate option for customers who know why they came to the site.  We can save looking at the Danica Patrick pictures till later.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Got an alternative to Godaddy.com that you would like to share with our readers?  Let us know.

The most recent (and our favorite) way to solve the issue involves something dear to my heart-gaffers tape.  It seems that much of the problem caused by how you hold the new iPhone can be solved by putting a small piece of  gaffers tape over the part of the external antenna where you might normally touch the phone.  This keeps your hand from interfering with the antenna transmission.  (CBS News video of this solution)

Naturally, we are intrigued by the fashion statement that your choice of gaffers tape to stick on your new $300.00 smart phone would make.  Pink for Pink.  Neon green for Al Green,  and, of course,  black for Steve Jobs.

I was pretty excited about this potential new market, until I realized that a single roll of gaffers tape would be enough to handle every iPhone in North America.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Got an iPhone 4.  How did you fix yours?

Net neutrality is the concept that says all traffic should move across the internet at the same speed and that those who actually own the networks (the large telcom companies in most cases)  should not be able to favor one sort of traffic over another .  The internet service providers in this case (AT&T and Comcast) argued that they should be able to slow down the movement of large files when network speed was impeded.  The court agreed with them, essentially telling the FCC that it had no power to regulate the internet.

Now,  I’m no fan of large telecom companies (particularly AT&T) but I have to admit that their argument resonates with me.  Those who argued (unsuccessfully) that the federal government should exercise control over data movement are ignoring a long standing precedent related to one of the most highly regulated infrastructures in the country.

I’m talking about highways.

I used to own a fleet of trucks and once a year I dutifully wrote a really big check to register my vehicles with the state dept. of transportation.  The cost of registering each vehicle was based on its weight, the theory being “the bigger the truck the more wear and tear there is to highways and bridges”.  I paid another tax every time I bought fuel-larger trucks burned more diesel fuel and thus paid more of a tax called “highway use”.

The FCC’s argument seemed to say that the telecoms should not be able to do something that federal and state government had been doing for decades.

It would seem that this argument deserves consideration in the net neutrality discussion.  The government does not actually own the internet infrastructure, but the argument still is relevant.  Those who make the most of the internet-transferring the largest files and the most data-would be charged the most.

The owners of the internet infrastructure don’t want to regulate what is actually being transmitted.  What they really want to be able to do is charge more to those who use their infrastructure the most.

It’s an argument worth considering.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

I reference this story as an introduction to one of the most vexing, but easily solvable problems I face every day.  We make an effort to make sure customers and reach us on the phone, even though we are a web based business, and we usually prefer to conduct transactions online.  Still, we’ve had the same toll free phone number for 25 years and try to insure that it is answered by the third ring.

More and more, the caller on the other end of the line is a non-native English speaker and this usually means trouble.  We deal in some fairly technical issues (product specs, tracking info, etc.) and language barriers can be a real problem.  We’re a small business and, do date, no one in our shop is fluent in any other languages.  Sometimes the confusion is humorous, but usually it is just frustrating-on both ends of the line.

In just about every case the problem, or inquiry, could be much more easily resolved if the customer would go to the web rather than the phone.  In most cases, the answer to their question is readily available on one of our thousands of web pages.  If not, our email address and contact form are easy to find.

Best of all, new translation software from Google means that the inquiry doesn’t even need to be posted in English. An inquiry in Spanish about a “micrófono se encuentra” can quickly be translated to “microphone stand” and a term like UPS tracking number becomes “Número de rastreo de UPS” with a couple of key strokes.  It’s almost like having an international customer service department.

We’ll continue to prominently publish our toll free phone numbers and cheerfully answer the phone, but if you want the best customer service we can offer, then you’ll be happiest by sticking to the web.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Tell us how you use online translation services.

Today  Seth’s posting deals with how a business can keep prices down by having a customer do some of the work.  This is what internet pricing is all about.  When we are able to get you to do most of the time consuming work in setting up an account (read-data entry) and processing payments (read-credit card authorization), then there are savings that can be applied to our pricing.  A more direct  route between us and our customers means a more efficient operation. Thus, a narrower profit margin is acceptable.  No need for a middle man to do any hand holding on either side of the transaction.

We get the same phone call almost every day (different caller-same script).  It always starts out “ I found you on the internet.”  “We are a reseller and I was wondering if you have reseller pricing?“  I patiently try to explain that we do have scaled pricing, but it is based on how much you buy, not who you are.  It’s not like you found us on some sort of “secret” internet.  If you found us online, then so can your customer.

By asking for “reseller pricing” you are asking me to pay you to do work that I have already done-making our company easy to find by anyone who might need our products.

Unless you can convince me that by selling through you that some sort of value is added for the end user, then we will continue to do all we can to avoid the middle man.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

I’ve been working on this idea for a while, but I need a little help.  It makes sense to me, but I can’t quite do the math.

There’s lots of talk these days about getting rid of the penny.  The government says that the cost of producing the one cent piece is more than the value of the coin and that the great majority pennies are in jars on dressers or in the sofa cushions.  Still, pennies continue to be produced by the millions.

One reason is pricing.  I have long believed in the power of a nine (e.g. $.99) in the pricing of items, making a customer subliminally believe that they are getting a bargain.  Its deeply ingrained in retail thinking and we use it ourselves on almost every product we sell.

Getting rid of the penny would mean a revolutionary new way of thinking about price.

How about this instead.

Get rid of the penny, but leave the nines (or whatever the number) in the price.  Every transaction would be rounded up or down to the nearest nickel.  A $.99 item would round up to a dollar when the transaction was completed, a $.91 or $.92 item would round down to $.90.  If the price was $.93 or $.96, you would pay $.95.

At the end of the day (or week, or month) I’m guessing that the total amount charged by a merchant, between rounding up and rounding down, would be almost, if not exactly, what would have been charged if the actual price was used, even after adding sales tax.

If this worked, current pricing psychology and pricing schema could remain in place, the books would balance, and that pesky penny would be a thing of the past.

Yes, I really thought of this myself.

Good idea, or no?  I’d love to hear from you.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.

Pressure from manufacturers to control the price that online merchants charge for certain items mean that more and more web sites are no longer posting pricing with their items.

What may first look like an unwillingness of the seller to show you the price may actually be an effort on their part to keep the manufacturer from forcing them to charge a price dictated to them.

When you look at an item on a web site but can’t see the price until you “put it in your shopping cart“, it may be an effort on the merchant’s part to keep the manufacturer from easily seeing what price is being charged.  Because the price doesn’t appear with the item,  it won’t be indexed at popular shopping “bots” like Shopzilla and Pricegrabber, making it a lot harder for the manufacturer to control.

New interpretations of anti-trust law have given the manufacturers a lot more power in dictating prices to sellers.  Posting “lower than approved” pricing at a web site may violate advertising agreements.  This is likely why you can’t see the price until you add the item to a shopping cart.

This makes comparison shopping a whole lot tougher.

Periodically we are approached by manufacturers who would like us to sell their products, but negotiations always quickly end if they attempt to dictate the price we will charge our customers.  So called “MAP” pricing (minimum advertised pricing)does not come into play when we determine how to price what we sell to you.

We will always strive to give you the best price without regard to what the manufacturer thinks we should charge.  If we can take advantage of lower overhead and other efficiencies to offer you a better price than the competition, we are happy to share the savings.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.  Share your ideas on internet pricing with our readers.

If you’ve attended a major concert or other arena event recently, you realize that you can’t turn around without someone sticking their hand in  your pocket, even though you’ve already bought a ticket for the event.

Start with the ticket service fee.  You can’t buy a ticket without paying that, even if you purchase at the box office.

Next comes parking.  $7.00 is the going rate around here, and some tickets automatically add a parking surcharge to every ticket, regardless of how many patrons might share a ride.

Next comes concessions.  Mandatory purse and backpack checks assure that you won’t bring in so much as a bottle of water.  Once you’re inside, prices range from $4.00 up for a simple snack to as much as $11.00 for a beer.  If you’re covering the cost for a family of four, your out of pocket expenses can easily double the ticket price.

Ticketmaster and Live Nation share the credit for devising this system, and the Justice Department decisions means that it is now open season on event patrons.

By allowing these two companies to combine forces there is no longer any reason for one to try to gain a competitive advantage over the other by pricing tickets or add ons more competitively.

If you are concerned about this pending monopoly, you might find this web site interesting.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries,  Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands.