ETD: 723 G&DA Online Survey Deadline Extended; Bermuda is back
in business; Who are you?; House Passes Internet Tax Moratorium;
PayPal caution
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post@gapent.com
Sun, 21 Sep 2003 19:49:51 -0400
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0723 September 23, 2003
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem@gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] G&DA Online Survey Deadline Extended
[3] Bermuda is back in business
[4] Who are you?
[5] House Passes Internet Tax Moratorium
[6] PayPal caution
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
I'm in London this week, and will return on Sunday. My thanks to Jules
Kaplan for the Special Report which we will have on Thursday. Two other
list members promised specials, which should be quite good.
We have a new section at our site - "Members: Who Are You?"
http://etailersdigest.com/resources/members/index.htm We have posted for
posterity those list members who submitted information. And we have a form
there for you to tell us about you. As I said when I first proposed this
idea, we have "known" each other for a long time, yet we often don't know
anything about each other. So, tell us who you are and what you do.
Today we have some followup on past posts from Patty Sachs and Jules
Kaplan. And Richard Woolnough gives us an update on Bermuda. Hurricane
Isabel passed them, but they were hit by Fabian a couple of weeks ago. The
pictures are quite graphic.
Gifts & Dec Magazine is conducting a survey that will be published in
December. Check it out.
If you are flying at any time now through December, don't forget to listen
to SkyRadio, especially the section on Sarbanes-Oxley and the interview
with list member Jim D'Arcangelo.
BTW, we have a couple of seminars and meetings planned for the next couple
of months, all dealing with risk management. It's a hot topic and a
significant issue, today for publicly-traded companies, later for all
companies IMHO. The first will be a user conference in Boston on October
21. For more details, send an email to
mailto:georgem@gapent.com?Subject=Risk_seminars?Body=I_am_interested_in_(please_complete)
And, if you are interested in subscribing to a newsletter on this subject,
"The Practice of Corporate Governance" may be of interest to you. Visit
http://www.darcangelosoftwareservices.com/media/newsletter/subscribe.htm
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem@gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] G&DA Online Survey Deadline Extended
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A crucial Web link was missing from Wednesday’s Gifts & Dec Direct where we
asked manufacturers, importers, and distributors to help identify the most
important trends for 2004 in gifts and decorative accessories by completing
our online questionnaire. Results will appear in the December 2003 issue of
Gifts & Decorative Accessories in time to guide retailers as they go to
market. Your answers will be combined with others in the industry to
provide a composite view; no individual company information will be
published. (You may have received a faxed version of the questionnaire —
please complete either one.) It's simple! It's quick! And the deadline has
been extended to September 26. Please click here to go the survey:
http://www.furnituretodayonline.com/data/GDATrendsSvy03.htm
Quinn Halford, Editor In Chief
Matthew Kalash, Editor
Gifts & Dec Direct
www.giftsanddec.com
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[3] Bermuda is back in business
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George. Many thanks for your concern. We were missed by Isabel but
severely hit 2 weeks ago by Fabian. 120mph winds with gusts to 150. Lots
of damage throughout the Island and severe power outages.
Most is back to normal now but at least 10% of homes still have no power.
Serious impact on tourist related retailers but big benefits for hardware
stores etc. Some major hotels have had to close for up to 6 months in
order to bring themselves back to normal. Cruise boats could not get in for
the first week but are now back on schedule (almost). Car and boat dealers
should do well in the next few months. Some pictures at
www.BespokeSolutions.com/fabian.htm which do not do justice to the actual
feeling of being in the hurricane and its aftermath.
However, Bermuda is back in business.
Richard
Bespoke Solutions Ltd
www.BespokeSolutionsLtd.com
+1(441)295 0951
We can tailor your business
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
Glad to hear things are back to normal. The pictures are pretty
scary. Those disasters definitely hurt the tourist business.
Here in the US, there are still 1 million homes without power because of
Isabel. It hit land as a Category 2 and was a Tropical Storm when it ran
through most of the land.
For those who are curious, hurricanes are rated on the Saffir-Simpson
Hurricane Scale which is a 1-5 rating based on the hurricane's present
intensity. This is used to give an estimate of the potential property
damage and flooding expected along the coast from a hurricane landfall.
Wind speed is the determining factor in the scale, as storm surge values
are highly dependent on the slope of the continental shelf in the landfall
region.
Category Five:Winds greater than 155 mph
Category Four: Winds 131-155 mph
Category Three: Winds 111-130 mph
Category Two:Winds 96-110 mph
Category One: Winds 74-95 mph
Tropical Storm: Winds 39 to 73 mph
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml
In any event, they are not good for anybody.
George
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[4] Who are you?
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Luca Meyer, Consumer Research Advisor
I am Luca Meyer, consumer research advisor. I offer consumer and market
research advice and full-service packages to companies that are keen to
bring their own business more dependence upon the new technologies and
Internet.
You may get to know your target market better, your (potential) clients,
your competitors, surrogate products, etc... especially if you operate in
the e-business arena
Because of a very limited cost structure and the willingness to expand my
customer basis beyond national boundaries I can sell my services at lower
prices than traditional market research institute, while maintaining higher
quality standard. I am also quite flexible as I tend to adapt consumer and
market research techniques to my customer needs and not the other way
around...
I have been specializing in the marketing research field in 1992 and
started to work in the field in 1994 upon completion of my business and
marketing studies. I always thought that markets would be more efficient if
we worked to improve communications and exchanges between consumers,
intermediaries and producers. That's why I decided to jump into consumer
and market research. To differentiate my services from those of my
competitors, I decided to focus on the consumer and market research through
Internet (since 1999).
I promote my business mostly word of mouth, but I try to publish to inform
potential customers of online market research techniques and opportunities.
You may write me on lucameyer@tiscali.it or call/fax +393355217628 to
discuss your specific information/knowledge needs.
Mr. Luca Meyer
Consumer research advisor
http://lucameyer.com/
via Monginevro 70 - 10050 Salbertrand (To) - Italy
Tel/Fax. +39.33.55.21.76.28
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[5] House Passes Internet Tax Moratorium
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The House of Representatives passed the Internet Tax Non-Discrimination
Act, the bill that imposes a permanent ban on taxes on Internet services.
The current moratorium, set to expire on November 1, 2003, was a temporary
fix installed two years ago, providing legislators with time to debate the
issues of the permanent moratorium.
The bill, H.R. 49, amends the Internet Tax Freedom Act (IFTA), to provide
for a permanent moratorium on state and local taxes on all Internet access
services without regard to speed, technology, or provider. Both broadband
and dial-up services are covered by the bill. The bill now goes to the full
Senate where it has already met with approval from the Senate Commerce
Committee. President Bush has indicated that he will sign the legislation.
Several states currently assess Internet access taxes in various forms.
Some states tax Internet services that are bundled with telephone services.
Other states have been able to sidestep the Internet tax moratorium because
they had laws in place allowing taxation of Internet services before the
first moratorium was passed in 1998. All of these states will be required
to repeal their Internet taxes should the new permanent moratorium become law.
Many people confuse the Internet access tax moratorium with legislation
affecting sales tax on Internet purchases. The two taxes are not the same,
and this legislation does not affect sales tax on purchases. Several state
governments are working together under the auspices of the Streamlined
Sales Tax Project that would provide a unified method for assessing and
collecting sales tax on Internet sales. Those states are planning to
integrate sales taxes into online sales by 2006.
Yours truly
Jules Kaplan
Ez Payment Solutions LLC
E-commerce Payment Solution Provider
Find Out How to Reduce Billing and Collection Cost by 90%+
Available now at: www.ezpaymentservices.com
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[6] PayPal caution
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The most helpful piece of information I gleaned from PayPal's warnings of
the fraudulent requests for personal information, was that PayPal NEVER
sends mail addressed to "Dear Customer" or similar generic term...it will
ALWAYS have your name at the top.
I use this as my guideline.
Thank you for keeping us up on these sorts of things, George. With all the
viruses, bogus e-mails, spamania and other nuisance mail...we have to be on
our toes.
Patty Sachs, Celebrations Expert
www.partyplansplus.com
Co-producer of Buyer Education for
TransWorld 20th National Halloween, Costume
And Party Show, March 2004
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
Wise advice. While spam is a PITA, it's not as bad as the fraudulent scams
that parts innocent people from their money. Folks, whenever money is
concerned (even cash, which is as good as money ;-). Yogism) be very
careful! Know the guidelines offered by your service. We all hear about
your personal information being stolen. With credit cards, you have a
chance. With debit cards you don't!.
George
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Links to follow
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GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.gapent.com/
Sarbanes-Oxley 2002 http://www.sarbanes-oxley2002.com
E-Tailer's Digest http://www.etailersdigest.com
ETD Archives: http://topica.com/lists/etailer/read
Prior to 29 Dec
1999 http://etailersdigest.com/archives/index.htm
Marketing Your Web http://www.gapent.com/myweb/
Automated Press Releases http://www.automatedpr.com