Month: October 2007

Everyone loves a great deal! Many people spend
quite a bit of time searching for good deals on the
items that they want and need – and when they find
those deals, they experience a certain amount of
satisfaction. These people typically haunt garage
sales, stores that are holding sales, wholesale
warehouses, flea markets, and especially online
and offline auctions. With the incredible number of
auctions that are constantly going on at eBay, it
can be difficult to find the items you want, at the
price you want to pay. But it isn’t impossible to find
great deals!

There are steps you can take to ensure that you are
getting a great deal on the items you purchase
through eBay. In fact, these same steps will also
help to protect you against fraud. Participating in
online auctions is a great deal of fun, but you must
use caution as well. This caution entails doing your
research before you place any bids.

Start with the auction in question. Make sure that
you read every word of the description and the
auction details. You can never have too much
information – especially if that information is
about an individual that you may be doing business
with. Pay special attention to what the description
and auction details do not say. For instance, is a
guarantee mentioned? Is the item new? Is it
authentic? Is there proof of authenticity? Look for
auctions that provide the right information – and
the right amount of information. Avoid those that
do not.

Who will pay the shipping and handling costs? Often,
the buyer pays these costs, and sometimes, the
seller tries to charge more than the actual shipping
and handling costs are. Beware of high shipping
costs, especially for items that will be auctioned
off at a very low price. Also note when the item is
supposed to ship after the bidding has ended.
Depending on what you are trying to purchase the
item for, it may not arrive in time.

Don’t make the mistake of bidding on an item simply
because it is a ‘good deal.’ It is only a good deal for
you if the item is something that you really want or
need. Many people simply bid for the sake of
bidding – or winning – without having any real need
or desire for the item in question. Before bidding on
items that you do want or need, check prices
around the Internet and the prices available from
offline sources as well. Just because it is on eBay
does not guarantee that it is the cheapest price
available!

Finally, learn more about the seller. Can you trust
them? What is their rating? Read their feedback
page! Failure to learn more about the seller can be
costly. Not everyone is as honest as you are – and
the seller may be trying to take advantage of people
that simply don’t know enough to find out more
about them. Sometimes scammers make their
auctions sound like really great deals. Beware of
prices that seem extremely low!

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If you make your own jewelry or buy wholesale
jewelry that is not in a box, you will need a source
for jewelry boxes! Your customers will want their
jewelry to arrive in nice display boxes that can be
wrapped or presented to the person they bought
the jewelry for.

Boxes for jewelry can be found at wholesale prices
all over the internet. Simply do a search in any
search engine for ‘boxes for jewelry’ and you will be
surprised at the results. You can even have your
business name or logo printed on the boxes as
well, for an additional cost.

When you shop for boxes to package your jewelry
wholesale in, make sure that you buy in bulk for the
best prices. Also make sure that you can return the
boxes for an exchange in the event that the boxes
are the wrong size, or for a refund if the boxes arrive
damaged.

Don’t make the mistake of not shipping your jewelry
wholesale to your customers in jewel boxes. This
will make you appear to be unprofessional, or like a
small time operation.

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Start off by making enquiries. Nothing can beat the power of information.
Approach the school authorities first. Find out if they are offering any
after school activities. Get a list of the various classes that are
available in your school. In case the school does not provide any
extracurricular activities for the child, approach your neighbors. Collect
information about any after school programs, the quality of the courses
taught and the timings etc. Also, check out some of the community
resources. These may include places of worship, community centers,
Museums, libraries, the YMCA, The Boys and Girls Club etc.

After you have colleted all the necessary information, discuss the various
options with your child. Find out what his interests are. The best way to
find out what is most suitable is to ask your child. When little children
are too small, you cannot completely rely on their feedback. In this case,
monitor the development of the child on a regular basis. If the child
shows excessive resistance to an activity, it may be necessary to look for
other options. Always consider your family’s schedule when planning the
extracurricular activities. If it is difficult for you to chauffeur your
child, you may want to employ tutors at home or conduct some activity at
home itself.

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If you really want to delight your child – or yourself –
you should arrange to have a Disneyland Character
meal. This will allow you and your whole family to
have quality time with one or more of the
Disneyland characters. In fact, this is the best
way to really get to interact with them for any
length of time.

Start by making a reservation. This can be done
through the Disneyland Vacation Planning Services
Department. Reservations can be made up to sixty
days in advance, so don’t leave this to the last
minute. Make these reservations while your
Disneyland vacation is being planned.

Character breakfasts take place each morning at the
park. You do not need a reservation for these meals.
These breakfasts take place in many of the parks
restaurants, but Goofy’s Kitchen is a great place to
start. It is located in the Disneyland Hotel, and there
are dishes to please everyone. Children under three
years of age get to eat free, which should be
considered when you are planning the budget for
your trip. Goofy is always there, with Pluto, but
other characters come and go all throughout the
day. You should definitely make reservations for
Goofy’s kitchen, as it is quite popular, and the wait
can be very long.

If dining with Princesses is important, than Ariel’s
Grotto is the place to be. Serving three course meals,
this is elegant dining that both kids and adults can
enjoy. Each princess will come spend a little time at
your table during your meal – one at a time.
Reservations for Ariel’s Grotto are also recommended.
This is one place in the park where both alcoholic and
non-alcoholic drinks are served.

The Storyteller’s Café is another place that is highly
recommended for Character Meals. Characters are
only here during breakfast, however. While time is
not spent at each individual table, the Characters do
interact with the children as a group. Both buffet and
menu dining are available, and again, reservations
are recommended. Lilo and Stitch also have a
Character Breakfast, as does Minnie Mouse.
Breakfast with Minnie and Friends is extremely
popular, so make reservations.

You should definitely include a Character Meal or
two in your Disneyland Vacation plans. This is
something that your child will remember forever and
interacting with the famous Disney characters that
we all know and love is part of what Disneyland is
all about! Be sure to make reservations as far in
advance as possible.

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Podcasting is easy to get involved in for anyone who
wants to create a podcast. The first thing necessary is
access to a web server. The user needs to be able to
upload files to the server itself, so podcasting can’t be
done from a simple blogging or journal site. It’s
probably best to register a domain and find a host for
the site. Once the site has been set up and the user has
access to the host server, a small program called
dircaster.php should be customized for your site, and
can be used to automatically generate the RSS feed that
the subscribers will download. The mp3 files should be
uploaded to the proper directory after all the
information about the file has been attached. After they
are in the directory, the address of dircaster.php, as long
as it is in the same directory as the mp3 files, will
generate an RSS file that will tell your subscribers
where to download the latest podcasts from. To update
and and a new episode, create and upload the new mp3
file to the same directory. When dircaster.php is
accessed, it will recognize the new file and relay the
information on to your visitors.

With these steps, it is easy for anyone to create a
podcast with a small expenditure of time and effort. The
site is easy to set up; domains and hosting are now
cheap enough almost anyone to have a small site, and
the programs necessary are all easy to find and use.

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There are many different brands of jewelry cleaners
on the market today. Depending on how your
jewelry is made, these products may or may not be
safe for your jewelry wholesale! Before using
jewelry cleaner, take a good long look at the jewelry
and try to determine what it is made of.

First, any jewelry that has pieces glued on should
not be soaked in jewelry cleaner. Instead, use a
little Woolite mixed with water, and soak the piece
for just a couple of minutes. Remove the piece from
the mixture and dry it immediately – but gently –
with a soft cloth. Use a soft toothbrush to gently
scrub small crevices.

Avoid soaking pearls! They may come from the
ocean – but water from your tap may damage them.
Simply wipe the pearl with a damp cloth, then use
a polishing cloth to give it back its shine. Never
soak any of your jewelry overnight. It isn’t
necessary, and it may harm the jewelry wholesale.
Again, it is important to know what gems are used
in your jewelry, and how the piece was constructed
before determining how you will clean it.

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Silver jewelry is not only beautiful, it is very much in
style these days. Silver jewelry compliments
anything you wear, and it is usually less expensive
than gold jewelry. There are many sources from
which you can buy silver jewelry wholesale, but the
Internet will offer you the biggest selection possible.
After all – you will have the whole world at your feet
– or fingertips.

As with any other jewelry, begin your search online.
There are countless jewelry wholesalers online, and
many of them specialize in silver jewelry. When you
buy your jewelry from jewelry wholesale sources,
you will pay a fraction of the cost that you would
pay at a retailer’s place of business, such as a
jewelry store.

When you purchase silver jewelry wholesale, make
sure that you are purchasing sterling silver jewelry.
Sterling silver is almost always marked with the
numbers ‘925.’ This is the highest quality of silver
that you can buy – wholesale or retail. Note that
there is no such thing as ‘high quality sterling
silver’ and ‘lower quality sterling silver.’ Sterling
silver comes in one quality – sterling silver. The
weight of the sterling silver used in the piece should
be the determining factor in the cost, unless the
item was hand-made, in which case it will cost
considerably more than similar pieces that were
not hand made.

Silver jewelry tarnishes – whether it is sterling silver
or not. You must clean and polish your silver
jewelry on a regular basis to help it keep its shine.
There are many different brands of silver polish on
the market that can be used to accomplish this.
You should plan to clean your silver jewelry on a
weekly basis.

Buying silver jewelry wholesale is the best way to
go. Silver is already relatively inexpensive – even at
wholesale prices. When purchasing such jewelry,
the silver or quality of the silver is not what you
need to concern yourself with – again, silver is
silver, just make sure it is sterling silver. The
settings and stones that are used in the piece
should be your concern.

You need to insure that the piece is solidly
constructed, and you need to make sure that the
gems used are not simulated gems – unless that is
what you want. Of course, when real gems are used,
such as diamonds, the cost of the jewelry will rise
considerably. But as long as you are buying jewelry
wholesale, the price will still be the lowest price you
will find.

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