Buying books online - isn't Amazon the best value?

Everybody wants good value when they buy books online - especially expensive ones. And everyone knows that people like Amazon have transformed book buying to provide everyone with better value than bookshops and other booksellers.

Don't they? Haven't they?

Not exactly. I am telling you because I should know. I too am a trader. I get the same prices, presumably, as Amazon from the publishing houses. They may even get a bigger discount from me becuase they buy in bulk for their thousands of customers. So how can I charge less than me?

Is it because they add apostage charge of around £3 to all orders under around £39? Most paperback books are around £6.99. If you look at Amazon's description of the book it may say "Our price £5.59. You save 20%". You are then invited to "buy now".

So you are saving £1.40 on the price you would pay in a bookshop but then paying £3 postage. That makes the price £1.60 MORE than the bookshop price. That's the smallest village bookshop you can find, remember. Are you really going to order £39 worth of books at once? Can your credit card stand it?

But are Amazon making a loss by offering you a 20% discount in the first place? Not on your life. They often get 35% discount. So they paid around £4.50 a book they are then asking you to pay £5.59. How many people buying a popular book does it take for them to cover their costs and make a profit even if they DIDN'T charge you £3 postage.

But they do charge you that. So its not even a question of making a small profit or loss on each sale and hoping selling to lots of people gets them a discount on their postage bill - which it usually does.

So how much should you pay? Well, we would make a profit on that £6.99 book with 35% discount to us from the publisher by charging you £5.75 INCLUDING POSTAGE.

So, please. Don't think you're not paying shop prices rather than discount prices. And I mean corner shop inflated prices, not Wal Mart sell it cheap prices.

We welcome any enquiries if oyu want more facts on the subject. Email us at books_and_beyond@businessmailbox.com.

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Evaluate Shopping Cart Features

Before purchasing a shopping cart software there are many different features you must evaluate and decide on. There are certain considerations you need to keep in mind to ensure you buy the right shopping cart software. For example, you will want to consider who your customer base will be and the amount of traffic you are likely to receive. Also, you will want to come up with a list of products you want to sell in addition to how many future products you might want to add to your product line. The following considerations are also important to evaluate when shopping for a shopping cart for your website.

Price

The price of the shopping cart software is important, especially if you are not working with a lot of funds to begin with. There are many different shopping carts in various price points. For example, you may find one that is hosted from a remote server and this can cost as much as $100 a month or as little as $20 a month. The features you select will affect the price significantly. Some web hosts offer their customers a shopping cart system. For these plans the hosting may only cost an additional fee, but the fee will vary widely based on what's accepted. Your website and its needs will determine how much money you need to spend on your shopping cart. If you need a lot of control and the ability to customize your shopping cart then the best option is to install one on your very own server.

Setup

Before buying a shopping cart you should also look into the ease of setup. Nobody wants to spend hours and hours struggling to get the shopping cart just right. There are lots of different shopping carts out there that are actually quite easy to install and use so look for one of these. You may find that Amazon's shopping cart is seamless and easy to use, however there are other types of carts that also have easy setup. Do your homework and find the shopping cart that meets your needs and that is easy to use.

Storage

The storage of your shopping cart is also quite important. The capacity that your shopping cart has is important to consider because you want a cart that will be able to handle all of your current needs as well as any future needs your ecommerce site might have.

Author: Aaron Goldberg : source

6 Foods To Avoid

If you're looking to improve your diet then cutting back on these six foods is a good starting point.

1. Fizzy Drinks

The average can of fizzy drink contains around 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30 to 55 mg of caffeine, artificial food colouring and sulphites. Diet versions of fizzy drinks contain artificial sweeteners which are even more unhealthy. Fizzy drink are so bad for you that the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, a US consumer group has called for cigarette style health warnings to be printed on soft drink cans.

2. Chips and French fries.

They may be tasty but chips and French fries contain acrylamide, a known carcinogen and neurotoxin that forms when foods are baked or fried at high temperatures. In tests conducted on some well known brands of French fries the level of acrylamide found was around 300 times the amount allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a glass of water.

And it gets worse - chips and French fries also contain trans fats, the artery-clogging fat that's been linked to raising cholesterol and increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer.

3. Doughnuts.

If you break a doughnut down you'll find nothing more than refined sugar and flour, artificial flavours and partially hydrogenated oil that's packed full of trans fats. They have no redeeming qualities at all.

4. Cakes and Baked Goods.

This category also includes biscuits. This is another group of foods that almost always contain high amounts of trans fats and a host of other unhealthy additives such as corn syrup, preservatives and artificial flavours and colouring. In fact, baked goods usually contain more trans fats than any other food because not only are they made with hydrogenated oils, they're also fried in them.

If you must eat baked goods then buy them from your local bakery because they're less likely to used hydrogenated oils or margarine to preserve the shelf life.

5. Processed Meats/Hot Dogs.

Processed meats like spam, luncheon meat and pepperoni contain a carcinogenic ingredient called sodium nitrite which, according to nutritionists, has no place in human food.

According to a study carried out in America on 200,000 people over seven years, the people who consumed the most processed meat showed a 65% increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

6. Canned Soup.

Amazingly we are talking about the traditional, canned soups you find in the supermarket. This may come as a surprise, but most canned soups have high levels of trans fats, sodium and artificial preservatives like MSG.

Just a single cup of soup from a can, can contain up to 1000 milligrams of salt. That's an awful lot considering dietary guidelines recommend no more than 2400 milligrams per day.

Reading the above it's obvious to see why the government is keen to educate children and parents about the poor nutritional values of certain foods. Until recently children were regularly eating chips, cakes and processed meats and fizzy drinks as part of their daily school dinners. Thankfully high profile campaigns such as Jamie Oliver's drive for healthy school meals has alerted people to the dangers of consuming these foods on a regular basis, and seems to be making a significant difference.

Author : Catering 4 Schools