The other day, I attempted to purchase an item from the internet. The price was low on the item, and I really felt like I was getting a bargin. The S&H charges were not posted. When I checked out, I was in shock. The people selling this item must have lost their minds when determining their shipping prices. They were way out of line. I promptly cancelled my order. Their S&H charges were 50% of my total purchase price. (EXAMPLE: If the item was $10.00 to purchase, the shipping cost was $ 5.00. This was a small item that could have been shipped cheaply and easily. I was very angry, feeling baited and switched. They lost my business, because of their S&H charge.

This made me wonder if my own shipping cost was out of line, and if it had cost me sales in the past. I never want any of my customers to feel the anger that I had felt.  After much deliberation, the determination was made...RINGS 4 CHEAP was going to provide FREE SHIPPING  to all destinations.

I am very proud of this decision, and hope that many of my customers benefit from our free shipping. Nothing is worse than having a limited budget and worrying about S&H charges. It really puts a damper on the shopping experience. I hope to make internet shopping fun again. Perhaps great rings + great price + fast  free shipping = loyal customer!

Do merchants really believe that they are gaining by gouging their customers? Please share  your shopping rage stories with me, and tell me if it has effected the way you do business.

~therings4cheapstore

Just when you think that you have seen it all, something else comes along and takes the cake. I was browsing eBAY pulse, and saw the strangest ad that I have ever seen. Listed on eBAY pulse, was a man selling a ghost trapped in a cardboard box. The seller had written a story about his young son reporting a ghost in his bedroom. The family supposedly concocted a plan to capture the ghost in a "ghost proof box", and it worked. The seller decided to sell the ghost on eBAY, because he needed to get rid of it. He used his ghost proof tape to close the box and was offering free shipping.

I was shocked to see that his ghost in a box, had been bid up to $76.00. I later checked on this auction, only to find that the auction had ended. The winning bid was $ 1577.00. I was shocked and amazed, and remain that way today. Please share your opinion about this situation.

What advertising strategies have you employed, and how are they working? Are they as successful as you had imagined? What is this method costing you? I am exploring some fresh methods of advertising, what would you suggest? 

Let me start by saying, by my own admission, I am NOT tech savvy. I seriously needed to grow RINGS 4 CHEAP, so I just recently took my business to the internet. Every day I feel like I am walking on a tightrope when it comes to my computer. I have a lot of gee-wiz moments.

The books tell me that I should register a domain name in order to participate in internet commerce. I was able to secure my desired domain names, and purchase them with security. I guess this is a good thing, but I really wasn't sure what I was purchasing. I had my desired domain name and was pleased as pudding. I naively typed my new domain name into the search box of a search engine, and I think I heard my computer lol. I called the site where I purchased my domain name, and told them that my domain name didn't work. Once they good off the floor from laughing at me. A very kind young man named Andy, calmly asked what exactly I wanted my domain name to do for me. I explained that I had an eBAY store, and I wanted people to be able to enter my domain name, and go directly into my store. I also wanted this domain name, so I could include it in outside advertising for my store. He had me do a few maneuvers on the computer, and said "there you are in". I politely thanked him and got off of the phone. I returned to my computer, and once again entered my domain name into a search box of a search engine. Nothing was found. I called that Andy right back, but didn't get him. Good thing for him! I talked to another fellow named Dean. I explained my situation to him, and the fact that I had just spoken to Andy. Dean offered to help me. He explained the following to me.

In order to appear in search engine results, you have to submit your URL to the search engine. He explained that those sites mostly displayed in search results, purchased their domain name for at least ten years, and update their web content every two months to stay current. He also explained that you can not be listed on a search engine, unless you have an actual web site, that the search engine can evaluate for search relevance. Then he explained  the relationship between descriptions and meta tags, and told me what optimization meant.

Basically, in my simple terms, the description is the words you chose to describe your store or product. The meta tags are simply restating your description in similar words. For instance, if your description said high quality fashion rings at a factory direct price. Your meta tags would include: ring, fashion, quality, factory direct, low price, discount, rings, cheap, bargin, jewelry, etc.. Any words that anyone could use, to search for an item or site such as yours. Optimization ensures that  your title, description, and meta tags work well together to place you in search engine results.

As for my domain name, it is currently set up with the ability to forward searchers directly into my store, but they will only find my store,  if they type my domain name into their computers address bar. After speaking with many people, about how they typically conduct a web search when the address is known, I was pleasantly surprised to find that most people enter the address into the address bar, instead of a search engine box. I have always used the search engine box for everything. I told you that I wasn't very tech savvy, but I am getting there fast.