#I mean UK shipping is adding the price up a bit but

[by-your-leave]

The Devilman 1987-90 DVD Collection being JP/NA region exclusive hmmm I may have to invest in the old VHS tapes

[princessdimondheart]

Rave | Gaz x Reader

Pairing: Gaz x f! Reader

Summary: How Kyle met the love of his life while covered in holo glitter.

WC: 2,930

Warnings: 🔥- NSFW 18+ MDI, PnV, unsafe sex, creampie, oral f! receiving; 😭- slight angst

Edited: No; added Sarah’s outfit bc I forgot 🤦‍♀️

A/N 1: Sorry for the long wait as I healed my cut finger. It still hurts btw. I said Christmas didn’t I? It’s still Christmas here lol 😅😅 Reader is nicknamed Angel. My first smut 😳 If I messed up anywhere please tell me. I’m not 100% satisfied so I might add or change things later on.

A/N 2: I could not pick which outfit reader should wear. 😖 It’s between these two= Outfit 1 and Outfit 2: Top, Bottom ; the makeup is the same for both= Eyes, Lips ; Shoes for both but matte instead of velvet ; Nails are a bit more simple ; Kyle’s outfit will be linked in the fic. I’m not a fashion expert so I’m not sure if these fit well but I like them. I hope you enjoy! Leave a comment or note if you do. 😊

Masterlist

Character banner ©️ Me

Kyle was happy when Price decided to send him on a special training mission across the pond to the states, at least he was for a while. But then FOMO hit him when he realized that he would be missing out on a few missions. The training would last for a few months. Two months too long in his opinion, but here he was those months later and he had finally completed his training. Kyle was certain that his Captain would be proud to learn that he had made it to the top of the class. 

Now, he only had a few days left before he had to ship back out to the UK. He’d planned to chill in the barracks and maybe go to a bar for a couple of drinks. However, that was not the case when he received a random text from his cousin. 

Sarah had moved out to California from their hometown after she got accepted into UCLA. She was very excited when she heard about her acceptance. Kyle believed it was because she could now party it up without the scary eyes of their very religious grandmother baring down their necks. At least that’s how he felt when he first left home to join the military. 

Sarah had invited him to go out to a festival or perhaps it was a rave? He wasn’t sure because he had never been to one before so this was sure to be a new experience. He’d never been one to party, even less given that he’s living a military and not a typical college life style. However, he can say that he can handle his own with a couple of pints. 

He glanced back to her text to make sure that he had input the address correctly. He was lucky that her new home wasn’t too far from the base he was staying at so he could take the bus that ran through the base. Sarah had decided that the gloomy skies of England were no match to the sunny skies of Los Angeles, so after graduating she found a job in engineering and found a place to call her own. He was honestly happy for her and was genuinely surprised that she had messaged him since they had not talked in several years. He had a suspicion that their grandmother called her about him being there. 

The bus stop was only a few blocks away from Sarah’s house so he had to walk the rest of the way. It was early, almost 8 am on a Saturday, so Kyle was certain that his cousin was likely still sleeping in. He made sure that his walk took longer by taking in his environment. It must have been because of his military mindset that had him checking the area for security risks. He knows that L.A. has a bad rep but his cousin living in a decent neighborhood didn’t mean that there were no risks. Kyle didn’t see that many people out that early. Only a few dogs walkers and a mother pushing a stroller with a baby that seemed not too happy to have been woken from their sleep based on theirs incessant crying. Kyle winced when they walked by. 

Kyle made it to his cousin’s door in 15 minutes. She opened the door after two knocks with a few minutes in between. 

“Kyle! You’re here!” She engulfed him in a tight hug, her arms squeezing against his torso with enough strength to pop his back. “Ahhh!! It’s been forever!”

“Gah!” He wheezed as his arms were crushed to his sides. “You have gotten a lot stronger, Sarah. Please let me go.”

“Oh! Sorry. Sorry. I get a bit excited about this stuff. You know me!” Sarah let him go and cover her mouth with her hand to try to hide her laughter. Then, she flexes an arm. “I just did arm day so I’m pretty pumped.”

Kyle laughs, “Your noodle arms are nothing compared to mine.” He teased her while flexing his larger arm muscles. It was like they were back to being kids and laughing and making fun of each other. 

“Har. Har. Kyle!” She rolled her eyes and gestured into her home. “Get your ass inside, Popeye.”

“Who?” His brow rose. She stared at him blankly. 

“Just get in, you uncultured swine!” Sarah started pushing his back to get him in. He resisted of course, but after a few seconds he let her have her way and stepped through the threshold. 

They settled on the couch and began to catch up. He learned about her job and that although it wasn’t her dream job, she was still happy about working there. Kyle didn’t tell her that much about his work being that almost all of it was classified but he shared that he too enjoyed working with his team. Overall, they were happy that the other was happy. 

“Now, what’s this about a rave? Festival?” Kyle felt like he didn’t know what he was saying. “You wanted to go out later tonight?”

“Yeah! It’s a rave with festival vibes.” Sarah explained and he nodded along. “We have to dress up a bit so we can look cool I guess. That’s why I wanted you to come a bit early, though not this early!” 

“Sorry.” She chuckled at him. 

“Don’t worry about it. I should have known that with you military types that I should have specified the exact time. That’s on me. But! Now we have more time to go over what you’re going to wear!”

If Sarah could be more excited she’d be bouncing off the walls and out the door. Her face bright like the huge grin pulling at her lips. 

“Oh… I was just gonna go like this.” He gestured at himself but apparently that did not go over so well with Sarah. She had a grossed out face. 

“A button up with kakis? What are you Jake from State Farm?” Another cultural reference that he lacked an understanding of. Sarah’s accent had become more Americanized but her British voice would shine through on the occasion. “No, no, no! I will not be seen with you dressed like that, love!”

She stood up. “I think I know what to do.”

Kyle almost panicked. “Please, no cheeks handing out and nothing too girly.” His brows furrowed together. “Damn… what would my team say if they saw me like this??”

“They’d say nothing because they would see that you had girls hanging off of you. You know some girls like men who are in touch with their feminine side?”

“I don’t have a feminine side.” He pouted. 

“Well, now you do!” Kyle cursed himself at being more open about what she could dress him in. He just hoped no pictures made it back to the Task Force. 

~~~~~

Kyle and Sarah walked amongst the crowd heading into the music festival grounds. There were so many people there, and from what he could see, not so many security guards or police. His training had him looking around and eyeing any suspicious looking people. Although that was kinda hard when every other person had their ass and titties hanging out, with even more glitter on their bodies than he had. 

They made it through security which was just a metal detector and the guards checking their bags. Then their passes were scanned and off into the throng of people they went. 

“My friends texted that they were near the food stalls.” Sarah glanced up from her phone. “I told them we’d meet up with them. Come on, let’s go!”

She took off and Kyle followed after her. He felt like a protective older brother as he glared at anyone who gave her weird looks of lust. Sarah was pretty and everywhere she went she always garnered looks of appreciation from strangers. She was currently wearing a yellow outfit that complimented her skin tone rather well. Her hair was long and styled back in curls. Large hoops adorned her ears. She was also wearing a large yellow coat which he thought she was crazy for because of the heat, but she assured him that it would get colder as the night went on. He was certain that her new white shoes wouldn’t stay that way afterwards. 

~~~

His own outfit wasn’t too bad if he was honest, although the sheer crop top was new for him. He liked the baggy pants that Sarah picked out and he paired it with his black combat boots. Sarah had given him two thumbs up and started messing around with her makeup bag. He was checking his outfit out in front of the mirror when he saw a hand with a makeup brush making its way to his face. 

“Woah! What’ya doin’!?” He pushed her hand away. Sarah huffed. 

“Just adding to the vibes. Come on it’s just some glitter, you’ll look so hot that girls will be falling all over you.” She grinned. 

“You say that but I’m not so sure…” He squinted at her. 

“Ugh! Just let go!” She shook her arm around. 

“Okay, Elsa.”

“Bitch-!”

~~~~~

Sarah found her friends in the crowd by the food stalls. She squealed and yanked on his arm in their direction. Introductions were made and the group went together where the concerts were happening. The crowd wasn’t as pushed together as Kyle thought but he never took his eyes off the group for too long, not wanting to lose sight of his cousin. Call him overprotective if you want. 

They found a spot near the middle of the crowd. The girls danced around him and he bobbed his head to the music despite it not being to his taste. Maybe he tapped his foot but he won’t admit it. Although, he’ll admit that the live band was rather good. 

From the corner of his eye he saw arms shoot up and wave around. He followed the movement down and saw the form of a girl dancing and singing along to the song. Her wrists had multiple beaded bracelets, fingernails perfectly manicured. Her lips were in a smile, sparkling with her lipgloss, and her eyes reflected the bright colors of the strobe lights. Her makeup was pretty but he had no real knowledge about that. The more he looked the wider his eyes dilated. 

The girl wore a black three-piece bra, high-waisted bikini bottoms and skirt-wrap combo with flowers and tuffs of faux feathers. Her arms had long sleeves and she wore a matching choker necklace. Chains dangled from her form and bounced as she jumped and danced. His eyes lowers down her legs and to her feet in very tall heels that he was amazed she was jumping around in. He thought she’d break an ankle. 

When his eyes went back to her face, she was already looking at him. Brow raised in question and lips slightly pouted. Damn those lips. He flinched back a bit when their eyes connected. His cheeks burned at realizing she caught him eyeing her up. 

“Hi!” She said rather shyly, or really, she yelled over the music. 

It took him a moment to respond. “Hello, Miss?”

She yelled her name but said that everyone called her Angel, and he gave his own in return. The music changed to a faster beat and the people around him were dancing closer to each other. 

“Wanna dance?” Her hand reached for his, fingertips sliding softly up on his forearm. He could feel the slight scratch of her nails. It sent shivers up his back. 

He felt like a teenager with the slight nod to her question he gave. His damn voice was caught in his throat. He was better than this. Smoother at flirting with pretty ladies but right now all of his experience was failing him. 

She giggled at him, not that he could hear it but felt it as she drew herself closer to his chest. Her breasts pressed to his shear shirt. Her hips swayed with the music and his hands automatically rested themselves there. Angel raised her hands, gliding them on his chest. Her fingers teased the sides of his throat before curling behind his neck. 

As her nails scratched the short hairs there, he brought her hips closer to his. She was definitely aware that she was affecting him physically. He ground his hardness against her. They both moaned at the feeling. His eyes were droopy with lust, they glanced at her pouty lips. Someone from behind bumped him closer and he let his lips lock with hers. 

Kyle’s hand tangled in her hair pulling her closer. She moaned and his tongue slipped past and tangled with hers. He tasted her lipgloss and the sweetness of the alcohol she drunk earlier that night. Both reveled in each other’s touch. 

The moment was cut short by whoops and whistles to their left. When they separated, Kyle looked over and saw his cousin and her friends cheering him on. Sarah must have noticed that he wasn’t as close to them as before. His cousin gave him a thumbs up and a fist pump. The girl in his arms hid herself in his chest, her cheeks warming. As if she wasn’t just grinding up on him as they were making out. 

“Ah… sorry, that’s my cousin and her friends.” He chuckled, abashed. 

“It’s okay.” Angel smiled at him, taking in his pretty eyes. 

~~~~~

They spent the next few hours dancing, kissing, and occasionally touching more than what would be socially acceptable. During one of the set changes, Kyle introduced her to his cousin and her friends. They hit it off rather quickly. At the end of their night, Sarah decided to stay overnight with her friends and Kyle chose to go home with Angel after she invited him. Her apartment wasn’t too far from where they were at anyways. 

“I’m sorry… I don’t usually do this. Bringing home a stranger.” She glanced down. Her cheeks burned in embarrassment. 

“Don’t worry. I don’t do that either.” His lips tugged into a small grin. 

She looked up at him and smiled softly. Her eyes drifted to his lips. Kyle noticed and began to inch forward until their lips met. It was soft. Her lips and the motions were slow and sweet. Very different to the one in the heat of the festival. Her hands rubbed up his mesh shirt, nails scratching softly through the thin fabric before clasping tightly behind his neck. His own hands rubbed on her waist in slow circular motions. 

Their kisses and touches ached and Kyle began to quickly lead her back into the room. Not that he knew where he was going. His first mistake as the beautiful woman he was currently in a delicious lip lock fell from his arms. 

She yelped when her body hit the back of her couch. The suddenness of it causing her to tip backwards. She landed on the plush cushions with a soft ‘oof.’ Kyle looked down at her in shock, mouth open but no words came out. Part of her legs and feet dangled over the top. She looked up at him, eyes glancing back and forth between his own, dumbfounded before her the corners of her lips turned up and a giggle started. Then it turned into full blown laughter. Kyle grinned at her cute reaction and joined with a chuckle. 

She lifted her hands up to him and as he began to pull her up, she yanked him down over the couch with her. Giggling all the while. His arms stretched out to catch himself on the cushions. He could barely think before her lips were on him once again. This time there was more heat to it. More passion. 

Her hands were cupping his face. Fingers rubbing softly against his freshly shaven face. He shifted their bodies into a more comfortable position and put his weight onto one arm before bringing the other hand up. He let it glance lightly against her body until it rested softly against the crook of her neck and shoulder. His thumb rubbing her neck with an equal softness. 

He felt more than he heard the soft groan that left her lips, muffled by his own. Her legs shifted and he felt her knees up against his hips. Kyle gave into the temptation and lowered his lower body until he was flush against her. This time he heard her moan. He shivered in delight. 

Her tongue flicked out to lick his lips and he let her in. Their tongues danced against one another. Damn he loved the taste of her. 

Angel pushed him back so that she could reach behind her to unclip her top. His mouth immediately latched on her nipple. Her back arched, a pleasured sigh escaping her lips. She felt herself getting wet, her slick soaking her black bottoms and she bucked her hips into Kyle’s. His moan vibrated through her chest. 

Kyle kissed her chest some more before sliding back and removing his shirt and unbuttoning his pants. Her hands helped him pull them down, leaving him in his boxers. 

“Where’s your bed?” He held her hands and helped her up off the couch. Angel led him to her room, she removed the rest of her clothes and heels and laid her bare self on the soft bed. Kyle stood by the doorway and just stared at her beauty. Her legs were slightly open and he could see the glimmer of her slick weeping from her pussy. 

Angel’s face burned at his intense gaze. “Kyle?”

That broke him out of his lustful haze, swiftly removing his boxers. He hung heavily, his arousal twitching against his navel. The tip flushed and his veins throbbing. Angel licked her lips as he grew closer. 

Her hand reached for his cock but was quickly intercepted by Kyle’s larger hand. “Let me…”

Angel let herself fall back as Kyle took his place between her legs. Instantly sucking and licking at her soaked pussy. His hands held firmly on her thighs, not letting her rub against his head. Kyle’s tongue flicked on her clit and she moaned rather loudly that she was sure she’d get a complaint about it later. 

“Oh, fuck! Kyle!” Her nails scratched at his short hair. 

The wet, juicy sounds of her slick and Kyle’s sucking turned her own, making her even more wet. He licked stripes up and down her pussy, then slipped a finger in rather easily. She was panting now, little moans interdicted with louder ones. 

He added a second and then a third, really stretching her out for him. The bed sheets had her juices pooled beneath her. His fingers pumped faster and his mouth sucked harder on her clit. She moaned loudly as her walls clamped down on his fingers as she orgasmed around them. The sounds coming from her nearly made Kyle cum but he held the base of his cock with his free hand to stop his load from blowing too early. 

His fingers slipped from her pussy and he watched as her slick lips clenched around nothing. 

“Kyle, please…” Her eyes were pleading, flicking between his eyes and his straining dick. 

“Angel…” He moaned as he tapped his tip against her clit. She wiggled her lower half in an attempt to get him inside her. She whined when he pulled away but groaned as Kyle pushed his tip just barely inside. 

He huffed and then pushed all the way in, earning himself beautiful, pleasure-filled noises. He was halfway in when she half sat up and pulled him closer, locking their mouths in a heated kiss. His hips jerked forward the final few inches until their hips were touching. His arms and thighs shook from the pleasure he was feeling. Her plush pussy was sucking him in, clenching against his thick cock. Desperately trying to milk him for what he’s got. And he had a lot to give. 

The first few thrusts were overstimulating, so Kyle went torturously slow. It didn’t last too long before he was pounding into her sweet pussy faster. Their bodies coming together created wet lewd sounds. His cum filled balls slapped against her ass with each hard connection. Kyle could feel her wetness dripping down his balls. The viscous fluid becoming creamier with each thrust. 

“There ya go, love.” Kyle panted. “Look at those tits bouncing every, every time I fuck my cock into ya.”

He looked down at her boobs bouncing with his thrusts. A hand reached out to pinch at her nipple. Her hips bucked in sync with his. 

“Ah! Ah! Kyle!” He pinched and twisted her nipple harder. “Fuck! Fuck!”

He thrusted his cock into her faster than before. His balls beginning to tighten while her walls clenched harder onto him. 

“Kyle~!” Her voice going a higher pitch. The bed creaked with their thrusts. 

“Shit! Ah! That’s it, love!” Kyle’s eyes began to roll back as his creamy cum left his body and streamed into hers. “Yes, ah! Fuck! Fuck!”

The feeling of Kyle’s hot cum squirting into her made Angel cum harder than she’s ever cummed before. Her legs shook violently and her back arched off the bed. Kyle’s pace slowed but her didn’t slip out as he came to a stop. Both panted hard and Kyle wrapped his arms around her, flipping them over still connected. 

A surprised squeak slipped her lips and he chuckled. Then she groaned softly at the new position. He didn’t move, however, instead tightening his hold on her. 

“Cuddler?” She teased, palms splayed over his chest. She could feel how fast his heart was beating as he took deep breaths. 

“Can’t blame me for hugging an Angel.” The laugh that shook her body was making Kyle giddy. The movement made him groan as her pussy clenched on his softening cock. 

“S-sorry.” She bit her lip. She took the moment to push against him and he let her go. Kicking a leg over, his cock slipped out along with a gush of his cum. “Ah!”

Kyle hissed as his cock slapped against him covered in both their fluids. He felt his dick hardening watching his cum drip from her twitching pussy lips. 

Angel then laid next to him, her head resting against his chest. Her hand reached over his stomach to his hand. She held it as she slipped one of her bracelets she made for the festival over onto his wrist. 

“To remember me…” She said it so softly, he almost missed it if he wasn’t staring at her in awe. His cheeks burned as feelings he’s rarely ever felt before churned in his chest. Her dilated eyes looking back just as fervently. 

On its own, Kyle’s hand reached for her chin pulling her into a deep kiss. She moved over him again, one of his hands on her ass cheek to help not that she needed it. He gave it a tight squeeze making her moan into his mouth. 

They continued their moment together past sunrise. Kyle made sure to bring her pleasure as many times as Angel could take. He hoped he’d spend more time with her in the future but knew it was unlikely since he lived on another continent. Silently, she hoped the same thing. 

Masterlist

🔖 Taglist:

@sae1kie

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT ECOMMERCE NEWS (INCLUDING ETSY), LATE APRIL 2024

Welcome to my Etsy and ecommerce news & resource update for late April 2024. There are lots of Etsy bugs to keep track of...

I now provide these updates at least twice a week to paying members of my Patreon, along with many other useful benefits. Please check it out!

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TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Some Etsy Messages continue to be sent to the spam folder for no apparent reason, and the site has finally taken action on the resulting damage to Star Seller status. The problem itself is not necessarily over, but Etsy is “working to improve the accuracy of these measures.”

If you have an Etsy shop that has been “inactive” for 4 or more years, be aware that Etsy is planning on closing those shops permanently if the owners do not log in to the shop in the next few months (post by me on LinkedIn).  

A really good reminder that correlation is not causation: just because your views or sales dropped at the same time something else happened does not mean that the event in question harmed your traffic and sales. That applies to Google Core Updates as well as Etsy’s Gift Mode. 

ETSY NEWS 

Etsy is testing new SEO tools that will change the listing titles shown in Etsy search and Offsite Ads. I have the full text of the opt-in explanation from Etsy, plus my thoughts. TL;DR: I wouldn't opt in. Sellers cannot control which listings get changed, nor can they see the changes. Etsy's AI track record is too abysmal to try this.

Gift recipients can now contact the seller, and sellers can issue replacements without any contact with the buyer/gift giver. “However, only the original buyer of a gift can request a refund, return, or exchange—depending on your shop policies. Gift recipients won’t be able to request a return or file a case. Messages you receive from gift recipients will be identified with a badge so you know who you’re messaging with.”

Canadian sellers should check their tax IDs on Etsy, as one seller had hers removed from her account without notice, meaning Etsy is now charging her Canadian customers GST/HST, despite it already being included in the item price. Chat told her it was linked to an inability to verify the ID number, but of course no one told the seller, and the issue can’t currently be fixed. 

Some sellers in France report they are being told they must remove “Other” from shipping profiles (as a shipping upgrade only) and choose a carrier option that Etsy provides. While there has been no official announcement, this may be the first step in an expansion of the removal of “Other” in the US and the UK, which I wrote about last year. 

If your items seem to be due to ship later than you might expect, that could be a bug. [short post by me with forum links]

The official Etsy legal policies for sellers changed a bit on April 9, with some words switched regarding “off-platform transactions”. There is a side-by-side comparison here. Both the seller policy and the new “off-platform transactions” page also forbid the use of QR codes to take users off of Etsy. 

Etsy had a major outage on April 19, and from some reports this took an hour to fix. That usually means some major software changes coming…

Etsy released a Spring/Summer Trend Guide, now done as a pdf file of slides as well as a blog post. Searches for “handmade gifts” are up 238% in the first 3 months of the year compared to 2023 [so yes, you should use the word handmade in your tags or titles.] You can also now see Etsy's curated trends on the Trends Page, filled with Editors’ Picks for the different topics. 

Some US sellers did not receive their deposits on April 15, but staff now claim the problem is resolved. A few sellers disagree. 

Modern Retail interviewed Etsy sellers unhappy with the platform and comparing it to Amazon. [ModernRetail; soft paywall] “Etsy only permits the resale of vintage goods and crafts supplies, per its policy. But Modern Retail found listings on the platform for fast-fashion blazers, shirts and jackets from retailers like H&M and Shein. Those listings were taken down after Modern Retail flagged them to Etsy’s team.” The article misses the fact that 95% of takedowns for handmade violations are actually errors, as I covered last year. 

Etsy’s first quarter 2024 results come out May 1. If the company is planning big changes any time soon, they would likely be announced on or before that date, but they have surprised us before, so no guarantees. (Large changes such as the subscription tiers they surveyed sellers on earlier this year take a lot of programming work, so that could delay announcements.)

The Etsy “strike” happened 2 years ago this month, but the organizations that grew out of the movement continue to strive for better conditions for small makers and curators who sell online. 

If Etsy has removed one of your items under the handmade policy but it appears to be an issue with other sites stealing your photos, this Reddit user has a great approach for tackling Etsy Support’s usual slow reaction time. If you can’t access call backs due to your country not being on the list, try the same approach with live chat. If that doesn’t work, go public. Etsy tends to fix things more quickly when the company is being called out. 

Those involved in “closed” Teams in the Etsy Community should be aware that these teams were open to anyone logged in for a few weeks; outsiders could read, subscribe, and even post. [Yes, I did all of these things just to test.] Etsy now claims the issue is fixed. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS (minus social media)

Amazon

Changes to return processing fees for Fulfilled by Amazon items kick in June 1. “Amazon will introduce a returns processing fee for high return rate products in all categories, excluding apparel and shoes, to address the operational costs of returns and reduce waste. The fee will only apply to products that have return rates above a threshold specific to each category.”

According to the Wall Street Journal [paywall], Amazon has sold its items on other marketplaces such as Walmart and eBay. The goal? Spying on those other marketplaces and collecting info about how they operated.  

By the end of 2024, Amazon will be responsible for 40% of ecommerce sales in the US. Note that Walmart is growing faster than Amazon but is way behind. 

Amazon is using more automation in its facilities, and just opened a huge facility with Amazon-designed robots in Massachusetts. 

eBay

Starting April 20th, some eBay orders are being cancelled due to a “systems issue”, even if the orders had already shipped. Some sellers were not aware until their buyers asked why the order was cancelled, even though eBay was supposed to send emails. 

eBay sellers with open orders between April 7 and now should verify the addresses, as eBay admits it has been providing incorrect addresses for some orders.  

Sellers that use calculated shipping on eBay will now see the default shipping price be the discounted eBay label one as of May 15, unless they opt out by May 13. 

eBay seller feedback now includes the requirement to leave a product review as well.  

For everyone following the new hot trend of not charging seller fees, eBay UK is eliminating transaction fees (listing, final value and regulatory) on pre-owned clothing sales by private sellers. [For those who missed it, Depop did this for UK sellers in March, but like Mercari, will be charging buyer fees in at least some cases. eBay has not announced charges for buyers.] 

eBay owns TCGPlayer, which sells collectible cards, and is now selling cards on eBay through TCGPlayer. Is this an undeclared conflict of interest? “Suspiciously, nothing on the main profile page or the listings discloses to buyers that they are purchasing directly from an eBay-owned subsidiary - though it does assure potential buyers that TCGPlayer (eBay) is "one of eBay's most reputable sellers…eBay has graciously granted themselves the "Direct From Brand" badging even though TCGPlayer is not the manufacturer of these cards and arguably has no "brand" rights to Magic The Gathering, Metazoo or any other products they are selling."

Other Marketplaces

Depop recently removed all transaction/selling fees for UK sellers, and is now advertising this on the street and on YouTube. The preloved clothing market is expected to continue to grow over the next few years. “Our research with UK consumers shows that 18-35 year olds are already making an average of £350 a year by selling unused clothing, and saving an average of £185 annually by buying secondhand.”

Apparently Mercari has listing limits for some sellers. 

US businesses who want to sell on Shein can join a webinar on April 25 to learn more about their options. 

Website Builders

WooCommerce’s decision to change the website to Woo.com did not go well, so they changed back to WooCommerce.com on April 9. This was largely an SEO issue, which should make anyone reconsider SEO advice from Woo in the future. 

Shipping 

USPS delays continue countrywide, and there are lots of complaints. "Nationwide, 87% of first class, two-day mail arrived on time during the last three months of 2023, a 2.5 percentage-point decrease from the same period a year earlier, according to data published by the Postal Service inspector general. For mail intended to take three to five days, just 70% arrived on time, a decrease of 11 percentage points…Delays have been the most significant in some of the first regions to roll out the new regional distribution system, including Richmond, Virginia, Houston and the metro Atlanta area.” The problems are so widespread that eBay issued a statement that estimated delivery dates are being changed to reflect the issues. 

Canadians who use Canada Post's oversized lettermail for domestic orders will be paying more as of May 6. Envelopes up to 100g will now cost $2.09 per stamp (plus GST/HST), up from $1.94. Other lettermail and international non-package letterpost are also going up, including single letter forever stamps, but remember you can’t use those to ship product anyway.

Canada Post will be making other changes for business accounts in early September.

[lottiethemandalore]

Traditional Art Commission Slots [UK Only]

I've decided to open some art commission slots which seems manageable for me to do after work and at weekends. If at any point I feel I have too many I will let you know when you email me that i’ll be holding off on taking more for a bit. 

I will be taking commissions of the following types:

A) Bust - Pen and Ink A6 - These are black and white, uncoloured drawings using black brush pens. They will be on A6 Watercolour paper. [See Bottom Right]

Price: £16 + (P&P if you want postage that isn't second class)

B) Bust - Pen and Ink & Marker Pen A6- These are Pen and Ink drawings that are coloured with alcohol markers. [See top Right]

Price: £20 + (P&P if you want postage that isn't second class)

C) Bust Pen and Ink & Watercolour A6 - These are Pen and Ink drawings that are coloured with watercolour paint. These can also include metallic/shiny watercolours and guilding/foiling (I do have some rainbow transfer foil somewhere if that floats your boat) [See Top and Bottom Left]

Price: £24 + (P&P if you want postage that isn't second class)

I am happy to draw:

People - you can have a friend’s portrait drawn if you provide reference photos 

Humanoid Aliens i.e. Twi'lek, Zabrak, Asari

Humanoid fantasy creatures i.e. demons, vampires, elves, dwarves, hobbits, qunari

Original Characters so long as you can provide either a detailed written description or reference photos or both.

Pre-existing character i.e. Hermione Granger, please specify if there’s  particularly way you want them drawn. I.e. if you imagine Hermione as plus size let me know so I can work with that!

A simple background i.e. a solid colour or guilded (shiny shiny)

If you'd like a more complicated background (see top left) this will be an extra £2 charge on top.

Added creatures i.e a cat on a shoulder, a pygmy puff etc. is an extra £4 charge on top, but animals are not my expertise 

I will draw things more out of my comfort zone i.e. minotaurs, turians etc. but in doing so you acknowledge and accept the risk that it’s not to the same standard/skill level as other pieces I might create as my expertise does not lie in that area. 

Yes I am happy to draw your Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Fallout OCs, I too am an RPG nerd.

What will they be like:

All of these will be bust drawings as seen above, meaning they will not be full body and will most likely be cut off around mid chest, it may be they’re more half-body if my pose works that way, but the above examples are the sort of thing you’ll get. It won’t ever be less than mid chest up and won’t ever be more than half-body. 

A6

Watercolour Paper 

Packaged with care 

Posted 2nd class UK delivery free of charge unless you specify otherwise. Other shipping options will be an added charge and that’s something we’ll discuss in the consulation stage. 3-6 day wait from posting for 2nd class and I will email you to tell you when i've posted it.

How will this work?

If you're interested email me at artisticwarnugcommissions@gmail.com

In the email mention which option you're interested in (a, b, c), what your commission would be of including any reference photos, descriptions, face claims and details such as if you'd like different postage or if you'd like a complicated background, if there’s guilding you’d like done. If you want a particular pose, as well, while these are bust/half body if you want a hand up for example doing a peace sign let me know. This is the point to put as much detail in as possible. 

I will then reply and let you know if I'm comfortable taking your commission, what the total price would be. 

If you confirm that you are happy with the price and details, I will ask for your paypal email address and the address you wish the item to be sent to, what name I should address the package to. It must be a UK address. I will then send you a commission invoice which will detail the cost, what item it is and that it will be shipped by the specified method i.e. second class etc.

Once payment has been received I will begin working on your commission. When I have completed the base sketch I will email you a scan/photo so you can decide if there are any changes you want made to it before I commit to it. This art is for you and I want to make sure you’re happy with the base design before I commit. 

Once you’re happy with the base sketch i’ll then finish it, package and post it. I’ll let you know when it’s been posted and I will also send along an email with the digital scan of it so that you can have that ready. Obviously if you’d rather it a surprise then tell me not to send a scan and you can always ask for the scan after you’ve received it!

I will do these first come first serve. That means the first person to commission will be the first focus for me.

Please also understand I am creating this in evenings and weekends after and around working in education. If I do not respond to your email during the day it’s likely because I am at work. 

I will always keep you updated on your piece and how it’s coming along, but you must be patient and accept that these are created as they’re asked for and that takes time. 

If you have any questions about the process, what to expect, what I’d draw etc. Please feel free to either fall into my inbox or email me at that email. 

[echo-three-one]

Chapter 30

The last chapter for the second arc.

THE ROAD SO FAR

The Man with the Rubber Duck Tie

John Price

Victory Cruise Ship, Port of Dover, UK

"Hey. You!" A patrol guard called making Price, Ghost and Alexandra stop on their tracks. They were already on the narrow and unimaginably squeaky clean hallways of the bottom of the cruise ship.

Price immediately pointed his stun gun, toward the two, nodding as they slowly raised their hands in surrender. His eyes were telling them to follow along and it was great that the two were actually getting his message.

"I caught em Sir, they were trying to sneak into the party." Price reported, his knees bent and stun gun ready to shoot.

"They don't look like party goers. Perhaps spies?" The officer asked Price, slowly approaching the trio, Price looked up at Ghost's fingers twitching. Two. Price knew what it meant. There are two tangos, which meant one was behind him and in one swift move, they could help them escape the situation they're in.

Price quickly tossed his stun gun and did a swift duck as he lifted the officer beside him and slammed it on the ground, Ghost caught the gun and fired it straight at the enemy behind him, sending him into an electric shock. The two fell down unconscious in just five seconds and the three ran up to the main hall.

"Roach? Soap? Alex? Does anyone copy?" Price asked, sounding a bit angry. The ship was already moving and he hoped Gary already had Gold Bar for extraction.

"It's only me now, Price. They got Roach, they're on their way to the east hall, I assume it's to the captain's quarters." Soap panting, his shoes squeaking on the shiny floor.

Alex tried to reply but as the ship moved farther from the dock, the signal was breaking and all they could hear was crackling static.

"Gold bar is still at the VIP Lounge but we don't know who he is. Shadow Company's plan is to prevent anyone from going out of the hall while they find Gold Bar." Soap added shedding light on the actual plan. Price now set their course to the main hall.

Price wasn't great at the Ship's layout, this wasn't in the blueprints. They only wanted to check on the cargo, but they ran, looking cautiously on every corner, hoping to see a staircase that led upward.

Ryder and Ghost were behind him, covering his Six and checking corners as he focused on looking for a way up, on the last turn he finally found what he was looking for.

He climbed straight up to the main hall confidently. He still has his Shadow Company gear and while he's not compromised he could take advantage of it.

"I'm assigned to this staircase, Mate. Go find your own spot." he muttered angrily, almost wanting to push the guard away. It actually worked as the former guard stepped back cautiously and walked away without a fight. Guess he saw it as an opportunity to rest. As soon as the British captain took over the spot, he immediately signaled Ghost and Ryder to move up and blend with the crowd.

"I actually got it." Soap whispered.

"I met a redhead with Roach's rubber ducky tie. He said they swapped ties. Since Roach was caught, that means…" he added.

"Rubber Ducky man is our Gold Bar." Price stated, never in his life would he have realized that that sentence would make sense, but it did.

"Exactly." Soap affirmed. Price now knew who to look for. The man with the Rubber Ducky Tie.

Price signaled Ghost and Ryder to look for Gold Bar. The strobe lights were flashing and it was making him dizzy, he actually had to sit this one out. The younger ones might be able to spot him.

The ship was increasing its speed as soon as it reached the fifteen minute mark. This meant trouble for the team as the faster they went, the farther they were from the dock. It'd be hard to protect a hostage for three hours without an exit.

Price stared at the flashing dance floor, it looked like he was blinking too fast and people inside were teleporting or flashing in and out of the place.

Party goers were being surrounded by the guards, they were being restricted from getting away from the main hall, as some were trying to enjoy the view of the deck.

Five minutes in and Alexandra Ryder emerged from the crowd, dragging along a very drunk man. As soon as he was close enough to vision and away from the strobing lights, Price confirmed the tie. This was their primary target.

"Let's get this one to safety and rescue Roach." Price muttered as Ghost immediately followed behind Alexandra, stepping down to the lower part of the ship where the rooms are.

Gary "Roach" Sanderson

Victory Cruise Ship - Captain's Quarters

Roach found himself sitting on a chair, bound and unable to move. A potato sack covered his head, restricting his vision. He doesn't know where he is. But he does recall the last moments before he got there.

He was bouncing to the beat, trying to blend in with the party. He was by the door, cautiously spying on the three musketeers or huge guards as they looked for Gold Bar. Soap's instructions were clear. They're going to get someone they were tracking before the ship leaves.

Roach found it suspicious that they weren't moving an inch, so his guard went up and eyes locked on the richest people near the door.

Two girls, and one guy. Judging from intel, he knew that it was the guy. He was Gold Bar. Bouncing casually, he squeezed his way to his target and tried to talk to him, but as soon as he tried to save him, electric current coursed through his body, sending him to a shock as he dropped unconscious to the ground. His last thoughts were why and was he compromised?

"Gold Eagle. We have Gold Bar." Gary squirmed and tried to break free. He could hear a taser crackle as he attempted to escape.

"Great. I'll start contacting his father. I'm sure he's willing to donate a wealthy sum of money for his son's safety." Gary squirmed once more, this time it was strong enough to tilt the chair, but he was immediately pulled back.

"Let me identify the hostage. Take a picture of him." Shepherd said. If he was here, the team could easily end this man, right here and right now.

Gary's eyes squinted as soon as they pulled the potato sack, the harsh light blinded his eyes and it took moments for him to actually recover.

"This isn't our Gold Bar! He's blonde! It's supposed to be redhead!" He angrily yelled at the speakers. He wasn't here. And Gary had a hunch that Derek was their gold bar.

"But sir, we followed the tracker." One grunt complained.

"What tracker?!"

"I placed one on the target's tie. The event had strobe lights and he was difficult to spot."

Gary realized the chain of events that led to him here. Derek just wanted the rubber ducky tie to get attention and the moment they swapped, all eyes were on him. That's why they didn't move before the countdown.

"Wait a minute. Isn't this… a former 141?" Shepherd mused.

"Sanderson. What are you doing here?" the former general asked. Gary didn't want to answer.

"Partying." he spat. But Shepherd knew it's a lie.

"First you stole Samantha, my bargaining chip and now you're messing up with my gold bar?!"

"Shadow Company. Activate Intruder Protocol!"

he ordered.

Intruder Protocol. Gary had no idea what it meant but as soon as he said it, their shoulder patches started glowing blue.

"Detain everyone without a patch. Take them all as hostages." he ordered.

"As for you, you will walk the plank." Shepherd's angry stare was the last thing Gary saw before the television turned off. Guards started tying him tight and pushed him to the deck. Gary always loved watching Peter Pan as a kid, and it was a shame that his life is in danger the same way as in the movie.

Gary could take these three men pushing him to the deck, provided he wasn't tied up and he had weapons. Any act of violence towards them is an act of foolishness. And he only considers himself a fool for love.

He obediently followed the three musketeers on the way to the dock. Intruder Protocol was in effect as the party stopped and everyone without the glowing beacon was inspected and placed inside the heavily guarded rooms.

He hoped that the rest of his team were successful in securing and extracting Derek out of this mess. But then again, these rich party goers are already sufficient enough to fund the whole nuke project. A win-win for the Shadow Company. If only there was a way to stop them from mugging these people. A grand diversion.

Gary was already near the edge of the ship, the raging dark sea was calling out to him. Despite the life and death situation, all he could worry about is Shepherd's failed plan that still turned out successful. It was frustrating.

One step. The stun baton was turned off but it was being used to push him more. He wanted to buy more time. But it looked like it was the end of the line for him.

Simon "Ghost" Riley

Victory Cruise Ship - Hull Area, UK

"Shepherd's a wise man. If he can't get what he wants, he'll find another way even if it is risky." Price's words stuck on his head as he ran to the hull. Shepherd's a madman and if a good guy gone bad is capable of doing this, then Nero's far worse.

Clutching the c4 charges, he stealthily maneuvered the hull. Without a beacon glowing on his shoulders, he was a threat to everyone, at least that's what he noticed.

Titanic. They're going to blow up the hull, slowly sinking the ship. He doesn't have to worry about help as Price told him it's already on the way. Whatever that meant, Ghost had no choice but to follow.

The charges were set and he was on his way out, climbing the metal stairs without making a sound.

"Price, charges are set." he muttered to Alexandra, and she relayed it to the Captain.

"He said detonate it now." Ghost carefully paced as far as he could and clicked the remote detonator. A huge explosion followed making the ship tremble a little as alarms started to ring.

Ghost attempted to regroup with Price, but the way to their room was already crowded with the Shadow Company, so he instead ran up to the deck and circled around.

As soon as he got up, he noticed three tall men circling someone and pushing him off the ship. He couldn't mistake it, it was Roach.

He dashed toward the three as he saw Soap dash from the other side. They both pulled the of the tall guards and punched them unconscious but there was still one remaining. And that one grunt happened to push Roach off the ledge.

Ghost tried extending his hand but with Roach's hands tied up tight, all he could do was scream as he fell down to the ocean. Soap knocked the third person out and they were now clear. Ghost wanted to jump and save Roach, but without a rescue boat, it was useless. He remembered that help was on the way and hoped they would rescue him. Roach has to survive. Roach will survive.

"Needing assistance here. They're after us!" Price muttered over comms. Ghost slowly stood up and turned back. He was never going to forgive Shepherd for what he did.

END OF PART 2

Notification Squad my Beloved

@samatedeansbroccoli @enderio @smokeywhalee @beemybee @ricinbach @whimsywispsblog

[gideongriddle]

I Should Have Read That

tagged by @earlymodernlesbian a million years ago and i’m finally responding now as;dlfk;asdlj

a book that a certain friend is always telling you to read:

i have been hanging onto jennifer’s copy of the only good indians for months, just letting it sink lower and lower in my tbr........i’ve bought stephen graham jones’ newest book in the meantime and haven’t read that either......what i’m saying is that i’m stupid

a book that’s been on your tbr forever and yet you still haven’t picked it up:

my whole apartment is riddled with books i have been meaning to ready for ages, but one of the ones that haunts me the most is the great believers. like i KNOW i will love it!! but here we are, going on four years since i purchased it....

a book in a series you’ve started, but haven’t finished yet:

the daevabad trilogy!!!! i loved the city of brass but then there was too much down time between when i read it and when i bought the kingdom of copper and i wanted to reread the first book but i didn’t feel like i had time and now i have books 2 and 3 just SITTING AROUND arghhhhh

omg also hilary mantel’s wolf hall cycle or whatever we’re meant to call that trilogy. i’m a fake member of mantel hive. i fucking love wolf hall but have not read bring up the bodies or the mirror and the light, despite shipping myself exorbitantly priced special hardcover editions from the uk. the clown nose never comes off!

a classic you’ve always liked the sound of, but never actually read:

i am addicted to buying cheap or interesting-looking paperbacks of classic and obscure lgbt literature on abebooks and then just adding them to my obscene piles of unread books so i think there are many from that stack that would apply but the two i feel the worst about not reading yet are the color purple and maurice. someday!!!! soon!!!!!!

a popular book that it seems everyone but you has read:

circe!!! i am obviously a song of achilles bitch but i need to borrow somebody’s copy of circe before madeline miller’s next persephone book or whatever comes out?????

a book you recently impulse ordered/bought but haven’t read yet:

okay so see earlier answer about buying vintage gay paperbacks....i just got a new batch in, which includes what i think is now the jewel in my collection?? pembroke park, published in 1986, now out of print and dumb expensive, which claims to be the first lesbian regency romance. i WILL be reading this asap and reporting back

a book that inspired a film/tv adaptation that you really love, but you just haven’t read it yet:

okay maybe this is a bit of a stretch but i love the show dickinson but i haven’t actually read that much of emily dickinson’s poetry outside of like one or two in an academic setting. as much as i love poetry, i don’t actually own that many collections and i feel like i should invest in a dickinson one but idk where to start???

a book you see all over social media but haven’t picked up yet:

licherally all sally rooney books. i’m halfway between having bone-crushing fomo about not having read them and wanting to dig my heels in and never read them because they’re overexposed alskd;flaks. clown nose, etc.

[haridraws]

Hi, etsy anon here! I agree that Amazon can be very shady, though I have found them the most convenient for a lot of things, especially buying indie books. Etsy has about an $11 shipping fee to the US I think, which is less convenient for me. Do you mind if I ask if you get a larger cut of the sales from Etsy than Amazon? I’d be more inclined to buy from Etsy in that case—gotta support the creators! Thanks so much for your response!

Thanks for clarifying - honestly these are really good questions and thanks for being so nice about it!

Shipping is actually something a LOT of people often ask about - I’m also in online groups with artists in various fields who encounter a lot of similar questions, so I want to take this chance to explain the best I can how my system works, why I use Etsy atm, and answer some FAQs!

** Some indie artist shipping FAQs! **

I’m an artist based in the UK who sells their products online. These are some FAQs I get about shipping - this is just what’s true for my business personally, but I know lots of other indie artists who operate on a similar model!

(International indie artist)’s shipping seems really expensive! Why can’t it be free?

imo one reason indie artists’ shipping comes across as expensive may be because US customers can sometimes be used to buying from companies who ship domestically from inside the US. Some big companies also sometimes take a hit to profits to offer ‘free’ shipping - so they stay competitive, but lose some money. (Shipping always costs the company money! As far as I can tell, Amazon actually loses money on shipping, even with arguably very unethical practises, and USPS loses money on its operations in general)

For indie artists, especially if they’re using ethical suppliers, profit margins are usually much smaller since they can’t print in real bulk (1,000 or 10,000 units+) or with special agreed deals. That means that for a lot of international artists, that ‘free’ shipping model just isn’t possible at all - this is partly why Etsy punishing artists for not offering free US shipping in the search rankings is a big problem!

For me, offering 100% free US shipping would mean I’d lose so much money I’d just have to stop my art business completely - or else, raise all prices by £5-10 so every single person buying multiple items or from my home country would be way, way overpaying. And I don’t want anyone to be overpaying! I want to be transparent about costs as much as possible, which includes postage and packaging, even when it’s expensive.

I’ve heard bad things about Etsy recently - is me shopping there hurting artists?

SO to answer your question - for me personally, for books I sell myself (ie not with a publisher) Amazon takes a larger cut of the money than Etsy, even though both are just posted out by me (and my friend who I hire as an assistant bc of my disability) in exactly the same way. This is true even after Etsy’s fee increases and new advertising policy. At the moment, despite its issues, personally for me Etsy is still the best platform for various reasons (including eg. admin and messaging systems that make it hard to get an address wrong, are compatible with a system for customs codes, and make it easy to track down and resolve any issues, which is especially a big deal with my disabilities).

Not buying from Etsy if that’s the artist’s main or only store just means the artist will miss out on money they may really need to pay the bills - Etsy itself is a huge platform with varied users, and almost definitely won’t notice the difference.

In general, it’s probably best to buy from artists on whatever platforms they advertise themselves, or ask them which is best for them! And if you’re worried about Etsy’s new advertising fees (which I really don’t agree with, but that’s another post) affecting artists, you can avoid these by always going to the artists’ shop from a bookmark, or links they have from their website or social media. Clicking on ads you see elsewhere is the thing that will cut down on the artist’s profits (and you’ll need to shop from a private browser if you’ve clicked on their shop from any ads in the last 30 days).

Why are Etsy shipping fees so much?

Etsy’s shipping fees are something the artists sets themself. I (and most people) set it to match the amount I personally have to pay to pack and ship the order. It costs $10+ to send a 500g-ish package overseas with my country’s standard (non-tracked) international mail service, or $18 for a 1kg+ package, which is about the weight of books 1&2 of Finding Home. That’s not even including fees, packaging and label supplies - which make costs a fair bit higher for me - or the time taken to do it.

I know it can be a lot of money, but it is just really expensive to ship packages thousands of miles! In fact, for books I actually subsidise the packing costs myself, and lose out on profits a little to keep it as low as possible for customers.

Are you sure it’s not a mistake…?

Probably not! For my own shop, if your shipping costs seem REALLY high for non tracked orders (USD 30+) it’s worth sending me a message just in case there’s been an error. This CAN happen occasionally because of the way the adding-extra-items system works - usually if you buy a lot of (usually 4+) small items, it can end up overcharging a little, which I can definitely fix for you!

tl;dr - 

Unfortunately almost always, the shipping costs in my Etsy shop are just how much I personally have to pay to get the book out of my house over the ocean to you. I don’t make money on it - if anything I lose money - and that’s true of most small artists shops. They’re probably making it as cheap as they can, because cheaper for customers is better for business!

I do know costs can be prohibitive (and I do have PDF versions of most of my books here!) but unfortunately it just costs a lot to get physical products to people far away, and there’s not anything I can do about it.

[designsfromtime]

“Yes, you can afford one of my gowns! READ HOW!

“I cannot afford your gowns.”  I hear this ALL the time. But what really frustrates me is that most of you don’t understand that a bargain is only a bargain if it is quality made. YES! You can have an amazing gown from me for around $800! 

I sell mostly on Etsy, with the exception of cast mates who know my work, or some of my followers on Facebook, Tumblr, or Instagram, the majority of my sales go through Etsy. 

There are hidden costs the average consumer doesn’t understand. First of all, Etsy takes about 20% or more out of each sale I make. That on top of the listing fees I have to pay, as well as the cost of having an upgraded store, and a website that is separate from my store. All those things add up. I also offer FREE shipping inside the US - - But I did NOT raise my prices to cover that expense. I do deduct it from my taxes as an expense, but the average cost to ship a gown First Class via USPS is about $45 to 50. 

Most vendors on Etsy, Ebay, or even vendors at Renfaire buy bulk fabrics and crank out the same gown over, and over, and over ad naseum. However, all of my work is custom couture with MANY hand-sewn elements. 

I charge by the piece. That means I charge for EVERY cut piece I physically sew together, and that includes the lining, and piping! If I charged by the hour, just a basic gown would retail for no less than $4,000 to $5,000. 

Embroidery affects the cost of my work because it takes MORE time than the actual construction of our gowns, and beading and pearling or hand-tacking down trims takes even longer than embroidery.  Again, In’t charge an hourly wage, but I charge by the stitch count of the embroidery pattern and a flat rate for beading and hand work - which usually is merely a pittance of what it should be because I WANT to make my work affordable while still being fairly compensated for my time and labor. 

The average basic 16th Century court gown I make only runs about $800 to $900 for labor - - it’s all the embellishment that costs!

So, if you choose a gown with tabs around the bottom of the bodice and/or around the shoulders, or a sleeve that is paned, this is going to drive up my labor fees because we STILL charge by the piece. Those tabs are DETAILED ya’ll! They are piped, and lined and take a lot of labor on my part. But listen . . . we can customize a gown that is more basic and forego all the bling and STILL offer you something amazing. So don’t let the price of the gowns you see listed scare you!  Before you go to another vendor and buy on the cheap, give me a chance! 

Let me put it this way: You look at my work and you drool. You then look at the listed price and say, I can’t afford it, so you go to a vendor who is going to offer you a basic cut gown - that may not be an historically accurate style, or they use fabric they purchased in bulk, say a synthetic brocade. The brocade is more than HALF the design aesthetic for these bargain priced gowns!  There is much MORE involved in creating a quality-made garment. So, why not choose a more affordable fabric and ask me to make you a basic gown!? Yes, you might pay $400+ more for one my basic gowns, but at least it will be made with my quality standards! - AND you only need a 20% deposit and can split the balance up into 6 payments. 

Let’s do the math: 

The following link takes you to one of my “basic” gowns. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/781566625/plus-sized-elizabethan-costume-bridal?ref=shop_home_active_6&frs=1

Here is the cost breakdown of this gown: 

Specialized Supplies provided by DFT: $124.03 Embroidery Labor: $200 Gown Construction & Pattern Drafting Fees - $790 Beading Fees: $150

The basic gown, to include the specialized supplies I use for construction, is ONLY $914.03. It’s the embroidery and beading fees that up-ticks the labor costs. 

20% Non-refundable deposit would be: $182.80

Balance due: $731.23

If you placed this gown on my six month payment plan your monthly installments would be $121.23. 

NOW. . . that cost doesn’t include fabrics. So keep that in mind, but I can help you bargain shop for good quality textiles. You can peruse some gorgeous brocades and Jacquard fabrics on my Pinterest board. You will need about 8 yards of fabric for the skirt and bodice, 2.5 yards for the forepart, and another 1.5 yards for fitted sleeves. 

https://www.pinterest.com/designsfromtime/costume-fabrics-common-supplies/brocades-jacquards/

Here’s another example using a gown made of brocade: 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/620386905/womens-plus-sized-renaissance-dress?ref=shop_home_active_68&frs=1

Specialized Supplies provided by DFT: $109.99 Embroidery Labor: $350 Labor & Drafting fees - $740 Beading/Spangle Labor - $150

The basic gown is $849.99! I added piping in a complimentary olive green silk, gold trim which I beaded, and custom embroidered the sleeves and forepart, but you can use a different brocade pattern (such as a diamond shape) for the sleeves and forepart and still stay in budget. 

The gowns in my store are priced for “style” and the level of “embellishment.” But if you take the time to read my cost breakdown I provide in each listing you can see the basic labor fees just for the gown construction.

Here is the bottom line: 

You CAN use “fabrics” to provide a wow factor rather than the trims and embroidery I use to create a more budget friendly gown. No, they aren’t going to bring the BLING I am famous for, but a basic gown without tabs on the bottom of the bodice made up in a beautiful brocade, with minimal embellishment will allow you to purchase one of our quality made gowns. 

If you have a properly constructed over skirt with meticulously placed cartridge pleats, bodices with built in under structure, lining added to overskirt fabrics so that these less expensive brocades “drape” properly, and finish the edges with hand-made piping, not only can we put you in a gown within your budget, BUT offer you a durable quality made gown that is gorgeously styled. The devil is in the details folks! And the details in our work is more than just the sparkly bits. It’s about quality of construction. 

You can spend $300 to $400 for one of these “more affordable” gowns and then have to turn around and spend another $300 to $400 when the gown doesn’t hold up to the rigors of reenacting, or you can spend $800 to $900 in labor for one our gowns that will last you a minimum of 5 or 6 years - or more! . Most of the gowns selling for $300 to $400 that I’ve seen won’t last more than 2 seasons - if that - before they start falling apart. How do I know this? Because many of my cast mates bought these bargain priced gowns and they literally fell apart the first time they wore them. The longevity of the gown will be profoundly effected by the fabric you chose, as well as the quality of construction. If properly cared for, our gowns will last many, MANY seasons. If you don’t wad it up and throw it in a suitcase, as I’ve seen some people do with our work, they will retain their beauty and shape for years to come - and THAT my friends is a bargain. 

HERE’S THE 411 OF WHAT SETS OUR WORK APART: 

- Our Bodices are highly structured. 

First of all, my bodices are custom drafted to fit your body. They are cut in a historically accurate pattern - rather than using a commercial pattern in a style that has no historical basis. I use imported products from the UK that aren’t available here in the States. 

My bodices are MORE than just two pieces of fabric sewn together. Mine have multiple layers with built-in under structure hand-tailored into them. One layer, is a fusible cotton interlining to stabilize your fashion fabrics to add body. We also add a second layer of a product used to stiffen it (no, I’m not gonna tell ya what we use), PLUS we add an additional layer in front of a product that acts like buckram, which was used in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries to stiffen and add structure. I also add a few stays to keep the point at the bottom from flipping up when you sit. YES - You still have to wear stays with our gown bodices! Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about and needs to hit the books and do more research.

Some vendors DO add a layer of interfacing, but they tend to use a Pellon fusible interfacing like you can find at JoAnns. I have found this product to be inferior. First of all, it’s made out of petroleum and will hold in heat. Second, it doesn’t stay affixed in place to the fabric but will loosen and bunch up over a short period of time. 

- Skirts that have ENOUGH fabric to properly cartridge pleat and drape.

My skirts are made with panels 55″ to 58″ wide. On average we use 4 panels, but this will depend on your fabric. Using four panels creates that beautiful volume you see in my gowns. You can tell when a seamstress has scrimped on fabric because the fabric doesn’t DRAPE but clings to the farthingale at the bottom. The fabric should NOT pull or look stretched.  

I flat line ALL silks or faux silks so that they drape properly and have enough body to cartridge pleat. My cartridge pleats are no LESS than 3/8 inch in width. They are deep, copious, and neat in appearance. I reinforce them by hand tacking them together so that they won’t lose their shape over time.  

- Grommets:  I use a .000 size grommet and because our bodices are MORE than just two layers of fabric and a layer of Pellon fusible interfacing, our grommets DON’T pull away from the garment or fall out. I ALSO couch all the grommets to secure them in place. 

I work with color: I use color theory based on your skin, hair, and eye color to choose colors that will be more flattering on you. I also use a color wheel for unique color combinations. 

So, perhaps you cannot afford one of my highly embellished gowns with embroidered textiles and beading, but you CAN afford a basic gown that still offers quality construction. 

Look, I’m not trying to corner the market. I have more work I can shake a stick at, but what drives me a little nuts is watching people spend their hard earned money on a sub-quality gown because they are convinced my work is out of their price range.  

I die a little every time I get messages in my Etsy store wanting me to make them a hat or a headdress to wear with one of these bargain priced gowns. Inevitably, they send me pictures and I have to stuff a sock in my mouth to keep from saying, “WHYYYY???”  I can’t tell them, “Hey, that gown you just bought from that particular vendor is gonna fall apart and you’ll be ordering another gown next season.” I have to keep my mouth shut, suck it up, and construct a headdresss or a hat wherein there will be a disparity in quality. In other words, there will be a difference in the quality of my work against the gown they’ll be wearing it with because most of these “bargain” gowns are painfully simplistic both in the style and in the construction. All I DARE to do is offer a politely worded, “When you’re gown shopping again, keep us in mind.” I did break my cardinal rule the other day when I was approached, once again, by a girl who was working with a vendor who I know falls in the category I just harped about and wanted to know my “thoughts.”  Be warned. Never, ever ask me my thoughts or opinion unless you are ready for truth. I can’t help it! I have too much integrity to lie. The bad thing about being direct is that the written word doesn’t allow for my true intent and tone and I come off sounding like a b****. Sorry. :(

One thing that sets me a part as a professional designer is not just my experience, or my penchant for directness (which not everyone appreciates obviously), but having a very keen eye for detail, which is reflected in my craftsmanship. This ability has been honed over the course of 40 years and allows me to be able to edit work for quality with just a glance. That can be a double edge sword. On one hand, it drives my own efforts for quality, but can make me VERY unpopular if I point things out in others’ work. :(  

I WISH there was enough of me to spread around and be able make ALL OF YOU a quality constructed gown, but time and age restricts how much we can crank out and maintain our quality standards. I also WISH I could teach other costumers the simple steps they can take to elevate their craftsmanship. But look, I’m pragmatic. What’s their motivation to do so if they stay busy cranking out hundreds of gowns for $400 a pop? Most aren’t interested in growing their skills, and believe me, they are NOT happy with me for pointing out the disparity between their work and mine. So, all I can do is educate consumers who want to develop an eye for quality and know the difference between a $400 gown and one that costs $900 or more. 

Don't let the price of gowns in my store scare you. I can work with many budget levels to create high quality, historically accurate gowns that will be durable, fit you like a glove, and last you many, MANY seasons as a reenactor. As the director of a reenactment group, and a cast member at faire since 2001, I have a practical understanding of the unique needs of reenactors and offer costumes that will stand up to the rigors of reenacting - - and believe me they do take a beating. So keep me in mind when you are gown shopping again!

www.DesignsFromTime.com

[lycomorpha]

Drawing paper review: County Stationery small blank postcards

Hello lovely people, here is my next paper review. TL;DR review first, then the the full review & WIPS. This time it’s a weird one - I don’t think cheap blank postcards are usually considered up there with archival paper on the whole. But I’m testing them for a specific purpose, and they were actually surprisingly good to draw on!

Source: local post office

Brand: County Stationery - which I guess is own-brand equivalent?

Description: smooth surface 9 x 14 cm / 3.5 x 5.5 inch blank postcards, sold at post offices. No real description on the packet so I have no idea if it’s acid free (v. much doubt it) or whatever. Could be made from fucking ground up bunny-rabbits for all I know (but I hope not, bc I’m vegetarian.)

Price: £0.99 for pack of 25 (cheap as chips)

TL;DR review: I wanted to know if it was possible to draw something detailed with twiddly bits on a postcard, and ship it successfully without it being damaged. I didn’t actually expect it to work, but not only were these super-cheap postcards easy to draw on… The drawing below survived being mailed to the US from the UK without an envelope. That’s only N=1, but a good start. My only complaint is that the paper is a bit too smooth and slippery when it comes to layering colours.

Blue tack test: 3 out of 3, no tearing - probably because of the shiny.

Shading test: got through 8 layers, but was smooshy & slidey towards the end. The paper is too shiny tbh. But I mean, shit… For a cheap postcard that’s OK int it.

What did I draw: a tortoise beetle in the genus Botanochara in Faber Castell polychromos pencils and black Uni pin fineliner

This is not the usual thing I’d test - I only wanted to know if it was possible to draw something detailed on a postcard, and ship it without the artwork being damaged. There are many fancy-ass artist’s postcards out there, but testing on something expensive first seemed like an unnecessary wallet-risk if regular postcards would do the job. So I picked up these ones but I didn’t actually expect mailing a drawing on them to work tbh - apols to Royal Mail, but international air mail is a bumpy ride for a naked, no-envelope artwork to withstand. But I was pleasantly surprised!

Drawing experience

As regulars here will know, I use oil-based pigment pencils (polychromos). They blend really well, but compared to harder, waxier species of colour pencil; it can be hard to build up layers on paper that doesn’t have a lot of tooth. That’s why I was really quite skeptical about it being any fun drawing on these fairly shiny postcards - and to be fair, the layer test did get tricky. But actually, drawing on them wasn’t too bad! I… I think I enjoyed it as much as any tiny drawing tbh. Holy shitting crapweasels! For a 99p pack of postcards I am proper surprised at that, which just goes to show, some things do defy their price tag.

I think it helped that this beetle has a relatively simple red and black colour scheme. This meant I could use fineliners to outline black edges and add the dots in the pits on its elytra. Keeping my pencils pointy while shading was even more important than usual. And keeping em pointy is Really Tittyfucking Important to me all the time, so that’s saying something. Smooth paper is unforgiving to blunt pencils, and that slipperiness was my only real complaint here. But I gotta say, this paper worked out fine, and so much better than expected. As you can see, shading and blending reds and oranges worked OK, even building up a good density of black and grey layers wasn’t impossible in the end, and adding white highlights with a pencil point around pits worked as usual, without poking a hole in the surface.

It goes without saying that these postcards are not going to be acid free archival quality at 99p. And who knows WTF kind of paper they’re made of. They were genuinely a nice surprise though. How utterfuckingly delightful to buy something so cheap and not have it fall apart like a damp turd at the first hint of pencil layering. There are some branded drawing papers 20 times more expensive that could learn a thing or two from these, I reckon.

I mailed it to Laurie Henthorne, who sent me these photos of the drawing on arrival - only minor dings, and kitten approved! What more could I ask for? :D

[angryschnauzer]

So i’ve been sitting here for far too long, procrastinating about whether or not i should hit post and admit defeat, or hit delete and hope a miracle happens. I’ve added this sentence in after i’ve written the post and just before i go make a cup of tea, if you see this post it means i’ve decided i’ve hit rock bottom.

I know i haven’t been on tumblr much for the past few weeks. I drop in and out, reblog a few things, occasionally (like, once in a blue moon) actually post something original, but that’s like as rare as rocking horse shit. I brush it off by saying “Sorry, i’m busy with work!”. But that’s only really half - or less - of the story.

I’m self employed. Something that suits me because since my diagnosis to confirm my Aspergers, i feel i couldn’t work as part of a team anymore, i need to be in control and the only way to do that is to work for myself. I make craft things and do a bit of everything; sewing, papercraft, crochet... hell, i’ve just started making jewellery. All this helps me stay focused and keep my Aspergers under control. It also means i can seek private counselling for the Aspergers, along with support for my Post Natal Depression. 

Now for the crux of my problems; Etsy. 

I sell through Etsy as when i first started selling, it was a fantastic site to sell your handmade crafts. People appreciated the time and work (and materials) that went into it, and understood simple things like to get a quality product you need to pay for shipping. Now... well... Etsy is becoming more corporate. It doesn’t work like Ebay or Amazon, if you type in a search, the top search results aren’t the cheapest, or the items ending soonest or most recently listed... oh no, Etsy favors whichever sellers follow their ‘suggestions’ on how to sell. Things like buzz words, or additional photos, most ‘liked’ shops. And now; Etsy is pushing to offer free shipping. I have no idea why. And its not something i can offer. Everyone knows that if you offer free shipping, you basically have to bump up your price for the actual goods, so it’s never actually free. So what’s the point? My shipping costs are pretty much that - at cost. I don’t make profit on them as it covers the price of stamps/couriers, and for the packaging. But because i haven’t cowed down to Etsy’s ‘suggestions’ i’m now coming bottom in any search results. And its had a huge impact on my income.

So here’s my problem; although i don’t earn much, i (usually) bring in enough to contribute to about 1/5 of the household bills, and i cover a personal credit card that i use sparingly for things like my treatment, Superpups school fees/uniform costs etc, and things when i take Superpup to classes or after school clubs. I knew this month was going to be tight, so i pulled the spending in a lot more - i wouldn’t have a coffee as i sat at his club, instead i’d bring a water from home, or i’d pack snacks rather than buying him a snack afterwards. But as the days and weeks went on, the sales just went dead. Then i got this months credit card bill in;

£181.36. It doesn’t sound like much in the grand scheme of things. But then look at my income for this month;

To be honest the exclamation point was somewhat overkill. Thank’s Etsy.

I’ve tried everything. I’ve put things up for sale on facebook sites, things like old toys that Superpup doesn’t play anymore. Some old collectable stuff from movies of the 2000′s that i had been keeping, but nothing has sold. Hubby is having to cover my 5th of the household bills this month, so now i need to find basically £180 in two weeks.

I don’t like begging. I try and support others where i can, but i’m stuck. Sure, i could make the minimum payment and hope that next month is better, but its a high interest card and the interest will be way more than the minimum payment is, plus i’ll have this months expenditure to cover too. I’m going to have to skip my treatment this month, but i can’t pull Superpup out of school. He still needs his things. 

So... here’s a link to my Etsy shop. If you see something you like, use code WEDFAIR2018 and you can get 10% off. If you have an account but can’t afford anything right now, please just go in and hit the heart on a couple of things - it’ll help my store come up the rankings in popularity and will mean i get more visibility by people searching for products like mine.

Also, here’s my Kofi account link. In all honesty i’d rather you bought something on Etsy as then i feel you are getting something for your month, but i also understand sometimes people don’t want to do that, so i’ll include that link too. 

I also have three titles on Amazon Kindle. Link to the UK site is HERE, but if it doesn’t work, search for ‘SJ Hammersday’ (no space between S and J), it’ll bring up my three books on there.

I’m going to work late tonight and try and get some writing done for you all so you at least have an update on something. It’ll probably be an all nighter for me, but hey, i found a bag of strong coffee at the back of the cupboard so may as well use it, huh?

[timeagainreviews]

The Doctor needs a medic!

Clarification: I did a little research after my article last week. That "sister," line from Arachnids was still getting to me. As an American living in the UK, I was unaware of the fact that head nurses were still called sisters, despite them no longer being nuns. So it turns out that the Doctor wasn’t implying she used to be a female, but rather than she was using sexist outdated language. Cool… cool. Can’t decide which is worse. I mean, she is a bit old. Perhaps she’s a bit old fashioned as well. I’d keep an eye on her if she starts reading the Daily Mail.

We’re now at the halfway point of the series. Five episodes in, and I would say this one was, if nothing else, fairly solid. "The Tsuranga Conundrum" may be one of my favourite episodes of the series thus far, and it’s a bottle episode! However, while Chris Chibnall wrote the episode, the alien threat in it was actually devised by writer Tim Price, so it was a bit of a group effort. It would appear, however, that the real antagonist of this story… is time.

In an odd way, the opening shot of the episode had me thinking of the previous "Arachnids in the UK," with its giant landfill. I almost wondered if they weren’t actually rooting around underground Sheffield. Instead we’re on a planet called "Seffilun 27," in what the Doctor refers to as a "junk galaxy." The planet seems to be covered in junk as far as the eye can see. I was reminded a bit of House from "The Doctor’s Wife," with all of the junk from discarded TARDISes lying around. The Doctor has Team TARDIS sweeping for junk she can use for unspecified Doctory stuff. Instead of finding the desired gadget, Graham discovers a sonic mine that lands them all in the hospital.

The hospital is your typical Doctor Who style futuristic building, all white and sleek. It’s what you’d expect, but there’s a bit more than meets the eye. The Doctor is the last to wake up and feels pretty awful. You can already tell it’s going to be a handicap for her throughout the episode. I was reminded of regeneration episodes where the Doctor is "still cooking," and has to deal with a bit of pain. Nothing really comes from the pain other than a bit of added suspense, which is all fine and good. This is not the only handicap the Doctor will face throughout the episode.

The two attending medics are Astos and Mabli. Both are young, attractive, and seem very capable at their jobs. The Doctor discovers from Astos, the head medic, that they have spent the last four days on a medical ship called the Tsuranga (as opposed to a hospital) on its way to a space station called Resus 1. This causes the Doctor to panic. She’s left her TARDIS behind on a junk planet, where people scavenge, and she’s "only just got it back!" However, Astos reminds her that the ship needs to reach it’s destination for the health and wellbeing of the ship’s passengers. It’s a reasonable argument and the Doctor can’t deny it.

Among the patients on the ship, other than the Doctor and her friends, is Eve Cicero, a famous pilot and general, accompanied by her brother Durkas and android assistant Ronan. There’s also a pregnant man named Yoss (YOSSSSS GAGA! Sorry, had to) who is about to pop. Eve has Ronan manipulating the less experienced Mabli to provide her with adrenaline blockers, all behind both Astos and her brother’s backs. Yoss’ species’ gestation period of about a week, hasn’t given him much time to come to terms with being a father. His anxiety is even further exacerbated by the fact that his pregnancy was the result of a bit of fun at a party. Ryan, who grew up with an absentee father, seems to latch onto this, despite his initial reaction to a pregnant man.

The Doctor can’t turn the vessel around to pick up her TARDIS as it’s locked in on a path, auto-piloted. It only seems to pick up people in distress along the way, acting as a space ambulance. To make matters worse, the ship will be detonated if anyone tampers with it, in case of a hijacking, which seems a bit extreme. Other reasons it may be detonated, would be for quarantine reasons, or if it posed a threat to anyone. Which seems like as good a time as any to introduce our alien threat- Item Seven Alpha Cubed, otherwise known as "Pting." (Probably named after the sound the hull of a ship makes whenever it turns up.)

This marks the second week in a row where the reveal of the baddie has made me react with an "Awww!" Look at that little face! What a little cutie. Sadly, that little cutie just caused the death of Astos, as it caused the escape pod he was inside to evacuate, and detonate. I’m not 100% sure why it actually detonated, even without life support. Is part of a ship’s life support system allotted to the not-exploding of things? Regardless though, the Pting isn’t really hostile like a Dalek is hostile, it just seems a bit hungry! It doesn’t seem to eat organic matter, though it makes a right meal of the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver. The cosplayer in me was worried I was going to have to order a whole new piece for a second, but it coughed it right back up! Though it no longer seems to work. Another handicap.

The Pting is a rather resilient little creature. General Cicero had encountered them before as one “massacred” her entire fleet. Their skin is toxic to the touch and unbreakable. It can survive the vacuum of space, and it seems to enjoy eating anything. Think of a mix between a tardigrade, a Gremlin, and Nibbler. The Doctor must stop it from destroying the life support (see: anti-exploding device), and also from alerting the people back on Resus 1 from detonating the ship as well. They also need to keep the little muncher away from the ship’s anti-matter generator, so the heat is on!

One of the things I’ve been paying close attention to this series is whether the companions are utilised properly. The decision to have three over the usual one is something of a self-imposed challenge. Writing for an ensemble is far more difficult than the usual duo. Even classic Doctor Who struggled to balance three companions at times. I mentioned previously Nyssa’s TARDIS naps. Graham gets a nice little moment where he questions Durkas as to why he’s looking into his sister’s medical records. His friendly, yet direct approach was as though he was channelling the Doctor. He seems to be taking her example to heart. Yaz gets put on guard duty with Ronan, protecting the anti-matter generator. And Ryan and Graham both get a bit of screen time as doulas helping Yoss through labour. I had my second "Awww!" moment when Yoss requested other men be there as support. It was cute, shut up.

While Yaz and Ryan were gathering up the people on the ship for an emergency meeting, they have a little heart to heart in a corridor. I couldn’t help but feel like this bit felt tacked on. The ship is in danger, and they stop to talk about how Ryan’s mum died. It stopped the momentum of the episode cold in its tracks. The only reason I can think they added it in at this point, was because they couldn’t think of a better place to put it. They needed to divulge Ryan’s backstory so they could tie it in with Yoss’ fatherhood. This seemed more of a writing choice than a directing choice. It’s fine, really, but not very graceful.

There were some really good Doctor moments in this episode. I loved her claim that she has a doctorate in Lego. It’s funny because in my classic-Who rewatch, I’m currently on "The Edge of Destruction," and the Doctor’s speech about anti-matter reminded me a bit of the First Doctor’s monologue about the formation of galaxies. I will say though, it fell short of some of the better Doctor monologues we’ve had in the past. Regardless, it was nice to see the Doctor nerd out on science and show her passion a little. My only real issue with the Doctor’s characterisation in this episode stems, once again, from her morality.

Chris Chibnall doesn’t seem to know what his Doctor’s stance on guns actually is. It’s not ok to shoot robots or dying spiders, but it’s way okay to shoot the Pting? Yaz and Ronan are both given staser guns to guard the generator. While I am glad to see such an old reference return (as well as the stethoscope!), I’m once again confused by what Chibnall considers an ok time to shoot something. Funnily enough, this episode is exactly how I think the Doctor’s attitude toward guns should be portrayed. Nothing can really kill the Pting, so it’s really tantamount to a Star Trek officer using a stun setting. But the main idea was that the gun was used as a defence, to protect life and because it was the best option. That should always be the Doctor’s attitude toward guns- are they the best option? The best hope? She’s a Doctor of hope, so of course, she always looks for the best option, but she’s not stupid either. In a lot of ways, that’s what she’s done this series when it comes to guns. But it’s in the dialogue where her aims get muddled. I agree with Chibnall. The Doctor should have a disdain for guns. Guns are the end of hope in most cases. But sometimes River shoots the Silence, Leela shoots some guys in a corridor, and the Brigadier holds off an invasion.

With Astos dead, it’s up to Mabli to take control of the situation, which in her case means considering what’s best for her patients. With Yoss in labour, she needs to help him deliver his baby. Wisely, she allows the Doctor to do what she needs to do to save everyone’s lives. With the Pting eating at the ship's systems, they decide they need to find a quicker way to get to Resus 1. They must fly the ship themselves, which will also alert the security protocols, causing it to detonate, but one thing at a time. The Doctor finds a way to bypass the ship’s auto-pilot and has Durkas, an engineer, build a makeshift neural interface with the piloting system. It’s revealed that due to her years of flying with a neural interface, Eve has developed a condition known as "Pilot’s Heart." Due to this, adrenaline has built up in her system. One big jolt could stop her heart and kill her. The Doctor offers to fly the ship, but Eve insists she’s the best woman for the job, despite the dangers involved.

Around this time Ryan and Graham are learning to rise to the occasion as doulas. Yoss is in full labour panic mode, and needs his guys there to cheer him on! Yaz and Ronan have to grapple with the Pting. After stunning it unconscious, Yaz wraps it in a blanket and bends it like Beckham down the corridor. Go Yaz! The Doctor enters the scene looking for the ship’s detonation device. Clearly, a ship in deep space is too far away for missiles, so the bomb must be onboard. It’s a bit contrived that such a device would exist, but the aforementioned reasons are fine. Whatever. Around this time, the sonic screwdriver boots itself back up, and the pieces all come together for the Doctor. The Pting isn’t eating matter, it’s eating energy.

The Doctor and Yaz locate the bomb and move it to an airlock. She speeds up the detonation so that the building energy attracts the Pting, and just before the device explodes, the Pting swallows it whole, with an adorable look of delight on its little face from the warm glow its tummy. Seriously, as Who monsters go, this thing is freaking cute. The Doctor ejects it from the airlock, and that’s two threats taken care of in one go. Two birds, one stone.

The imminent threat of piloting the ship still looms. While hooked into the interface, Eve was able to control the ship, despite the less than ideal conditions. But without any more adrenaline blockers onboard, her heart gives out on her. She dies a hero, but her work is unfinished. Durkas must now rise to the occasion as a Cicero. It’s more of a poetic solution than logical. Being related to a pilot somehow makes you a better candidate to fly the ship than the Doctor herself. But he does a fine enough job as he flies them to safety.

Yoss has his little boy, Avocado, and Ryan and Graham seem like they’re getting along, but Ryan leaves Graham’s fist bump hanging. And I gotta say, what the hell is Ryan’s deal still? I mean, come on man. He’s stopped asking you to call him granddad, but you could at least give the dude a fist bump. It’s getting to the point where I’m starting to think Ryan is being a bit of a dick toward Graham. Perhaps he’s closed off because the men in his life have abandoned him, but this is getting ridiculous. They’ve been through five onscreen adventures, and several offscreen adventures at this point. They’ve been through a lot, to put it lightly. Travelling with the Doctor should be far more of a bonding experience. While it is better to show than tell, Ryan’s standoffishness to Graham is getting old. Graham seems to take it in stride though. You’ve gotta give him credit for that.

Now on Resus 1, Ronan will probably shut down with nobody left to serve. Durkas apologises for not being kinder to him in the past. It’s weird that the Doctor doesn’t offer to take him to some sort of android planet or something. I kind of expected it. Yoss has decided to keep Avocado. Ryan, who was a big part in this decision, helped him come to grips with the idea of being a father by telling him that a father doesn’t need to be perfect, he just needs to be there. The Doctor and her friends are given assurances that they’ll be taken back to the TARDIS after they give their statements. The episode ends with Ronan reciting a kind of litany that Durkas, Yoss, and surprisingly the Doctor all know by heart. All in all, it’s not a bad way to leave the episode. In comparison to last week, there is far more of a feeling of resolution.

As I said, this episode was pretty solid. But one of the things I’m still holding out to see from this series is Jodie’s big "wow," moment. This is in no way me saying she has failed to wow me as the Doctor. I’ve not hidden my total joy over her performance. What I am waiting for is for the fury to come out. Christopher Eccleston spent a good chunk of his series being either sad, bossy, or silly. But when the episode "Dalek," came around, we got to see another side to his Doctor- his scary side! How about with the Tenth Doctor doomed the Family of Blood to an eternity of torture? Or how about when Eleven stared down his companions with intimidating eyes because he could see they were lying to him? I’m still waiting for Thirteen to get scary. We saw it come out in a microscopic amount when she warned Krasko not to threaten her. But I’m still waiting for that moment.

Thus far she’s been a rather friendly and forgiving Doctor. She’s shown more compassion than contempt. I’m waiting for one of the writers to give us a truly morally ambiguous moment of the Doctor. And no, having conflicting morality about guns doesn’t count! I was hoping that this episode would be the one. We would finally get that truly contemptible villain, and we’d get to see her dark side come out. If they’re going to make the brave decision of excluding Daleks and other classic baddies, we deserve a new one of the same calibre. What this episode gave us instead, was a pretty solid base in peril episode. I won’t fault it for not being the big evil monster I was hoping for, because what we got instead was pretty effective.

Again, we’re only halfway in. There’s plenty of time to up the stakes. We need a good dose of danger. I’d like to see some more planet threatening terror. We need more timeline meddling other than one racist pissing in the wind against change. But despite the lack of fear, this episode had one thing going for it above all else. This episode had a lot of heart. It may not have been a heart-stopping thrill ride, but in there were real moments of joy. Having a threat that was so cute was actually a welcome surprise. It wasn’t trying to be a big bad villain. Here’s to hoping that the second half of series eleven amps up the danger factor!

[talonted]

I can’t really believe that it’s been a year since the last round up, but here we are! If you want to see what made it into 2017’s favourites post you can read it HERE (spoiler, there may be some repeats as we all know I’m a creature of habit!) But let’s crack on with my 2018 favourites!

This has been a strange year for me, both in general and when it comes to beauty. I started my own business at the start of the year which I’m incredibly proud of but it has also meant that blogging has taken a bit of a backseat for me. I’m hoping to find a better balance in 2019 as I do miss writing and sharing my discoveries with you all, thank you to everyone who has stuck around through the quieter times – forget make up, YOU’RE my true 2018 favourites!

As with last year, I’ve tried to list every make up product in order of application rather than in order of preference. Some of these are products I’ve used for years, some are very new discoveries, but for me all of them are worthy of the title of ‘best of 2018’.

Once you’ve finished reading, please do head to the comments to let me know what your 2018 favourites were so I can check them out!

PRIMER

Winner – Sofina Primavista Long Keep Base

Highly commended – The Ordinary High Adherence Silicone Primer

I am an oily gal so a primer is always necessary in my make up routine. If you’re not a primer convert, you can read more about primers and why I recommend them to everyone HERE: they’re a wonderful way to help your make up go on smoother, last longer, hydrate the skin, add glow… so many benefits! I stocked up on the Primavista primer in Japan at the beginning of the year as it’s wonderfully light but keeps my foundation in place all day – however it’s ridiculously expensive to buy here so I apologise for including it (and haven’t linked it for that reason), but I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t use it! If you want something more affordable and accessible, The Ordinary primer featured in last year’s round up and I still really like it, but all the Deciem founder drama put me off using it if I’m honest.

FOUNDATION

Winner – Make Up Forever Matte Velvet Skin*

Highly commended – L’Oreal Age Perfect

The MUFE foundation is probably the newest entry into my 2018 favourites, having only launched towards the end of the year, but it is BRILLIANT: it’s matte and lasts really well on my oily skin, but doesn’t cling to my dry patches; it looks glowy without being greasy; and it doesn’t irritate my sensitive skin. The L’Oreal Age Perfect foundation is very similar to one of my all-time favourites (L’Oreal True Match) but is a little bit more glowy and natural-looking so I tend to swing between those two when picking my base. I’ve reviewed it in full HERE.

  CONCEALER

Winner – Sephora High Coverage Gel Concealer

Highly commended – IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye*

This Sephora concealer is another non-mover in my favourites. Unfortunately Sephora have now stopped shipping to the UK so I’m loathe to include this product but it really is my most used concealer. It’s high coverage but light enough for the delicate under eye area and affordable (if you’re near a Sephora!)  The IT Cosmetics concealer is pricey but believe me when I say you need to use a blob the size of a grain of rice for both eyes, so it’ll last ages. This is the one I use when I need to bring out the big guns (e.g. red wine hangover…)

POWDER

Winner – Bourjois Poudre De Riz De Java loose powder

Highly commended – Vichy Dermablend loose powder

I can’t count how many years I’ve been using this Bourjois powder, but it just ticks all the boxes for me. Very finely milled, with a slight sparkle to reflect the light (ideal for under-eyes), and doesn’t annoy my eyes – it does contain fragrance but it’s never annoyed my skin. If you’re very sensitive to fragrance, you may prefer the Dermablend powder, which is a great standard setting powder with a matte, sparkle-free finish. It’s more pricey, but it’s a huge pot.

  BROWS

Winner – Maybelline Brow Precise Micro Pencil

Highly commended – GOSH Shape & Fill

I love a strong brow and am quite picky about the products I use, especially as brow products for blondes are tricky to get right… many are either too warm or too ashy. The Maybelline brow pencil reminds me a lot of the Sephora version …. which I originally bought as an Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz dupe! All three have a fine nib and give a very natural, but long-lasting, finish. The GOSH brow product has a wedge-shaped pencil on one end and a powder on the other end (which I don’t use). If you like a stronger brow, I think the latter will be a better fit for you.

  EYESHADOW

Winner – Urban Decay Naked Heat*

Highly commended – Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance*

This category was tricky as I would say my Urban Decay Naked Heat palette was definitely my most used again this year, but I fell hard for the ABH Modern Renaissance palette (but didn’t use it nearly as much). Naked Heat featured in last year’s favourites post, which shows just how great it is. If you’re a fan of warm eyeshadows (or have blue/green eyes) then this will be so far up your street. Modern Renaissance is quite intense, with a high proportion of darker pink-toned shades so it’s definitely not for the faint hearted, but I do a little sigh every time I open it!

BLUSHER

Winner – Glossier Cloud Paints (P.S. that’s an affiliate link that will give you 10% off your order and me a credit on my account for sending you! Win-win!)

Highly commended – CanMake Cream Cheek Tint

Another new discovery for me (but not a new product by any means!) are the Glossier Cloud Paints. You can read my post about them HERE, but since then I’ve bought two more shades – I now have Puff (pale pink), Dusk (nude brown), and Beam (pale peach). These are cream liquid blushers that are lightweight on the skin and quite subtle so you can build them up really nicely. Following on my cream blusher obsession this year, I stocked up on CanMake cream blushers in Japan. I first discovered these on my first Japan trip a few years ago and they are brilliant – very easy to wear and ridiculously affordable (about £4 so please don’t pay the £30 some Amazon sellers are asking for!)

HIGHLIGHTER

Winner – Glossier Haloscope ‘Quartz’

Highly commended – Maybelline Master Strobing Stick Highlighter

I can’t believe that I avoided Glossier for so long as I didn’t buy into the subtle, natural make up look they embody. What a fool! The Haloscope highlighter is flipping dreamy: it gives a beautiful sheen to the skin without making you look greasy or like a glitter ball. I’ve been using it non-stop since it arrived. Before Haloscope converted me, I used the Maybelline stick highlighter. It’s a great stand-in if you are looking for a high-street option. I apply both with my fingertips to avoid disturbing the make up underneath and don’t think I’ll ever go back to powder highlighter!

MASCARA

Winner – Maybelline Lash Sensational

Highly commended – N/A

If you’re a regular reader you can’t be shocked by the inclusion of Maybelline Lash Sensational. It was my favourite last year and I have no doubt that it will be my favourite next year. It is my holy grail mascara and I will probably be buried with it. It lifts and separates lashes, is very black, doesn’t run even with my incredibly sensitive watery eyes, and doesn’t flake or transfer onto my brow bone. Plus it’s always on offer in Boots or Superdrug. Hand claps all round!

EYELINER

Winner – NYX Jumbo Eyeliner and Eyeshadow Pencil

Highly commended – Bobbi Brown Longwear Cream Shadow Stick*

I haven’t used liquid eyeliner or traditional pencil eyeliners much this year, but chunky crayon-type eyeliners will always be staples in my make up bag. Both the NYX and Bobbi Brown crayons are wonderful for either defining the eyes, an overall wash of colour, or building up a smokey, smudgy eye.

LIPSTICK

Winner – Sephora Cream Lip Stains

Highly commended – Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks

This is always the hardest category for me as lipstick is what makes me happiest when it comes to make up. But when I think of my most used and relied-on, the Sephora Cream Lip Stains are always number one. The name is a bit misleading, as they don’t stain at all – they are a standard matte liquid lipstick – but they do last very well, don’t dry the lips, and the colour range is great. You can watch a video containing swatches of my collection (I’ve added even more since!) HERE. The Kat von D lipsticks have an even better colour range (if you prefer more unique shades!) I find the formula a bit hit and miss, with some lasting all day and some fading within an hour so I have to pick and choose when I wear them but the colours are enough to keep me going back!

PERFUME

Winner – Shay & Blue Black Tulip*

Highly commended – Atelier Cologne Tobacco Nuit*

I was gifted Black Tulip last December and I’m still wearing and loving it – it’s warm and sweet without being cloying plus I think it’s a great size for the price. I always get comments on it because it’s pretty but slightly unusual as well. Atelier Cologne is a pricier brand but if you want to treat yourself, I think perfume is absolutely the way to do it. Tobacco Nuit is the sexiest perfume I own – tobacco flower, tangerine, labdanum… if you’re near a stockist I really recommend going in and smelling the entire range because they are just stunning. The only reason this isn’t my 2018 favourite is because I only have the travel-sized bottle and so I’ve been eking it out! There’s also one called Orange Sanguine that is summer in a bottle and it’s on my wishlist for next year.

  NAIL VARNISH

Winner – Essie Go Go Ginza

Highly commended – Essie Tart Deco

Choosing favourite nail varnishes is like choosing a favourite child for me… basically impossible. But I purposefully wore Go Go Ginza for our trip to Japan as I knew we’d be visiting Ginza, so that polish has such lovely memories for me. I need to replace my bottle as it’s severely depleted, but it is a beautiful pale grey-toned pink so I knew it would go with anything I chose to wear over those three weeks. The runner up, Tart Deco is a cult classic Essie shade for a reason – it’s like summer in a bottle for me, the perfect peach colour.

  And that’s your lot! So many amazing products, a lot of which are keepers from last year’s favourites which I think is a really good sign. Don’t forget to head straight to the comments to let me know what your 2018 favourites were!

Lex

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== PIN THIS IMAGE TO READ LATER!==

2018 Favourites: The Best Beauty Of The Year I can’t really believe that it’s been a year since the last round up, but here we are!

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, late February 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles I came across since the early February report, although some may be older than that. I am a bit behind due to my trip last week and other events, but some things here are a bit time-sensitive so I wanted to release this now. 

I am still looking into setting up a new ecommerce business forum where we can discuss this sort of news, as well as any day-to-day issues we face. I need some good suggestions for a cheap or free forum space that has some editing tools, is fairly intuitive for inexperienced members, and is accessible. If you have any suggestions, please reply to this post, email me on my website, or send me a tweet. (I will put out a survey once we narrow this down to some good candidates, but if you have any other comments on what you want from such a forum, please include those too!)

As always, if you see any stories I might be interested in, please let me know!

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

Since we are seeing more shops closed due to Etsy’s customer service level standards, my blog post on ODR now has major revisions explaining what we have learned, and includes some tips for staying out of trouble and if necessary, appealing a suspension. Please circulate the info widely, as many sellers still haven’t heard about this, and some were closed without having any clue this was possible. 

Mobile continues to grow while desktop use is slowly shrinking. It should affect how we design web pages. “Mobile visitors also behave differently from their desktop web counterparts, staying on pages for shorter periods of time, for example.” Other interesting takeaways from this SimilarWeb report: “[Facebook] lost 8.6% of [web] traffic over the past year alone” but increased in app sessions. 

The price of domains ending in “.com” will almost certainly be going up soon, and will go up most years after that, unless something changes at the last minute. If you are absolutely certain that you will continue to use the same domain name for your website, blog, ecommerce forwarding etc., then you might consider paying a few years in advance to save a few bucks. 

Another article explaining how people are selling thrift store and vintage clothing on Instagram, without setting up a checkout/cart anywhere. (The article focusses on teenagers, but does reference other examples.)

ETSY NEWS 

Two weeks ago, Etsy Support posted on Twitter that they were no longer monitoring the account, and asked everyone to use the help page maze instead when they need support. Forum thread here.  

Another trend report for 2020 from Dayna Isom Johnson [podcast links & transcript] She leads off with tips on how to get featured: “ so it's incredibly important to see a bright representation that really clearly shows your product...Do be original. I'm always trying to find the latest and the greatest that isn’t already on the shelves...Do be inclusive. ... I'm talking about models of all ethnicities, all genders, all body types, all ages.” Etsy chose chartreuse as their colour of the year: “in the last three months, there's been a 12% increase in searches for green already, and a 55% increase in neon green.” The wedding trends part was mostly already covered in a blog post, but she does also answer a few seller questions. 

Website user experience (UX) is a big part of getting people to convert, and an outside group ranks Etsy’s as “acceptable”. Many will be unsurprised that search gets a score of “mediocre” and Accounts & Self-Service get a “poor” grade.  

The migration to Google Cloud services is complete, so now Etsy can run more experiments more often, including those involving AI. (Although the forum thread was laughing at the idea of bad reviews helping shops, there is actually some research supporting that, so it is a logical thing to test.)

Etsy sellers in the US, UK & Canada who use Instagram can apply to win a trip to Etsy HQ here, until March 1.

Etsy is launching an Etsy U program which just seems a bit sketchy. Forum thread here.

Reverb (owned by Etsy) named a new Chief Technology Officer on Feb. 18.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Google does not confirm every large search update, so this one remains a mystery at the moment, since Google refused to give an answer. That means it’s not a core update. 

Another video (with subtitles in several languages) from the SEO for Beginners series from Google, on the basics you need for good website SEO. 

If you are interested in “searcher intent”, this 500 person survey asks about what people are really looking for, and what they think of the search results the end up with. Overwhelmingly, they say they prefer organic results to ads, and the majority see targeted ads that they can’t figure out the reason/s behind. “Sixty-eight percent responded that Google adding more ads to the search results would make them want to use the search engine less.” Also, a slight majority preferred text results to images, video, & audio. “When asked which factor had the most significant impact on their decision to click a result, 62.9% responded it was the description, followed by 24.2% who said the brand name, and 13% who said title.” That means that the first part of your Etsy listing description, or the coded meta description on a page on your website, has the most influence on people clicking on your link once they see it. 

I usually strongly suggest that people setting up their own websites make sure they do some SEO work & keyword research for their category/shop section pages, and it turns out that there is new research showing I am correct. “Specifically, e-commerce category pages – which include parent category, subcategory and product grid pages with faceted navigation – ranked for 19% more keywords on average than product detail pages ranked for. The additional keywords they ranked for drove an estimated 413% more traffic, based on the keywords’ search demand and the pages’ ranking position. With optimization, those ranking category pages also showed the potential to drive 32% more traffic.”

Semi-advanced: explaining the (seemingly endless) debate on whether subdomains or subdirectories are better for SEO. 

SEO study - do you really need to use H1 tags on a page? Maybe not, although some screen readers recognize them as the page title so they help with accessibility. (Etsy & many other marketplaces don’t let you make this coding choice, so don’t worry about it there.)

Confused about how to apply all of these SEO tips I post here to your Shopify site? Good news! Here’s a list of what is most important for Shopify SEO. Note the attention to setting up your category pages, which is something I completely agree with. (it’s by Ahrefs so of course it pushes their tools; you don’t need to pay for that.)

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

Some businesses say social media doesn’t work, but maybe they aren’t doing it right. See if you are making one or more of these three mistakes. “Understanding who your target audience is - what they want, what they need, where you fit in, etc. - is critical to maximizing your social media marketing performance.”

Email marketing also works better if you do it right, so here are 5 things you might be doing wrong. And if you like a quick read, here’s an infographic on the psychology of email marketing. 

8 ideas for getting more interactions on Facebook (detailed infographic).

More fourth quarter reports continue: Pinterest’s 4th quarter revenue was up 46% but they lost $1.36 billion, and they are introducing a verified merchant program. “Almost all (97%) of the top searches on Pinterest are unbranded, according to the company, giving merchants a chance to stand out.”

Want to tap into that Pinterest traffic? You should because “90% of weekly Pinterest users log in to make buying decisions.”  Here are 10 ways to get more attention, followers, and pins. 

Like almost all social media, Twitter has an algorithm that mediates what users see (although you can turn it off, or use apps such as Tweetdeck to get around it as a reader). Ranking factors include recency, engagement, media and activity. The article includes a few tips on how to make it work for you, but then slides into promoting its app as the solution - you can just skip that part. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

Google search ads get more results than Facebook and Instagram, simply because more people who see them want to buy something. “Less expensive products tend to sell better than more expensive ones on Facebook and Instagram, per the study.”

If you are running ads where you can choose your keywords, don’t forget to examine your organic search results and impressions for new words to advertise. Google Search Console is a great source.

If you found Instagram ads too expensive, check out this post on how the ads are priced, which can help you make decisions on your spend. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

Amazon has nearly 40% of the US ecommerce market, according to a report by eMarketer. Etsy is not in the top 10; eBay is 3rd behind Walmart. 

Sales on Shopify sites during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday long weekend went up 61% to $3 billion in 2019. They claim that the “direct -to-consumer” approach can be successful for both big & small brands. 

Japanese authorities are going after Rakuten for the ecommerce company’s push to make its sellers offer free shipping. 

eCommerceBytes’ annual Sellers Choice survey placed eBay first out of the online marketplaces that were rate. Note that this is not a scientific survey and largely covers the site’s readership only. Bonanza was the most improved & Etsy showed the worst drop (from 1st to 5th place). 

A review of that article last month that says ecommerce sites should have info pages as well as product pages, if only for SEO reasons. The author approves. 

The CBC show Marketplace did a large test buying branded items on AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Wish. It turns out that most were fake. 

Facebook’s cryptocurrency plans (Libra) finally have a partner: Shopify. The potential benefits include no credit card processing fees. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

Younger people (think Gen Z) expect to see gender treated expansively and beyond traditional stereotypes, and they expect this from companies and advertising. “Half of women and four in 10 men in the U.S. now believe that there is a spectrum of gender identities, according to a recent Ipsos poll titled "The Future of Gender is Increasingly Nonbinary." An additional 16% of those surveyed said they know a person who identifies as transgender”

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour) 

Google employees are pushing back against the sea change in the company’s culture and values - and some are being fired. 

Turns out that the “Peleton Wife” ad might not have hurt them as much as you might think. However, their stock dropped 12% after the fourth quarter report showed a 77% increase in revenue that still managed to be below market predictions. Interesting discussion around going viral in a negative fashion.

[shamelesshottubtheorist]

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[jaivendra]

We all know Apple is an American company and enjoys making an outsized chunk of their revenue domestically. But Apple sells its products in many international markets and even has retail stores in 24 foreign countries. Some of those markets, like Japan, have access to Apple products at a price like the US. For example, an iPhone XS costs 112,800 yen in Japan, which is about 1,058 USD. And when you consider the country’s 8% sales tax is included in that price, it actually makes the iPhone XS about $20 cheaper than in the US. Although this fluctuates depending on the conversion rate. But not every country is lucky enough to pay comparable prices for Apple products. To buy the bottom model iPhone XS, you’d need to pay $1,235 in Mexico, $1,285 in India, $1,454 in Sweden, and $1,800 in Brazil. And these high prices have prompted customers to fly to the US just to buy a new iPhone. So why exactly are Apple products so expensive in these countries? Well, that’s exactly what we’re getting to determine today.

So one of the most important reasons why Apple products are so expensive overseas is due to taxes. And the perfect example of this is often the worth Added Tax or VAT, which exists in over 140 countries around the world. But despite its prevalence, it isn’t something that exists in the US. So let me explain how it works. In places just like the European Union, a VAT may be a consumption tax added to the worth of products and services. Products exported abroad aren’t typically subject to the worth Added Tax, but imported goods, like Apple products, are. And counting on the country, prices of those goods can increase up to 25%. And unlike the US, consumption taxes in most countries abroad are included during a product’s retail price. So when you notice the iPhone XS selling for $1,454 in Sweden compared to $1,000 in the US, that isn’t really a fair comparison, since US prices don’t include local sales tax. Now if you’re doing the math, you’ll find that iPhone prices in countries like Sweden still don’t add up. Because if their Value Added Tax is 25% on a $1,000 phone, they should be paying $1,250. But instead, the iPhone XS is priced about $200 higher. And that’s because taxes are simply a part of the complex equation companies like Apple use when calculating retail prices. Another factor to think about are any associated costs with importation. Things like import duties, shipping, insurance costs, and tariffs all contribute to cost inflation when selling products overseas. India is a great example of this. They've enacted something called the Foreign Direct Investment policy which punishes foreign companies who don’t source at least 30% of the components of their products from Indian suppliers. And since Apple doesn’t meet that standard, they’re restricted from opening retail stores within the country additionally to being hit with a 20% tariff. There’s also an 11.4% customs duty on imported products in addition to the Value Added Tax that we discussed earlier. And when you add all that up, it isn’t surprising that customers in India pay a 28% premium for products like the iPhone. Now Apple is taking steps to not only price their products more competitively in India but also to open their first mercantile establishment within the country. I’ll talk about that in more detail near the end of the video. Now you'll imagine import costs only being an element in foreign markets, but they will also affect customers within the US. Recently President Trump planned to implement a 10% tax on Chinese imports by September 1 which would affect tech companies like Apple. Now that deadline was pushed back to December 15th, but Tim Cook would really like to ascertain the tax eliminated altogether.

Also Read:- Who Stopped WannaCry Virus? Full Details

In fact, he met with Trump in the week and apparently made a convincing argument since Trump told reporters, “Tim was lecture me about tariffs and ... he made an honest case ... that Samsung is their favorite competitor and Samsung isn't paying tariffs. I assumed he made a really compelling argument so I'm brooding about it." Now if the choice isn’t reversed and Apple has got to pay the ten tax, they’d need to make a decision: Increase prices within the US by 10%, or keep prices an equivalent and permit their profit margin to require a serious hit. Both of which are dangerous for the corporate. If Apple raises prices it might exacerbate the difficulty of slowing hardware sales, but if they permit their margins to fall 10%, it might severely damage their profit potential.

So counting on how this story plays out, US customers made soon be feeling the consequences of tariffs that foreign countries are handling for years. Something else which will contribute to high prices is legally binding consumer guarantees that exist in places just like the EU. for instance, once you buy an Apple product within the US, you receive a typical one-year limited warranty that covers faulty parts, product defects, or other conditions that the manufacturer is liable for. But the matter is companies are liberal to define their warranty terms as they see fit. That’s why only certain components could also be covered, otherwise, you may need to pay a fee to ship the merchandise back to the manufacturer. And that’s exactly why the EU established a consumer guarantee that gives customers far more protection than a typical warranty. Customers within the EU are entitled to a minimum two-year warranty in addition to the quality manufacturer’s warranty. And this adds quite a little bit of liability for companies like Apple who typically offset the danger by increasing the worth of their products. But when it involves foreign markets, a serious concern is that the volatility of every country’s currency. Just take the united kingdom for instance. When Brexit happened, there was a 19% drop in the worth of their currency compared to the dollar, which caught tons of companies off guard and caused them to quickly adjust their prices to stay pace with the UK’s currency fluctuation Apple understands which foreign markets are most vulnerable to this volatility and preemptively raises their prices. you'll see this clearly with South Africa. Notice how the worth of its currency has fluctuated over the past five years compared to the EU, Australia, and Mexico. which volatility may be a major reason why Apple inflates their product’s prices in South Africa beyond what’s typically seen in other foreign markets. But so as to really understand Apple’s pricing overseas, we've to think about the American market. Because consumer behavior within the US is often quite different than those in other regions, mainly because American society is extremely consumption-based. we have the foremost credit cards issued per capita within the world, with everyone charging a mean of $4,000 annually. Compare this to other countries just like the UK or France, which opt instead for Debit Cards and thus charge but $300 on their credit cards per annum. you'll see companies like Apple capitalizing on America’s “buy now, pay later” mindset by offering monthly payment plans for his or her products. and every one of these amounts to US customers buying a better volume of products more frequently, allowing Apple to charge but other countries which don’t have a comparable level of consumerism. 

Also Read:- Why Israel Is A Tech Capital Of The World?

Now up to the present point, we’ve discussed pretty concrete reasons why Apple prices their products higher in some foreign countries. But there’s one last fibrinogen want to debate that’s less easy to prove with hard facts, which is the brand image. Apple is taken into account as a premium brand in countries like India where the typical smartphone asking price is $200. So when it involves the iPhone XS price of $1,285, it is sensible that only the rich class in India could afford them. And if Apple knows their product will only be accessible to the upper crust, why not charge the maximum amount as you can? It’s an approach taken by many luxury clothing brands, whose customers haven't any problem overspending on items that ultimately function as a standing symbol. And you'll find evidence of this when comparing the iPhone’s price to other flagship smartphones. for instance, the Galaxy S10 retails for $900 within the US and $935 in India. a rise of just $35. The LG V40 retails for $900 within the US and $700 in India. That’s a reduction of $200. And once you compare those prices to the iPhone’s $285 premium in India, it supports the thought that Apple is just extracting the maximum amount of revenue from customers in India as possible, since they know people with money with pay any price for his or her premium phones anyway. it might also add up then that iPhones have only captured about one-hundredth of India’s smartphone market, which may be a shame considering India’s sizable population. But Tim Cook has made it clear that Apple has an aggressive decision to grow their presence within the region and make India one of their biggest sources of revenue. It all started earlier this year when Foxconn began trial runs of iPhone production in India, setting the inspiration for Apple to at least one day manufacture their smartphones within the region and satisfy the 30% local sourcing rule. this is able to allow Apple to avoid India’s 20% tariff additionally to opening their own retail stores within the country for the very first time.

Also Read:- Why Cartoons Never Grow Up?

In fact, Apple has already finalized an inventory of several locations within the country where they could build their store. But they're going a step further by saying they’d overhaul the company's relationship with independent retailers, and improve apps and services aimed more closely at Indians. So while Apple is understood for being a dear brand within the US, their products are typically even costlier abroad. Perhaps they will take measures like those in India to scale back their tax burden and drop prices, but it’s more likely that customers in foreign markets will need to continue biting the bullet and distribute the additional money for his or her favorite products.

[divulgacion-alternativa]

Ben Ful Links - February 22/2021

Weekly Geo-Political News and Analysis

Benjamin Fulford. February 22, 2021

Massive March Campaign Planned Against Global Idiocracy

Source: benjaminfulford.net

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Ben Ful Links - February 22/2021:

For example, the peer-reviewed scientific report sent to us by British and French intelligence says:

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on August 23, 2020, ‘For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned.  For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death.’”

(Science, Public Health Policy and the Law Volume 2:4 October 12,2020) https://jdfor2020.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/adf864_165a103206974fdbb14ada6bf8af1541.pdf

Here, for example, is a link to a scientific report admitting CRISPR is used in “Covid-19” vaccines. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7469881/

The Cabal’s state actors are now under increasing attack for their criminal activities.  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told puppet President Biden off last Wednesday after China Joe instructed him to shut down the state because of the fake Pandemic.  Speaking to vaccine czar Dr. Anthony Faustus DeSantis asked, “How much do you stand to earn from these vaccines, Dr. Fauci?”  He then added, “And, Joe, if you continue with this course of action, I will authorize the state National Guard to protect the movement of Floridians.”  When Biden replied, “Address me as Mr. President or President Biden,” DeSantis replied “I will not, and you can go fuck yourself,” before hanging up. https://realrawnews.com/2021/02/gov-desantis-tells-biden-go-fuck-yourself/

The situation on the ground is now so dire that, in just one example, a new survey by the NYC Hospitality Alliance reveals that 92 percent of New York restaurants couldn’t afford to pay December rent. https://thenycalliance.org/information/december-2020-rent-report

Also even to corporate propaganda media is starting to revolt against their fake narratives.  For example, in an appearance on MSNBC, White House COVID adviser Andy Slavitt said the fact that Covid infection patterns were identical in no lockdown Florida and hyper-lockdown California was “a little bit beyond our explanation.” https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/watch-biden-adviser-struggles-explain-similar-covid-numbers-ca-fl-despite-opposite

The Cabal is now desperately dialing down the fake pandemic as reality becomes impossible for them to deny any longer.  That is why they are reporting a huge drop in “Covid” cases and propaganda news articles are now saying the entire “pandemic” could be over by April. http://www.battleforworld.com/2020/08/01/covid-19-where-does-it-end/#CovidCasesDrop

https://www.statista.com/chart/22067/daily-new-cases-by-world-region/

Of course, we must never underestimate these criminals because they have literally thousands of years of experience in herding humans as if they were livestock.  The attack on Texas -which involved deliberately shutting down their power grid in the middle of a cold snap- is one example.  This came after Texas Congressman Ron Wright “died of Covid-19,” and as an election for his replacement looms, the corporate propaganda media is full of articles criticizing the Texas establishment for “mishandling,” its energy grid. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/17/texas-shows-that-when-you-cannot-govern-you-lie-lot/

Now, NSA sources are telling us the next thing the criminal regime is planning is food shortages. The NSA notes:

1) Small farms shutting down world-wide.

2) Over 1,000 ships off our coast with food as the FDA keeps them out at sea; allowing the food to rot,

3) China is outbidding everyone for food worldwide as their crops fail,

4) This NASA-created freeze is not allowing food shipments across the nations; USA, Europe, etc.

Furthermore, the NSA notes railroads are sitting idle so trucks must pick up the slack meaning shipping costs went from $1,000 per container to $10,000 per container from Seattle to Chicago.  They note the same trouble in Japan as ports need constant upgrades due to shaking.  To top things off, they say “Biden is shipping USA Grain Reserves to China again.” https://news.yahoo.com/world-pay-more-meat-food-050000496.html

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/amid-soaring-food-prices-kraft-heinz-conagra-brands-set-raise-prices

The cabal has also been tearing down power substations in the U.S. for years “so a 3-hour power outage becomes a 3-week power outage,” the sources note.  They say what happened in Texas was “just a foretaste.” https://www.revolver.news/2021/02/texass-power-grid-disaster-is-only-the-beginning/

In addition to economic sabotage, the Cabal is now promoting multiple space missions to gather money. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9273375/Seven-minutes-terror-NASAs-Perseverance-land-Mars-TODAY.html

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/worldnews/14089099/russia-china-sign-historic-deal-build-first-moon-base/

Now let us look at a recent snapshot of some of the moronic policies the Cabal is trying to impose on the world.  For one thing, they are still harping endlessly about Iran and its so-called “nuclear bomb.”  Here for example is a Mossad linked Debka comment saying “the blank wall reached by President Joe Biden’s policy for re-engaging Iran in nuclear diplomacy is that his advisers could not get together on a strategy for stalling its progress towards a bomb.”  This is the same BS they have been repeated endlessly for over 30 years. https://www.debka.com/are-bidens-moves-for-nuclear-diplomacy-with-iran-stuck-in-the-sand/

Of course, if you take a look at Iranian leaders wearing their sheep masks, you can tell Iran is also just a cabal colony playing their role in trying to get us all to kill each other in WWIII.  https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/white-house-signals-iran-its-ready-eu-sponsored-talks-major-nuke-deal-breakthrough

In Israel meanwhile, the sheeple there are now being given the mark of the beast vaccination certificates that allow them to go shopping, etc.  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israel-re-opens-further-with-green-pass-for-vaccinated/ar-BB1dSlf1

And then we have German Chancellor Angela Hitler saying, “the pandemic is not over until all people in the world have been vaccinated.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-politics-g7-merkel-idUSKBN2AJ1WG

Of course, any nations opposed to this are “rogue nations,” opposed to a “rules-based world order,” which is why NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, “China and Russia are trying to re-write the rules of the road to benefit their own interests.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-security-nato-idUSKBN2AJ24G

The Pentagon is on board with the plan to occupy Israel and so are the Russians.  “Russia is the last island of freedom,” State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said recently adding, “Do you see what’s happening in the United States of America?  The country is dying, everything has been canceled out.” https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/02/17/russia-is-the-worlds-last-island-of-freedom-parliament-speaker-says-a72995

Several targets have been outlined for the spring offensive against the cabal.  In addition to Israel, any world leader pushing for Covid-19 vaccines has to be removed ASAP.  These include Boris Johnson of the UK, Justin Castro of Canada, Angela Hitler of Germany, Joe CG Biden of the U.S. etc.

Removing Justin Castro in Canada is a high priority because it will allow Canadian troops to join their compatriots in states like Texas and Florida to fight against the Khazarian mafia strongholds like California and New York.  https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/14-5m-canadians-to-be-immunized-by-june-updated-vaccination-timeline-shows-1.5314048

Also, Google and Facebook were created with taxpayer money and then given to private individuals.  They are now taking over power from elected governments and must be nationalized.  “Freedom of speech is not something that anonymous moderators working for private companies should decide,” Deputy Polish Justice Minister Sebastian Kaleta said recently.  “Instead, that is for the national body; duly elected officials,” he added.   https://www.foxnews.com/world/poland-fights-big-tech-push-block-social-media-censorship?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-foxnews&utm_content=later-14580965&utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-admin-working-directly-big-tech-crush-vaccine-dissent

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