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Engineer Tom Perry on the making of the Jacksons' 1980 album Triumph
By the end of the 1970s, the Jacksons experienced a lineup substitution, two label moves from Motown Records to CBS Records to Epic Records, and a recognizable name change. After their switch from Motown Records to CBS Records in 1975, the brothers began exploring the depths of their musical creativity and were given the opportunity to showcase their songwriting abilities on their self-titled gold selling debut, The Jacksons, in 1976. Under the tutelage of the legendary production duo, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, they worked diligently to find their trademark groove and this experience served them well, as they entered the next phase of their respective careers. Two years later, the quintet regained the success that had been eluding them since their Motown days with the release of their multiplatinum selling album, Destiny. Itching to become a solo artist, Michael Jackson tested the waters by branching out on his own and recorded his second solo album that would validate his decision. Off the Wall placed him in esteemed company, and it set the stage for the collective to capitalize on this momentum. They returned to the studio to craft their next album. On September 26, 1980, Triumph was released by Epic Records. It became they're second consecutive smash album. The record would spawn five singles, including the hits: "Heartbreak Hotel" (now known as "This Place Hotel"), "Can You Feel It," "Lovely One," "Walk Right Now," and "Time Waits for No One." In observance of Black Music Month and Michael Jackson's legacy, we spoke with legendary engineer Tom Perry about his role in constructing this classic album.
How did you begin working with the group on this project?
Tom Perry: One day, I received a call from out of the blue from Latoya. She asked, "Are you Tom Perry?" I said, "Yes. I am." She said, "Hold on for Michael Jackson." I responded, "Okay." [laughs] This little voice came through the phone and it was Michael. I believe he heard some of my work with Earth, Wind & Fire; Boz Scaggs; and other R&B acts I had worked with. He was producing some demos for his sister Janet. That was the first stuff I worked on with him. This was in 1977 and 1978, a couple years before I started working on Triumph. I went down there, and Janet was working on her TV show at the time. She was fifteen or sixteen. So we cut some tracks that Michael produced, and I don't know what became of those tracks. He called me again, and we cut some stuff with Latoya. Another time he called me, and we began working on some songs that he was demoing. One of them was "Billie Jean." I'm jumping ahead a little bit, but "Billie Jean" was the last thing I worked on with Michael. We spent about three months on that single because we kept redoing the strings and horns on the demo. At some point, it was taken over by Quincy Jones. So we were doing these various projects. He produced a song on Diana Ross's album called "Muscles" and that ended up being number one on the charts. I was working with Michael on music that he was producing and music he was demoing. So we had quite a relationship going. We had a close friendship. I used to pick him up and take him home every day. In those days, he didn't like to drive. He had a Rolls Royce, but he didn't drive it. Then, the brothers' album came up. I was working with Michael on these various projects, and I guess his brothers were okay with me working on their next album. This is how I started working on Triumph.
At this time in 1980, Michael just released his multiplatinum smash, Off the Wall, a year prior. Since you already had a relationship with him, what was the brothers' focus going into the making of this record?
As I can best recall, it wasn't easy for his brothers to get Michael involved. I'm not sure why, but I believe part of the reason why Michael agreed to do it is because, as a brother and family member, it would be a way for his brothers to do a tour and it might boost their careers. I think that was part of the motivation. I'm guessing Michael got some pressure from his mom and dad to do it. He and his brothers were getting along well during that time. When I say Michael was hesitant, I don't think it was because of any animosity. I just think Michael was doing his own thing, and he was fine with that. Michael put one hundred percent into everything he did. He wanted the album to be excellent. I didn't feel that he was reluctant or hesitant in doing the work on the project. His drive, determination, and desire to have it become a great album was there. He wasn't the type of guy that would've taken it on, if he wasn't going to give it everything he had. He always gave everything he had.
For this album, you guys recorded in a few different studios. Were you there at every studio session?
Yes. I was the only engineer on this project from start to finish. We did ninety-five percent of that work in Hollywood Sound Studios, but we didn't start at Hollywood Sound, though. As I recall, I did a lot of work at Hollywood Sound. I'd worked at Hollywood Sound since 1967 when I started out as a staff mixer there. There were two studios in Hollywood Sound: Studio A and Studio B. I was equally comfortable in both, but mostly in Studio B. I worked there and George Massenburg worked there. A lot of the hot engineers were working there at the time. It was kind of a small studio, and it wasn't as well-known as Capitol Studios, Westlake Audio, or Record Plant Studios. I had never worked with the Jackson brothers, and I think they were wanting to go with a studio that had a bigger reputation. So we started out doing a couple tracks at different studios. Any engineer will say they can work anywhere, even in a garage, but an engineer builds a relationship with a studio, and they begin to learn every nuance in the studio. Engineers know exactly what they have there, that they've had success there, and records that sounded good, so they have a formula. An engineer will know if a record sounds good or not. All engineers have studios where they feel most comfortable. So we cut a couple tracks, and I didn't feel like those first couple sessions were going that well. It's hard to know what I had, when I was going in trying to learn the studio.
The thing is, I was working on a project as big as the Jacksons, and from an engineering standpoint, I wanted to go where I was comfortable because I had a lot on my plate, and what I didn't want to do is to have to learn a room. I spent thirteen years working at Hollywood Sound and that gave me an advantage. So one day I sat down with Michael, and I said to him, "Look, Mike. We should go to Hollywood Sound. You know the room works because that's my home base. Let's go there." So we did. We went to Hollywood Sound after trying out three different studios. The tracks started coming together and the brothers saw the difference. We got locked in there. We did overdubs at Sound City. I remember doing strings and horns at Sound City because they had a big room over there. It was a good room for that kind of stuff. We tried to mix the record at Olympic Studios in West L.A. because they had just put in one of the early Neve automated consoles. We went out there to do some automation mixing, but in the end, we mixed the album at Hollywood Sound. They didn't have automation there at that time. We were synching two twenty-four-tracks together at that point with time code. We had forty-eight tracks and that was a lot of mixing to corral without automation.
Take me into the studio atmosphere of Hollywood Sound Studios when you were recording there with the group.
Well, I had a standard set up for doing tracks. We cut drums, bass, two guitars, piano, and keyboards. The studio wasn't that big, so we didn't do any live horns or strings. There was a vocal booth and Michael would sing in there when the tracks were going down. We didn't have more than four or five musicians playing at the same time. We would complete one song per day. Once we got the track and if there was any time left in the day, we would start to do some guitar, keyboard, and synth overdubs. Then, we would go on to the next song. Generally, we would work on one song per day working on rhythm tracks and we wouldn't get into recording any serious vocals, background vocals, strings, or horns until later. Back then, we didn't have any Pro Tools or sampling. We'd work on getting all the basic instruments down such as percussion, guitar overdubs and solos, and synthesized added parts. When the brothers were satisfied with how everything sounded, then we would get into doing string and horn sweetening. Lastly, we would cut lead and background vocals. This album was a six month project.
Typically, we spent twelve or more hours in the studio. We didn't work seven days a week, but as I recall, we had some weekends off during that six month period. There were a couple times when the brothers took days off to finish up writing lyrics. The brothers would arrive at the studio around noon, depending on what the task was. If we were cutting the tracks, it would be pretty hard to get all the brothers there at twelve o'clock. They would wander in, depending on whose song it was. Generally, Michael would be the earliest to arrive. They weren't known for being on time, and they weren't concerned about the budget. The session players, my assistant, and I would be there. Sometimes, we didn't get rolling until two or three o'clock. Technically, we would start at twelve. On an early day, we might end the session at ten or eleven at night. Depending on how involved they were, Michael tended to work later, and the session could last until two or three o'clock in the morning, then we'd go back in at noon and start the process all over again. So there were a few fifteen to sixteen hour days in the studio. Also, it would depend if Michael was doing a vocal. If he wanted to finish his thoughts, he tended to not pay attention to what time it was. He wanted to get down his thoughts and ideas while they were in his head and make sure he finished what he wanted to finish by the end of that day. There were a couple times where we would be working on a song that Jackie had taken over producing. During one session, everyone went home early and it was around seven o'clock in the evening. Jackie was the only one left and he said, "Well, I guess we're folding up." My assistant and I looked at each other like, "Are you kidding me? It's seven o'clock." [laughs] As it turned out, there was a Los Angeles Lakers game that night. He was a huge Laker fan, and he had those courtside seats.
Can you describe the collaboration and creativity that existed between the brothers in the studio?
Well, we didn't stop working on music until Michael was happy with it. I keep saying Michael because he was the driver and creative force behind the brothers. He drove the sessions. The brothers had great input: Tito, Jackie, Marlon, and Randy. There was respect between them. Michael had respect for his older brothers. He would give them their say and some input. Quite often, Michael would double the harmony parts that his brothers sang to enrich the sound and give it more polish. So Michael was the driving force. I worked on independent projects with Tito and Marlon and I loved those guys. Marlon was a sweetheart and Tito was a great guy. I have all the respect in the world for the brothers. I didn't work on anything with Randy. I think he was eighteen when we recorded this album. I did a few things with Jermaine as well but not on this album. They all had a hand in making this album, but the driving force behind it was Michael. Michael was a brilliant guy when it came to making music.
As an engineer, what was your approach to the recording process during the making of this album?
Basically, we had twenty-four tracks. This was in the early days where we were able to sync two twenty-four-tracks by using time code. The two machines would lock in and run in sync, so that it could give us additional tracks. Dolby noise reduction was available in those days and there were a lot of engineers that liked Dolby, but I didn't because I felt that Dolby colored the tape, and I didn't feel that the frequency response was as broad with Dolby. The fact that Dolby was processing the tape I believe there were limitations in the frequency response. Engineers, like myself that didn't use noise reduction, would run two inch tape at 30 IPS which meant thirty inches per second. It was a faster speed. If you ran a faster speed, you tended to get less tape hiss. So that's how we countered Dolby noise reduction. Dolby noise reduction would get rid of tape hiss, but I felt it dulled up the high end and made things a little muddy. But that's just me. So I ran the machines at 30 IPS non-Dolby. We had a good console and outboard equipment by then. I'd been engineering for years, and I was pretty confident that I could get a good sounding album. I was an old school engineer and my background included experimenting with microphones, the placement of microphones, and making sure things weren't over processed. What I mean by over processed is, when more outboard equalization is used or more compression or more sound enhancing of any type that is put on a sound, you have to send a signal through a compressor, filter, and various reverb. Every time you run signal through another processing system, you're deteriorating the signal.
I started engineering records before there was a lot of electronic help. When I first started recording, I had a board with eight inputs. Four had high end EQ and four had low end EQ, and you couldn't select the frequency. It was just bass and treble. If I wanted to color the sound and make the drums sound different, I had to learn how to tune the drums, muffle or tape the drums or use a different microphone or find a different spot in the room, if I wanted drums live. Sometimes, we'd find hardwood crates to set the drums on to get more reflection, or if I wanted a dead sound, we set the drums on carpet and place a blanket over the kick drum. So I had this elaborate background in engineering along with knowledge of modern electronics of the day. This allowed us to spread the tracks out wider. We could use eight or ten tracks for the drums. We could put the kick drum on one track and a snare drum on another track, a hi-hat on another track, so we could spread the drums out on eight tracks. Spreading out the tracks gave us the flexibility to record the drums in stereo, keyboards, left and right piano, left and right synthesizer, and in some cases, stereo guitar. All of that helped me get the best sounds I could on individual instruments. It gave me flexibility in the mixing process as well because everything was on a separate track. So I could go in and equalize the toms without changing the sound of the kick drum, snare or cymbals because they were on separate tracks. That was my approach in trying to get everything to sound as good as it could.
It was in my DNA as an engineer, but it was also what Michael wanted. Michael always wanted whatever he was working on, whether it was songs, sounds, or players, to be the best. Between Michael knowing what he wanted and not accepting sounds that weren't first class and me having those same desires and background in engineering, made a huge difference. Also, the fact that the budget wasn't an issue, so we could spend the time getting everything right, plus having the best musicians made this a special project. Michael Jackson was a genius producer. He was a phenomenally talented human being. He wasn't a schooled musician, but everything was in his head. He would have to try and convey his ideas to me, the arranger, and musicians. He wouldn't stop until the music sounded the way it did in his head and that is not always easy. He didn't know engineering, so I was trying to interpret what he was hearing and make it a reality through the equipment and my ability to give him what he wanted. When it was going well, I would try to give him what he wanted, and we ended up with something he liked better. [laughs] That's when the creative process was really working. Everyone worked well together.
What was the name of the console you used during the recording process?
The console we used was an API hybrid board. It had API equalizers and George Massenburg preamps. We brought in a side board because it didn't have enough inputs to mix forty-eight tracks.
Who was responsible for bringing some of the greatest musicians ever to play on these records?
It was Michael. I think the brothers used these guys on some of their other records. These guys were some legendary players like Greg Phillinganes, Michael Sembello, Nathan Watts, Thomas Washington, and Paulinho da Costa. I believe they were used on their previous albums. Some were from Michael's Off the Wall album. Quincy Jones used these guys, obviously. It was a great experience watching these guys work.
Let's go in-depth on a couple songs that were released as singles from the album?
"Can You Feel It" wasn't one of my favorite songs, but it became a big hit. I know the video received a lot of play on MTV when it was just starting out as a network. Michael was the driving force behind this song. We spent a lot of time on this song. We brought in two different choirs to sing. During the mixing process of this song, I wish I would've put a little bit more low end in the drums. I thought it was too sharp sounding overall. I think we worked the longest on this song and "Heartbreak Hotel" ["This Place Hotel"]. If I had to do it again, I would've put more warmth in that mix. Typically, it would take four or five days to complete the final mix of the songs. Sometimes you work on something so long that you lose any kind of perspective and you don't know what to do next. I think "Can You Feel It" was a little overworked. It ended up being a classic song, though.
I thought "Heartbreak Hotel" ["This Place Hotel"] was a phenomenal song. It should've been a bigger hit than it was. It may have been a little bit ahead of its time. I thought the song was really creative and interesting. It was a great, great record. It was a composition written by Michael. It had the same title as the Elvis Presley hit from the 1950s. The song had a great groove. The lead vocals and harmonies from Michael were spectacular. He did all the harmonies. He sung every part including the backgrounds and his brothers voices were used as depth on the record. I'm still amazed by his vocals on it from his low to high harmonies. We would double each harmony. We had enough tracks to do that. If he sung a third, fifth, or seventh, we'd double or triple them to make them sound fuller. In my opinion, this was the stand out track from the album. It's one of the better mixes on the album. The horn arrangement by Jerry Hey was just outstanding work. Latoya screaming on the record was one of the ideas Michael pulled out of his hat. He heard it in his head, and he called her to come down to the studio to record it. He'd hear something in his head and just make it happen. I couldn't have made it through without my assistant engineer Ross Palone. On every song, we gave them everything we had.
One of the interesting anecdotes from that project was that Michael loved babies. My son was a baby when we were doing the session for this song. My wife would come to the studio sometimes and bring my son Andrew. As soon as my wife came through the door, he would just rip the baby away from her arms, play with him, and walk around the studio. There would be two other studio sessions going on and he would go in them and say, "Tom's son is here. Isn't he cute?" He really loved kids.
As you look back on the impact the album has made on popular culture, what are your feelings about the significance of the album and your role in shaping its sound?
Well, that's an interesting question because I've been involved with a couple of albums that are held in the same regard. At the time, you're doing it as a profession. I've always had a proprietary interest in my recordings. I've always felt like, whether I just engineered or produced, I felt that those records were my records. I think when you have a proprietary interest, you never feel like you're there for hire. We were creating music that would have some kind of impact. If that album is thought of as a landmark album or a significant album, it's probably because people have to come to recognize it as such. Sometimes, you have an inkling that you're on to something, and that feeling was there when we made "Heartbreak Hotel" ["This Place Hotel"]. Generally, you're just trying to do your best and please your clients. We left it all on the console. There was a great sense of camaraderie between us within the walls of the studio. It was a great experience. Being a part of this album was one of the highlights of my career.
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Triumph is my favorite album of any Jackson album, including Mike's and Janet's. THEODORE MCCLENDON December 20th, 2018 at 10:54 am
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How to win the Amazon Buy Box 2020: Ultimate Guide
Over 80% of orders are placed with Amazon Buy Box sellers. This highlights the incredible importance of winning the Buy Box position. This can make the difference between your success and failure as an Amazon seller.
In this guide we look at all the factors involved in deciding who gets top spot and the best strategies you can use to beat your competition to the Amazon Buy Box.
"Over 80% of orders are placed with Amazon Buy Box sellers"
There are some simplified rules for how the Buy Box generally works;
FBA sellers can usually price 10-15% higher than FBM sellers and win the Buy Box.
FBA sellers that match the Buy Box price will share in a percentage of orders.
A lot of Amazon sellers think it is as simple as having the lowest price. This is often not the case and there are many other complex factors involved.Click to get your FREE Buy Box Guide & Cheatsheet
First, let's look at what the Buy Box actually is and the factors involved in deciding who gets it. Then we will list the best proven strategies you can use to win it.
What is the Amazon Buy Box?
If you have the Buy Box it means you are the main seller of that product. If the customer clicks 'Add to Cart' it will be your product they are ordering. The Buy Box seller gets a majority of the orders for the product.
The 'Other Sellers on Amazon' Box
If you are eligible but do not actually win the Buy Box you may still be one of the three sellers to appear in the 'Other Sellers on Amazon' box. These sellers will still get a reasonable number of orders and will often rotate with the Buy Box seller.
The Amazon Offer Listing Page
All remaining sellers will appear on this separate page which buyers have to click through to. Offers are listed purely based on the total delivered price (Item Price + Shipping). FBA and FBM sellers will all be treated equally and no other metrics are considered here.
When customers click through to this page additional factors will come into play when they are deciding who to buy from. If you have 100% feedback, are a business seller, have a great store name, are an LLC or LTD company then the customer is more likely to place their order with you even if you are not the cheapest. Buyers are also shown the lead time for each seller which will be an important factor in their decision.
More savvy buyers realise that the Buy Box seller is not always the lowest priced offer so will click through to this page so they can make up their own minds who to buy from.
The Amazon Buy Box on mobile or app
This is a very different experience for buyers and being the Buy Box seller becomes even more important. There is no clear link through to 'Other sellers' on either the app or mobile versions of the site and buyers have to really search for it. This means the Buy Box seller gets an even higher percentage of the total orders placed.
Which sellers are eligible to compete for the Buy Box
Amazon will evaluate all the sellers who are competing for the Buy Box. Sellers that meet the minimum requirements will then be eligible to take a share.
The minimum criteria required to be eligible for the Amazon Buy Box
1. Professional Account. Amazon states officially that only sellers with Professional Accounts can be eligible for the Buy Box. However, we have had multiple reports from sellers with Individual accounts who say they have won the Buy Box.
2. The items must be new in order to be eligible. Used items will compete separately in the 'Buy Used Box'
The share of the Buy Box, and therefore orders, each seller actually gets will be based on Amazons further evaluation of your metrics and offer.
So, for example, a seller with 'perfect' metrics, and lots of stock, who has recently sold 500 units of a product may spend 75% of the day as the Buy Box seller. The five remaining eligible sellers may only get a 5% share of the day each.
How do I check if I am eligible to compete for the Buy Box?
For US based sellers go to your 'Inventory' page and then click on 'Manage Inventory' and 'Preferences'. For the 'Buy Box Eligible' field select 'Show When Available'. You can then check each of your ASINS for eligibility. Unfortunately, this feature is not currently available in the UK or Europe.
How to check your Buy Box Percentage share
It can be very useful to keep monitoring the percentage share you are achieving for each ASIN. To view your Buy Box percentage simply go to your Amazon Seller Central 'Reports'. Then look at 'Business Reports' and then 'By ASIN – Detail Page Sales and Traffic'. This will give you a run down of the percentage share you are currently getting for each of your ASINS.
If you have the Buy Box a high percentage of the time and are still not getting sales then why might this be? Also if you are not winning the Buy Box at all or only a small percentage of the time what steps can you take to improve your share?
What happens when Amazon is also a seller?
When calculating the share of the Buy Box Amazon is treated like any other FBA seller but is presumed to have 'perfect' metrics. That means if you also have 'perfect' metrics you can still beat Amazon on price, stock levels, sales history or other factors.
Amazon used to always automatically win the Buy Box on books and media if they had stock. They now allow marketplace sellers to compete and sometimes win.
We often beat Amazon when we go head to head for the Buy Box even when we have a higher price. Don't be scared of competing directly with Amazon.
Deciding factors when competing with other eligible sellers for the Buy Box
Here are the factors that play a role in who is the Buy Box winner in the order we feel has the biggest impact. This will vary to some degree by product or category.
1. Fulfilment method used – One of the main reasons we always recommend people use FBA is that it hugely increases your chance of winning the Buy Box. You can be equal in all other factors with an FBM seller and still beat them to the Buy Box even if your price is higher.
For sellers with great fulfilment metrics, Amazon has now offered them the chance to use Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) This is a halfway house between FBA and FBM. Your customers get the advantages of buying through Prime and are therefore a lot more likely to purchase from you. Using SFP will also increase your chances of winning the Buy Box vs standard FBM sellers.
FBA – Fulfilled by Amazon – this is where you ship your stock to the Amazon warehouse and they take care of fulfilment and customer service.
FBM – Fulfilled by Merchant – this is when you ship orders to your customers directly and deal with customer service.
SFP – Seller Fulfilled Prime – this is where you store the products in your warehouse but offer express Prime shipping using Amazons approved carriers.
2. Price – this seems the most obvious way to win the Buy Box but it is not as simple as having the lowest delivered price. The better your metrics the higher your price can be against other eligible sellers and still win.
This is important to note when looking at your general Amazon strategy. Maintaining great metrics means you can win more Buy Boxes at higher prices and therefore have a healthier and more profitable business. For example, it is a fact that FBM sellers with perfect metrics can beat FBA sellers even when their price is higher.
3. Shipping time – this has a big impact and is another reason why being FBA gives you an advantage. It's all about the customer experience and if you have a lead time of 3-7 days you are going to struggle to beat any FBA sellers.
4. Availability – you can now set your items to be 'back-ordered' and FBA items are often automatically available for back-order. This is when customers can still order a product that is not immediately available. You can even win the Buy Box against other eligible sellers with back ordered stock if you beat them on other factors. Amazon wants to make the most products available for purchase at any time from the best sellers at the best price. If you have stock on the way to the FBA warehouse Amazon will put you into the mix and you can still win the Buy Box.
5. Order Defect Rate – ODR is a combination of negative feedback, A-Z claims and chargebacks. If you go over the 1% acceptable rate then this will have a serious impact on eligibility for the Buy Box. It may also put your account at risk of suspension so keep monitoring this. One bad feedback or A-Z claim can suddenly lose you a lot of your Buy Boxes and therefore have a huge impact on your profits.
6. Your Sales history on the product – we have often beaten lower priced sellers, and even Amazon themselves, purely because we have been in the Buy Box for the longest and sold the most. This is a self-fulfilling rule – the longer you have the Buy Box the more units you sell therefore the more likely you are to win the Buy Box.
7. Shipments and tracking – if you are an FBM seller and want any chance of competing you need to maintain your 'Valid Tracking Rate' close to 100% and also your 'Late shipment Rate' below 4%. Amazon will not put you forward for customers to buy from if you have proven to offer a poor service.
8. Seller Feedback – your most recent feedback rating will have a significant impact on whether your win the Buy Box.
9. Customer Response time – it might not seem important but we have witnessed the importance of this ourselves. We had held the Buy Box for a good period of time on a very profitable product. All other metrics and our competition remained the same. We had one message that went over the 24 hour response time and we lost the Buy Box on that product instantly. This cost us a lot in profits and it took over a month to win it back. This demonstrates how important it is to maintain perfect scores on all your metrics.
10. Stock levels – yes, this does play a role. It is also a simple way to help decide whether you should stock a product or try to compete with Amazon. If the Buy Box seller has hundreds of units in stock then they will be difficult to displace even if you go lower on price. If all the other sellers have just one or two units and you come in with ten, even as a new seller you may be able to take over.
For FBM sellers if you have a high pre-order cancellation rate, refund rate or return dissatisfaction rate this will also have an impact on eligibility.
Now you know all about how the Amazon Buy Box works – but what strategies can you use to actually win it?
The best strategies for winning the Buy Box and making more profits
You need to weigh up the quickest and most cost-effective ways to increase your Buy Box eligibility. For example, you may not be able to offer free or fast shipping but all sellers can maintain perfect metrics. Let's look at some of the options available to increase sales and profits.
1. Sell using Amazon FBA and not FBM
Being an FBA seller will have the biggest immediate impact on Buy Box eligibility. Being FBA will also lead to improvements in other criteria such as feedback, shipping time etc. So this one change can make a massive difference.
A lot of new sellers start out with FBM and then plan to try FBA if things work out. These sellers will be new and FBM and therefore are unlikely to win any Buy Boxes. Therefore they don't get orders and give up. If you are determined to do FBM longer term you should still start out with FBA.
Remember not only does it give you these Buy Box advantages it also means less work and more profit on most items.
If you sell on other platforms and want to control your inventory remember you can still use Multi-Channel Fulfilment (MCF). With MCF you can fulfil orders from other platforms from your FBA inventory.
Another option is to just maintain a minimum stock level at FBA and replenish it when required.
It is an uphill struggle to compete on Amazon if you are not FBA and most sellers who quit are FBM. If you are still determined to remain FBM then at least aim for Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP).
2. Reduce your Order Defect Rate
Is your ODR over, or about to go over, 1%? A good strategy is to quickly increase order volume which therefore reduces your ODR%. Choose a low value, high demand, small product which you can source in bulk. Make sure you can win the Buy Box with either a small profit or even a small loss. Price to win the Buy Box and you should get a high volume of orders in a short period of time which will then drop your ODR%. Even if you lose $1 per sale it is a good investment as losing Buy Box eligibility can prove very costly.
TOP TIP: This is also a good way to avoid being suspended for a high ODR%. If you get suspended you will have to appeal which can take weeks or months to resolve and you will not be getting any orders while you wait.
3. Improve your recent Sales history on the product
So what do you do if another seller is dominating the Buy Box for your ASIN? Your best strategy may be to win the Buy Box by undercutting them even if this means losing money in the short-term. Your recent sales history will then improve and Amazon is more likely to let you keep the Buy Box. Amazon seems to look at sales volume over the last 7-10 days when calculating this.
You can then gradually increase your price while still holding the Buy Box as your recent sales volume keeps increasing. We have managed to go 20% or more over competitors pricing and still keep the Buy Box on some products because of recent sales velocity.
This strategy works well and is a great way 'bully' other sellers off their Buy Box position and to take over on new products.
4. Improve your seller Feedback Rating
Remember when selling on Amazon the customer is king. As an FBA seller, it is easier to remove negative feedback which may have killed off your Buy Box eligibility. Often bad feedback is a result of late shipping or items arriving damaged. If the order was placed through FBA you can request the feedback is removed as fulfilment is Amazon's responsibility.
If you are an FBM seller you are pretty much left to work things out with the customer and it can be difficult to persuade them to remove the negative feedback. This is another important advantage of being FBA and the wider impact it can have.
5. Pricing still often decides who wins the Buy Box
All things being equal price is the deciding factor. You may often find your competitors pricing constantly changing making it impossible to get the Buy Box. When you lower your price to win the Buy Box another seller instantly undercuts you? These sellers are most likely using automated repricing software. These services plug into your seller account and constantly monitor your competitor's pricing. They will then change your own pricing automatically following a set of predefined rules.
When a lot of sellers are using repricing software it can create a 'race to the bottom' and reduce margins.
TOP TIP: Always MATCH the Buy Box price rather than undercut the competition. Hopefully, other sellers will also match and you can all share the Buy Box and orders for that product. A 20% share of the orders at a healthy profit is better than nothing at all. If there are a lot of high volume low margin sellers who like to undercut rather than match then it is best to avoid selling the product.
Improve your chances of winning the Amazon Buy Box with repricing
Manual repricing
This can be very time-consuming and if other sellers are using software if can be impossible to keep up. If you are changing prices manually then it might be best to stick to a price you are happy with and then wait for other sellers to go out of stock. Check Keepa to see how often these 'stock-outs' actually happen. If they never seem to happen and it's a competitive ASIN then you may need to just clear your stock and move on.
You can adjust all your prices weekly or monthly depending on the amount of SKUs you have. You might find a slight change in price can still win the Buy Box.
Use Amazon's 'Automate Pricing' tool
Amazon own 'Automate Pricing' tool is free to use but the options are fairly limited. Remember it is in Amazon's interest to give customers the best deal and not to make you the most profit. This is reflected in the options available to set up different pricing rules. You will win more Buy Boxes but are not likely to increase overall profits.
Use intelligent Amazon repricing software
With intelligent repricing software, you can set much more complex rules and this can make a huge difference to profits. You can choose exactly who to compete with and change pricing only when you actually need to. Users report an average of a 35% increase in sales and a 37% increase in Buy Box share using this software.
Also, the most important advantage of using intelligent repricers is the ability to INCREASE PRICE when other sellers go out of stock. There is a lot of profit to be made with this feature.
We recommend using Repricerexpress which covers all marketplaces and they offer a 30-day free trial to our readers. Simply use code 'TSG' to get the extended trial.Get your FREE 30 Day FREE Trial of Repricerexpress today!
Winning the Buy Box FAQs
Q: If Amazon has the Buy Box should I try to compete?
A: They will share like any other FBA seller on most items. They will sometimes let you have the Buy Box even at a higher price. Check their stock levels as this can be a good indicator of whether they are likely to share.
Q: I have my own Private Label listing – why am I not in the Buy Box?
A: If you have poor metrics, are a new seller, are not FBA or have recently changed your price you may not get the Buy Box.
Q: Why is there no Buy Box for my product?
A: This is because none of the sellers met the requirements to be eligible. It can often be because the prices are over MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price). On discontinued products, you can often go over the MSRP and still have the Buy Box.
The main things to focus on are to maintain great metrics at (almost) any cost and to use Amazon FBA for fulfilment. We also recommend using Repricerexpress. A combination of these strategies will have a huge impact on your business.
If you have any questions or suggestions for other strategies to win the Buy Box please take the time to post a comment below. This will help your fellow Amazon sellers.
You are also very welcome to join our friendly and supportive Amazon Facebook Groups;
Amazon Selling for Beginners – for those starting out on their Amazon selling journey.
Amazon FBA Masters – for more experienced sellers and those looking at starting in Private Label selling.Click to get your FREE Buy Box Guide & Cheatsheet
Useful Resources
How To Sell On Amazon: A Beginners Guide
Try Repricerexpress – intelligent repricing software
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4 Comments
I'm a bit interested in hearing more about getting the Buy Box as a new seller.
We are currently selling through FBM, but this week we will convert our listings to FBA listings and send the stock to Amazon.
However, it's now 14 days since our launch. We've had sales and so on (still no reviews even though we got +50 sales), but we don't have the Buy Box (private label listing – we are the only seller on our listing).
Can er expect to get the Buy Box when Amazon get's our stock in their warehouse, or are we looking at months of waiting time?
Our biggest struggle is not being able to run PPC campaigns…
I just love these guys. From what I have seen they are the most honest in the Amazon world

subset: commoncrawl


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Welcome to the new Chronic Pain group.
I'm Kelsey and I'm the moderator of the group. I look forwarding to welcoming you and introducing you to other members. Feel free to browse the topics or start a new one.
Why not take a minute and introduce yourself.
Liked by Kari Ulrich, Alumna Mentor, lauren123, John, Volunteer Mentor, @parkerm ... see all
Hi @reft, welcome to Connect. I see that you posted a blank message. I am here to help if you need assistance or pointers on how to post on Connect. If you have any questions and would be more comfortable speaking privately, feel free to send me a personal message by clicking on my name and then the mail symbol below my picture.
You may also use the following link to contact a community moderator https://connect.mayoclinic.org/contact-a-community-moderator/.
Hello. New member and I live in Colorado with my husband and crazy cat. lol! I've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, diabetic neuropathy, diabetes II, and a handful of mental health issues. It saddens me to hear of all that people go through with their chronic pain. I wish I had a magic 'fix' for all of it. I need this group so much. Thank you for having me.
Liked by Jen, Alumna Mentor
Go to barrowneuro.org to see a list of affiliated doctors and phone numbers to call to request an appointment. There is detailed info on each doctor with their specific specialties within the field of neurology and neurosurgery, so you can request an appointment with whatever doctor best suits your needs. There is also info on each's doctor's training, experience, etc. The website also offers a second opinion option. For a flat fee of $100 you can submit your MRI or other imaging results, together with questions and concerns you may have, and one of their doctors will review your case and give you his/her opinion. If you decide you want their recommended treatment, you are under no obligation to have it done through Barrow–you can share the info with your own doctor wherever you live. I used this option 3 years ago and got the second opinion within a couple of days, and they were able to schedule me for surgery within a couple of weeks. I was getting the run-around with a doctor here, so I chose to travel to Phoenix for surgery. I got excellent care there. Barrow is a teaching institution for neurology and neurosurgical residents, so the hospital is fully staffed with experts in the field. I may use them again to deal with my current issues. If you have the time and resources to travel to Phoenix this is an excellent option; they accept most insurances. There is a Hampton Inn directly across the street from the hospital which is super convenient. Good luck!
Hello @dante, welcome to Connect, and thank you for sharing your concerns regarding pain medications, knee replacement, and back surgery.
We would love for you to start a new discussion in the Bones, Joints & Muscles group asking other members about your concerns with back surgery. We have a lot of members who have talked about back surgeries and we think a new discussion specific to back surgeries would be a great addition to the group.
You can start a new discussion by going to the https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/arthritis-and-joint-conditions-268850/ group and clicking on the "Start A Discussion" tab. Then, start a discussion specific to the surgery you will be having or are concerned about. From there we can bring in members who may have experiences similar to yours.
I would very much like to see a discussion on back surgeries and non-surgical options.
Liked by Justin McClanahan
Dear Clownscrytoo: Welcome to our group! I like your idea for a magic "fix". Personally, I also pray for miracles whenever I can. There are so many of us out here, and we do help each other by sharing and listening. Glad to have you with us. Frank
Hello @connielaine. I edited your previous post and removed your email from public view. For your privacy and safety we ask that you exchange emails via the private message function.
I see that you found one discussion regarding burning mouth syndrome, but here is another you may wish participate in, http://mayocl.in/2d5g7f5.
If you have any other questions about emails, or how Connect works, do not hesitate to send me a personal message with your questions. To do this click on my name, and then click on the envelope symbol under "contact me."
Liked by Colleen Young, Connect Director
I wonder if our ancestors dealt with the level of chronic pain that seems to afflict so many of us today, and if they did, how did they treat it? Maybe we could learn from the different cultures what their magic fixes were.
And welcome to the group. I live in Oregon with my wife and 2 dogs and 2 horses that belong to friends. 34 head of cattle grazed the pasture for a few weeks, but moved on to their winter home the other day. I miss them. They figured out to come up by the barn whenever I was out there, filling the water troughs.
Dear Connielaine: I got burning mouth syndrome the last time after I was diagnosed with hypothyroid, (I had had BMS off and on for a few weeks at a time several times ever since I was in my 20's (I'm 64 now), but it always went away "on its own". I don't know whether this time the thyroid had anything to do with it.) This time (this was six years ago) the BMS lasted over a month, so I decided to do something about it. My doctors and dentist had no solutions, so I looked on the internet and found that there was some scientific evidence that 600 mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid a day relieved the BMS symptoms to some degree. (There is also something out there called Alpha Linolenic Acid, also abbreviated ALA, which is DIFFERENT from Alpha Lipoic Acid, which is the one you want, if you chose to take it.) So I bought a 4 month supply (it's not prescription, but a dietary supplement) of Alpha Lipoic Acid, and began taking it. After a month of taking it religiously 600 mg a day, my burning mouth symptoms had gone. In the six years since, they haven't returned. Whether Alpha Lipoic Acid was the reason, I can't say, because I also started taking Levothyroxine for my hypothyroid at about the same time, and when I was younger BMS went away on its own. I am NOT in the medical profession at any level; I am just relating to you what happened to me as a patient. You might want to try this, but CHECK WITH YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER BEFORE YOU DO. Also you can search the internet for "alpha lipoic acid and burning mouth syndrome" and find a number of scientific references. I hope this is of some help to you. Frank
I have lived with sports induced Spondylolisthesis for almost forty years now. I tried just about everything in my search for relief from the chronic pain. a bit more than 10 years ago I attended the Pain Management Clinic in Rochester and my life turned around. Yes I still have pain and understand I will until they can learn to repair damaged nerve endings. The up-side is I learned how to deal with it without medications, without missing out on family activities, with minimal deprival of "fun" things. It hasn't been easy but life has been pretty darn good since my time at the clinic!
Liked by Colleen Young, Connect Director


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New York Times reporter Daniel Victor undertook an interesting experiment last year: He recorded a little bit of video every day, then used an app called 1 Second Everyday to stitch the videos together into a six-minute video.
It's a fascinating slice of life — a lot of the snippets were mundane scenes at work, barbecues, and drinks with friends, and playing video games. But there were also peak experiences like sporting events, concerts (including Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, which happened to be the best show I saw last year), and a trip to South Africa. Watching it, I resolved to try to have more of those peak experiences this year. We'll see how that works out.
Victor writes that the experience didn't force him to go out and do more things, but it did change how he preserved memories: "I often found myself forgoing quick-hit posts to Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook in favor of the delayed gratification of one big video, a year in the making."
Watch the video below. If you want to do the same in 2016, now's the time to download the app. It costs $2.99.


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Thinking of ordering from Evolution Slimming online? Make sure you use our latest discount code and get the best deal on your purchase. We promise to search for the latest codes every day and all are fully tested and working right now.
In case you have not been enticed by the wide product range, great customer service, money-back guarantee and free postage, Evolution Slimming is currently offering customers the following extra 10% discount code, which can also be used on products already discounted by 50% -
Latest Evolution Slimming coupon code
Last tested: Today July 28, 2014
simply click the link below, then type the code: WGSLIM10 when prompted at checkout to receive 10% off your order.
Who are Evolution Slimming?
Evolution Slimming are a well known UK supplement manufacturer and retailer with a physical presence in Canterbury, and an online presence via its easy to use website.
The company specialises in manufacturing and supplying quality dietary and weight loss products. They pride themselves on offering innovative products using only high quality herbal ingredients.
All of the branded products and those manufactured in the UK are produced to GMP (good manufacturing practice) standards. Prices are extremely competitive and the website regularly advertises its products at special discount prices. The discount code offered above is additional to any existing website deals and makes the company's prices truly exceptional!
Evolution Slimming's Product Range
Evolution Slimming offers an impressive range of products. Currently, one of the most popular ingredients within slimming products is Raspberry Ketone, and Evolution Slimming offers a whole range of products based on this exciting ingredient: there are a couple of raspberry ketone fat burners, a Detox Cleanse, and a product that combines raspberry ketone with another popular and effective weight loss product – green coffee – to create another best seller: 'Raspberry Ketone & Green Coffee'.
Prospective customers should browse the whole range before deciding which product best suits their needs: the company also has products based upon other scientifically proven and popular ingredients, such as garcinia cambogia, acai berry, goji berry, baobab powder, bee pollen and African mango.
And if you find, having browsed the website, that you are simply spoiled for choice, Evolution Slimming offers interactive questionnaires and offers recommendations based upon your answers. If that fails, then the 'live chat' facility may help; and if new technology is just a little too new for you, you can always resort to the good old-fashioned telephone or email for advice. Knowledgeable staff are always available to offer assistance, whatever medium you select.
Delivery and Shipping – Evolution Slimming offers free delivery, by second class post, to addresses in the UK and Northern Ireland and is happy to ship throughout the world for a small charge.
Why buy from Evolution Slimming?
The company offers excellent customer service, both before and after sales. Customers who change their minds within 7 days of purchase may simply cancel their orders and pay merely the cost of returning the unwanted goods.
A 30 day Money Back Guarantee is offered on all products, no customers' card details will ever be stored, and online transactions are entirely secure – all of which ensures that there is absolutely no risk in buying products from Evolution Slimming.
Before you place your first order, check out the customer reviews on the website and take note of Evolution Slimming's 'Trusted Shops Guarantee' status.
This is a company that always goes the extra mile to satisfy its customers. As well as ensuring its well-trained staff are available to offer support and advice, customers are offered free diet plans by email, and can view a range of online videos explaining some of the science behind their impressive products.


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Interactivos?'17 - Re-imagining movement in the city: citizen science for a sustainable present
Medialab-Prado is launching an open call for the submission of projects and research articles for the international collaborative prototyping seminar and workshop to be held in Madrid from 17 to 31 May 2017. As a theme, Interactivos?'17 suggests mobility in the city (living beings, material goods, pollutants, etc) on the intersection of three wide perspectives: citizen science, environmental sustainability and creativity and art with digital tools.
The workshop will be held from 17 to 31 May. Over the first two days there will be a seminar open to the public in which international experts and the authors of the selected articles will present their work. This will be a space in which to inspire and be inspired, to get to know others and to make yourself known. On these days the promoters of the selected projects will tell us what they aim to do in the workshop and everyone present will have a chance to meet each other.
Following the 2-day seminar the production workshop itself will begin, wherein promoters will develop the proposed prototypes, working hand in hand with collaborators. This workshop will be intensive and exciting: a space for exchange and experimentation. We will be helped along by coaches who will provide assistance and advice throughout the process.
The workshop will end with a public presentation of the resulting prototypes. The prototypes will then be included in an exhibition at Medialab-Prado.
Web information:
Conference Website


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I was looking into the built-in SSRS report titled 'Client push installation status details'. This report shows the status of all client push attempts, including error codes.
I needed to extend this information for a client to include the workstations Active Directory Site name. I looked into SSRS and noticed it used the following stored procedure.
I looked into the stored procedure put together this query, adding information regarding the AD Site code.
The table seen below lists explanations for some of the possible exit codes.


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William & Mary deeply appreciates each and every gift from our incredible alumni, students, parents and extended community. Your generosity increases scholarship offerings for students, provides funds to support scholarly endeavors for faculty, augments academic programs, and enhances current facilities and helps build new ones. W&M values your contributions to our community and we operate in accordance to the Donor Bill of Rights.
Through William & Mary Giving Societies, we recognize annual gifts from individuals and corporations that support all areas of the university. For all societies, membership is determined by gifts made during the previous fiscal year, which is from July 1 - June 30. For fiscal year 2017, which began July 1, 2016, there are several new giving societies that help W&M acknowledge and celebrate our donors and the impact of their gifts.
More than 50,000 donors made gifts to William & Mary during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2018. William & Mary is truly grateful for every gift from our alumni, students, parents and extended community.


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Biological Imaging: The Use of Microscopy to Observe and Photograph Life
Continuing Education Course
Related Categories
Course Description
Capturing images of nature and biological phenomena is an essential component of the scientific process; it is also an intricate aspect of art. In this course we will utilize macro lenses and dissecting stereo microscopes, as well as compound and fluorescent microscopes to obtain images of the microscopic world. Students will photograph marine invertebrates, including sea urchins, starfish, tunicates, comb jellies, anemones and sponges. Under the high-mag objective, we will image zooplankton and phytoplankton from marine and freshwater samples, and tissues prepared with our hands for microscopic observations. Students will develop a portfolio of images through projects that can include still life, video, time-lapse imaging, stereo pairs of 3D images, focal stacking and high-dynamic range photography. See what you can discover under magnification.


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These Vinum Chardonnay glasses are made of 24-percent lead crystal by Riedel, renowned glassmakers in Europe. Wine connoisseurs will particularly appreciate the care and design that goes into making sure each Vinum glass is the perfect shape for enhancing the bouquet and flavor of specific varietals.
The finest glasses for both technical and hedonistic purposes are those made by Riedel. The effect of Riedel glasses on fine wine is profound. Make a journey through our world of glasses and senses with Riedel wine glasses today.


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Technical Support
We offer a variety of links to official sites of the manufacturers of the components. There you will find the latest versions of drivers, BIOS and Firmware for your components.
- motherboards, server chassis, RAID Controllers, LAN Equipment and more
official FTP site with all the latest drivers - ftp://supermicro.com
list with new BIOS versions - http://supermicro.com/support/bios/
information for IPMI (KVM over LAN) modules - http://supermicro.com/products/nfo/IPMI.cfm
list with all manuals - http://supermicro.com/support/manuals/
list with heatsinks used in PERSY - http://www.supermicro.com/support/resources/Thermal/index.cfm
|Adaptec - RAID Controllers
| LSI Logic / 3ware - RAID Controllers
| ATI / AMD - Video Controllers, Processors
| Intel - Processors, LAN Cards, RAID Controllers
| nVIDIA - Video Controllers
| ASUS - Motherboards, Video Controllers
Service Team:


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Enjoy a relaxing evening at Bella Italia, where every dish is created to order using only the finest and freshest ingredients. Sample a sumptuous pasta dish or taste a delectable seafood creation. Whichever meal you choose, the perfect wines are available to match the flavours.
Whether it's a quiet dinner for two or a great night out with friends and family, an evening at Bella Italia is one to remember. Reservations are recommended. Business meetings or receptions for up to 90 guests can also be accommodated.


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Featuring an anti vibration system in addition to simple to use durable
controls, the 415CSX is designed to be simple and comfortable to use. A
primer bulb and choke make starting simple and reliable, and the 16 inch
Oregon cutter bar and chain ensures high performance.
Safety is paramount and the 415CSX features a new and improved twin
mounted chain brake handle, with manual and inertia engagement. A wide
lower rear handle protects hands and soft grip ensures positive handling
in use.
Walbro Japan
Fuel / Oil Mixture
Bar Lengths
16in / 40cm Oregon
Dimensions (L x W x H mm)
Dry Weight
All orders received Monday to Friday will be dispatched the following working day. Orders received Saturday & Sunday will be dispatched the next working day. Subject to stock availability.
Most deliveries will be made by Royal Mail, but for larger and heavier items an alternative courier will be used. We pay for a next working day courier service to UK mainland but unfortunately couriers don't guarantee this so extra time must be allowed. Delivery to the Highlands and Islands takes up to an extra 2 days. Delivery will be attempted according to the terms and conditions of the courier. Any subsequent delivery attempts or refusal is the responsibility of the customer and as such all charges incurred by us will be passed on to the customer.
Goods can be returned to us within 14 days of purchase, in their original packaging and in saleable condition, for a full refund or exchange for the following reasons:
If you wish to return goods, please email us through our contact us page to arrange their return, or telephone us on 01704 542894.
Please include a note stating your name, address, telephone number and reasons for the return or details of the exchange required. Failure to do this will result in a delay processing your return.


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Negotiating Financial Agreement in East Asia
Surviving the Turbulence
Prices & shipping based on shipping country
Book Description
Every international negotiation bears a risk of collapse, as even among like-minded countries, different players often have different priorities and interests. This can result in conflict as states clash over certain agreement details, and their disputes can escalate and founder the entire negotiation, missing an opportunity to realize potential initiatives. However, other circumstances have witnessed the cases of successful deals. This begets a puzzle: What did these states do to salvage their talks and seal their deals?
This book examines East Asian financial negotiation processes and seeks to explain why some negotiations are successful despite the risk of bargaining failure. Using the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) talks as the case study, the book analyses how states with little prior experience at dealing with certain aspects of an agreement manage to avert negotiation failure and successfully conclude their final deal. Using extensive archival research, in-depth interviews with involved negotiators and experts, and process-tracing method, it reconstructs the making of the CMIM agreement. The multi-country analysis reveals the roles played by key actors, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, in shaping the agreement terms. The book goes on to argue that preventing a stalemate or succeeding in concluding arrangements like the CMIM is a product of various strategies and tactics employed by negotiators. These include employing bargaining strategies and tactics that help avoid a negotiation deadlock, and assessing the conditions under which such strategies and tactics are likely - or unlikely - to achieve the objective of avoiding bargaining failure.
As a study of East Asian economic negotiation processes, this book will be of huge interest to students and scholars of East Asian cooperation and regionalism as well as finance, international business, international relations and international political economy.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 2. How Countries Evade Negotiation Stalemate 3. China 4. Japan 5. South Korea 6. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand 7. Conclusions
View More
Kaewkamol Karen Pitakdumrongkit is Assistant Professor in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.


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Heating and gas specialists based
in East London.
Call us now on 07816 504 352
CGS Construction is a family run Heating and Plumbing company based in East London.
We are small enough to be able to personalise our high level of customer service to meet your individual needs.
The only advertising we do is on Social Media and our excellent reputation continues to grow from this.
CGS are proud to use local merchants & suppliers and know that this is a way of giving back to our community. We supply and fit all brands of Boilers and will give you honest and professional advice and customer feedback about those brands.
Established over 15 years ago, we have a wealth of knowledge and experience. Our engineers are Gas Safe registered for your peace of mind.
Helping the local community
We are proud shirt sponsors of AFC Leyton. Established in 2015, AFC Leyton is a non-profit girls only football club operating in East London and created with the belief that participation in sport can be transformative for girls and young women.
No callout charge
15+ years experience
Family run
100% 5* reviews
CGS have a wealth of experience in the plumbing and heating industry. Below is a non-exhaustive list of some of the types of work we undertake.
Having used CGS to service our boiler last year, Stewart was the first person we called when the boiler packed up last week. He installed a new boiler for us within 48 hours at a great rate and left everywhere clean and tidy. We'd really recommend CGS. Thank you!
Rebecca Morris
CGS were easy to organise with, prompt, friendly, great prices, much quicker than anyone has been with our boiler before and very considerate people to have in our home. Could not be more pleased with the service!
Floss Cobb
Stewart came out on a Sunday evening to take a look at our broken pipe in less than 30 minutes interrupting his own Sunday lunch. Top class work and reasonable. Would use him again !
Cher Brighton
Another 5* recommendation for Stewart. Prompt, great service and a really nice guy too. Couldn't ask for more. Will definitely only be using CGS in the future.
Zoe Cook
Get in touch using the form below, or give contact us on:
07816 504 352
Between the hours of 8am to 8pm Monday to Sunday. Outside of these hours please leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.


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ICD-9 code 747.3 for Congenital anomalies of pulmonary artery is a medical classification as listed by WHO under the range -CONGENITAL ANOMALIES (740-759).
HEALTHCON Regional 2020 daily wrap-up day 2.
The post HEALTHCON Regional 2020 Daily Wrap... [ Read More ]
Learning to adapt is the key to success and the way to thrive in an ever-changing world. With a pandemic continuing to ravage many parts of the country, AAPC decided to change course and transform ... [ Read More ]
Wondering if the AAPC online CPC® exam is right for you?
The post Taking the Online CPC® Exam appea... [ Read More ]
Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule lays the groundwork for payment and policy changes in 2021.
The post [ Read More ]
And that's not all: CMS has issued new coding guidance, too. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented 12 new ICD-10-PCS codes to allow Medicare and other insurers to... [ Read More ]


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Find Hostels all over the World
New Tbilisi Hostel, HOSTEL in Tbilisi Georgia.
New Tbilisi Hostel.
Makhatis Shesakhvevi 22, Tbilisi, Georgia
Located near: Tbilisi Hostel is located in 5 minute walk from the Avlabari Metro Station. Avlabari is one metro stop from Freedom Square (Tourist Information Center). The Central Market is 92 m away. Freedom Square is just one stop from Avlabari.
The traditional rooms and dormitories at Tbilisi Hostel feature elegant hardwood floors.
Free Wi-Fi,ashared kitchen and grounds with barbecue facilities are offered here.
This lively hostel is just a 10 minute walk from Tbilisi Old Town and a 3 minute walk from Avlabari Metro Station.
The Central


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Album Review: Alicia Keys, The Element of Freedom
The Element of Freedom (released December 2009)
After listening to Alicia's newest album, I came to a very sound conclusion – she must have had some crappy boyfriends since we last heard from her on 2007's As I Am. The majority of The Element of Freedom's tracks either deal with getting over heartbreak or convincing herself (and her friends) that her new man isn't as bad as he seems.
But great albums are born from pain. Ask Mary J. Blige. And while The Element of Freedom is no My Life, it's close. Really close.
That out-of-the-box approach is what makes this album a winner. Alicia took the freedom theme to heart as she dabbles in all sorts of sounds. "Love Is My Disease" is infused with Jamacian beats, "This Bed" is right out of Prince's playbook (she even does his squealing "baay-bay!" ad-libs) and "Un-Thinkable" is straight-up old school, smoldering R&B.
Her heart is in the right place on "Distance And Time," an ode to long-distance love, but it's pretty unremarkable – and that's coming from someone with lots of experience with long-distance love. And choppy lyrics and tired metaphors kinda hurt "Like The Sea."
The lack of a true standout single stops the album short of becoming a classic (her revamped version of "Empire State of Mind" could have done the trick, if Jay-Z's version wasn't already so played out). Still, Alicia has produced one of the strongest albums of her career, and likely the best R&B album of the year.
Best tracks: "Un-Thinkable," "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart," "That's How Strong My Love Is"
4 stars out of 5


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I am off today thankfully. Trying to get caught up and my first instinct is to write an awesome blog post because it has been awhile. Time is so cruel sometimes….grrrr. Anyway, so I see here that I have saved about 4 drafts of unfinished blog entries. As of now, they are still sitting in my drafts. I have one that covers all types of makeup brushes, one about perfume and yet another on my top 5 beauty products. As I have discovered since beginning this blog site, it takes time and accuracy to create these posts. I want them to be full of worthy information as well as include lots of cool photos. My work schedule has been extremely busy in the past month and that has lent itself to incomplete entries. Not good 😦
Well the buck stops here!
As much as I like a regular paycheck, I realized that trying to work full time, take care of my family AND get my new business off the ground was not working out so well. The hours that go along with retail are not workable in my situation. I can't possibly get everything done. So as of December 1st, I am 100% on my own and getting my freelance business off the ground. I am marketing myself like crazy, meeting lots of new people and making myself available to every opportunity possible. This will also allow me to work on my websites and my personal favorite, my blog site. I need to get camera and video savvy in a hurry to keep this site feeling fresh and inspiring!!
This adventure has been the best ever and I want to devote all of my energy to working in and talking about the profession I love so much. I am looking forward to diving right in and getting Supernatural Makeup Design off to a great start for 2013!
"Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you're living?"
~Bob Marley
Thank you as always for your support and interest.
(photo courtesy of old-picture.com)


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Our v1 interface. It looked great at the time, still can be used for some project with a 'space' look. The space ship it is separated and can be moved or transformed as desired. more >
|By gmorpheus (7)
|4 Feb 2006
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nivi172: 10 years ago
That is very cool. Thanks


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Monday, December 13, 2010
On the street
Have you tried yoga before?
When Heather Moise found out she was pregnant last year, she made the decision to do something just for her.
Only later did she realize it made everything easier for the whole family.
Just weeks into her pregnancy, Moise signed up for prenatal yoga classes at the Yoga Center of Lawrence, 920 Mass. She had never done yoga before but felt it could add to the experience of pregnancy.
"I think I just wanted something that was kind of pretty gentle and also would help me stretch out and limber up and prepare for the birth," Moise says. "It seemed like an awful relaxing (time), kind of a time to focus and get myself together."
And that's exactly what Moise's teacher, Kim Lacy, hopes for with the class, which goes year-round at the center. Lacy says the classes work to help the women carry the baby better, calm their nerves, relieve stress about the pregnancy process and prepare them for birth by strengthening them mentally and physically.
"When you're pregnant, it's important to be able to carry the baby, so having strength in your legs and in your spine is really important," Lacy says. "And the stretching that you do, the lengthening makes more space to be able to carry the baby more comfortably. And so, we lengthen the spine and make more space in the pelvis and make more space between the pelvis and the rib cage. It's easier to breathe and prepares the mother for labor."
Similarly, Christina Ihloff, a prenatal yoga instructor at Be Moved Studio, 2 E. Seventh St., says the prenatal yoga and support class she teaches helps students prepare for motherhood.
"The class is set up as also a support-style group, where there's kind of like a circle time where women can check in from week to week and talk about what they're experiencing," says Ihloff, a mother of two who is also an apprentice to a home-birth midwife. "Other women may be experiencing the same thing, and it's just great to get together and meet other people who are going through the same thing that you are. Because sometimes we kind of get the feeling of, 'I'm totally alone. Is this normal? Is this not normal?'"
The instructors say that the yoga poses have been adapted for the special needs of pregnant women. There are no deep twisting poses, nothing that might put pressure on the abdomen, and the use of props and deep breathing are especially emphasized.
"It's very gentle, and there's not a stress on doing the poses perfectly or getting in the exact right position," Ihloff says. "Whatever feels good and is allowing a woman to open up and relax deeper into the stretching, that's really the main goal.
"You don't need to be like a yogini to sign up."
Moise certainly wasn't, but after six months of prenatal yoga, she says she was a pro enough that the experience helped her through the birth of her twins in June. She says that she plans a return to yoga soon and wouldn't hesitate to use the practice again were she to have more kids.
"It was really quick and almost entirely painless," says Moise, who says she was in labor with her twins for less than two hours. "Kim called to congratulate me, and I said, 'No! It's 100 percent your work that made this possible.'"
— Staff writer Sarah Henning can be reached at 832-7187.
More like this story on Lawrence.com
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Primitive Christianity Revived, Again
Is bible study common in Quaker meetings? My husband is trying to start one in our meeting, but there is not much of a tradition of bible study in our meeting and there is some reluctance among the leadership to initiate one. The process to decide to do or not to do seems overly complicated. Is this something observed in a number of meetings?
Views: 306
If a session (regular or one-time) is to be promoted/offered by the meeting, it usually needs to be at least vetted by an appropriate committee or the whole meeting during Meeting for Business. This is for an obvious reason: the meeting is putting its name and reputation behind the session content. Any approval of something for Quakers can take a little while. First, it can take a bit of time until the appropriate committee or whole meeting meets in order to discuss it. Then, of course, Quaker process requires a sense of the meeting to be arrived at before the session would be approved. This may seem overly cumbersome - but after years of enduring this Quaker process myself - I have come to know it is a good thing and am grateful for this wonderful characteristic of Quakers.
If a session is more private in nature - but is using the meetinghouse facilities, generally someone can offer this without seeking the whole meeting's approval - but it needs to be clear that it is a private offering not sponsored by the meeting.
Most larger liberal Quaker meetings do offer Bible study either weekly or monthly. Smaller meetings may or may not - depending on the interest. It might be hard to find enough interest for regular Bible study at a small liberal meeting. But even just 2 0r 3 Friends could make a go for it.
I suggest framing it more as a Bible "sharing" than "study". Liberal Friends generally are not attracted to sessions that are (1) too heady, (2) too intellectual or doctrinal, (3) require advanced reading or preparation.
We started a weekly adult sharing around various spiritual passages several years ago, called "Circle of Friends". We at first thought we might just confine it to passages from the Bible, but then thought it would be better received if we opened it up to spiritual passages from all sorts of spiritual material - Christian or not. It has been immensely popular, attracting more Friends to our meeting. It has helped our meeting to more than double in size in just a few years. The person facilitating this weekly session simply pulls together the passage (usually from the internet), emails it out to the meetings email list, and reiterates that no preparation is ever needed, and no prior attendance is needed. The material has come from Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, and modern material. I can't over-express how this weekly session has helped our whole meeting go deeper spiritually.
Hello, Sherry Chermler! If a proposal for a Bible study doesn't meet with a favorable response in your meeting, you could also look for a meeting where it would be more welcome. Or even start a Bible study that is not restricted to one meeting. Janice Ninan at Collins would be a good person to discuss this with. Meeting For Worship: Sundays 11:00 A.M. 2345 Main Street Collins, NY 14034 ( 716) 532-1393. Sunday Worship at 11 AM PastorJanice Ninan (716) 532-4730.
Friends of Jesus has Bible study before every Meeting for Worship.
Friends Meeting of Washington has a monthly Bible study group following the Friendly Bible Study method from Friends General Conference.
But yes, as Howard says, the process of discernment (whether an individual's leading or a Meeting action) does tend to take a few months, whether it's about starting a new program, repainting, or building an addition (ok, that last would be more like "a few years").
Sherry Chemler: This is to apologize for not spelling your last name correctly. Bill Rushby
Thanks for the reference Mackenzie! Its a good place to start.
Mackenzie said:
Friends of Jesus has Bible study before every Meeting for Worship.
Friends Meeting of Washington has a monthly Bible study group following the Friendly Bible Study method from Friends General Conference.
San Francisco Meeting has Bible study first and third First-days before Meeting for Worship. We are presently studying the Book of Numbers.
I like the idea of having a small-group Bible study, preferably rotating from one home to another. The Mennonite churches I have attended do it that way, and the results are very good IMHO.
Thank you all. I'm compiling your suggestions to pass on to my husband who can then share them with whatever committee ministry and counsel assigns it to. Lets hope the value of the project and the process shine through.


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The safety chucks presented here, are easy and simple to use and have the following advantages:
They are offered as flange or pedestal bearings and can be delivered with or without square gudgeon.
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After the material web is clamped by the pneumatic shaft with leaves, it is ready to begin the winding process.


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"Love makes the world go round," someone said to me once. Which was funny, because I always thought it was physics which did that. But it's true that love and laughter are the two most potent ingredients in the cocktail of the human spirit. For a minority, the world spins on money, which is unfortunate for the rest of humanity…
Hymn of the Big Wheel, Massive Attack
This post started on Saturday, when a young friend posted a quote meme on Facebook (a static image, posted as a video: why is that?): "Can a boy and a girl be best friends?" Aside from most of my closest friends being female (and many of them LGBTQ), I posted a comment:
If only humanity were evolved enough that we no longer needed to use gender-specific terms. Why can't two people just be best friends? Because humans are fundamentally flawed, and the only problem with the human mind is that it's conditioned by humanity. We need to start thinking differently.
Later that prompted me to comment on this video, posted by another acquaintance:
Frankly I found it disturbing (even without the 'Get close to lovely women' banner ad). It deals with a very real issue but one which is human-made, and which we ought to be able to transcend, like so many others we made. Instead, someone scared us and invented a weapon to sell to us.
We have the ability to leave or destroy the planet we share with those who were here first. Yet instead of realising the futility of conflict in a confined space, we continue to fight. Against whom? Opposing sexual identities, religious beliefs, skin colour… Differences.
We're at war with ourselves, yet all members of one race: The Human Race.
And so commerce continues to profit from the barriers it erected, way back at the beginning of religion, driving apart the two main factors likely to oppose in a shared environment: Not faith vs. atheism, but male vs. female. But only if they're stirred up. It's terrorism by any other name.
Can you see why our world is broken?
Our sense of entitlement means there are always capitalists to mould our needs. The only thing we truly own is ourselves, and we can think bigger…
From Reasons to Stay Alive, by Matt Haig
While I prefer Twitter to Facebook, the latter is always a dark window into the human condition and onto the state of the contemporary world around us.
The worlds I imagine – free of conflict and full of love and laughter – are idealised, but within reach. Physics makes the world go round and in an ideal world, that's the physical, self-determining beings who live there together. We can all afford to be more human.


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Review by Danny Gaisin
This paper rarely writes about radio; except maybe to complain ( commercials on Non-commercial stations; or those calling themselves NEW after a dozen years etc.) But in order to escape the Harry/Meghan Show, we listened to a CBC program entitled 'My Music' that featured Montreal's Denis Brott. A stalwart of the Orford String Quartet and with a deserved O.C. after his name, this renowned cellist proved to have a genuine sense of humour and an ability to tell stories that showed his own warts and failings. Obviously, in spite of his accolades, the man still has a sense of humility without egotism or excessive vanity.
The sixty-eight year old Brott; who was mentored by renowned cellist Gregor Piatogorsky, was a pivotal influence in the creation of the Canadian Council of the Arts which supplies heirloom instruments to deserving musicians. He created the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, has recorded with Koffman and Harnoy among others including a gig with Tony Randall. Each of his on-air narratives was presented with a mirthful aside; usually with Brott as the punchline goat!
Coming from a famous musical family, (late parents & brother), Denis certainly has added his own imprimatur to the Brott legacy. As a teacher, and given the style of his CBC program, this scribe would bet that his classes are never skipped or missed!


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Here are the word documents if you need to add/change anything. The fonts I used are Chinacat-thin and tweed. Click to download the free fonts!
Classroom Library Book Basket labels
Book labels
These are so cute, thanks! And I sucked my iced coffee into my nose when I noticed your little line below Kindertastic! Too funny!
Thanks for sharing the labels. They are just to cute.
OMG I do the exact same thing... but I did not save my labels. I am going to link this post to my post so more people can see our organized chaos!
Empowering Kinders and Other Kids Too
Thanks! I probably need to make more labels but I'm going to put that off for now :)
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Thanks so much!!! Love these!
Love the blog.. where did you get all of your great tubs?!
@Caitlin - target $ spot! i bought them last summer though. I think I saw some the last time I went to target though (last week)
Thank you for all of your wonderful ideas and freebies! I am loving your site. What size labels did you print these on? I am a library media specialist at an elementary school and I am using them to create tubs of the most popular books for the youngsters!
These are the nicest labels I've seen. As a 1st-year-ESL-Kindergarten teacher, I have to provide a print-rich environment for my ELLs. What would I do without people like you who share such amazing things?! Thank you :-)


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*sigh* Yeeeaah… but what's it rated?
February 18th, 2010 - Ryan
Let me paint a picture, before the article, to help spring-board this topic. I'm going to run through an actual "word-for-word" scenario (or at least as best as I can remember) that I've personally had, in dialogue form. Note anything strange you find in this exchange:
Me: "Hello."
Mother: "Can we look at a few games?"
Me: "Sure, for which system?"
Mother: "Umm…"
Kid: "DS."
Me: "Which game?"
Kid: "Star Wars."
Mother: "Um, the Clone Wars one, I guess. What's that rated?"
Me: "It's E10."
Mother: "Oh, nevermind then…"
Me: "Has he seen the movies or the animated TV series?"
Kid: "Yeah, I watch them all the time. They're great!"
Me: "It says this is rated E10 for "mild fantasy violence," which is going to be the same as the movies, or less."
Mother: "Do people die?"
Me: *confused look*?
Mother: "I mean do they fall over and disappear, or something like that?"
Me: "Oh, yeah, basically. The Star Wars series has always been good about not having blood or gore."
Mother: "Hmm no thank you; we don't like that. We prefer the Lego games where they just fall into Lego pieces."
Me: "… okay."
Kid: "Batman!"
Me: "Lego Batman?"
Mother: *to her son* "Do you have that one?"
Kid: "No."
Mother: "What's it rated?"
Me: "Umm, its E10, but it's a Lego game like the othe…"
Mother: "Never mind then."
Me: "It's literally just like the other Lego games; they just fall into Lego pieces."
Mother: "Yes, but clearly it's more violent."
Me: "Are yo…"
Mother: "Oh, didn't you want this Olympics game?"
Kid: "Oh yeah, I love Sonic!"
And so he left with "Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games." I don't mean to say that it's a bad game (it's a lot better of a choice then half of the "shovelware" in the DS case), but the point here is that the kid wasn't allowed to get either game he actually wanted. All because of an E.S.R.B. rating. The mother lacked the proper knowledge of the game industry and/or has a lack of faith in a retail clerk's opinion (which in most cases I couldn't blame her).
So what's the moral of this story? Well, this isn't the first time, nor is it the hundredth time, that I've had a parent fall back on the E.S.R.B. as an "out." Typically, they use it as a way to buy the kid a cheaper game, which is sometimes sickening to watch when the kid has no idea what's going on. But this lady's ongoing lack of common sense is perpetually suppressing her kid's childhood of gaming. If she continues to monitor his games in this way, he's going to miss out on gaming experiences that most gamers look back on with fond memories. This child was 8. When I was 8, I was playing Mortal Kombat, a crap-load of Street Fighter, and I had already been playing games like Battletoads, all of which are extremely violent.
Take a moment and think back to your fondest memories as an 8-year-old gamer. Unless you were raised like "Kid A" from the story above, you will find that you were also playing something that would have been rated "E10″ or higher by today's rating system. Now imagine your parents telling you that you can't play Mega Man, Altered Beast, or Street Fighter. Looking back now, as an enthusiastic gamer who grew up with the opportunity to play these games in my youth, I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like without them. Remembering a game like Street Fighter 2 after playing Street Fighter 4 and saying, "Man I love this; Why haven't I played the other games…? Oh, right, I wasn't allowed to." It would be utterly depressing to know I had missed out on the "hey-day" of the game series I now absolutely love because of my parents' incompetence. Imagine simply erasing that part of your childhood. The very thought brings me down.
This is something gamers don't typically think about because most of the time they're not exposed to it. As a gamer working in retail, I see how actually wide-spread this issue has become. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to start a movement or anything ridiculous like that; rather, I want to express my sympathy to the young gamers who are growing up and missing out on games that may shape their future gaming experiences. I also wish to reveal a facet of the video game industry through the eyes of a retail employee without the survey scores, hypocrisy, and Black Friday sales. *shivers*
It's really tough to draw a conclusion on this. The easy way would be to blame the E.S.R.B., and to say that the world of video games would be better off without them. Even though I personally think the rating system is broken, and too specific in many ways, I also understand the necessity for its existence. So the blame then logically shifts to the parents, right? Not doing their role in moderating the video games their kids play, and instead just lazily using the E.S.R.B. as an out… Well no, that's not really the answer either. You're never going to get parents who don't play games to fully understand them and be able to make logical decisions. I think the conclusion I'm going to end this on is that it's the gamers. "Did he just say it's my fault?" Not exactly. The E.S.R.B. isn't going anywhere, and even if they find a better way to rate games, there would still be parent issues. However, we as gamers can help filter this out, because its what we know and love.
As a retail worker, try to express your expertise and years of experience in order to help parents understand why it's okay for "li'l Jimmy" to play E10 games even though he's not 10 yet. Even if your not a retail worker, as gamers in general, help friends or family know not to take the ESRB so seriously, or even go the extra mile and tell a stranger that shows a uneducated interest. If you're in a retail store and you hear a mom say they can't get a game because "it has this or that in it," have some balls and speak up. Say "I've actually beat that game, the rating is exaggerated. My li'l brother plays it with me." Sometimes that's all they need. I've actually seen this and had someone interrupt me and reassure my customer without me having to say anything. Sure, it's not always going to work, and someone may scoff at you or tell you off, but it's our job as gamers to help maintain the integrity of our passion.
Still not convinced by my conclusion? What was your favorite game from when you were 8? Now imagine your parent saying you can't get that game because its too ______, and then some stranger speaks up and says "its actually not that bad." Your parent then decides to get the game for you based on his comment. Now imagine all the amazing experiences you had with that game.
Looking back, that guy is your hero.
Be a hero.


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