Fulfillment Fee

Just in case you have not heard, as of January 1st 2009 we will be charging a Reseller Fulfillment Fee of $2 or 2% on the order total, whichever is higher. We will only be taking this out of order where you have added a markup.  So, if you're only purchasing products for yourself or for resale and your purchasing this @MyCost, this does not apply to you.  

This will allow us to keep product prices competitive and continue offering our services to you free of any membership or usage fees, despite the increase in shipping costs, distributor minimum order fees, and credit card processing fees.

We want everyone to know that, despite the current economic situation, our company remains committed to the thousands of resellers that have signed up since we founded our company and would like to thank you for your support. We wish you and your family Happy Holidays and a prosperous 2009!

Are You Ready for a Change?

We now have a new President. The country has voted for change. The beginning of a new year is right around the corner. Are your ready for 2009?

If you're having problems in your computer consulting business because of the current economic conditions, constantly having price issue battles with your customers or you would just like to increase your income in your business.....then it's time for a change in your business. A change for the good.

One definition of insanity is continuing to do the same things over and over and over again, but expecting different results. There has to be a better way....and there is.

It can all start with a Free Report, created by one of our resellers, Steve Hurst, "The 7 Biggest Mistakes Computer Consultants Make With Their Business And How To Avoid Them!"

Once you read his Free Report, you'll discover the answers to mistakes you may be making in your computer consulting business. Mistakes that could be costing you hundreds and thousands of dollars. This report will help you “fix” those mistakes and increase the income of your business.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by getting this Free Report. For your copy, go to:

http://www.HelpMyComputerBusinessGrow.com

XP here to stay - at least for a little longer

Microsoft has been talking about phasing out XP for a long time now but June 30th was the real beginning of the end. Microsoft is sticking to its plan to cease providing PC makers with XP to preload on new PCs after June 30, as Microsoft is now letting customers know. Free Microsoft XP support through the Microsoft web site until April of next year and paid support is available until 2014.

If you or your customers don't want, or can't upgrade to Vista, we have a solution, at least until January of 2009. There are two different options available:

1) On most models, when you pick the OS, you can see an option that specifies you can downgrade to XP Pro. The system will come installed with Windows Vista Business but you can download and install XP.
2) In a few weeks you will see an added option called "Imaging Service". If you select the option "Custom Image Downgrade to Microsoft Windows XP Pro" you will receive the system with XP Pro installed and restore CD's for both Vista and XP.

If you have any questions in regards to this, do not hesitate to contact me.

Gas prices too high? Support remotely!

With gas prices being as high as they are (we're paying over $4 a gallon now here in California), you have at least thought about charging your customers a little more for on-site service to make up for the increased cost.

Even though this might seem the logical thing to do, you might want to reconsider. In today's economy your customer is certainly not going to be happy with a price increase and might look for alternatives or putting of certain service issues altogether. You'll probably make more friends if you can tell them that, with new technology, you can actually save them time and money.
Enter Remote Assistance.

The Solution
I'm using the term "remote assistance" loosely but it basically means that, with the right software, and a fast Internet connection between you and your customer, you can access your customers' computer from anywhere you have an Internet connection. This allows you to install software, set up peripherals , perform maintenance, troubleshoot and even teach customers.

Before I list some of the different options, I want you to realize that each option comes with its own peculiarities and usually means installation of some type of software on the users machine. Because of the large number of different options I will only discuss a few below. Make sure you find the solution that fits your needs by testing it.

Before your install any software on your customers' computer, make sure your customer understands the implications of installing this type of software on his system. For some customers it can be very frightening to know someone can access their PC, and potentially their information remotely.

Here's a small list of companies that offer either SaaS (software as a service) or downloadable software:

http://www.rapidassist.com/
http://www.gotoassist.com/
http://www.radmin.com/
http://www.teamviewer.com/
http://www.remote-desktop-control.com/
http://www.realvnc.com/
https://secure.logmeinrescue.com/HelpDesk/Home.aspx

How to land that order

We understand how difficult it can be to have the competitive edge when it comes to hardware and software sales, especially during an economic downturn which seems to be on everyone's mind. We've been there and done that.

How we can help
Just by having your customers source through us you've made the right decision. The combined buying power of all our reseller allows pricing to be very competitive, even with your commission. Besides carrying over 450,000 products at competitive prices, we can also help you compete against the likes of CDW and others.
How? Well, if you feel you need an extra edge with a "large deal", just give us a call or send us an email. We'd be happy to negotiate better pricing or discounts from manufacturers and we'll pass those savings right on to you. It's up to you to pass the discounts on to your customer or to increase your margin.

What is a "Large Deal" ?
We consider a large deal anything over $3,000 or if the your customer wants to order 3 or more of the same item. This is a guideline and we leave it up to you to interpret this. You can always call us Toll Free at 800 270 0700 if you feel you need a little extra "wiggle room".

Excuse our Dust while we Upgrade

If you haven't visited your storefront lately we strongly recommend you take a look at the layout of some of the main pages on the site. We have added more information and made it more accessible for you and your customers.

The RSS feeds seem to draw in large crowds too and some of our resellers have incorporated them into their own web site. If you're not sure how to add this to your own web site, just Google it.

There's a lot more going on in the background.
We have recently renewed our contract with one of the most reliable hosting companies in the country, Rackspace. We're getting brand new servers with more processing power and the latest technology so we're ready for the growth we're experiencing.

What does it mean for you? Well, over the next two weeks, until March 10, you might see some unresponsiveness of the web sites every now and then and maybe the web sites cannot be reached at all. Most of the migration process takes place at night but sometimes we need to make changes during the day. Please rest assured that the interruptions will be limited to a few minutes and most likely you will not even notice at all.

Our apologies for the inconvenience, we hope you like the improvements we're making on both the front- and back end.

Faster, Better Product Pages

We are proud to announce a partnership with Sellpoint, Inc.

Sellpoint provides animated product tours for a large number of products on our site. Flash animation, product manuals, detailed images are all part of the package. Look for the "View Product Tour" button below the product images. If you want to check it out, take a look at our part numbers 3333688, 3163924, 0414820. It is almost as if you can touch the product and it's a very powerful sales tool. We hope you and your customers will benefit from this great addition.

The partnership has also prompted us to take another look at the way we display the products information on the product detail page. We have re-designed the page and made significant improvements, not just in the way the information is displayed but there's more of it and it is displayed much faster than before.

Major Changes
Here are some of the most significant changes we have made:


1) A special block on the page which includes additional functionality like setting price and stock alerts.
2) We added a "buy together" section which displays the most popular accessory for the product. Both products can be added to the cart with one click of a button.
3) All accessories are conveniently located on the right hand side of the page
4) On the bottom of the page is a list of the 5 most popular products in the past hour. Popularity is calculated using product views and purchases.


We have already seen a dramatic increase in pageviews and an increase time spent on the site since Friday. We're working on adding social bookmarking and other great improvements of the site as a whole. I'll keep you posted.

Windows Home Server

It has been a year since Microsoft launched the Windows Home Server at the 2007 CES but it is now really taking off. HP currently has a 1TB and a 500GB version available of their HP MediaSmart server.

This is the perfect server for a busy family with multiple PCs or notebooks on the network and digital media they want to share, and not just on the local network.

It is a very simple system and it only needs power and a hookup to the Internet. Access to the server is done via the built-in web server.

Take a look at the specs here, or take a look at the demo here.

Use part numbers 3689337 and 3689336 to find both products on NextDayPC.com