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Free Online Shopping Cart

Free shopping cart software here!

onlinestore | 09 November, 2008 22:59

Take a look at my one of my beta sites www.mysamplestore.info, which I set up in Fastcommerce free shopping cart software. Fastcommerce Download center can provide you with a professional online cart and boost your small business. Fastcommerce has a free shopping cart software and excellent ecommerce solutions.

If you small business are no more than 50 products, you will always be free. Fastcommerce is an open source software Web 2.0 shopping cart solution". Using our free shopping cart software for your small business is completely our great honor.Very fast, basic features, easy to install. http://system.fastcommerce.com/ here for a free shopping cart

Fastcommerce best & easiest free shopping cart software

onlinestore | 07 November, 2008 05:09

Are you in need of a free shopping cart software program? Creating an online store ecommerce business has never been easier!

Fastcommerce.com provides the hosting and a robust free shopping cart software system with a full range of powerful features, LaughingABSOLUTELY FREELaughing. With our leading edge development and design, you can set up a free online ecommerce storefront within minutes! Whether you are looking for a free Paypal shopping cart or Myspace shopping cart or you just need a free hosted ecommerce shopping cart for your website we can help.

Fastcommerce will be the best and easiest free shopping cart software to make you online business bloom out of your expectation.

Fastcommerce Free Shopping Cart SoftwareLaughing

Fastcommerce.com is free to use

onlinestore | 27 October, 2008 06:01

Fastcommerce.com take your business online with a professional e-commerce website. Simply register and automatically create a professional web store with back office management for free.

Take a butchers. You won't be disapointed, and who knows, you could even snap up a bargain or two. 

Click here to register now!!

 

Effective Keyword Strategy for Ecommerce Sites

onlinestore | 21 October, 2008 04:59

When it comes to ecommerce sites, there are plenty of keywords to choose from. Because sites typically follow a fairly set format, numerous pages are created between the home page and the order confirmation page. Those pages all need keywords and phrases if they are going to rank high in the search engines. So, how exactly do you choose the best keywords for each page? Here's an easy strategy to follow. (Please keep in mind that all keyphrases used in this article are for example only and have not been researched.)

Home Page: Broad Keywords

When you start out, use keywords and phrases that are descriptive of your overall site. For example, if you sold clothing for the entire family, you might opt for phrases such as "ladies clothing," "men's clothing" or "kids clothing." Those would be expressive, but could also be worked easily into the home page copy.

Think of the sales process as a funnel. It's broad at the lip and gets more narrow as you move closer to the spout. The same goes for the keyword strategy: broad keyphrases at first and more specific ones as the subject matter gets more specific.

Category Page: Specific Keywords

Once you move to the category pages, you'll want to select keyphrases that work well with what you're trying to describe in your copy. If your visitor clicks on the women's shoes category, she'll want to read about and see pictures of women's shoes. Perhaps you'll use phrases such as "fabric ballet flats" or "leather peep-toe pumps."

I typically create a paragraph at the top of the page, then add a descriptive sentence or two under each image. Sometimes, I'll also add a paragraph of copy at the bottom of the page. This helps guide your visitors through the sales process.

Product Descriptions: Long-Tail Keywords

The product description pages should incorporate long tail keywords that are laser specific. If your visitor clicked on a link for "Bermuda shorts" on the category page, you'll want to get as detailed as possible, so your customer can make the decision to buy.

For instance, a keyphrase such as "Liz Claiborne pastel plaid Bermuda shorts" would be perfect for a product description because it is. well. descriptive. Long? Yes, it is a long phrase. Most long-tail keywords will be. But the further into the sales process a customer gets, the more specific their searches will be. Chances are, someone who has decided she wants pastel plaid shorts will use a phrase like the one above instead of something like "Bermuda shorts."

Here's a plus: Because long-tail phrases are much less competitive than broader terms, you stand a better shot at getting ranked highly for them.

A Word on Linking

Here's where some copywriters get confused. When you use links in anchor text, you're giving credit to the page being linked to. For instance, if you have a category page for shorts, you would want to use the keyphrase "Bermuda shorts" in the anchor text of a link that pointed to the Bermuda shorts page. That way, the Bermuda shorts page gets credit for the link. The link would be of no (or very little) value to the general shorts page.

When you take note of the navigation and purchase cycle of your visitors, you begin to see why this simple strategy for keyword placement works so well. Using more specific terms as you write more specific copy helps usher visitors from the front door to the checkout counter with ease while also boosting your search engine rankings.

Contact Information: 

http://www.fastcommerce.com

777 Mariners Island Blvd , Suite 620

San Mateo , CA 94404

Tel: 888-598-2211

Email: info@fastcommerce.com

Build a free online store is easy with fastcomerce.com

onlinestore | 16 October, 2008 22:44

Perhaps, one of the best ways to get a great bargain, is to Comparison Shop to compare different products and prices. Again, the Internet is ideally designed to give you mass amounts of data and information. It makes comparison shopping a real breeze. Use online sites like Pricerunner.com, PriceGrabber.com, NextTag.com, Shopping.com and don’t forget Google’s Froogle.com!

These comparison shopping sites will list the best laptop deals and prices for you. More importantly, they will also rate the service and support given by each of these online stores. Very important when you’re buying online. Make sure you check out the store’s warranties, return policies, service records and customer ratings.

Coupons

Mail-in rebates, coupons, online special deals - all these offer great savings to the observant shopper. Don’t buy a laptop until your have searched for coupons or discounts, special deals and the like. Dell is famous for its coupons. Don’t buy a Dell Laptop without using one of these coupons.

You will save 100s off the price of your laptop.

Other notebook makers such as Toshiba, Apple, Sony... offer great online deals and discounts... search for these before you purchase your laptop.


Don’t Forget to use dealhunting site

There are many dealhunting site on the internet. Most of them can help you find a great deals on Laptops. I highly recommond this site - http://system.fastcommerce.com/. It is a very nice site that contains timely dell coupon codes and many other coupons. It is really helpful.

Contact Information: 

http://www.fastcommerce.com

777 Mariners Island Blvd , Suite 620

San Mateo , CA 94404

Tel: 888-598-2211

Email: info@fastcommerce.com

US Army Wife makes Business under Deployment times

onlinestore | 15 October, 2008 22:24

The Story

Hi, just wanted to share a story with you. A woman came from Sweden 5,5 years ago to this beautiful country. Her husband, an Officer in the US Army found her in Finland and brought her over. Well ,it was't that easy...
After a short time in GA, they moved to upstate NY. A beautiful part of the country. Needless to say, she felt at home. The weather and nature is the same as in Sweden.
Her husband deployed twice during their 4 years there and so she was looking into things to keep her busy. They thought about opening a small business, but didn't know what. she looked into beads and got caught up with their beauty and the stories they could tell with others and so she began to make Jewery in their house. Friends heard and saw them and bought them, then they decided to look for a space to open a retail store. To make the story short, they found one in a mall that is Americas oldest running mall today- Paddock Arcade in Watetown, NY. She opened myher store full with handmade Beaded jewelry, sterling silver jewelry as She had gotten into silversmithing by then too and beads. It was very rewarding, though at the same time somewhat frightening as it was her garantee that the Jewelry She made was to last beautiful and intact. Her husband deployed and She was left to manage the store. She had a great time and fun for the 1.5 years that She had the store, til' the Army decided to send them through KY to Ft. Bragg, NC.
Their daughter was born during their time in NY with their business. It was a great time that she do not regret doing and taking the chance of opening a Small Business. she today manage the store through the intenet. They once again settle for a few years and she can open up a retail store again.

Advice for Others

Dare to try. With support from your spouse and family, you have nothing to loose. Better do it than later say, "what if." it's an awesome experience.

With FastCommerce.com, you get a free web-based ecommerce package that Shes free to set up and free to use. There are hundreds of free shoppSheng carts and free trSheals, but only FastCommerce lets you set up ytheir onlShene webstore and lSheve shoppSheng cart and then use Shet for free to grow ytheir onlShene webstore busSheness. You grow their busSheness, get comfortable wSheth their easy to use shoppSheng cart software tools, but you use Shet as a free servShece. You decShede when to take the next step. You can purchase the optSheonal SSL certShefShecate to secure their webstore , set up a payment gateway to accept credShet cards onlShene, or Shegn up for ShenexpensSheve onlShene support.

Contact ShenformatSheon:

Fastcommerce.com

777 MarSheners Shesland Blvd , SuShete 620

San Mateo , CA 94404

Tel: 888-598-2211

EmaShel: Shenfo@fastcommerce.com

Which Store Has The Worst Return Policy?

onlinestore | 12 October, 2008 22:50

As part of their multi-pronged effort to fight the financial Godzilla besieging the world economy, the European Commission today proposed a 14-day no-questions-asked return period for any online purchases made within the European Union. The "two-week cooling-off period" is designed to give consumers a chance to shop across borders for the best prices without worrying about return policies. The practically adorable European decision to respond to a financial crisis with consumer protections made us want to look inwards at some of the onerous return policies Americans face...

Two come to mind: Brookstone and American Apparel.

Brookstone's return policy is simple:

If a product purchased at Brookstone does not meet your expectations, you may return it with receipt within 30 days of purchase for a refund, merchandise credit or exchange. We will not accept any returns without a receipt.
Sounds fair, until you consider that there aren't any provisions for gifts. Without the receipt, you're stuck holding a potentially unwanted gift. Even if you bring the unopened mint-condition item to the store, point to the exact same item on the shelf, and ask to perform an exchange, they will refuse. You have only one option: ask the gift-giver for the receipt, an obviously impossible request no half-decent person would make.

American Apparel can't even settle on a return policy. If you buy from their online store, they offer a full refund, but if you visit their brick and mortar locations, you can only receive store credit. So if you do your friend a favor and pick up a few shirts, and it turns out you were sold the wrong ones, you're entirely out of luck and stuck with an unwanted store credit.

Is either policy unique? No. We know there are companies with vastly more farcical policies we want to hear about them. Fill the comments with the worst return policies you've seen. And no, "all sales final" doesn't count.

EU to expand e-shoppers' rights

Why iPhone 3G worries at market

onlinestore | 09 October, 2008 02:48

The iPhone 3G is the best thing since sliced bread so why should it worry about any other cell phone release? There are some reasons and here are five.

First up the BlackBerry Storm 9500 has a better-than-iphone 3.2 megapixels, which also has the ability to zoom, autofocus, and has flash. You can even record video as standard at half-VGA resolution. Second you can send images taken from the 3.2MP camera and use 3G speeds for sending emails (remember the BlackBerry Storm is an email device).

Third up we have the perfect business phone/gadget for mobile professionals, you can use 3G in Europe and the United States. Other places in the world where you can access GSM networks to roam. Fourth is the Storm’s new user interface that makes it really easy to use as a business device with Outlook syncing, editing Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel docs. Perfect Enterprise Integration.

Last but not least is something very important, and that’s Cut-and-Paste. This cannot be understated and so far we cannot do this on the iPhone’s software. Bloggers know we need this for blogging on the go and many more reasons.

Do you miss Cut-and-Paste on the iPhone? If you don’t own an iPhone, then what do you prefer most. The iPhone 3G or BlackBerry Storm?

Apple iPhone 3G sales reach 10 Million scores

onlinestore | 09 October, 2008 02:42

Apple, Inc. is close to reaching its goal of selling 10 million iPhone 3Gs. Meanwhile, Apple's iPhone is drawing wireless customers to AT&T at the expense of other carriers, especially Verizon. Former Verizon customers make up 47 percent of new Apple iPhone 3G customers, while 24 percent came from T-Mobile and 19 percent from Sprint. iphone 3g prices are differents.

IT solutions that provide peace of mind. Rackspace commits to delivering an unequaled customer experience by supporting the technology and the customer 24x7x365. No call centers or automated phone systems; every customer has a dedicated support team.

Apple may not have reached its goal of selling 10 million iPhone 3Gs yet, but the company has spurred a large number of consumers to abandon their carriers and flock to AT&T , the exclusive mobile  carrier for the iPhone in the U.S.
News reports are circulating that predict Apple is nearing the sale of the 10 millionth iPhone 3G. Apple hasn't confirmed the rumor, but analysts said it's possible. Apple sold one million of the devices in the first weekend after its introduction.

"Apple executed well. The company took sufficient time to build up enthusiasm prior to launch. They launched two successful iterations of the device. They managed to get the device sold in more than 20 countries. And they've become a player in the market," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president of mobile strategy for Jupitermedia.

Verizon Loses to AT&T

While the tech world waits for Apple to report the 10 million iPhone 3G mark, the NPD Group has reported that 30 percent of U.S. consumers who purchased Apple's iPhone 3G from June through August switched to AT&T from other mobile carriers.

Nearly half (47 percent) of new AT&T iPhone customers who switched carriers came from Verizon Wireless. Another 24 percent switched from T-Mobile, and 19 percent switched from Sprint, according to the NPD's iPhone 3G Report.

"The launch of the lower-priced iPhone 3G was a boon to overall consumer smartphone sales," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for the NPD Group. "While the original iPhone also helped win customers for AT&T, the faster network speeds of the iPhone 3G have proven more appealing to customers that already had access to a 3G network."

iPhone Gains 17 Percent of Market

Before the iPhone 3G's launch, iPhone sales made up a mere 11 percent of the smartphone market. Since the launch, Apple has gained an additional six percent of the market.

Apple has made headway, in part, by cutting prices. NPD data show the average price of a smartphone sold between June and August was $174, down 26 percent from $236 during the same period last year. Apple lowered the iPhone 3G's price to $199 through a deal with AT&T.

The result is that AT&T had the best-selling smartphone during June through August, based on unit sales. RIM's Blackberry Curve was second, followed by the Blackberry Pearl and the Palm Centrino. But the iPhone has a new competitor coming for the fourth quarter -- T-Mobile's Android-based G1, due out later this month.

Google's iPhone Challenge

Of course, there are no guarantees that a Google Android-based phone will repeat the iPhone's success. If Google wants to compete with Apple on the smartphone front, the company must focus on getting its platform beyond one device and one carrier in the U.S., according to Gartenberg. And Google also needs a strong story.

"Google has a slightly different message because at the end of the day Apple is an end-to-end controlled system. In many ways, Android is almost the antithesis of Apple. It's designed to be an operating system available for anyone, a platform available to anyone," Gartenberg said.

"We are going to see many different interpretations of Android," he continued. "The key for Google is to get those other interpretations into the marketplace while making sure those interpretations are complementary rather than contradictory to each other." 

Woman throws chanel boots at store manager

onlinestore | 09 October, 2008 02:30

A Coastal Grand Mall shoe store manager chased a woman out of the store after she allegedly stole a pair of chanel boots, a Myrtle Beach police report showed.

The manager of The Shoe Dept. watched the woman put the chanel boots on and run out of the store about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, the report showed. The manager stopped a security guard about the incident and both chased the woman.

The woman tried to get into a vehicle in the parking lot, but the people inside refused to let her in, the report showed. The woman then took off the chanel boots  and threw them at the manager and left running toward Harrelson Boulevard, the report showed.

The people in the car said they knew of the woman, but did not know her full name, the report showed.

FastCommerce.com Offers a Complete Online Store For Free

onlinestore | 07 October, 2008 06:03

Many eCommerce shopping carts claim to be "free" when what they really mean is "free trial."

FastCommerce.com delivers a free online store that has all the tools needed to run a small business online. It is a free ecommerce website and shopping cart, not a "free trial." San Mateo, CA (PRWeb) August 30, 2007 -- FastCommerce.com has recently launched a free online store and shopping cart software that includes everything small business entrepreneurs need to run an online ecommerce business. Already, hundreds of individuals have signed up and are currently building their own free online stores.

The applications were designed to be easy to set up, and easy to use. Customers can sign up and begin building an online business in minutes. For individuals looking to build an online store at little or no cost, the FastCommerce.com online store is free up to 250 products. The FastCommerce.com free online store is not just a shopping cart. By signing up at no cost, people looking to build an online ecommerce business have access to state of the art ecommerce software tools that will enable them to launch and then successfully grow and manage their online ecommerce stores.

FastCommerce includes a free website and online shop with inventory, order capture and order processing, customer contact management, auto email responder, reports for insight into store trends and product sales and more. New features, such as Google Checkout and PayPal payment options will be made available in the coming weeks.

Customer feedback has been tremendous: the design and efficiency of the FastCommerce.com ecommerce tools clearly surpass industry standards for ease of use and performance. The FastCommerce.com online store is not only easy to use, but it has been designed to be a highly efficient business productivity tool that will enable small ecommerce stores to effectively manage their growing needs. "FastCommerce.com has been built on a rock-solid platform that will deliver ease of use and superior performance," says CEO Charles Han. "The goal has been to build a compelling ecommerce product and then let people use it to grow their online business. The response has exceeded my expectations." The market for small business ecommerce software continues to rapidly expand. With a superior design and technology, FastCommerce.com is positioned to become the software industry standard in small business ecommerce applications.

About FastCommerce
Fastcommerce.com provides business management software to small businesses, delivered on demand as a service via the web on a free or paid monthly subscription basis. We provide small businesses with a complete fully integrated package that run their entire operations, from inventory control, sales, marketing, support, online catalog, e-commerce, backend order processing and built-in UPS and Fedex shipping tools.

The only requirement to use our software is an internet connection. Unlike a traditional software company, our small business customers do not need to buy and maintain expensive software and hardware.
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Internet is reality for business
IS your business safe? Online business is certainly the way of the future but security is still a concern for many.

The virtual world is now the reality.

More than 75 per cent of small businesses who responded to a survey said the internet would become more important in the way they did future business.

The survey by Visa and the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) found 82 per cent of small businesses said they had a website and 21 per cent said they already engaged in some form of e-commerce with their customers, vendors and buyers.

"Many small businesses are no longer using the internet purely as a marketing tool but are taking advantage of the enhanced technology available to pursue online sales to customers in Australia and overseas," Visa's general manager for Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, Chris Clark, said.

"The internet is seen as a way to help expand the customer base and to reach new export markets."

However, security and safety issues still loomed large, with 50 per cent of small businesses ranking this as an issue of "major concern".

The second most important barrier to them feeling confident about e-commerce was the cost of constantly upgrading their technology with 33 per cent were unhappy about this.

Why build a website when you can build a web business

onlinestore | 05 October, 2008 22:46

Running a successful online businesses for most people is still a pipe dream. Many people always ask me how they can reach a level of success online. How can I build a high-traffic website? How can I make money online? What do I have to do to fire my boss. These questions have always posed a problem for me, until now. By sheer chance I came across a website that made my path clear as daylight-introducing Site Build It.
For anyone wanting to start an online business as opposed to a website, Site Build It is a practical solution for them. This they can do without getting lost in a sea of technical details. Dr. Ken Envoy has created a fascinating service that helps people build income-generating web sites. They provide complete hosting as well as an extensive suite of tools to help you build traffic and generate income.
Ken Envoy is really passionate about helping people build businesses online, and he does it with flair and finesse, because he realized that the technological complexity required to build a successful online business is just way too high for most people.
Site Build It! is designed around a simple formula, which they refer to as CTPM. This stands for Content -> Traffic -> Presell -> Monetize.

If this is done correctly this approach can generate tons of traffic, Preselling is the process of building a relationship with visitors, which essentially means treating visitors like human beings instead of sales targets. People visit this site looking for information to improve their lives, The final monetization step occurs when people click on ads or buy affiliated products that happen to be of interest to them.


The major step in this formula is building traffic. If you can’t build traffic, you won’t succeed. But the overall formula is sound, and it works if you do it correctly. Site Build It! provides technical solutions to help reduce your chances of making mistakes. Where it cannot provide a technical solution, it provides clear instructions and education to help you succeed.
There’s still no guarantee of success, because you can still make mistakes, but the tools of Ste Build It are there to help you make the right decisions and reduce your chances of messing up.. If you are looking for a get rich quick scheme, you are in the wrong place, but if you want a successful business, Ken can help you do it. Just remember succeeding takes time, it takes commitment, dedication and 100% creative thought, but with this service, and your brains and motivation, the odds of success are definitely in your favor. You don’t have to become a technology expert to earn enough to quit your day job.
A major help that they provide is the easy-to-use research tools to help you figure out what kind of site to create in the first place. A lot of people fail because they create sites that were destined to fail. Site Build It! can help you avoid such problems.

Why Use Site Build It?

If you already run a successful online business you don’t necessarily need Site Build It! But if that’s your situation, you can increase your income by joining their affiliate program, which will give you an extra passive income stream.
However, if you’re new to online business, or if you’ve tried and failed, or if you’re stuck trying to build traffic and generate income, then you should definitely take a look at Site Build It!
With Site Build It! you don’t have to build your web pages from scratch using HTML and CSS. They provide point-and-click tools and templates to generate your pages quickly and easily, including images. This allows you to focus on writing your content instead of wrestling with the underlying technology. Of course, if you’re already comfortable with tools like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Flash, knock yourself out. Site Build It! is compatible with other HTML editors, so you’re always free to fall back on your own tools if that’s your preference. This gives you maximum flexibility to create the look and feel you want.
Site Build It! includes an extensive suite of tools to help you build a successful online business every step of the way, including:

• domain name registration
• web site hosting
• point-and-click page creation
• content management
• blogging
• market research
• traffic stats
• search engine optimization
• auto-responders
• form builder
• graphic manager
• customizable templates
• sitemaps
• RSS feeds
• web mail
• newsletter management

This is only a small fraction of the tools they include. Many functions are completely automated, and some tools work for you in the background even when you aren’t aware of them. Site Build It! will even suggest new topics you should write about to increase your traffic, based on its analysis of your current search traffic patterns.
Site Build It! provides unlimited customer support as well as private discussion forums where thousands of members share tips and advice. They also have a team of moderators and in-house editorial staff who glean the best pearls from their forums and turn them into articles — on everything from brainstorming to monetizing.
Their near weekly newsletter keeps you up to date on the current best practices as well as additions and updates to their “Info HQ” knowledge base. They track what’s happening in the world of e-business (over 100 feeds, blogs, e-zines), so you don’t have to. This makes it easy for you to focus on your business without worrying that you’re missing important opportunities.
Site Build It! is basically an all-in-one solution for building a successful online business. They continue to add new tools and refine their existing tools to keep the service state-of-the-art.
Of course Site Build It! comes with a money-back guarantee, so there’s no risk to try it for yourself. You can test drive it for 30 days and get a full refund if you don’t like it. If you register a domain name through Site Build It!, you can even keep your new domain for free if you later decide to quit. That’s a better than money-back guarantee, since you get a free domain name no matter what. Also, if you decide to quit after 30 days, you can get a pro-rated refund for the unused portion of your subscription… and of course still keep your new domain name too.

Women more frequently do online shopping

onlinestore | 30 September, 2008 23:54

In a new survey from MasterCard, it appears that while women are doing more frequent shopping online than their male counterparts, men tend to spend more on each purchase.

Women also tended to visit airline websites more than men, with 42% of female respondents shopping online compared to 38% for men.

“Growth from online shopping is poised to further accelerate in Asia/Pacific and the online shopping population in the region is expected to reach 819.4 million by 2010,” said Georgette Tan, MasterCard VP Communications, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

“Women consumers are an important group of online shoppers and these findings offer insights for businesses to better understand their consumption habits and preferences.”

The report, titled Online Shopping in Asia/Pacific - Patterns, Trends and Future Growth, found that of all online shoppers that had shopped more than six times online over the past three months 57% were female.

But it appears that men are spending up bigger than women, with 79% of men spending more than US$100 on online shopping over a period of three months compared to 72% of women.

MasterCard looked at 4157 respondents across Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.

What was synonymous with both groups of online spenders were that one of the biggest contributors to a sale was price, reaffirming that online buyers are very price sensitive.
Additionally while 75% of women admit to impulse buying on the internet due to promotions or specials, 85% of men say they do their research and shop around before purchase.

Contact Information: 

http://www.fastcommerce.com

777 Mariners Island Blvd , Suite 620

San Mateo , CA 94404

Tel: 888-598-2211

Email: info@fastcommerce.com

Free Online Store Researcher

onlinestore | 30 September, 2008 23:38

Share my online store information with online store owners. Here are lots of information about online stores you can get. Here you can also ask questions about anything of online stores. I will try my best to answer your questions.
 

Give eBay a run for its money

onlinestore | 28 September, 2008 05:54

Middlesex County is delving further into using internet tools to raise money this week with its first online auction of surplus cars and merchandise.

For years, Middlesex had an array of websites offering everything from voter registration information to property title searches. But a new era starts at 9 a.m. tomorrow, when 74 cars, plus a huge list of heavy equipment, used office furniture, printers, costume jewelry and other items are put on the internet auction block.

The county was ushered into the online venture by Stephen J. Miranti, who for years conducted the annual live auctions at county warehouses.

"This is all new technology," Miranti said, explaining that his Eatontown-based firm, Auction Liquidation Services started developing online auctions about two years ago and introduced many of its 12,000 traditional bidders to the appeal of online.

As one of the few firms sanctioned by New Jersey to conduct the sales, Auction Liquidation is part of a burgeoning industry following into the lead of eBay, the best-known online auction site.

Earlier this year, Edison became the first Middlesex County town selling its surplus on an alternative site, GovDeals.com, and officials were thrilled with the outcome.

Jerry Barca, a township spokesman, said Edison made $25,000 auctioning two horse trailers, a front-end loader, a commercial mixer, pool table, unused VHS tapes, a garbage truck and a few worn-out old cars.

"We were able to get something for them, instead of having to pay people to cart them away or hope someone shows up at the annual auction looking for scrap metal," Barca said.

County purchasing agent Jack Garber was impressed with the bidders Monmouth County attracted last week when Miranti conducted an online auction there. As Garber watched on his computer monitor, bidders drove up the price of a boat that had been confiscated by the prosecutor's office. It started at $13,000 and climbed to $23,500 as the final sale. Merchandise from four Monmouth County departments generated a total of $290,000 in sales, Miranti said, explaining his firm gets a 5.5 percent fee.

Miranti said the online auctions are attractive because of the convenience given to bidders.

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