What's Sharing?

Sharing is a constructive discussion board for and by resale shopkeepers, a place to discuss our businesses, explore options, offer tips and ask for others' thoughts and advice. We are not going to spend our time carping, whining, or complaining (that's what spouses are for!)

Sharing has a number of Forums. If you put your questions and suggestions into the right Forum, they will get the most attention.

Everyone is welcome, but be helpful and gracious. If you disagree, explain why, and remember, we all have different ways of doing business. Wanting to do things "our way" is a major reason many of us are our own bosses.

Ask any question, even if you think it's a "dumb" one. If you have the question, others do too. And give thought to answering questions. I was taught by my retail mentor to consider each customer as "a friend of a friend": someone I didn't know, but whom I genuinely wanted to help. If you think of your fellow shopkeepers this way, we'll have some great discussions.

Think about which forum your message will best fit under, and put it there. If you have a variety of concerns, split them into separate messages. In other words, one topic per message please, and decide which forum is the logical place for it.

Useless, abusive, or weird messages may be deleted at my discretion and/or whim. Please also note, that if you haven't read any of our Products for the Professional Resaler, you may wish to do so, since there are many many answers available there!

Logging on

It's best to get in the habit of logging on when you first arrive at Sharing. Why? Because, if you try to reply to a post, you'll have to anyway...and if you try to add a message, you will experience an error message. The error message, something about cookies, appears and upsets folks, even though it's harmless. Rather than getting all confuzzled, simply remember: log on first.

I get an error message when I try to post

If you log in FIRST as you enter Sharing (see above), that will stop any error messages....

Background: If you haven't logged in then you decide to REPLY to a post, the program will let you type away, THEN it'll ask for your name/pw and everything's fine, it'll post. But if you haven't logged in, and you type a POST, it'll ask you just the same, but will give you an error message about cookies and not allow your post to show up. And your message disappears too which is REALLY annoying! So what happens is, people get used to the REPLY routine and when they encounter the POST problem, they're thrown for a loop.

To save remembering which is which: simply get in the habit of always logging in when you come to Sharing (it only needs to be done once per session).

Another common problem:  Once you've registered or logged in, you get a personalized page which says "Welcome Yourname / Return to Home Page"...CLICK the "return to Home Page" to go back to whichever discussion you were on. YOU CANNOT USE THAT WELCOME PAGE TO POST FROM or you'll get that cookie error message again. ALL you can do from the "welcome" page is click to go back to the discussion.

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Joining in:  Reply to a message, or add a message

There’s two ways to participate:

First, you can REPLY to a message that’s posted. When you're reading a message, you will see all replies to it below the message itself. Keep scrolling down, and there's a nice empty box ready for your reply. In fact, it's even posted Reply to this message. Simply fill it in (You'll notice, since you signed in when you arrived at Sharing that your name and email are already there automatically.)  Note that a reply to a message automatically has as a subject line "Re: (whatever the previous subject line was)." I highly suggest that you change the subject line to a hint of your reply (delete it and type in what you want). You can and should change that subject line to reflect your opinion. For example, delete "Re: Need advice on handling toddlers" and change it to "Add a play area". Then type your reply in the box. If you think the original message should be quoted, click the "quote reply" box and it will be pasted in. (Hint: I always click the "quote" button, so when I'm replying, I remember what the person said... then I delete the quote before I post.)

To add a functioning link to any message (so readers can click on it and go), type the URL including the http:// part and our software will create a link there. For example, if you want to give readers a link to my site, you'd type http://www.tgtbt.com . Be sure that there's no punctuation right next to the URL, such as a period at the end of a sentence (see how I just left a space before the period in the last sentence?)

When you are done, you can "preview" (recommended, so you can see if you were clear, if those Spelling Gremlins didn't attack your writing or if you really didn't say what you meant in the proper tone of keyboard.) Then "submit." 

Or you can start a new topic (thread) within any of the discussions. At the top of each page, you will see:

Board Links: messages   post   search   forum list

To start a new topic, click on  post. This takes you to a fresh page where it says Post a new message, and has a nice blank box to do so. Your name and email will be there if you have logged on. Simply add a meaningful subject line, then your new message. Misspelled words will be underlined, at least on PCs. You will have the opportunity to preview your message, or you can just "submit". You can even attach photos if you'd like.

Tip: Remember, you may have to click "reload" on your Web browser to see your message. If you mistakenly post twice, you'll look silly to everyone. And you have to tape a nickel to a postcard and mail it to Kate. (Note: Some Sharers owe me owes me at LEAST a Margarita's worth of nickels.)

Board Links: messages   post   search   forum list
Clicking on messages will show all messages in that forum.
Post is to start a new topic (thread), not to reply to an existing topic.
search allows you to search all forums, both subject lines and text, for words or phrases or user. 
And forums brings you back to Sharing's "front page", so you can see all the forums in one listing.

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Get the best responses to your messages

Think about which forum your message will best fit under. If you have a variety of concerns/ questions/ contributions, post each as a separate message. Please do NOT post the same message in several places. It makes you seem like a nag.

Make sure you've read any past messages that might give you some answers. Go ahead and use the Search function; it can keep you happy and busy for hours.

When you post, use a definitive subject line: for example, try "How can I sell suits better?" rather than "HELP!" Your subject line is your headline. If you want people to read your message, write a good headline!

Before you post, check for clarity. Include info to enable others to respond meaningfully. For example, a message like "Is $850 too much rent?" won't get you thoughtful answers unless you add: "in a strip center with a major grocery, for 1200 square feet with good visibility, on a major highway in a suburban area of New England." With the right input, you get good feedback.

Spelling counts. Periods and paragraphs are your friends. And typos are confusing. Kate reserves the right to ignore anyone who doesn't respect the time and intelligence of her/his peers by using standards of communication.

TIP: Use an informative subject line to lead readers in, just like a good headline leads readers into your ad or broadcast email.

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Is this a free service?

Yes. And no. It's free for you to use, because I believe that by improving even one shop even one iota, every shop benefits with improved public perception. And because as a group, resale shopkeepers are the most friendly, down-to-earth types in retail. And because resale is a prime way to "save the earth."

But, no, this is not a free service. It costs me (yes I am a real person) time and effort and money to host this site. So if you don't have your own copy of Too Good to Be Threw : The Complete Operations Manual for Resale & Consignment Shops, or our many other Products for the Professional Resaler, may I suggest you visit our Products page and see what will help your shop be even more fabulous than it already is! Alternatively: Get something PRICELESS for your support: a live link to your business on Google's #1 site: HowToConsign.com. It costs less than a buck a week to support TGtbT.com, your industry peers, and your own business. (Or $2 a week...less than a MickyD coffee fer heaven's sake...if you want top listing in your state and access to our private site for Treasured Sponsors)

Tip: Yes, there's more to the biz than just the Manual. That's why we have all the other Products available. If you want to explore an area of the resale business in more detail, chances are it's on our Products Page.

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How can I help make Sharing work best for all of us?

Stay on topic. If you have something to ask or add to the conversation, make sure you're in the right discussion and the right message.

Be clear. If we need to know something, tell us: otherwise we might be barking up the wrong tree. If you want to explain something, do so clearly. Paragraphs are your friends, and so is standard spelling. That is, if you wish to be understood. And NO apologizing for "sorry long" messages. This Board is not text messaging, it's clear and helpful business information. 

Stay civil. If you disagree, say why and offer pertinent advice. Don't fault others for having different opinions or goals. Or for having a different viewpoint. You can, however, with my permission, make merciless fun of them for not bothering to read the Manual.

Posting a link? You need to add the http part: for example www.howtoconsign.com is there, if people want to cut and paste....but http://www.howtoconsign.com becomes a link they can click without further ado.

Tip: Have fun! Don't be afraid to add your thoughts and opinions! We can all learn so much from others.

Searching Sharing

Search across all forums, in both the subject line (header) and within the text. But only, alas, if the author of the message has spelled correctly. Simply click on search  in the
Board Links: messages   post   search   forums which appears on every page and you will see all sorts of parameters to choose from.

Can I direct people to my site from Sharing?

You are welcome to post your shop's web site URL if you are a sponsor at our sister site  www.HowToConsign.com. Please do not post your URL at Sharing if you have decided that you do not wish to have your shop listed on HTC for the public to see and visit. Allow me to explain why:

I believe that participating Sharers should show respect for my aid, help, hard work and monetary expenses providing TGtbT free for your profitable and enjoyable use, by becoming Sponsors at www.HowToConsign.com . And it's not just goodwill: it brings your business more attention than that amount of money could ANYWHERE else.

HTC is designed to make every shop thrive, so for less than $1 a week you can:
* Show your support of TGtbT.com
* Highlight your web site at HowToConsign.com (or get a FREE web presence if you don't have a site yet!)
* PRE-Educate YOUR potential suppliers and shoppers with the articles on HTC
* Use HTC as the "industry standard" so when you ask suppliers to prepare their goods for resale, it's not YOU saying "they need to be clean", but "industry standards"
* Increase your search engine standings for your web site
* Find new customers who are browsing the web, since HTC pops up faster than 99.9% of individual-store web sites.
 I developed and I maintain HTC because I believe in shopping resale...AND as a way to return to YOU even more value.

For your sponsorship, you get an awful lot in return. But if you don't think it's a worthwhile investment in your shop, that's fine too. You're still more than welcome to use Sharing and the rest of TGtbT.com to make your shop be all you know it can be. I would just ask that you not use your URL in your Sharing messages until you are an HTC sponsor.

I realize of course that many resalers' URLs are readily obtainable and I have no quarrel with that. My stance is basically symbolic; that if it's important to share one's URL, then it should be important enough to be a participant in furthering our industry as a whole by being a part of HTC.

Again, I respect everyone's sovereignty and even non-supporters/ non-believers/ those who simply don't think they get enough out of my site to invest that $1 or $2 a week to make sure that TGtbT and HTC are there for them... are always welcome at Sharing. It's just that putting one's URL here, without understanding the points above, is not comme il faut.

I invite you to further your business with a sponsorship of your choice at www.HowToConsign.com/sponsor.htm Thank you for your understanding and respect in this matter.

Differences from the OLD Sharing to this new one:

SMILEYS! Yes, indeed, you can make them...in subject lines or in text. The following are allowed:
:-) or :) makes a happy face (you can also use a semi-colon like ;-) or ;) if you like your smileys winking)
:-( or :( makes a frowny face (notice, it's a colon and not a semi-colon. Guess those who frown don't wink.)
:p (that's a colon and a lower-case p) makes a stick-out tongue face, which I hereby declare is the symbol for "Swallow your beverage before reading this message" and is to be used in the subject line so we do not spew liquids over our keyboards (it's good to be Queen.)

Your email address is NOT clickable. That's a security thing to protect it from being "harvested" by spammers.

SPELLCHECK works, at least on my PC... it underlines things IT thinks are misspellings. Whether or not you agree is a whole 'nother subject.

Reading a whole thread at once. A thread consists of the original message and all the replies added on to it. You can read them one by one by simply, or get them all in one long page. To read all messages in a thread, click on read all messages in thread which is under the actual message, on the left. It's very efficient, but if you are moved to reply to any of those messages, you must revert back to "standard view" by clicking on standard view which appears on the upper right, when you're in that "all messages" mode. (BTW: the read all messages in thread is part of read all messages in threadmessages... and if you run your mouse over that you will see you can click the word messages by itself, which takes you back to the "front page" of that forum, where the messages are listed. Don't ask my why there is no space there. I cannot be responsible for the ENTIRE world (sometimes it's a pain to be Queen.)

And coolest of all: RSS FEEDS which is better than getting email notifications! Here's how Deb of Designs by Deb explains RSS feeds:
If you'll note the orange Icon in the URL address bar of your browser when you are on Sharing, you'll recognize the RSS feed. To me this is a GREAT feature. Almost as good as getting an email when my post has been answered.

If you use firefox, I use the add on Sage for the feed reader. It's set up like book marks When I'm at a site that has the rss feed indicator in the address bar and I want to set it up, I have sage add it - two mouse clicks.

Then several or as many times throughout the day I update my feeds and can see in summary form the threads to this message board, to Kate's auntie Kate blog and many more.

I even have craigs list searchs entered in as a feed (my oldest is looking to buy a car and so I have that search set up). It is so worth the time (and it's very little time) to set up a feed reader, if you don't already have one, I'd certainly encourage it. Here's the link: http://sage.mozdev.org/

I'm not too familiar with IE's options - I think it's referred to as live bookmarks. I like firefox too much to mess around with IE. I use IE sparingly. ----Deb

Okay, I got it! Take me to Sharing, I'm ready to participate!!!

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