You refer to eBay's policy of 'discrete' links. Do you mean 'discreet' as in 'unobtrusive' ?

I ask because 'discrete' is to 'concrete' as 'analysis' is to 'synthesis'. I hope this is helpful, as I don't mean to offend.

Kind regards,

Anthony (oh, and thank you for the tip!)

Hi Anthony,

You're right! Even better is, you haven't offended me.

The snippet of text was directly from eBay's own page on the topic, so it's their incorrect spelling not mine. But I admit, I hadn't noticed it.

My wife is in the process of writing a short report on the importance of grammar and spelling to make a good impression, and has some very good examples in there. I'll pass this one on to her as it's a corker!

And yes, even though I use a spell checker, of course the odd typo gets through - "form" and "from" for instance.

All the best,

Frank.

Hi Frank,

Thanks for the good advice!

It sure can't hurt to put in your listings.

Thanks for all your great support,

-Tim

Hi Frank
Thank you for the great advice as this can be very helpfull.

Regards
Robert

Ha! I've another one for you, Frank… "onto" means to put on or on top of, whereas "on to" is what you meant in passing something on to your wife.

I also have a little ebook I've written a few years back, which I make available online: "How to Speak and Write Correctly". And I agree, it does matter. Those who know the difference will catch it every time. And we can come across as uneducated, or low class!

The unfortunate thing is that fewer and fewer people know the difference anymore.

Your spell checker will not catch a wrong word, only if something is a word, and then if spelled correctly. Too bad!

I'm passing your tip on to my husband, Frank, whom I am encouraging to do the eBay thing… Thanks.

Jannette

Anthony:

Looking up "discrete" in my little American Heritage Dictionary, abridged, I find these meanings:

1. Individually distinct; separate. 2. Consisting of unconnected, distinct parts.

I'm guessing that's closer to what eBay meant, rather than unobtrusive; but who knows for sure what is in the mind of another!

All shared in love and kindness, and as you, with the intent to be helpful.

Hi Jannette,

Yes, that's what I said.

LOL!

You might have known I'd go in and edit it. It's funny, but sometimes, it doesn't matter that you *know* something is right and wrong, it *still* gets past the fingertips.

(I use a nice little app called WordWeb - http://wordweb.info/ that sits in my system tray, really cool.)

Frank.

I am happy that some of you did not offend Frank. He refuses to sell me the product because he could not setup the program useing my 1 and 1 web host. He promised to set up the program, then accused me of not sending the information. Then because I was disappointed that he did not fulfill the promise he made, sent me a nasty email suggesting that I move to his recommended host. I asked him for no more than what he would have expected of me had I sold him a product, yet he claim " I have an attitude". What Customer Service. Furthermore, I will bet a copy of his program he will not print this comment.

LW

Dear Larry Winters,

I mention your name here because you seem too shy to actually stand up and make yourself known to the public, while feeling it's okay to have a go at me.

Lets look at the facts.

After listening to your original sob story that you could not afford SmartDD, I offered to let you pay in 3 installments and at a reduced price.

I'm like that. Or I should say I WAS like that.

Because of the dealings I had with you following this, I will never offer that to anyone in a similar position as yourself. A hard lesson learned by me.

If you remember, you have a basic beginners 1and1 account which doesn't include MySQL. SmartDD needs MySQL and it's quite clear that that's one of the system requirements on the sales page.

I suggested to you that you move to Hostgator as I knew there are at least hundreds of installations of SmartDD working perfectly there. I said it wasn't necessary to move there, almost any cPanel host would do, but Hostgator was amongst the best, if not the best.

However, rather than listen to my advice, you insisted that it should work with your 1and1 account, which I'll just point out to you again doesn't have MySQL. As far as I can tell, you need a business account with 1and1 to get MySQL, which you didn't want to pay for.

You then sent me a stream of increasingly outraged emails in boldface and capital letters over a period of a few hours. At that point I refunded your money and explained to you I couldn't help you any longer and no longer wished to deal with you.

However, you seem to be under the misapprehension that I and any other seller online MUST deal with you. This is not the case Larry.

If you shouted and hurled abuse at staff in a store, what do you think the outcome would be? Do you think the Police may quickly become involved? I'm certain they would.

So. I blocked your emails and asked you not to contact me any more as I would no longer deal with you. You choose to see this as "nasty".

You then sent me emails on different email addresses which I also blocked as they came in.

Weeks go by. I forget the incident, and also the lesson.

I then recently receive an email out of the blue from an LW saying that I'd agreed to sell SmartDD a while ago at a reduced price to them. I didn't put two and two together there and then - we all make mistakes.

Hmm, okay, I agreed to accept the payment. When the payment came in I saw that it was from you Larry, and I immediately refunded you explaining why, and asking you not to contact me again about this as I would not deal with you.

And instead of shrugging and accepting that, here you are proving to the world everything I've written above, and having one more lash out at me in an attempt to blacken my name and cost me sales.

Because that's what you've tried to do here isn't it Larry?

Well, I now believe you owe me the current price of SmartDD - $97.00 - as part of your bet.

So, if you have any ethics whatsoever, make the payment and walk away, you've lost the bet. I will not deal with you, I will not licence SmartDD nor any of my products to you. Ever.

I will not be accepting the $97.00 as payment for SmartDD, I will however accept it as your payment to me as a lost bet.

Understand though, that I wish you well with whatever you decide to do with your life, however I will not deal with you or allow you to post any more of this nonsense on any of my sites.

Regards,

Frank Haywood.

LW is a moron, you have every right to ban his dumb a** from your store.
Regards, Bill Johnston, Florida.

By the way, if people intend to pick apart your spelling & grammar, I'll pile on!
RE "It's okay, eBay allow it."
eBay is a singular entity, therefor it would be "eBay allows it", I think.
I'm no wordsmith, but I did stay in a Holiday Express, once.
Regards,
Bill Johnston,
Florida

Hi Frank,

It has been said in business that the customer is always right. I own a couple of businesses both on and off line and yet, in all my experiences this has never been the case.

I applaud both your generosity and your honesty ( a traight rare to find on the net these days).

I also applaud your actions. Many would rather bow down rather than loose a customer.

If you have ever helped an animal in need, you may have noticed that although they can not thankyou by speaking, they will at some point look your way and at that time you know that it was greatful for what you did.

Pull your head in Larry, for all you managed to do is take advantage of someones generosity and stuffed it up for someone who may have really appreciated it.

Luis Castanedo
Australia

Hi Frank,

Firstly thanks for the great tip! Hadn't thought much about the "third party" links on my eBay listings. I'll be sure to use this technique.

Secondly, while I haven't installed SmartDD yet (just got it) I know I will have no problems with it and I too am on 1and1 hosting. However, I have a 'home account' and it includes MySQL. The cost between the basic and home accounts is minimal, so "Larry" is just being cheap and an ass.

Keep up the great work!

Ross the Pit Boss
Santa Fe, NM

Thanks for the good advice. It makes sense to me.
Chuck