How Buying and Selling Has Gotten a Lot Easier With Reverse Auctions

By Dylan Flint  |   Submitted On February 16, 2016

  

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Over the years, a lot has changed in the way people transact businesses. A few years ago, whenever a seller listed something for sale, the whole process of actually negotiating with the buyer was too tedious. First they had to post an ad, wait for the customers to respond to the offer, sit with them and then complete the transaction. Usually in such cases, the amount sellers get from the buyers is much less than what they had wanted due to several rounds of negotiations.

Auctions are always convenient

A far more practical option back then was to arrange an auction whereby buyers competed with each other to buy the goods or services which the seller is offering. In this case, prices usually went up, and the highest bidder could acquire the things on sale. In traditional auctions like this, buyers ended up paying over the odds while sellers enjoyed enormous profits.

But as technology has advanced, it has brought a lot of changes and one of them has been the introduction of reverse auctions. These auctions, unlike the traditional ones, are entirely different. For instance, here it is the buyer who initiates the auction. Usually, the process comprises of:-

• Posting the job in a reverse auction website
• Description of the desired service or product from the buyer
• Receiving and evaluating bids
• Choosing the lowest bid
• Handing the job

Unlike traditional auctions, prices are driven down by competing sellers. Here vendors are competing to obtain business from the buyers. But it's not always the price which is the primary factor when buyers are deciding which bid to accept from a seller and which to reject. It depends on a lot of other factors. The buyer might accept a higher bid from a seller if they feel that their proposal is much better.

There are several advantages of reverse auctions like:-

• Firstly, as sellers compete with each other to drive the price down, buyers end up saving at least 30-40% on an average.
• Secondly, it saves a lot of time. All that buyers need to do is post the things they want in a reverse auction website. Sellers will then bid with price quotations.
• Thirdly, buyers can compare the bids from all the sellers at a glance. This enables them to choose the best proposal.
• Fourthly, for companies, reverse auctions can be of great help in generating more business if their bid is accepted.

The author Dylan Flint was recently looking for someone who could perform his house rendering and was mighty impressed with the approved trader quote which he received from YouKwoteMe.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Dylan_Flint/2116691

Web Hosting Tips You Should Always Remember

By Raeesha Bisht  |   Submitted On March 29, 2016

  

Have you just created your first site and looking for web hosting? Here are web hosting tips to help you have an easy time:

Avoid free hosting companies

Most people hosting their companies for the first time go for the cheapest hosting plans in the market. Others go for free hosting plans. While the free plans are great as they allow you to host your site without paying anything, you should avoid them as they cause more harm than good.

Most of these companies will host your site for free, but place adverts on your site. Some of these adverts lower the loading speed of your site. Others make it difficult for users to see your content.

Since the companies are offering a free service, most of them don't have a dedicated support team to help you in times of problem. This means that your site can be down for even days, which is suicidal for your online business.

Take your time

Before you host your site take time to go through the different sites and see the plans that they offer. Also take time to read reviews left by prior customers. If a company has many negative reviews, it's probably not right for you.

Pay monthly not yearly

Almost all hosting companies offer discounts when you pay your hosting fees yearly. While you save some money when you do it, you are tied to the company as most of them won't offer a refund if you decide to leave before the time expires. To avoid putting yourself in such a scenario and have the freedom of canceling anytime, pay the hosting fees on a monthly basis.

Go for a hosting service with cPanel

cPanel allows you to easily add applications to your site. The applications not only make it easy for users to use your site, they also make it easy for you to manage the site.

Be cautious of expensive web hosting

There is a common notion that the most expensive product is the best. While this might be true in many areas, it's not the case with web hosting. Studies show that most expensive plans only offer you more bandwidth. This means that if your site doesn't attract a lot of traffic you won't be using the extra bandwidth even if you will be paying for it.

If your site is new, go for cheap hosting services (those charging between $2 and $60 per month). In addition to being affordable, these service providers have been shown to offer the best customer support.

If strapped for cash and don't want the free hosting plans, go for 1$ Hosting. Visit the given links to know more about $1 Hosting.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Raeesha_Bisht/1537447

YouTube Red: Is It Worth Paying For?

By Gabriel Z  |   Submitted On November 22, 2015

  

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Remember the good old days when everything on the Internet was available to everyone and everything was FREE!? Well, as we know, things have changed dramatically over the last few years and now we have to watch ads even on YouTube. And now YouTube turned the things around (or Google to be more exact) and created YouTube Red - the YouTube new option to remove all ads, if, of course, you pay for it.

How Much Do You Need To Pay?

The YouTube Red option comes in the form of monthly subscription, costing $9.99 per month, and one month free trial starting October 28 for viewers in the U.S.

What Will You Get?

You will be totally free from ads, plus you will be able to download video offline. And plus, you would be able to play music in the background while doing something else - an option we have all been begging for!

Should You Pay For YouTube Red?

If you ask me, I would say no! Not because it isn't worth it, but rather as a sign of protest. YouTube introduced the ads. We were all frustrated by them, but okay. And now YouTube is giving me a chance to remove the ads if I pay? No, no, no! Google is worth so much that I can't even pronounce the number, and now they are after my $10? It simply isn't fair. Even if I had billions on my account, I don't think I would pay.

The problem is not just with Google or YouTube, it is with every singly corporation these days. We know that paid ads are popular and that is okay, but it is a total non-sense in my opinion to charge people to remove the ads. Either give your services ad free, or go with the ads. I would rather boycott YouTube than paying $10!

To be fair, that is just my anti-corporation opinion. You don't need to agree with me. There are many people who said that they like the new YouTube Red and that they enjoy living an ad free life. But on the other hand, to live a real ad free life, you would have to spend thousands of dollars every month to remove ads from every app you use.

And The Name..?

Let's finish off on the lighter side. From all names in the world, they chose YouTube Red. Doesn't that remind you of something else?

For more information and questions visit us at TechieFront

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Gabriel_Z/2213228

How To Prevent Spam Through Your Website Forms

By Alex H D  |   Submitted On January 06, 2015

  

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We all hate email spam in our email inbox, but rarely try to get to the root of the spam mail's origin and purpose. Many webmasters face a problem of receiving spam emails through the forms on their website. These are usually contact forms which are setup for visitor's to post their inquiries or to give feedback. Spammers try to hijack these forms to send spam mails, either by manipulating where the forms send emails or by flooding the webmaster with junk mail. This article points out some of the ways in which you can fight spam in website forms meant for comments, feedback, inquiries and any other contact.

Form Fields Validation

A very important part of having a secure form is to ensure that there is strict validation of the form fields. This is best explained by an example. When you are accepting a phone number through the contact form, you can code the form to ensure that only numbers are entered in the form field. Similarly for an email address field, the form must be able to determine a well-formed email address has been entered. If the fields contain anything which that field is not supposed to contain, like special characters or some funny text, then the form will throw an error and will not be submitted till the mistakes are corrected. This prevents any malicious code or text from being inserted in the form. It also prevents automated bots from filling up the form without understanding what is required and how it is to be filled.

Captcha

One of the most effective ways of fighting form spam is by enabling a captcha at the end of each form. The captcha requires the user to enter a word or number verification which is shown in an image. This prevents bots and automated systems from sending the forms mindlessly. Since bots cannot usually detect text within images, they fail to enter the correct Captcha text preventing the form from being submitted.

Confirmation Alert

Another simple trick that can be used to harass the spammers is to add a confirmation alert box which pops up to confirm the details that the user is trying to submit. Robots and automatic form submission software are unable to cause the clicking of the confirmation button in the alert box. Something like: "Are you sure you want to submit the form? Yes No," can be an added layer of protection from comment spammers. This is also a good way of allowing users to review the information they are sending and correct any mistakes or typos before submitting the form.

Anti-Spam Plugins

Akismet is an Anti-Spam plugin used for WordPress, which can identify genuine comments and filter out the spam comments. This can be helpful if you do not want to enable a captcha confirmation box or cannot have specific validation on your form. Similar anti-spam plugins are available for other platforms as well. While Akismet type plugins are not 100% correct and may lead to some false-positives, they do a really good job of filtering out the noise.

Logging Information

One of the most important things that a programmer can do to track the sources of spam and patterns of spam is to log additional information of the user. This means that along with the normal fields that the user is submitting, the form will also capture his / her IP Address, machine name, browser details, location information and similar information which can be used to trace the spam source. Using this information you can either take action against the spammer or even block his IP Address. This way he will not be able to keep harassing you or making random submissions.

Some programmers also swear by hidden form fields in CSS, which prevent the form field names from being seen by bots, thereby preventing them from knowing what data to auto fill in the text boxes. Consult your coder for the best solution for your website.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Alex_H_D/1829195