Get ready for it, we have amazing new changes coming to Don’t Pay Retail the most obvious being our new look web site!

 Don’t worry, the main features and style for our site will remain the same, Don’t Pay Retail will still be Don’t Pay Retail, but we felt it was time to revamp and bring a new feel to the site.

Without giving too much away, these modifications should make the shopping experience with Don’t Pay Retail even more enjoyable.

We look forward to hearing your comments when the changes come through.

Another new development at Don’t Pay Retail is the addition of Live Stock Updates on our product page. Previously we had our standard stock table available which was updated once daily, now customers have access to live stock information 24 hours a day. This information can be emailed directly to the customers email address as well as updating the stock table.

This concept has brought a smile to the face of many a customer who can have a much more accurate picture of the stock levels for the products they are about to order.

In addition to this, we have put in place daily order updates for customers with items on backorder. If a customer has a backorder, we email the latest updated ETA for each item on the order as we receive it from the vendor.

Customers now know exactly what stage their order is at, and are immediately made aware of any change in the vendors ETA for the goods.

We did have one customer request that he NOT be informed every day as to the progress of his backorder, so we are currently looking ways to accommodate this also.

We have implemented quite a few changes within Don’t Pay Retail over the last couple of months. The most exciting and noteworthy change is our current offer of free freight on ALL orders!

We understand that freight is one of the negative aspects that must be faced when purchasing goods online compared with a traditional shop front. We wanted to tackle this issue in the most efficient way possible. We believe we have done this by removing it altogether!

This initiative has been extremely popular with our customers and we have had plenty of enquiries from the unbelieving which follow the lines of: “Is it really free freight for ALL orders? Really really?”….Yes, really really!!

What we are offering is this: Free freight to all postcodes in Australia, for any number of items, whatever the weight, whatever the size. Not bad…!

There has been plenty of discussion around the rumour mill of just how we have managed to implement such a thing.

Basically we have introduced a few new distributors (and therefore now offer an even wider range of goods) and have been working hard to incorporate these improvements and bring this concept to fruition. Well, most of us have been. Not everyone was invited to attend the Australian Open as a guest of Kingston memory (Its okay Daniel, I obviously didn’t want to go anyway).

Digression aside, we feel that this initiative of free freight is what our customers want and at DontPayRetail are all about making our customers happy!

One last note, I couldn’t finish up without giving special mention to our favourite person at our favourite distributor who will remain anonymous, but who reads our blog and then emails us on a Saturday night telling us how much she likes it! Now that’s dedication. It’s just a pity that she refuses to come out with us after certain work related functions!!

An unfortunate long time between posts.

At DontPayRetail we work hard at constantly improving, reviewing, streamlining our business. We expect even our accounts dept or poor order processing slave to voice an opinion or suggestion, as it all helps.

We are changing a few things on our site.

First, we have been able to secure for our customers a fixed rate freight option. I cannot go into details with how this was done, however, after working on it for nearly 6 months, we finally have some agreements in place that essentially allow us to cap our freight charges to our customers. We still lose money on freight, on every order, but this has been reduced enough to a simple cost of doing business.

We have also removed our pickup option. The extra administration involved in this has been quite a chore. Essentially, we feel our shipping cost of only $10 is so low that we can now remove the pickup option.

Finally, thanks to those customers that made it a great end of financial year for us. We had a few mishaps, 2 customers are still waiting for the correct goods to show after the wrong ones were shipped (big oops) but all in all, about 112 satisfied orders were shipped in the last 2 days before EOF - and that we are proud of.

Ignorance at its best.

A real shame. The Australian Political Party, “Family First” is calling for special tax breaks for first home buyers.

Basically it is trying to convince the government that we should allow first home buyers to make the interest on their first home tax deductable.

First. I am the biggest PROponent of cutting tax, on anything. I believe the government, state and federal, could trim huge amounts of fat from their coffers and afford the public huge tax cuts.

I am however very much against giving some persons definition of a battler tax breaks that not everyone is entitled to.

I live with my partner of 9 years, we are not yet married (I said “YET” M). We have no children. We have our “first home”. We also have an investment property. We both work our butts of. I manage several ecommerce businesses, my partner works in Microbiology. We go without plenty, we know we cant afford to have children and a quality of life we want now, so we wait, save our money, invest wisely and a little hoping for the best.

So, we were smart, didnt get married and pregnant young, worked hard, studied, didnt travel, go out every weekend, squander our money. Are we not entitled to the same tax deductions? Why not? What makes someone else more deserved than us?

See where I am going with this? Its wrong to give handouts, unfair advantages to the so called disadvantaged. What rubbish. I work and suffer and do the hard yards, only to fund someone who didnt have the discipline to do it themselves?

Tell me how that is fair.

Sounds easy?

For most people, the debate over whether digital cameras can compete with film cameras is over. The continual technological improvements in digital cameras mean that the quality provided by a digital camera can be just as good as with a film camera.

Obviously, a lot of the weight of this debate lies squarely on the shoulders of the photographer.

Photographs taken from a digital camera can turn out the same, in terms of quality and clarity as they would from a film camera, when they are used properly with the technical aspects taken into account.

Digital cameras still need to be used properly, or they will provide poor quality results, just as a film camera would if aspects such as lighting and aperture were not considered.

The best thing about digital cameras, particularly for beginners or amateur photographers is that the LCD screen provides the opportunity to preview your shots and see if they are worth keeping, prior to spending the time and money on getting them processed.

Many digital cameras also have photo enhancement features and programs such as Photoshop that can be used to crop and change elements of your photographs to achieve the best possible results.

Color alterations and experimentation with cropping and zooming can also be done, depending on the features of your digital camera.

When choosing your digital camera, keep in mind what exactly it is that you want it for. If you do not intend to experiment with technical programs on your camera, then it makes sense to not spend extra money on a more expensive camera that has these options in the first place.

If you want to be able to just point and shoot with your digital camera, then purchase a digital camera that has basic point and shoot functioning, otherwise you may find that you become exasperated and overwhelmed trying to work out the functioning mechanisms when you go to use your camera.

Decide what sort of functions that you require from your camera, and then shop accordingly. Also, make sure you are able to use the functions on your camera, and learn how to use them if you are unsure. There is no point having amazing functioning ability on your camera if you are unsure how to correctly use them.

Try and also not get too caught up in brands. If your used to a particular brand in a film camera, and have no real idea on digital cameras, then try sticking with that brand in a digital. You will in most cases find that the learning curve is not so steep as you have been using a similar camera, with similar menu systems and buttons.

Of course if you have something specific in mind, or cant find what your after from our site, drop us an email and we will happily help. The staff at Cameras Only will always try and help with your decision, as we recognise its a very daunting experience for first timers.

Olympus have a new camera on the market, the FE240.

This little gem packs a lot of features into a small camera. Some camera manufacturers try and pack large zoom lenses in their small cameras to try and be better than the rest, however more often than not, this will result in a very poor quality lense, even if the zoom is huge.

This olympus, like a lot of olympus cameras, is different. Its a 5x optical zoom, which is quite large, yet the quality is still very good.

The stylish Olympus FE-240 Digital Camera is one of the most automatic, simple digital cameras available on the camera market. Almost everything is fully automized, making it a genuine point and shoot digital camera.
This could be as much a positive feature to one person as it may be a turn-off to somebody else.
The user of this camera will be sure to look the part, as the Olympus FE-240 comes with an attractive metal body in either silver or black.

With 7.1 Mega pixels, the Olympus FE-240 has 5 x optical zoom, which equates to 38-190mm on a 35mm camera as well as a 4 x digital zoom.
View your captured moments on the adequate 2.5 inch LCD screen.
Although everything is fully automated, the Digital Image Stabilization can be utilizes, and the built-in guide will enable easy access to this function.  The menu offers multi-language options with an impressive 25 languages available.
ISO settings are high, with 50-1000 being offered. There is Super Macro mode offered on the Olympus FE-240 from 3 centimeters.

There are 15 scene modes available which will add to the creative and personalized elements of your shots.
The capacity of your memory card will determine the capacity of your movie recordings, which are available with sound. Movie mode sizes of 640×480/30fps or 320×240/30fps.

There are 20MB of internal memory that can be utilized and the internal card slot will hold xD-Picture card Type H/M up to 2GB.
The USB connectivity can be used with either PC or Mac and USB Direct-print is available if you have compatible equipment. The Olympus Fe-240 also offers the TruePic Turbo Image processor.

Included in the pack when you purchase the Olympus FE-240 digital camera is the LI-42B Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery and Charger, stylish Wrist Strap, Quick Start Guide, Basic Manual, and CD-ROM. One USB Cable and an Audio/Video Cable are also included.

Check it out, learn more, compare prices. 

According to this article we are perhaps in the midst of a housing market recovery in the big 3 cities of Australia at least.

I have been telling people for quite some time now that it is a buyers market and one can really shop around for a bargain. If the article is to be believed, there is a serious housing shortfall occuring at the moment. This is not surprising if it is in fact the case. Rent prices have not increased for quite some time in Sydney at least, while the house prices were soaring. We are long overdue for a rental increase, unfortunately it has happened quite suddenly, meaning that many increases have been quite high with no warning.

This perhaps will hurt those trying to get into property, however the investment buyers will love it, making housing a desirable investment vehicle.

As I have said in another post, those trying to get into the property market should look at investing first instead of buying their own home. House prices will not get cheaper!

This little unit has been a very popular item for Dont Pay Retails customers this week.

Many people think about backing up their systems, even their personal ones, only after they suffer a major crash.

For under $335, you can have a 500gb external hard drive that will back up your computer, notebook, even Mac whatever with the click of a button.

One button backups!

On top of that, external hard drives can be very useful. One can run their email from them (as in store their email file on an external drive), same for all their other documents.

Store sensitive documents on there, your accounting application data file, excel spreadsheets etc.

How about all your photos?

We have been looking at offering these items as an add on to the notebooks we sell and will be integrating bundle specials in the near future. When looking at a $2-3000 notebook, an extra $335 is not much to pay to have all your data secure and safe, in a very reliable unit that doesnt look half bad.

Other details for the specification minded like myself.

USB 2.o as well as Firewire connections.

500 GB storage capacity

7200 rpm HDD

One Touch backup capable

Weighs 1.5kg’s and is only 16.5 * 16.5 cm, only 4.5 cm high.

Check it out! Lacie MINI HD 500GB USB2/FIREWIRE

Your average John and Jane Doe saving for a deposit for their own home wouldnt even consider an investment property.

Why not?

Its easier.

Think about it.

Payments on your own home are not tax deductable. Payments on your investment property are.

You earn no rent from your own home. You earn rent from your investment property.

So take the same 2, 500k mortgages.

The interest is about $3500 a month on both.

Your getting, should get, about $500 per week rent.

Call it $2000 a month.

Leaves you having to come up with $1500 a month of PRE TAX dollars, not take home pay, money that you earn before the tax man gets his cut. Thats less than $400 a week pretax to have an investment property (about $300 take home dollars).

Now go to your own home.

$3500 a month mortgage payment.

$850 a week roughly of  after tax money to pay for it. So you go to work, pay tax, take home your pay and then $850 goes to your mortgage interest bill.

$400 pretax is about $900 real dollars better than $850 after tax.

So why not? You enter the property market. In fact you can pay for 2 investment properties at the price of paying one property the same value that is your own home.

So your in the market, moving with it, the market moves faster than you can save for a deposit anyway.

Go for it. Learn to be an investor before a home owner.