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Capitalization consequences of Ebay Kicking off 15,000 sellers....

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Mike, 2 questions that may have been missed.

 

:foryou:

 

 

I didn't know you got automatic 5 stars as explained above. Is that a relatively new system?

 

 

What sort of report are you talking about? First I'd heard of that too?

 

 

Sorry, Roy - didn't spot them the first time around.

 

The automatic 5 stars for shipping time & shipping cost were introduced in early 2011 - the automatic 5 stars for communication was added in the spring 2012 seller update.

 

For the report, go to My Ebay > Account > Seller Dashboard > Detailed seller ratings reports

 

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it is hated because it touted itself as a way for small-timers to have part-time jobs supplementing their income and surviving the economy. now they're trying to get rid of those small-timers. the mother of 2 with a husband in iraq who sells ____ to keep her family above water can have her ___ ebay business yanked out from under her and be back on foodstamps (if she ever got off) from some irate customer off her meds who happened to buy 10 ___s and decided they didn't arrive fast enough and didn't smell __ enough.

my sisters husband wants to go to iraq as many times as he can so he can pay off their bills. they make a lot of money, tax free there(so he tells me)

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it is hated because it touted itself as a way for small-timers to have part-time jobs supplementing their income and surviving the economy. now they're trying to get rid of those small-timers. the mother of 2 with a husband in iraq who sells ____ to keep her family above water can have her ___ ebay business yanked out from under her and be back on foodstamps (if she ever got off) from some irate customer off her meds who happened to buy 10 ___s and decided they didn't arrive fast enough and didn't smell __ enough.

 

They're getting rid of those small timers? When?

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For the report, go to My Ebay > Account > Seller Dashboard > Detailed seller ratings reports

 

Do those seller reports tell you who left the ratings and which ratings they left individually?

 

 

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it is hated because it touted itself as a way for small-timers to have part-time jobs supplementing their income and surviving the economy. now they're trying to get rid of those small-timers. the mother of 2 with a husband in iraq who sells ____ to keep her family above water can have her ___ ebay business yanked out from under her and be back on foodstamps (if she ever got off) from some irate customer off her meds who happened to buy 10 ___s and decided they didn't arrive fast enough and didn't smell __ enough.

my sisters husband wants to go to iraq as many times as he can so he can pay off their bills. they make a lot of money, tax free there(so he tells me)

 

From what I understand they were paying huge money (as in 6 figures annually, and not just $100K) for people to go over there to do government work - installing communication equipment and stuff like that.

They had a hard time finding people because it was dangerous. Not sure if they're still paying that money.

 

 

 

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it is hated because it touted itself as a way for small-timers to have part-time jobs supplementing their income and surviving the economy. now they're trying to get rid of those small-timers. the mother of 2 with a husband in iraq who sells ____ to keep her family above water can have her ___ ebay business yanked out from under her and be back on foodstamps (if she ever got off) from some irate customer off her meds who happened to buy 10 ___s and decided they didn't arrive fast enough and didn't smell __ enough.

my sisters husband wants to go to iraq as many times as he can so he can pay off their bills. they make a lot of money, tax free there(so he tells me)

 

From what I understand they were paying huge money (as in 6 figures annually, and not just $100K) for people to go over there to do government work - installing communication equipment and stuff like that.

They had a hard time finding people because it was dangerous. Not sure if they're still paying that money.

 

 

they do. knew a guy that went over there for 6months or so and got around 60k but my brother inlaw is in the army. seems like everytime he goes, they get a new car.

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Second: There is no such thing as free shipping. Shipping charges are either tacked on at the end of a purchase, or they are built into the purchase price. Either way, the buyer pays.

 

Or am I wrong? Tell me where and why please.

 

Are you including auctions? Because most of my auctions were no-reserve with free Priority shipping. I've had to eat it a few times on books that sold relatively low.

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it is hated because it touted itself as a way for small-timers to have part-time jobs supplementing their income and surviving the economy. now they're trying to get rid of those small-timers. the mother of 2 with a husband in iraq who sells ____ to keep her family above water can have her ___ ebay business yanked out from under her and be back on foodstamps (if she ever got off) from some irate customer off her meds who happened to buy 10 ___s and decided they didn't arrive fast enough and didn't smell __ enough.

 

Your experience is souring you on this in general. For just as many people complaining about ebay, there are 1000s that credit the company for saving their small business.

 

My LCS probably would have gone under if not for ebay supplemental his store. I would go as far to say that almost 80% of LCSs use ebay monthly now. Unless you are strongly established store like Mile High or Lonestar you almost need ebay to survive. (They both list on ebay as well.) The rest are just too lazy or too uninformed.

 

They(LCSs) will eagerly pay 15% in fees, deal with the headaches of running a small business to get worldwide exposure and return business. Buyers are starving for sellers that can grade well, pack well, ship on time, and actually be courteous and friendly.

 

Pay attention to that last sentence above because that's describes almost all ebay sellers that are successful. All businesses have its share of headaches or . Ebay just seems to have a few more then everywhere else. :insane:

 

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Buyers are starving for sellers that can grade well, pack well, ship on time, and actually be courteous and friendly.

 

This might seem like a good problem to have for a seller looking to move goods on eBay. But's it's a shallow rendition of what really goes on.

 

As a seller, you need to tip toe carefully around all the land mines eBay has dropped and forgotten about in the way of opportunistic buyers (scammers) looking to game (rip-off) sellers.

 

These are buyers who look to expose any/all possible loophole, and who seem to prey on good sellers. Every time I log on to the handful of forums I frequent, without fail I see a post from a long-standing member who has been screwed by a buyer on eBay, and it isn't uncommon to see when the layers get peeled away, it's the same buyer (with constantly changing aliases) everyone else in the community has been burned by at one time or another.

 

Personally speaking, just last month, I had three dubious offers (out of a total of 16) on a white hot Star Wars toy I listed on eBay.

 

One guy was offering $2K more than my full asking, but needed 6 months to pay. The too good to be true train was whistling feverishly after I spent some time looking through the persons checkered online past. Combined with some of the things he mentioned during our email exchanges, I quickly came to the realization it was too much of a risk to deal with this individual.

 

The second person wanted to send me payment via Western Union, even though I told him several times I wanted an International Money-Order in US Funds. After realizing I was talking to a wall, I blocked him.

 

The third guy was a peach. He posted an image of the item on his business Facebook page, watermarked with his business logo, while the auction was still live, and began a countdown of comments on his wall which were a mixed bag of updates on his interests to acquire the piece, messages from our exchanges, lies and attempts to solicit cheers from his followers for his childish escapades.

 

I tried posting what my issues were pertaining to this individual on his wall - namely that a Google vanity search on his name revealed he was a HUGE scammer, with more red flags on his online activity than a Russian embassy, and that there was plenty of available online evidence to show he had screwed over many, many people in the past. I didn't need to do anything more than share a link for a Google search on his real name.

 

Yet every time I tried posting something on his wall to explain my reluctance in dealing with him, he deleted my post almost immediately. I did manage to take a screenshot of a comment I posted before he removed it and shared it on RS to warn other people that he was on a rampage and to watch out for him.

 

Even after all this, he continued to contact me through eBay and email, insisting we should do a deal. Against my better judgement, I decided to spell out the terms to him in plain language at least a handful of times, and even offered to have the item driven to his doorstep once money was in hand, but he still was looking to find a way to screw me at every turn. In the end, he expected me to leave the item with him, and to pay me at a later date. lol

 

So to your point, buyers may well be starving for exactly the kind of sellers who do all the things collectors/buyers like, but through both observational and personal experience, I have found that all too often, it's for reasons that those sellers might be more accommodating than the average seller on eBay. Sadly, it's in such cases where good sellers discover too late that their friendly, courteous, and trusting nature was taken for granted, and that they've been worked over and taken for a ride by an opportunist scammer.

 

The sadistic aspect of all this is that announcements of eBay's double-dipping, fee doubling, and justifications for rising fees have done nothing to exterminate this element from its site.

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For the report, go to My Ebay > Account > Seller Dashboard > Detailed seller ratings reports

 

Do those seller reports tell you who left the ratings and which ratings they left individually?

 

 

Sigh. Are you new to this ebay selling? LINK

 

Thanks for the condescending response. (thumbs u

 

The link is much appreciated.

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Buyers are starving for sellers that can grade well, pack well, ship on time, and actually be courteous and friendly.

 

This might seem like a good problem to have for a seller looking to move goods on eBay. But's it's a shallow rendition of what really goes on.

 

As a seller, you need to tip toe carefully around all the land mines eBay has dropped and forgotten about in the way of opportunistic buyers (scammers) looking to game (rip-off) sellers.

 

Yup, and the seller has their hands tied, unable to respond in any realistic fashion. You can't leave feedback that is appropriate so you just have to smile and accept what you're about to receive whether you like it or not.

 

The sadistic aspect of all this is that announcements of eBay's double-dipping, fee doubling, and justifications for rising fees have done nothing to exterminate this element from its site.

 

That is the worst part of it. The place has not gotten any safer, just more expensive.

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Buyers are starving for sellers that can grade well, pack well, ship on time, and actually be courteous and friendly.

 

This might seem like a good problem to have for a seller looking to move goods on eBay. But's it's a shallow rendition of what really goes on.

 

As a seller, you need to tip toe carefully around all the land mines eBay has dropped and forgotten about in the way of opportunistic buyers (scammers) looking to game (rip-off) sellers.

 

These are buyers who look to expose any/all possible loophole, and who seem to prey on good sellers. Every time I log on to the handful of forums I frequent, without fail I see a post from a long-standing member who has been screwed by a buyer on eBay, and it isn't uncommon to see when the layers get peeled away, it's the same buyer (with constantly changing aliases) everyone else in the community has been burned by at one time or another.

 

Personally speaking, just last month, I had three dubious offers (out of a total of 16) on a white hot Star Wars toy I listed on eBay.

 

One guy was offering $2K more than my full asking, but needed 6 months to pay. The too good to be true train was whistling feverishly after I spent some time looking through the persons checkered online past. Combined with some of the things he mentioned during our email exchanges, I quickly came to the realization it was too much of a risk to deal with this individual.

 

The second person wanted to send me payment via Western Union, even though I told him several times I wanted an International Money-Order in US Funds. After realizing I was talking to a wall, I blocked him.

 

The third guy was a peach. He posted an image of the item on his business Facebook page, watermarked with his business logo, while the auction was still live, and began a countdown of comments on his wall which were a mixed bag of updates on his interests to acquire the piece, messages from our exchanges, lies and attempts to solicit cheers from his followers for his childish escapades.

 

I tried posting what my issues were pertaining to this individual on his wall - namely that a Google vanity search on his name revealed he was a HUGE scammer, with more red flags on his online activity than a Russian embassy, and that there was plenty of available online evidence to show he had screwed over many, many people in the past. I didn't need to do anything more than share a link for a Google search on his real name.

 

Yet every time I tried posting something on his wall to explain my reluctance in dealing with him, he deleted my post almost immediately. I did manage to take a screenshot of a comment I posted before he removed it and shared it on RS to warn other people that he was on a rampage and to watch out for him.

 

Even after all this, he continued to contact me through eBay and email, insisting we should do a deal. Against my better judgement, I decided to spell out the terms to him in plain language at least a handful of times, and even offered to have the item driven to his doorstep once money was in hand, but he still was looking to find a way to screw me at every turn. In the end, he expected me to leave the item with him, and to pay me at a later date. lol

 

So to your point, buyers may well be starving for exactly the kind of sellers who do all the things collectors/buyers like, but through both observational and personal experience, I have found that all too often, it's for reasons that those sellers might be more accommodating than the average seller on eBay. Sadly, it's in such cases where good sellers discover too late that their friendly, courteous, and trusting nature was taken for granted, and that they've been worked over and taken for a ride by an opportunist scammer.

The sadistic aspect of all this is that announcements of eBay's double-dipping, fee doubling, and justifications for rising fees have done nothing to exterminate this element from its site.

Agreed with the comments.

With those three buyers you had recently had experience with the Star Wars collectibles I would have just told them no,that I am not interested in doing business, and then blocked them. When I see too many red flags like that I would just move on to different buyers,especially that third one putting a water mark on your Star Wars collectible then posting it on Facebook. I definitely would have blocked him.

I found out time is much too valuable then to waste it on these kind of buyers.Also who needs all the stress that these kind of buyers can cause?

Another was the guy wanting you to pay you by Western Union instead of International Money-Order in US Funds that is a big flag as well.

Best bet is to just politely say no, and then politely block them. lol

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it is hated because it touted itself as a way for small-timers to have part-time jobs supplementing their income and surviving the economy. now they're trying to get rid of those small-timers. the mother of 2 with a husband in iraq who sells ____ to keep her family above water can have her ___ ebay business yanked out from under her and be back on foodstamps (if she ever got off) from some irate customer off her meds who happened to buy 10 ___s and decided they didn't arrive fast enough and didn't smell __ enough.

my sisters husband wants to go to iraq as many times as he can so he can pay off their bills. they make a lot of money, tax free there(so he tells me)

 

 

i don't think privates are paid so well. you always hear about some military families qualifying for food stamps (and that was before they softened the rules).

 

officers do get paid though. a lawyer in my office who was in the reserves and had a rank that would let him command some sort of small boat in the navy (not a destroyer, what's the next step down?) was telling me he'd see a decent raise if he was sent into a combat zone.

 

anyway, the "husband in Iraq" is something straight out of some ebay success story they were touting years back on the site. also, if your household expenses (mortgage, etc.) are keyed, let's say, toward your husband's $75K civilian salary and in the reserves he's making $55K when abroad, then I can see how this can create some hardships. combat pay might be a bonus for someone who is already living on a military salary though.

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Your experience is souring you on this in general. For just as many people complaining about ebay, there are 1000s that credit the company for saving their small business.

 

My LCS probably would have gone under if not for ebay supplemental his store. I would go as far to say that almost 80% of LCSs use ebay monthly now. Unless you are strongly established store like Mile High or Lonestar you almost need ebay to survive. (They both list on ebay as well.) The rest are just too lazy or too uninformed.

 

They(LCSs) will eagerly pay 15% in fees, deal with the headaches of running a small business to get worldwide exposure and return business. Buyers are starving for sellers that can grade well, pack well, ship on time, and actually be courteous and friendly.

 

Pay attention to that last sentence above because that's describes almost all ebay sellers that are successful. All businesses have its share of headaches or . Ebay just seems to have a few more then everywhere else. :insane:

 

i assure you i am not a mother of 2 with a husband in combat in Iraq, but I did sell on ebay for 10 years. 1300+ perfect positive feedback on the account in question. (not a single negative when they pulled my selling privileges) repeat buyers. i graded well, packed very well and was very courteous. my listings said i was not a fast shipper and needed the 5 day handling time. ONE guy buys multiple items from me and is basically able to get my stars on shipping down low enough to get me booted off as a seller because, at the time, I wasn't volume selling (only 7-10 items a month) and his dings had a huge impact. What irritates me is that ebay did not tell me "you need to get your stars above __ within 3 months or we'll boot you", they did tell me I'd be restricted to 80 sales/$8K month or something like that until my numbers were better, which I was fine with because I never hit those numbers anyway. had i known they were going to boot me I would have listed 500 99 cent items or something like that to fix my situation and get the numbers up. now the determination is "permanent." so 10 years and 1300+ perfect feedback gone, poof! sure, i have another account that I will probably use, but the feedback on that is less than 300 and if they start stinking around with ISP addresses and what not they might shut that one down too for selling purposes.

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For the report, go to My Ebay > Account > Seller Dashboard > Detailed seller ratings reports

 

Do those seller reports tell you who left the ratings and which ratings they left individually?

 

 

Sigh. Are you new to this ebay selling? LINK

 

Thanks for the condescending response. (thumbs u

 

The link is much appreciated.

 

I aim to please. :banana:

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Fail. One person is just selling that NM #98 for less. (fill in whatever item you want to talk about).

 

Is there a set price for everything? For anything?

 

No.

 

Nonsense.

 

I do woodworking in my spare time and am a big fan of the Festool line of tools. Any store that carries the Festool brand needs to sell the tools at MSRP - if they discount for any reason, they'll loose their license.

 

If I buy a Festool router from a seller who offers free shipping that's exactly what I'm receiving - free shipping. The seller is taking a loss at MSRP in order to subsidize my shipping.

 

Exactly what I said in the first place. Someone is selling that router for less, and "showing it" as free shipping. Bottom line is, they are selling that router for less than MSRP, and disguising it (because of manufacturer requirements) for less than MSRP. I am surprised you don't see that.

 

How could it not be? The same router sells by many for $100.00 with shipping added. But one person is selling that same router for $100.00 and gives the so-called "free shipping". He is in fact, selling that item for less than MSRP. PERIOD!

 

 

Unless you really believe that people sell items for less than they pay for them, on a routine basis. Which is done every once in awhile by small time Ebay sellers, like me. But not intentionally.

 

(Answering someone else here) Auctions starting at .1 cent, are gambling. When you gamble, sometimes you lose. But no one goes into an Ebay auction or sale, with the intention of losing money.

 

 

No such thing as free shipping. Someone is paying for it, and it is always the buyer. Even if the buyer believes he or she is not paying it.

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Fail. One person is just selling that NM #98 for less. (fill in whatever item you want to talk about).

 

Is there a set price for everything? For anything?

 

No.

 

Nonsense.

 

I do woodworking in my spare time and am a big fan of the Festool line of tools. Any store that carries the Festool brand needs to sell the tools at MSRP - if they discount for any reason, they'll loose their license.

 

If I buy a Festool router from a seller who offers free shipping that's exactly what I'm receiving - free shipping. The seller is taking a loss at MSRP in order to subsidize my shipping.

 

Exactly what I said in the first place. Someone is selling that router for less, and "showing it" as free shipping. Bottom line is, they are selling that router for less than MSRP, and disguising it (because of manufacturer requirements) for less than MSRP. I am surprised you don't see that.

 

How could it not be? The same router sells by many for $100.00 with shipping added. But one person is selling that same router for $100.00 and gives the so-called "free shipping". He is in fact, selling that item for less than MSRP. PERIOD!

 

 

Unless you really believe that people sell items for less than they pay for them, on a routine basis. Which is done every once in awhile by small time Ebay sellers, like me. But not intentionally.

 

(Answering someone else here) Auctions starting at .1 cent, are gambling. When you gamble, sometimes you lose. But no one goes into an Ebay auction or sale, with the intention of losing money.

 

 

No such thing as free shipping. Someone is paying for it, and it is always the buyer. Even if the buyer believes he or she is not paying it.

 

+1 :applause:

 

I'd like to see those that believe there is free shipping, walk into their local P.O. and ask for the USPS free shipping method. Then try FedEx, UPS, and DHL. Tell them you wish to ship something via their free shipping method. Please come back to the board and tell us all how it worked out for you. :cool:

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Buyers are starving for sellers that can grade well, pack well, ship on time, and actually be courteous and friendly.

 

This might seem like a good problem to have for a seller looking to move goods on eBay. But's it's a shallow rendition of what really goes on.

 

As a seller, you need to tip toe carefully around all the land mines eBay has dropped and forgotten about in the way of opportunistic buyers (scammers) looking to game (rip-off) sellers.

 

These are buyers who look to expose any/all possible loophole, and who seem to prey on good sellers. Every time I log on to the handful of forums I frequent, without fail I see a post from a long-standing member who has been screwed by a buyer on eBay, and it isn't uncommon to see when the layers get peeled away, it's the same buyer (with constantly changing aliases) everyone else in the community has been burned by at one time or another.

 

Personally speaking, just last month, I had three dubious offers (out of a total of 16) on a white hot Star Wars toy I listed on eBay.

 

One guy was offering $2K more than my full asking, but needed 6 months to pay. The too good to be true train was whistling feverishly after I spent some time looking through the persons checkered online past. Combined with some of the things he mentioned during our email exchanges, I quickly came to the realization it was too much of a risk to deal with this individual.

 

The second person wanted to send me payment via Western Union, even though I told him several times I wanted an International Money-Order in US Funds. After realizing I was talking to a wall, I blocked him.

 

The third guy was a peach. He posted an image of the item on his business Facebook page, watermarked with his business logo, while the auction was still live, and began a countdown of comments on his wall which were a mixed bag of updates on his interests to acquire the piece, messages from our exchanges, lies and attempts to solicit cheers from his followers for his childish escapades.

 

I tried posting what my issues were pertaining to this individual on his wall - namely that a Google vanity search on his name revealed he was a HUGE scammer, with more red flags on his online activity than a Russian embassy, and that there was plenty of available online evidence to show he had screwed over many, many people in the past. I didn't need to do anything more than share a link for a Google search on his real name.

 

Yet every time I tried posting something on his wall to explain my reluctance in dealing with him, he deleted my post almost immediately. I did manage to take a screenshot of a comment I posted before he removed it and shared it on RS to warn other people that he was on a rampage and to watch out for him.

 

Even after all this, he continued to contact me through eBay and email, insisting we should do a deal. Against my better judgement, I decided to spell out the terms to him in plain language at least a handful of times, and even offered to have the item driven to his doorstep once money was in hand, but he still was looking to find a way to screw me at every turn. In the end, he expected me to leave the item with him, and to pay me at a later date. lol

 

So to your point, buyers may well be starving for exactly the kind of sellers who do all the things collectors/buyers like, but through both observational and personal experience, I have found that all too often, it's for reasons that those sellers might be more accommodating than the average seller on eBay. Sadly, it's in such cases where good sellers discover too late that their friendly, courteous, and trusting nature was taken for granted, and that they've been worked over and taken for a ride by an opportunist scammer.

The sadistic aspect of all this is that announcements of eBay's double-dipping, fee doubling, and justifications for rising fees have done nothing to exterminate this element from its site.

Agreed with the comments.

With those three buyers you had recently had experience with the Star Wars collectibles I would have just told them no,that I am not interested in doing business, and then blocked them. When I see too many red flags like that I would just move on to different buyers,especially that third one putting a water mark on your Star Wars collectible then posting it on Facebook. I definitely would have blocked him.

I found out time is much too valuable then to waste it on these kind of buyers.Also who needs all the stress that these kind of buyers can cause?

Another was the guy wanting you to pay you by Western Union instead of International Money-Order in US Funds that is a big flag as well.

Best bet is to just politely say no, and then politely block them. lol

 

I would never spend the time above with a buyer/buyers like that above. If they are EVEN remotely going to look like a problem they are blocked and I move on. If the buyer asks why and occasionally they do I give him all the reasons above. I understand all the pitfalls trust me I do. Been there and done that. If walks like a duck then it probably is a duck....

 

High end items, such as rare toys and slabs I just wouldn't sell there anymore at all. Even though I haven't used them looks like Comic Connect is the way to go for high end comics for better protection. Personally in my experience I think the majority of headaches are done by using auctions. It seems the auction format brings out a lot of headache buyers.

 

I am not excusing ebay policies I think they suck too, but in the bigger picture they are many that could not have made without them. The smartest LCSs have built their own websites and just use ebay to drive traffic there. We can list the headaches all day long, but for the JQ public paying 15% for worldwide exposure and making a some cash is worth it for most.

 

 

 

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