Here are the top 5 sellers in men’s and women’s apparel at www.c28.com this week:
Guys:
Operation Worship
Glory
For Freedom
Across the City
Answer
Girls
Edgy Grunge
Frankie Babydoll
Love Because
Loved by God Empire Top
God is Love
We’ll have the “Top Sellers” feed in AvantLink updated shortly.
Happy selling!
GTO client MakeBeer.net gets great review on Fermentarium.com
Our client at MakeBeer.net is the North American distributor of Cooper’s home brewing supplies – they compete (very favorably) with products like Mr Beer and The Beer Machine for the beginning home brewer. It’s been a really fun program to work with, and one of the issues that we come up against when we talk to the hard core home brewing enthusiast is that they have concerns on the quality of beer you can get from a “kit beer.”
Tom at MakeBeer argues that this is ridiculous – as he’s won brewing competitions with Cooper’s product. Just marketing speak from a guy with skin in the game you say? Now – there is some independant verification of this claim from the highly respected brewing and wine making site Fermentarium.com.
Taste
The taste is really crisp and good. There was no alcohol flavor, and the beer was very balanced. There is a slight malt flavor, but it’s as crisp of a lager as you would expect. The malt does not dominate. I thought it tasted good when I kegged earlier, but I was really plesantly surprised by the bottled version. I think it really benefited with the extended lager. I meant to keep the kegged version longer to directly compare it to the bottled version, but it didn’t last long in my neighborhood.
Results
I would not say it was the best lager I’ve had, but I think it compares very well with many commercial examples. If you served this beer, most would be very surprised it was homemade. I’m curious how it would fare in a competition. I know you’d lose points for the head and aroma, but I think it would fare well in the other categories. The beer definately benefits from an extended lagering. If you plan to try this kit, make sure you have the patience to leave it in a fridge for a few months.
The carbonation drops were impressive too. I thought the beer was perfectly carbonated, and it didn’t leave any residual sweetness. I bottled in a 24 ounce “bomber” and added two drops.
The bottled version was perfectly carbonated, even better than my forced carbonation in the keg.The ease of this beer kit makes it a good choice for those who want to make beer at home, but do not want to invest in lots of equipment. It also has a good clean flavor, and it makes a solid lager.
Not bad for a kit beer huh? The bottom line is this – for a fraction of the cost of a micro brewed beer, Cooper’s European Lager Kit produced a finished product that an experienced brewer was impressed with and gave a great review.
If you have a home brewing site – we’d love to work with you. MakeBeer.net sells a great product for people who are just getting started in brewing their own beer or who just want to save time on their brewing while producing a really good end product.
You can join the Cooper’s Brewing (MakeBeer.net) Affiliate Program on the Shareasale network.
If you are one of the top 3 affiliates in the program this month with over $1000 in sales generated, you’ll take home some extra cash.
Thank You Governor Schwarzenegger
I just received this amazing announcement from Governor Schwarzenegger’s office. Turns out that all of our hard work and persistance actually has paid off (even if they did end up blocking our emails last week, which frankly was incredibly annoying).
The fight’s not over…last night, the nexus proposal appeared in a new bill, ABX3 19, which is identical to SBX3 17, and it was passed by the Senate (24-14). It appears that our legislators are fond of playing the shell game, so we must continue to be vigilant in our efforts until a solid resolution is obtained.
GAAS:355:09
For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Contact: Aaron McLear
Rachel Cameron
916-445-4571Governor Schwarzenegger Remains Committed to No New Taxes, Announces Overstock.com Will Continue to do Business in California
Following Overstock.com’s announcement that it will pull its affiliate advertising from California due to the legislature’s proposal to increase taxes and the announcements of other companies such as Amazon.com threatening to follow suit, Governor Schwarzenegger today reiterated his deep commitment to not raising taxes to solve our state’s budget deficit and announced Overstock.com will reinstate California-based internet affiliate advertisers:
“After passing the largest tax increase in California history, it makes absolutely no sense to go back to the taxpayers to solve the current shortfall – that’s why yesterday I vetoed the majority vote tax increase passed by the legislature. With unemployment at an all time high, we should be doing everything we can to – keep jobs and create jobs – in California. That is why my Administration immediately contacted Overstock.com when we learned of this news and, I am pleased to announce Overstock.com has reversed its decision and will continue to do business with affiliates here in California. I will continue to fight to keep jobs and businesses in California.”
California lawmakers proposed a tax on affiliate advertising and sent legislation to the Governor, but as promised he vetoed it because we cannot solve our budget deficit by raising taxes and driving businesses out of the state.
Overstock.com estimates its internet affiliate advertisers in California create millions of dollars in revenue.
###
And the exodus begins…
Unfortunately, with the threat of the California budget hanging over their heads like Damocles sword, the first merchant has pulled their affiliate program from California.
According to David Lewis of Cashbaq.com, Overstock.com sent a boiler plate rejection letter out to their affiliates via CJ’s internal email this afternoon.
I’m sorry to see the impasse come to this, but Democratic legislators flat out refused to see the light here and as other large and small companies follow suit, we will simply see more money leaving the state.
I would urge affiliates that receive these sorts of removal letters to send them directly to your representatives and ask them point blank why they stood idly by and did nothing to protect your business, your income, and your families from financial devastation.
Click here to find your Assemblyperson and Senator.
**UPDATE**
Here is the full text of the “official” letter from Overstock that affiliates received tonight:
June 30, 2009
Dear Affiliate:
We regret to inform you that the North Carolina, Rhode Island, California and Hawaii state legislatures have or are about to pass unconstitutional tax nexus and collection laws in an attempt to force Internet retailers to collect and remit sales tax on all sales to residents of these states.
These legislative measures purport to establish a state tax nexus on the basis of contracts with local advertising affiliates, even when none exists under U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Overstock.com, Inc. (“Overstock”) has no tax nexus in any state other than Utah.
Due to the passage or eminent passage of these unconstitutional laws, Overstock regretfully must discontinue its relationships with all of its advertising affiliates in these states.
Accordingly, it is with reluctance that Overstock hereby gives notice of termination of your participation in Overstock’s Affiliate Program.
Any money owed to you, based on your advertising services prior to termination, will be paid in the normal course of business.
Overstock regrets that it has been put in this position. In the future should these laws be vetoed, declared unconstitutional, or repealed, we will cheerfully resume our former business relationship.
Respectfully,
Jonathan E. Johnson III
President
Overstock.com, Inc.
