Adam Jewell – Search & Affiliate Marketing

Tea, a nice cup of loose leaf tea is always a great way to kick back and relax. My personal favorites thus far come from Adagio teas. They’ve got great green and white teas with the Jamine pearls being among the best I’ve ever had.

Recently while browsing the Amazon grocery section, I came across HUGE savings on Tao of Tea products and other “closeout” items. Huge savings = 55% off and FREE shipping on orders over $25.00. This offer is good till September 31, 2008. I’ve never had tea from Tao of Tea before, however it comes in nice little containers, is loose leaf tea and comes in a HUGE variety of flavors. Small containers come in handy for travel and can always be reused when you buy tea in bulk and need a smaller container to transport it in.

If you are a big tea fan, be sure to take advantage of this awesome Amazon special on Tao of Tea products. When you are ready to checkout, just put the coupon code CLRNCFTY in the shopping cart and you’ll get 55% off all product in the promotion.

When looking for outdoor gear, there is no better place to go than Sierra Trading Post (www.sierratradingpost.com)! I’ve come to absolutely LOVE this site for great deals on all kinds of products. They’ve generally got low, low prices on all sorts of outdoor gear from Orage ski jackets, pants and apparel to Sierra Designs Tiros Tents (mine was less than $200 with a coupon!), a wide variety of sleeping bags, camping and backpacking stoves, great backpacks and sooooooooo much more.

It seems that a lot of the gear consists of overstocks, seconds (where a thread may be out of place or an item is not 100% perfect) and some brands you may not be familiar with. I had never heard of Orage ski jackets and clothing before I found them on Sierra Trading Post but took a gamble and they are some of, if not the best ski jackets I’ve ever had and I’ve had a few in close to 30 years of skiing. When you want a great deal on outdor adventure gear, head on over to Sierra Trading Post!

On a trip to Argentina to ski Las Lenas in the Andes a few years ago, I had the opportunity to spend a week in Buenos Aires. Argentina has amazing leather products, beef, chocolate and culture. While waiting for a table at a restaurant along the great big river between Argentina and Uraguay, I was in a gift shop. They had the coolest leather hat and being the spendthrift I tend to be on vacations to places that might be a challenge to get back to, I got one. A nice brown leather Australian type cowboy hat. It was made by Lagomarsino Hats in Argentina. It was one of these – the Lagomarsino Sobrero Australiano

It got lots of great comments, was made very well and took a lot of abuse. After about 4 years of extensive use and sweat bands, it started to show a little more wear than was desirable and I started looking for a new one. The folks in Argentina at the factory didn’t seem to be interested in shipping to the US since they never answered numerous emails. I searched and searched and searched and finally came across Bencraft hats at www.bencraft.com. It said it was made in Argentina and looked like the leather hat I purchased in Argentina. I inquired if they had it in leather. They said yes. I talked to three diffeent people there and told them all I was looking for the brown leather hat from Lagomarsino. It took well over a week to ship from NY to Philadelphia and to get the suede hats shown on the Bencraft hats website. All this and they ship the wrong hats.

As soon as I got back from the PSIA National Academy, I emailed the guy who responded to the initial email inquiring about the leather version of the hat, oh yes, I think we have that one. I asked for a return shipping label and never heard from the guy again. Bencraft has nice hats and they were the real deal from Argentina but the service form that place sucks. Guess I’ll just give them away as presents or maybe wear one once in a while.

Fortunately, a couple weeks later the exact Lagomarsino leather hat I was looking for turned up on Ebay from N-FASHION-STYLES. While it hasn’t come yet, let’s hope they come through on the auction.

While they can be a real pain to track down, Lagomarsino Hats from Argentina makes extremely high quality hats, that look great and are very durable. They can add a unique stylish touch to any outfit and one of the various styles they offer is sure to go with most any outfit. Bencraft hats in New York is one of the few places I’ve found that carries Lagomarsino hats and while they do have good quality hats, I woudn’t buy anything from them without going up there to pick it up in person to make sure you are getting what they tell you you are getting.

Get a great hat – buy a Lagomarsino hat from Argentina!

Have you ever thought it would be cool to own a Segway?

Have you ever thought about buying a Segway on Ebay?

The Segway is an engineering marvel and you can get pretty good deals on them but you need to know what you are buying and how to buy one.

Any high-ticket item on Ebay is a potential fraud target and the Segway is a HUGE fraud item on Ebay. Anywhere up to 50% of the Segway listings on Ebay may be fraud. Ebay is geting better and better about taking them down quickly and they are generally relatively easy to spot.

Fraudulent Ebay Segway listings typically want you to contact them directly outside of Ebay, they want money wired via Western Union or another money transfer vehicle – cash, money order, wire transfer, etc… that leaves you with no recourse when your Segway doesn’t show up. The first thing to do, or not to do is to ever bid on a Segway (or any other item) on Ebay that says not to contact them through Ebay and insists that you contact them though an Email address posted in the auction. If you have any doubts about the auction, contact the seller through Ebay and start communicating with them. Ask any question just to see if you get a response. Fraud often occurs with new accounts that have zero feedback ratings but can also occur with power seller accounts that have thousands of positive feedback ratings if the account has been hijacked.

Just because you are dealing with a legitimate seller does not mean that you will get what you think you are getting when you try to buy a Segway on Ebay or online in general. The Segway is an awesome “toy” that can be a cheap and fun way to get around or commute to work but you need to know what you are buying.

Before you bid on any Segway, you need check on a number of things and if at all possible, verify what the seller tells you with the dealer where the Segway was originally purchased. Dealers in fact list many of the Segways on Ebay and these are legitimate listings. If the one you are bidding on or planning on buying is a dealer listing you can generally rest easy and expect to get exactly what they tell you, you are getting.

Currently there are first and second generation Segways in the marketplace. The first generation Segways include the i80, i70, i67 and XT (off-road model). The second generation Segway includes the i2 and the X2 (off-road model). If you are buying a first generation Segway, the most you want to pay is $3,500 give or take a little bit but possibly as low as $1,500. For a used second generation i2 or X2, the lowest price you’ll typically find is about $4,000 and you can go up to about $6,000 if it is brand new, comes with accessories and you get stuck paying sales tax.

So what things will affect what you should pay for a Segway?

Batteries – Does it have NiMH or Lithium Ion batteries? NiMH batteries tend to have a range of about 12 miles and Lithium Ion batteries have a range of up to about 25 miles. The 1st generation models generally come with NiMH batteries and if you are buying a 1st generation Segway that comes with the original batteries, they may be good for a lot less than 12 miles. Ask the seller of a 1st generation Segway what type of batteries it has – some have been upgraded to the Lithium Ion batteries.

All the generation 2 models come with Lithium Ion batteries and as such are worth more. New Lithium Ion batteries for a Segway cost around $1,600 new.

No matter what Segway you buy, confirm with the seller that the batteries have been charged regularly. If the seller bought the Segway, stopped using it and packed the whole thing away somewhere, the batteries may hold very little charge and require a new battery set. If this is the case, tack on $1,600 to your purchase price for a new set.

Segway Keys – Just like a car or other motor vehicle, keys are used to start the Segway. Make sure the seller has all the keys for it. The 1st generation models come with 3 different keys that affect the maximum speed of the Segway. The second generation Segway comes with an “info” key that is like a high tech car key FOB. Make sure the seller has the keys.

Segway Serial Number – Since many people don’t know much about Segways but think they want one or that it would be cool to steal one, you need to make sure you are not buying a stolen Segway.

When Segways are purchased they may be registered with the Segway corporate office. If you buy a Segway and the keys do not work or the seller ships it without keys you will have to go to a dealer or to Segway corporate to get replacement keys. If the Segway you bought turns out to be stolen, you probably won’t be able to get keys made for it. If possible get the serial number from the seller and check with Segway to make sure the unit is not stolen.

Segway Mileage – Ask the seller how many miles are on the Segway. THis isn’t to critical but the lowere the mileage, the better shape your Segway is likely to be in when you get it.

Segway Crashes – Has the unit ever been wrecked? The Segway is a pretty durable piece of equipment. They can be a little tricky to ride and an aggressive rider may have crashed the Segway causing cosmetic and possibly functional damage to the machine. Generally this is not that case and it would have to crash rather hard to functionally damage the Segway but it is something to ask about. I’ve only ever seen Segways with cosmetic damage but in some instances, a unit can be wrecked such that the wheels will wobble when they turn. Most of the time this does not adversely affect the performance of the machine but could be an indication of internal damage that could affect the performance of the Segway down the road.

When buying a Segway – Ask about the batteries, buy in person if possible, inspect the machine and make sure it is not stolen, stand behind someone else and make sure the wheel don’t wobble when they ride it, check your local laws for riding it and if buying on Ebay, pay with a credit card if possible and if you must use PayPal, find the PayPal payment with a credit card so you have recourse if you don’t get what you think you are getting.

Another good resource for Segway information, advice on buying a Segway or even to find a Segway to purchase is the Segway Chat Forum