1965 chevy impala parts for sale

I feel like I am one of very few DM shareholders who think that merging into Stratasys is a very good thing for both companies long-term, even though it means it will take longer to see a significant level of gains for those who have low to middle-single digits DM cost basis averages (i.e. $1.13-7.00). Am I the only one who thinks there is excellent potential for where the combined entity will be 10 years out, let alone 20 years out? Combined they have the printers, materials, software, distribution/sales network, and customer base to become a powerhouse.; not to mention the number of patents/IP and the level of R&D expertise to keep adding more materials to be printed.
I've worked out models based on average CAGR of 15% in revenues (starting from $810 million in 2023), 125 million outstanding shares, and certain valuation multiples (3X P/S to 5X P/S) that give a fairly conservative low point of $80 and a high point of $200 in SSYS share price 10 years from now of which higher CAGR could bring even higher share prices and valuations. As I said, these are low values and factor in decent amount of growth in additive manufacturing TAM based on historical trends which did not contain "mass production of end-use parts" which is not what additive manufacturing to date has contributed much towards.
Thus if you start with these base points and increase CAGR rates and valuation multiples keeping the outstanding share count intact, you're looking at higher numbers. Nothing is guaranteed, especially the higher valuations, but one can see that potential. The only difference is that DM shareholders are now only 41% of the combined business (which still is more than they would've obtained if using the exact share prices at close of 2023-05-23) so you get just below half of the piece of the pie... but when that piece is huuuuuge does it matter if you get $200 or $400 share price if your SSYS-converted average cost basis is $10-40?
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over the weekend, due to a combination of factors i started and hit 65 on my third character, a Orion KDF. i have yet to complete all avilable "story" missions on any of them, with the furthest being my first character which got through most of the dyson sphere missions before i decided to grind him to max level.
I think im ready to seriously consider a fleet, as i have come to understand there are fleet variants of ships that are better than the account unlocked Zen purchasble versions.. the best Excelsior for example is that one legendary one, but i dont wanna spend that much for my favorite ship. i am as a result torn on doing account wide T6 resolute or joining a fleet for the Fleet Advanced Heavy variant. i am aware that you can get a few fleet modules free, also that owning certain T6 gives module discounts for fleet variants... maybe benefical to get the one for all characters that i want to play with it and use the discount for the one i think could use it? honestly i might just get a Dilitium version
which leads me to my various characters.. by far my favorite was the Romulan, because it hit so many more story beats that did not feel like they were reliant on existing trek lore.. its story was longest, the most stand alone, and honestly satisfying... Origional Trilogy starwars surpassing in some ways to me, and reminiscent of. honestly the green Rom/orion hybrid i made for the run is also kinda the best looking in many reguards too. i wanna do the other Fed starts eventually too.. for sure my favorite is romulan due to the looks of that charater and the fact that there is Green Galore in their ships, which is my favorite color. i cannot stress how much i like green.
I actually learned how to demorecord, and make screenshots in free camera in the middle of typing this.
for the most part, a lot of the made for STO ships are not my style... but i think my favorite is the Vo'quv carrier... a MASSIVE ship that can hold full sized birds of prey is just such a fun concept, with the Customization options i did, it looks like a D7 ajacent design and actually fits TNG era trek klingon design. i also really like the Hapax warbird, which i started considering a T6 for, but have decided to wait until i can get the 2 variants i need to make it as fully functional as possible. Universal consoles kinda suck that you cannot get them without getting a ship that comes with them, unless i have missed something, i am still kinda new here. as far as i can tell tho, to get the Dual Vector assault on the Kara warbird, i need the Hakona as well, which provides the console.. I am a massive green Fiend, and if a better sale comes along will probably get the 2 ships needed to make that ultimate Kara..
which gets me to the last thing, Zen. yes i took advantage of the sale and have gotten the one T6 i genuinely intended to get from the start.. A Terran Lexington cruiser. its a Ody with a fighter hanger and a spinal lance! half the reason i want the Kara is because when fully outfitted it has not only a hanger and the lance but can do the prometheus thing where it splits into several ships! the combined cost with the discount that just ended was 4400, and being new, i didnt want to rush into that.. still tho its something i definitely want to do at some point.
i am enjoying the game a lot. I am still mostly staying in what is mostly starting content. Fleets are a concern as i do want the advantages they provide but playing multiple characters and the restrictions that most seem to have make that complicated and i am very cautious and unsure about actually joining one. I have a D'deridex which gets one of my top two favorite ships, even if it is slow and lumbering, i honestly cannot say i expected elsewise. I imagine Excelsior will be similar when i pull the trigger on one, and am sad that getting a Excelsior II is locked behind RNG of either Lootbox or one being reasonably priced on the exchange, which i have recently started looking into as well.
so overall, i am having fun. a lot of the higher end stuff is still out of my reach, quite possibly due to spitting my time over the past two weeks between 3 differant characters.. i use TFOs for finding upgrade to my gear as much as getting the energy credits still. there is that looming sense of "F2P walls" of time or money, but there is enough to play with that it doesnt feel like i cannot get far without feeding a Ferengi. about my only complaint so far, is i find it weird to see SO MANY BEAMS coming out of federation ships, which cannocially only fired one or two arrays at time due to energy constraints and the fact that those arrays were not really ment to fire like that. i actually wish they would "combine" beam arrays so they fire as a single beam.. same effect gameplay wise but visually closer to the seires the game is based on. honestly tho its a minor complaint and one i dont see changing given the age of the game.
i will also say, early levels are very very easy compared to 40+. Maybe its equipment or something but it seems by the time i hit around 30 or so in a new character the game goes from nothing really being able to hurt you to progressively harder. honestly the oppsite of the typical F2P powerfantasy, but i can see from other players that is probably due to gear as the number of times i have watched something like a Kelvin Vengance dreadnaught fly at warp 3 between objectives to instantly annilate everything in sight is pretty typical of F2P progression systems.. im not a expert on F2P games, but i played warframe, which starts of really easy, suddenly got hard, then became easy once you min-maxed builds..
as someone who loves theorycraft, min-maxing, just having fun with other builds, honestly im looking forward to getting where i can do experimental endgame builds.
​
well, that was.. long. longer than the last 2 anyways.. i feel like i just typed up a short essay.

I’m a 52 year old woman. I’ve been researching everything about psilocybin that I can for 8 months. I have a friend who microdoses and grows his own, so I got 3 g of dried shrooms from him.
I approached it very respectfully with a little ritual before taking it. I wasn’t looking for just a woo-hoo-I’m trippin balls experience, but was looking at it as therapeutic. Possibly spiritual.
1.4 g didn’t produce any psychedelic effects for me, BUT I felt amazingly calm and serene. I was contemplative.
I’m normally a serious, anxious person, but with the psilocybin, I could watch my anxious thoughts pop up and then just…float away. And I was even kind of playful, which isn’t me, but I wish it was.
Soundtrack: Mulatu Astatke, New York-Addis-London: The Story of Ethio-Jazz, 1965-1975. The entire album. It’s amazing.
Setting: outside, in my pool. Sunny beautiful day—massive cumulonimbus clouds to stare at. Lots of greenery and flowers, waterfalls.
My trip sitter was my husband, but once we knew I wasn’t going to be having a heavy experience, he went indoors for a bit. Then came out and swam with me a bit.
Notable thoughts: I thought about getting some nibblies and perhaps some champagne, but then I heard in my head, “You’re fine. You don’t need anything.”
During the only part that was just a tiny bit trippy, I could “see” that when I opened me arms, little butterflies came out of my heart. It made me feel like I bring happiness to others.
Edit: wanted to add—even though I’ve worked hard to make our home an oasis of relaxation (3 acres in the country, pool, hot tub, huge covered patio, gardens and flowers everywhere—this is over the course of years!), I rarely ever just spend an entire day enjoying the relaxing aspects of our home. Maybe for an hour at most. Then I think if something I should be doing. (I should’ve been a farmer’s wife.) And I always wish I could just truly do nothing all day. Welp, shrooms allow me to do that!

Hey everyone, i am strongly considering getting my first Jeep Grand Cherokee (used) as I have been a Chevy Impala driver my whole life adult life and they stopped making them and they are hard to find. I found this 2020 jeep Grand Cherokee Limited Supreme ( it has all the bells and whistles of the overland) but i'm not sure what's the lookout for in terms of typical Cherokee bad parts.
I hear that the Jeep Cherokee is a great vehicle and also the worst vehicle to buy, so I'm coming here for honest advice on should I make this investment or just stay away and if I should watch should I look out for a while I'm inspecting the vehicle this week.
I plan on trying to get them down to 25K was trade me in my older car, so any input would be appreciated.

The fence on our shared property line fell about 18 months ago and two weeks ago we got a quote to rebuild it for $3400. A week later our neighbor came over and said he was getting a whole new fence (from the guy that gave us a quote) and asked to share the cost of the side that is on the property line. my husband verbally agreed but said we didn't have the funds as we just had a baby and one of our dogs is on cancer treatments. He said we would have to make payments if it was going up soon.
A couple days ago the builder comes over and says the cost for that side of the fence is now $4000 and we owe him $2000. He said the additional cost was due to our neighbors picking out a more expensive material. The builder also said it would connect to our fence that's still standing (the only part that fell was the shared side). He said he was willing to take payments but we needed to talk to him about what we could afford.
Three days ago, without any notice to us, they started putting up this fence. They are actually currently in our yard putting up the shared side as I'm writing this. We noticed the fence is no longer on our shared property line. They moved it in about three inches so it's totally on his property. There is also nothing that shows it's going to be connected to our fence and since it's moved there is a gap where it meets our fence. We asked the neighbor today (who is out there building it with the crew) if it would be connected to our fence and he said he thought it would be. And basically the conversation was over. He just got back to working.
Now my husband says he is going to have to talk to the builder to verify if it will be connected to our fence because our neighbor won't give us straight answers even as he is part of the crew building it. We don't really trust our neighbor. When the fence fell 18 months ago he came over and asked if we wanted to buy the wood from him so we could hire someone to just put it up again. I thought it was fishy because when we bought the house, it was specifically mentioned to us it was a shared fence. I couldn't understand why we would have to buy the wood from him. And he didn't even up of the fence. It was put up by both of the previous owners for his house and mine.
Before we pay anything, what kind of documentation should I get to show we both own this fence this time? I don't want another situation to arise if the fence falls where he says its all his wood. When we said we wouldn't pay it, because we assumed it was shared, he sold it and had it hauled away before we could put it back up. He kept all of the money from the sale. We don't even know what he got for it.
And are we even obligated to pay since it's no longer on our property line? I don't want to be a bad neighbor but we honestly just don't have the money right now. It's why it isn't already fixed. The guy putting it up hasn't given us any invoice or documentation on the fence. But I imagine he is going to aquire soon how we are going to pay our half. I feel like we are being scammed yet again by the guy but my husband tells me to quit being sceptical about everyone.
We are in South Dakota and the only thing I can find for laws is relating to cattle owners. We don't own any livestock and we are in a city limit.

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/D9KSRgZ
LMT Complete 5.56 Upper for sale Parts List: LMT CQB 9.25 Upper. No rounds fired through it. Comes with Troy BUIS and DD Rail Covers LMT 5.56 16 inch barrel with Surefire Warcomp 3 prong. ~500 rounds through it LMT Ambi Charging Handle LMT Full-Auto Bolt Carrier Group. ~100 rounds fired with the carrier. Bolt is brand new LMT Two-Stage Trigger. Asking for $1200 for the complete package. Not looking to part at the moment.
Willing to negotiate. Just send a PM.
Prices include shipping. Paypal F&F only, no notes.

https://imgur.com/a/pEly3ol
Please double check that u/bleriii (3 i's) is messaging you and do not communicate with any scammer posing as me. Scammers might DM you, do not respond to any message that is not from this account! Report and block them! Stay safe :)
Please comment if interested in anything, some prices are negotiable, feel free to offer!
I would consider shipping international
Most volumes are in great condition, will specify if not
All orders shipped the same day or next
Some volumes shown in photos have been sold in previous listings, only volumes listed below are available
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
COMPLETE SETS
Flame of Recca 1-33 COMPLETE: $800
Jojo's Parts 1,2,3 COMPLETE (17 books): $230
Fullmetal Alchemist 3-in-1 Omnibus 1-27 COMPLETE: $110
Promised Neverland 1-20 + Beyond COMPLETE: $110
Junji Ito Lot (7 series): $100
Perfect World 1-12 COMPLETE: $90
After The Rain 1-5 COMPLETE: $60
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
LARGE SETS
Dengeki Daisy 1-7, 9, 12-16: $200
Jojo's P1 (1-3) + P2 (1-2) + P3 (1) + P4 (1-2) + P5 (1): $110
Murcielago 1-10: $100 new
Boruto 1-15: $85 new
Komi Can't Communicate 1-13: $75
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
SMALL/CHEAP SETS (these are priced cheaper and can only be purchased in an order totaling atleast $75)
Attack on Titan 1-12: $50
Hellsing Singles 1-7: $50
Gigant 1-6: $50
Blue Flag 1-7: $50
Crimson Spell 1-6: $50
Whisper Me a Love Song 1-5: $40
Kaiju Girl Carmelise 1-5: $40
Black Torch 1-5 COMPLETE: $33
School Frozen in Time 1-4 COMPLETE: $33
Vinland Saga 1,2: $24
Spy x Family 1-4: $24
Citrus 1-3 (singles): $15
How Do We Relationship 1-4: $20
Attack on Titan Before the Fall 1-5: $20
FMA Omni 1-2 (vol 1-6): $15
My Hero Academia 1-4: $15
Claymore 1,3: $10
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
SINGLES (These are priced cheaper and can only be purchased in an order totaling atleast $75)
Dog Ningen Uncensored 1: $20
$8
Ultraman 1 / Hell's Paradise 1 / Shaman Warrior 1 / Kingdom of the Gods / A Girl on the Shore /
$4
Kaguya-Sama 1 / Bakuman 1 / Black Clover 1 / Samurai 8 1 / Kakegurui Twin 4 / Black Butler 16 /
I also have Demon Slayer mini figures, Soul Eater Liz Funko, Lucario Funko, AOT/Fairy Tail Anime Expo Bags if anyone is interested
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
If you are interested in anything, feel free to ask for more photos or details.
I will prioritize making larger sales.
I will only add the smaller sets/singles to a larger purchase.
Please comment and PM any interest.
THANK YOU!

Looking around, the best sale I’ve been able to find is 15% off at 80p builder and then 20% off at Florida Man. 80p has some slides that the discount code applies to and makes very cheap ($143ish before tax). Florida man has some complete slides that make it under $200 after the discount.
Curious to see what others have found.

Hi everyone! I will be moving from Missouri to Texas for a new job at the end of the summer. I have been reselling part time for about two years, and have approx. 1000 clothing items in my inventory. I intend to continue reselling after I move. I've already begun to offer promos/discounts on all items to reduce the amount of inventory I take with me. Has anyone with a reselling business moved cross-country and has any advice? At the least- I'm guessing i'll need to pause sales for at least 2 weeks and switch my mailing address. TIA

Hi ecommerce - I'm Paul and I follow the e-commerce industry pretty closely for my Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter. Each week I post a summary recap of this week's top stories, which I cover in depth in the newsletter. .

1. STAT OF THE WEEK: 70% of e-commerce shoppers experienced shipping delays without any reason provided by the business for the delay. Faced with that experience, 90% of respondents said they are less likely to buy from a brand again after a poor online shopping experience, while 29% say they are increasingly willing to share a negative review online. – According to Koerber .
2. If some of Temu's deals appear too good to be true — it's because they are! An analysis of the company's supply chain costs by WIRED shows that Temu is losing an average of $30 per order as it throws money at trying to break into the American market. Most of Temu's subsidies are in the form of free international shipping, with even a small package costing the company around $14 to ship to the US (although it offers the shipping for free). When adding in the additional product discounts and cash coupons that Temu gives to customers, the average loss per order jumps to $30. .
3. The FTC has proposed new rules in the US called “click to cancel” that will impact e-commerce subscriptions — but in a good way for consumers! The rules would require any business selling subscriptions to add a simple cancel mechanism on the same website as the initial transaction, and include the same number of steps. In other words, a “one click subscription” would require a “one click cancelation.” This “click to cancel” rule is part of the FTC's proposed changes to its 1973 Negative Option Rule, which establishes how subscription sellers must communicate offers, ensure consent, manage billing, and simplify cancellation. .
4. BigCommerce announced new leadership including the appointment of Daniel Lentz as the company's CFO, Chuck Cassidy as its General Counsel, and Hubert Ban as its Chief Accounting Officer. .
5. Google is launching Product Studio, a new tool that allows Shopping merchants to quickly edit and customize their product images for free using generative AI. According to Google's data, product listings with more than one image typically see a 76% increase in impressions and a 32% increase in clicks compared to listings with a single image. With the new generative AI tool, text prompts can be used within Product Studio to quickly make visual adjustments to product images, such as generating new backgrounds for seasonal campaigns. The tool also allows sellers to instantly remove the existing background of an image if they need a blank backdrop, and increase the quality of small or low resolution images. .
6. Morning Consult published their annual report of Most Trusted Brands for 2023. The survey ranks roughly 1,500 brands in the US, most of which were dominated by big, well-established names including: #1 Band-Aid, #2 UPS, #3 Amazon, #4 Lysol, #5 Kleenex, #6 Cheerios, #7 Visa, #8 Dove, #9 The Weather Channel, and #10 FedEx .
7. Axios, in collaboration with market research firm Harris Poll, also ran a recent survey to determine the Most Reputable Brands in the US. The results were very different from Morning Consult's most trusted brands. Only one company overlapped in the top ten which included: #1 Patagonia, #2 Costco, #3 John Deere, #4 Trader Joe's, #5 Chick-fil-A, #6 Toyota, #7 Samsung, #8 Amazon, #9 USAA, and #10 Apple . Bottom of the list included: #90 Family Dollar, #91 Balenciaga, #92 BP, #93 Bitcoin, #94 TikTok, #95 Spirit Airlines, #96 Meta, #97 Twitter, #98 Fox, #99 FTX, and #100 The Trump Organization .
8. The latest data from PYMNTS shows that high earners are feeling the pinch of credit card debt and that their wages aren't keeping up with inflation. This is resulting in higher-end retailers who depend on wealthier households feeling the pinch as well. The data shows a number of correlations including that for bouseholds earning more than $100k annually, 42% were living paycheck-to-paycheck in April 2022. That number has crept up to over 49% this past year. .
9. Netflix must have forgotten what love is since 2017 when it made its famous tweet that “Love is sharing a password.” The company has finally launched its ill-awaited crackdown on password sharing in the US and the UK. The new rules state that subscribers are permitted to share their account with members of their own household, which Netflix defines as “you and the people you live with.” Netflix will begin using a variety of tools, such as IP checking, to spot when people are using another household’s account and prevent them from doing so, or give them the option of adding a household for $7.99/month. The company expects cancellations, but optimistically (or idiotically) predicts that those same people will come back again, which will overall lead to more people paying for subscriptions. .
10. Laws are changing in Australia to treat BNPL as a credit product. Finally! When was it NOT a form of credit? BNPL should have been recognized as a credit product the day the first BNPL company put up a coming soon landing page. Australia’s Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones said that a litany of issues reported to the Australia Securities and Investments Commission have added up to “unacceptable levels of unaffordable lending occurring, largely concentrated amongst low-income borrowers.” He added that “BNPL looks like credit, it acts like credit, it carries the risks of credit.” Jones promised draft legislation in the coming months and the introduction of a final bill to the Australian Parliament by the end of the year, which will include the need for BNPL firms to hold Australian Credit Licenses and comply with Resonspible Lending Obligations. .
11. Bill Gates said that AI could kill Google Search and Amazon as we know them, and that the technology could radically alter user behaviors, resulting in people never needing to visit a search website again or use certain productivity or shopping tools. Gates remarked that the first company to develop it will have a leg up on competitors. .
12. A recent study conducted by Lloyds Banking Group revealed that a UK consumer falls victim to a purchasing scam that originates on Facebook or Instagram every seven minutes, resulting in a cost of over £500k per week. (That man is Michael Scott.) The banking group is now urging Meta and other tech giants to take responsibility and contribute to refunding innocent victims of scams. .
13. Analysts at Bernstein project that Reliance Industries is poised to outpace Amazon and Flipkart in the race for India's $150M e-commerce market, citing the conglomerate's robust retail network, mobile network, and home field advantage as its biggest assets. Reliance already operates the country's largest retail chain with over 18k stores and is leveraging its presence to form partnerships with Meta, Shein, and other companies as a strategic advantage against its competitors. .
14. Shopify is introducing its POS hardware to the Canadian market. Its mobile selling device, the POS Go, which is built to run Shopify’s POS software, was first rolled out to retailers in the US in 2022. .
15. Meta announced that ads in Instagram search results will now be available through the Instagram Marketing API, allowing third-party social-management platforms to offer a new Instagram ad-placement type in their apps. Meta began testing the placement in March and are now opening it up to all brands. .
16. Shein is exploring plans to build a factory in Mexico as one of its manufacturing hubs outside China, which could shorten shipping time and cut distribution costs for customers in Latin America and USA. Earlier this month I reported that Shein is creating a hub in Brazil. .
17. Amazon opened the first phase of its Metropolitan Park on Monday, its long-awaited second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia that can hold up to 8k employees. However not all Amazon employees are excited about the new office location (or any office location). At least 1,000 office workers are planning a walkout this Wednesday to take a stand against the company's return-to-office mandate. .
18. The Vietnamese government is putting pressure on TikTok to police its content and remove videos that fall short of the state’s standards, or risk a ban. Eight government departments are targeting toxic content deemed “to pose a threat to the country’s youth, culture and tradition” — including videos that simply criticize college degrees. .
19. eBay unveiled generative AI on its mobile app to help sellers list new items for sale, however the company forgot to inform sellers and didn't label the icon. When clicked, the icon replaced sellers' entire product descriptions with AI generated text, with no way to recover the original description. .
20. Boozt AB, a Sweden-based online fashion retailer, blocked 42,000 customers for returning too many items, calling their actions too costly for the company and the environment. The company said that these particular customers represented less than 2% of their 3M customers, but around 25% of the total return volume. .
21. Twitter withdrew from an agreement with the EU to cut down misinformation on its social network, which the company joined alongside other tech companies in 2018. Thierry Breton, the EU internal market commissioner, noted that fighting disinformation will be a legal obligation from August 25th, due to the EU's Digital Services Act, so the agreement would become irrelevant. .
22. Jeff Bezos is ripped now! The Amazon founder started working with personal trainer, Wes Okerson, who's also trained Tom Cruise and Gerard Butler, and now he's gotten super buff. This is about the least e-commerce specific news you'll ever see me share in this newsletter, but the Jeff Bezos before / after photo is kind of wild! .
23. Amazon will close its official Amazon app store in China on July 17, which launched in 2011 as an alternative to the Google Play Store. Amazon noted that its marketplaces and AWS services will remain operational in China. However while it may be leaving China, the Amazon App Store will soon be bringing more Android apps to the Windows ecosystem. The expanded partnership will allow Windows users to access a wider range of Android apps seamlessly. .
24. Google updated the badges some merchants display for their product listings in Google Search to say “Top Quality Store” instead of the original “Trusted Store” badge. Google said this is just a name and title change and won't have any impact on search rank or performance. .
25. Auctane, an e-commerce shipping specialist that operates brands such as Metapack, ShipStation, Packlink, ShipEngine, Stamps.com, and others, appointed Albert Ko as its new CEO, who previously served as CEO of EWS, which is best known for the Zelle payments network. Current CEO Nathan Jones will join the company's Board of Directors. .
26. eCampus.com, a website that sells textbooks and course materials, announced that it would keep offering textbook rentals, even though its retail partner Amazon was exiting the business. The company had been powering the program behind the scenes for Amazon since 2012, and plans to keep it going through its own website. .
27. Walmart is partnering with Pawp, a veterinary telehealth provider, to offer Walmart+ subscribers free access to virtual veterinarians for a year, starting this week. Currently Pawp charges $99 for an annual membership. .
28. Alibaba Group said that it aims to hire 15,000 people this year, dismissing rumors circulating that the company planned to cut 20% of its staff. They also mentioned that more than 3,000 of those hires would be newly-graduated students. .
29. Plus 7 seed rounds, IPOs, and acquisitions of interest including a $12M Series A round by Laced to grow its resale marketplace for authenticated sneakers.

I hope you find this news recap helpful. See you next week!
-PAUL

Hi ShopifyeCommerce - I'm Paul and I follow the e-commerce industry closely for my Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter. Each week I post a summary recap of this week's top stories, which I cover in depth in the newsletter. .

1. STAT OF THE WEEK: 70% of e-commerce shoppers experienced shipping delays without any reason provided by the business for the delay. Faced with that experience, 90% of respondents said they are less likely to buy from a brand again after a poor online shopping experience, while 29% say they are increasingly willing to share a negative review online. – According to Koerber .
2. If some of Temu's deals appear too good to be true — it's because they are! An analysis of the company's supply chain costs by WIRED shows that Temu is losing an average of $30 per order as it throws money at trying to break into the American market. Most of Temu's subsidies are in the form of free international shipping, with even a small package costing the company around $14 to ship to the US (although it offers the shipping for free). When adding in the additional product discounts and cash coupons that Temu gives to customers, the average loss per order jumps to $30. .
3. The FTC has proposed new rules in the US called “click to cancel” that will impact e-commerce subscriptions — but in a good way for consumers! The rules would require any business selling subscriptions to add a simple cancel mechanism on the same website as the initial transaction, and include the same number of steps. In other words, a “one click subscription” would require a “one click cancelation.” This “click to cancel” rule is part of the FTC's proposed changes to its 1973 Negative Option Rule, which establishes how subscription sellers must communicate offers, ensure consent, manage billing, and simplify cancellation. .
4. BigCommerce announced new leadership including the appointment of Daniel Lentz as the company's CFO, Chuck Cassidy as its General Counsel, and Hubert Ban as its Chief Accounting Officer. .
5. Google is launching Product Studio, a new tool that allows Shopping merchants to quickly edit and customize their product images for free using generative AI. According to Google's data, product listings with more than one image typically see a 76% increase in impressions and a 32% increase in clicks compared to listings with a single image. With the new generative AI tool, text prompts can be used within Product Studio to quickly make visual adjustments to product images, such as generating new backgrounds for seasonal campaigns. The tool also allows sellers to instantly remove the existing background of an image if they need a blank backdrop, and increase the quality of small or low resolution images. .
6. Morning Consult published their annual report of Most Trusted Brands for 2023. The survey ranks roughly 1,500 brands in the US, most of which were dominated by big, well-established names including: #1 Band-Aid, #2 UPS, #3 Amazon, #4 Lysol, #5 Kleenex, #6 Cheerios, #7 Visa, #8 Dove, #9 The Weather Channel, and #10 FedEx .
7. Axios, in collaboration with market research firm Harris Poll, also ran a recent survey to determine the Most Reputable Brands in the US. The results were very different from Morning Consult's most trusted brands. Only one company overlapped in the top ten which included: #1 Patagonia, #2 Costco, #3 John Deere, #4 Trader Joe's, #5 Chick-fil-A, #6 Toyota, #7 Samsung, #8 Amazon, #9 USAA, and #10 Apple . Bottom of the list included: #90 Family Dollar, #91 Balenciaga, #92 BP, #93 Bitcoin, #94 TikTok, #95 Spirit Airlines, #96 Meta, #97 Twitter, #98 Fox, #99 FTX, and #100 The Trump Organization .
8. The latest data from PYMNTS shows that high earners are feeling the pinch of credit card debt and that their wages aren't keeping up with inflation. This is resulting in higher-end retailers who depend on wealthier households feeling the pinch as well. The data shows a number of correlations including that for bouseholds earning more than $100k annually, 42% were living paycheck-to-paycheck in April 2022. That number has crept up to over 49% this past year. .
9. Netflix must have forgotten what love is since 2017 when it made its famous tweet that “Love is sharing a password.” The company has finally launched its ill-awaited crackdown on password sharing in the US and the UK. The new rules state that subscribers are permitted to share their account with members of their own household, which Netflix defines as “you and the people you live with.” Netflix will begin using a variety of tools, such as IP checking, to spot when people are using another household’s account and prevent them from doing so, or give them the option of adding a household for $7.99/month. The company expects cancellations, but optimistically (or idiotically) predicts that those same people will come back again, which will overall lead to more people paying for subscriptions. .
10. Laws are changing in Australia to treat BNPL as a credit product. Finally! When was it NOT a form of credit? BNPL should have been recognized as a credit product the day the first BNPL company put up a coming soon landing page. Australia’s Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones said that a litany of issues reported to the Australia Securities and Investments Commission have added up to “unacceptable levels of unaffordable lending occurring, largely concentrated amongst low-income borrowers.” He added that “BNPL looks like credit, it acts like credit, it carries the risks of credit.” Jones promised draft legislation in the coming months and the introduction of a final bill to the Australian Parliament by the end of the year, which will include the need for BNPL firms to hold Australian Credit Licenses and comply with Resonspible Lending Obligations. .
11. Bill Gates said that AI could kill Google Search and Amazon as we know them, and that the technology could radically alter user behaviors, resulting in people never needing to visit a search website again or use certain productivity or shopping tools. Gates remarked that the first company to develop it will have a leg up on competitors. .
12. A recent study conducted by Lloyds Banking Group revealed that a UK consumer falls victim to a purchasing scam that originates on Facebook or Instagram every seven minutes, resulting in a cost of over £500k per week. (That man is Michael Scott.) The banking group is now urging Meta and other tech giants to take responsibility and contribute to refunding innocent victims of scams. .
13. Analysts at Bernstein project that Reliance Industries is poised to outpace Amazon and Flipkart in the race for India's $150M e-commerce market, citing the conglomerate's robust retail network, mobile network, and home field advantage as its biggest assets. Reliance already operates the country's largest retail chain with over 18k stores and is leveraging its presence to form partnerships with Meta, Shein, and other companies as a strategic advantage against its competitors. .
14. Shopify is introducing its POS hardware to the Canadian market. Its mobile selling device, the POS Go, which is built to run Shopify’s POS software, was first rolled out to retailers in the US in 2022. .
15. Meta announced that ads in Instagram search results will now be available through the Instagram Marketing API, allowing third-party social-management platforms to offer a new Instagram ad-placement type in their apps. Meta began testing the placement in March and are now opening it up to all brands. .
16. Shein is exploring plans to build a factory in Mexico as one of its manufacturing hubs outside China, which could shorten shipping time and cut distribution costs for customers in Latin America and USA. Earlier this month I reported that Shein is creating a hub in Brazil. .
17. Amazon opened the first phase of its Metropolitan Park on Monday, its long-awaited second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia that can hold up to 8k employees. However not all Amazon employees are excited about the new office location (or any office location). At least 1,000 office workers are planning a walkout this Wednesday to take a stand against the company's return-to-office mandate. .
18. The Vietnamese government is putting pressure on TikTok to police its content and remove videos that fall short of the state’s standards, or risk a ban. Eight government departments are targeting toxic content deemed “to pose a threat to the country’s youth, culture and tradition” — including videos that simply criticize college degrees. .
19. eBay unveiled generative AI on its mobile app to help sellers list new items for sale, however the company forgot to inform sellers and didn't label the icon. When clicked, the icon replaced sellers' entire product descriptions with AI generated text, with no way to recover the original description. .
20. Boozt AB, a Sweden-based online fashion retailer, blocked 42,000 customers for returning too many items, calling their actions too costly for the company and the environment. The company said that these particular customers represented less than 2% of their 3M customers, but around 25% of the total return volume. .
21. Twitter withdrew from an agreement with the EU to cut down misinformation on its social network, which the company joined alongside other tech companies in 2018. Thierry Breton, the EU internal market commissioner, noted that fighting disinformation will be a legal obligation from August 25th, due to the EU's Digital Services Act, so the agreement would become irrelevant. .
22. Jeff Bezos is ripped now! The Amazon founder started working with personal trainer, Wes Okerson, who's also trained Tom Cruise and Gerard Butler, and now he's gotten super buff. This is about the least e-commerce specific news you'll ever see me share in this newsletter, but the Jeff Bezos before / after photo is kind of wild! .
23. Amazon will close its official Amazon app store in China on July 17, which launched in 2011 as an alternative to the Google Play Store. Amazon noted that its marketplaces and AWS services will remain operational in China. However while it may be leaving China, the Amazon App Store will soon be bringing more Android apps to the Windows ecosystem. The expanded partnership will allow Windows users to access a wider range of Android apps seamlessly. .
24. Google updated the badges some merchants display for their product listings in Google Search to say “Top Quality Store” instead of the original “Trusted Store” badge. Google said this is just a name and title change and won't have any impact on search rank or performance. .
25. Auctane, an e-commerce shipping specialist that operates brands such as Metapack, ShipStation, Packlink, ShipEngine, Stamps.com, and others, appointed Albert Ko as its new CEO, who previously served as CEO of EWS, which is best known for the Zelle payments network. Current CEO Nathan Jones will join the company's Board of Directors. .
26. eCampus.com, a website that sells textbooks and course materials, announced that it would keep offering textbook rentals, even though its retail partner Amazon was exiting the business. The company had been powering the program behind the scenes for Amazon since 2012, and plans to keep it going through its own website. .
27. Walmart is partnering with Pawp, a veterinary telehealth provider, to offer Walmart+ subscribers free access to virtual veterinarians for a year, starting this week. Currently Pawp charges $99 for an annual membership. .
28. Alibaba Group said that it aims to hire 15,000 people this year, dismissing rumors circulating that the company planned to cut 20% of its staff. They also mentioned that more than 3,000 of those hires would be newly-graduated students. .
29. Plus 7 seed rounds, IPOs, and acquisitions of interest including a $12M Series A round by Laced to grow its resale marketplace for authenticated sneakers.

For more details on each story, see the full edition: https://www.shopifreaks.com/how-much-money-does-temu-lose-per-orde
What else is new in e-commerce? Share stories of interesting in the comments below (including in your own business) or on shopifreaks.
See you next week.
-PAUL

Having a bunch of unused electronics and/or parts for sale. ZIP 90006 & I can travel to nearby arears for local cash. Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/0srRpau https://imgur.com/a/g9gyA0s
​

Item	Condition	Price (Shipped)
Original Sony Eartips for WI-1000XM2 and WF-1000XM4	New. Have both plastic and foam ones	$5 per pair
Sony WF-1000XM4 Black buds only	Used	$40 per earbud or $70 for two
Xiaomi Mi 6	Used	$100
Essential Phone PH-1	Used. Has major cosmetic damage on hinge due to screen replacements that LCD panel lights can leak thru	$100
STM32F4 Discovery	Rarely used. Comes with breadboard and connectors	$25
Intel AX200 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Combo Card	Used.	$10
250GB NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD	Unused from SK Hynix. It's the original SSD from my laptop but I didn't use it at all.	$20
UGreen USB C Portable HDD Case	Used. Has Major sign of use. Comes with a used 1TB HDD	$20
Filco Majestouch Minila-R Blue switch	Used	$70

I have the following manga and anime goods available for trade (sale, if necessary). Prices are fixed for shipping to the US. International shipping is available at an added cost per location. All books are in excellent to NM condition, unless otherwise stated. PayPal G&S preferred.
Part 1: https://imgur.com/a/X90wg15
Part 2 (NSFW): https://imgur.com/a/O1D8bN6
Boys Be Vol. 1-17. $108 shipped
Girls Bravo Vol. 1-10. $70 shipped
AI Yori Aoshi Vol. 1-17. $108 Shipped
Harukana Receive Vol. 1 $8 shipped (volume 3-8 SOLD)
Vampire Knight Vol. 12. $8 shipped
Maison Ikkoku Vol. 1-14 (complete). SOLD
Sailor Moon Eternal Edition Vol. 1-8, 10. $220 shipped.
Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist Vol. 16 with included sealed card. $40 shipped OBO
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Vol. 1. $8 shipped
Scryed Vol. 1-4. $35 shipped
Gurren Lagaan Vol. 2. $25 shipped
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Shinji Ikari Raising Project Vol. 2, 3. $30 shipped
Inukami Omnibus Vo. 1-3. $12 shipped
Skip Beat Vol. 43. $8 shipped
Hayate the Combat Butler vol. 16. $8 shipped
Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter vol. 1. $18 shipped
Pandora Hearts Vol. 15. $10 shipped
Fruits Basket Ultimate Edition Omnibus vol. 2. $15 shipped (slight dent on corner of cover)
Sailor Moon Picture Guide: Meet Sailor Moon. $9 shipped
Sailor Moon Picture Guide: Sailor Moon, Friends and Foes. $9 shipped
Sailor Moon vol. 2-4. $20 shipped. (some wear at top of spine)
Sailor Moon SuperS. $9 shipped
Cardcaptor Sakura. Vol. 1-3. $25 shipped
Oreimo Vol. 1. $8 shipped
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (1st Edition) Vol. 2, 8, 9. $45 shipped
Vagabond VizBig Vol. 1 SOLD
Collector’s Value Guide Pokémon 1999. $8 shipped
Japanese Manga
GATE Tatakaeri Gaiden LN Vol.2 (signed by Yanai Takumi). $30 shipped
Law of Ueki vol. 1 (Signed by Tsubasa Fukuchi). $50 shipped
"King Game Origin" Vol. 1, signed/sketched by Yamada J thick. $50 shipped
Sumeragi Dressers Vol. 1, signed/sketched by Yutaka Matsumoto. $45 shipped
To-LOVE-Ru Darkness Vol. 5, sealed with thank you illustration card. $30 shipped
Naruto Exhibition Fuu no Sho Guest Book. $15 shipped.
Negima Limited Edition Vol. 22. $25 shipped
NIsekoi Limited Edition Vol. 9 (with drama CD). $30 shipped
Zenki Vol. 1. $10 shipped
Maburaho Vol. 1. $10 shipped
High School of the Dead Vol. 1, 2. $20 shipped
Hellsing Official Guide Book. $20 shipped
Artbook
Cardcaptor Sakura 20th Anniversary Edition. $25 shipped
Doujinshi (NON-18+) $65 for this lot, including the CD-ROM games and CDs, OR splitting for trading.
Puella Magi Nakachan Fleet
戦艦キリシマくん / RABBIT HOLE Works.
CD-ROM game
Motto!? Fushigi no Gensoukyou Plus - The Dungeon of Dreams and Magic
Youyou Kengeki Musou
CD
Higan/C-CLAYS Touhou Doujin Soundtrack CD
Doujin music CD Hanahira HANA-KAGARI / K2SOUND
Autographs 8x10 (all Beckett certified)
Neil Kaplan (Uchiha Madara) (250c). $45 shipped
Yuri Lowenthal (Uchiha Sasuke). $30 shipped
Jeremy Inman (Android 16). $25 shipped
Wendee Lee (Queen Serenity). $25 shipped
John Swasey (The Undertaker) [Black Butler]. $20 shipped
Jen Taylor (Salem) [RWBY]. $20 shipped
Adam Gibbs [Haikyuu]. $15 shipped
Aaron Robers (Uta) [Tokyo Ghoul]. $15 shipped
Other
Cardcaptor Sakura Cerberus Spinel Sun Playing Card Design Tray. $25 shipped
Disgaea 4 (PS Vita). $30 shipped
Persona 4 Golden (PS Vita). $30 shipped
Japanese Doujinshi (18+) All doujinshi are in excellent condition, with no visible damage and no signs of personal use. Doujin are $18 shipped each.
[PIGGSTAR] JET FORM (Various) (COMIC1☆2) . 127 pages. Parodies: Code Geass, Gundam 00, Ichigo 100, Busou Renkin
(C91) [Kuronisiki] Urakaze no Dakigokochi 2 (Kantai Collection -KanColle-). 30 pages
Muchi Muchi Paradise 2 [Full Color] (Martian Successor Nadesico). Full Colo23 pages
[Hinakan (Kusunoki Hina)] Blood Revenge II
Kuroneko ga Okasareruuuu (My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute!) 22 pages/ First pages in full color, rest in B&W
(SC33) [PLUM (Kanna)] Lovetoru 2 (To LOVE-Ru)
To LOVE-Ru Syndrome＋αFan Book. 52 pages
(C58) [Hellabunna] Love Hena 4 (Love Hina). 46 pages
(C74) [Studio Wallaby] Ecchii no wa Suki Desu ka? 2 (To LOVE-Ru)
(C91) [Nekomataya] The Boy's Chair and the Forbidden Fruit (The Idolmaster)
Battle Girl High School
[Grace] UmiTra! Umimi to Issho ni Nantai **xercise! (The Idolmaster)
(C90) [Uninigumi (Unini☆Seven)] CANARY CODE (Qualidea Code). 16 pages/Full Color
[Book, Signed/Sketched by ITOYOKO] Momokura boarding house Yu and Piaan. $45 shipped
[Book, Signed/Sketched] Meat Festival Sakazaki Furede Inochi Gokuezu. $30 shipped
Primarily looking to trade for these specific volumes (in ENGLISH):
To Love Ru Darkness (any)
Bleach Vol. 4-6
Berserk Vol. 2-4, 19, 22-25, 27-29, 31->
Dragon Ball Vol. 2, 13
Eyeshield 21 (any)
Video Girl Ai (any)
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Vol. 22
Iron Wok Jan: Vol. 2-4, 10, 12-15, 19, 23
Mars Vol. 2, 3
My Love Story Vol. 6, 10->
Busou Renkin Vol. 9, 10
Cobra (any)
Cyborg 009 (any)
Fruits Basket vol. 15, 16, 18
Hayate the Combat Butler Vol. 30->
Master Keaton Vol. 2-3, 5->
My Monster Secret Vol. 14->
Rosario Vampire s2 Vol. 10-12
Sgt. Frog 8 ->
Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Vol. 9->
Super HXEROS (any)
Yuuna of the Haunted Springs Vol. 4->
Demonizer Zilch (any)
Also looking to combine volumes to trade for Food Wars Shokugeki no Soma Blu-Ray Season 2

I’m part of an affordable home buyer program in my state. I bought a studio from them because it was the only thing available and I needed a place to live, but now a home is available and I want to purchase it.
The max income allowed by the program is 60k, I make a little over 50k. So I qualify for just a bit over a $150k loan according to the bank. The house is $265.
The max assets allowed by the program are 55k. I have ~40k equity in the apartment (probably much less after selling fees and things) and 20k in savings. This already puts me very close to the maximum allowed assets no? Depending on how much I get from the apartment sale of course, which they will buy back from me.
I was prequalified for the loan but only with an $87k down payment. Wouldn’t a down payment like that put me over the maximum assets and disqualify me from the program? I’m unsure exactly how they expect this to work and don’t want to put my foot in my mouth by offering to put the whole amount down (I have a relative offering to loan me the remaining) and then get denied because of “too many assets”.
Is there anything I can do to help mitigate this? I’m a perfect candidate based on their guidelines but this is really confusing me.

Month to date, we've sent out close to 40k cold emails for our agency & team.
It this post I quickly want to go over what has been working for us to get the foot in the door & land meetings that lead to high-ticket sales.
I firmly believe that cold email is the place to be if you're selling a product or service that's worth more than $5k to another business.
You can directly speak to the decision maker of another company without long, complicated funnels and thousands spent on ads.
Back when we started cold email, we went in with the mindset of "how do I sell my service to this person"
That lead us to send the usual wall of text which contained who we are, why we're the greatest and how we're going to do this and that. Low reply rates and a lot of "fuck offs" later we knew that we need to change something up.
Let's be real here. No-one wants to wake up, sit through traffic, get to their desk, open up their emails and read about YOU. The prospects we were emailing had their own set of ever changing problems and they couldn't care less about our company.
So one thing was sure, walls of "about us" copy had to go.
Reading up more about cold email, joining a few groups, reading up on sales and watching countless youtube videos led to a mindset shift. Instead of "how do I sell my service to this person" we shifted to "how do I provide as much value as possible in as short of an email as possible".
Idea being that instead of selling, you start the relationship off with helping. Same way that you don't take your girl straight to bed on date nights. You take her out to a nice restaurant, buy a nice bouquet of flowers without really asking anything in return.
Same mentality here. The way we structured the emails was something like this;
"Hey Ed.
Saw that you run 2 companies at the same time. Seriously, where do you get an extra 24hrs?
I wrote out a google doc going over how you can increase your revenue by 30% and increase customer LTV with segmented email campaigns without increasing your ad spend.
Can I send it over?
Best,
X"
Breakdown:
1st line: personalised greeting
2nd line: taking linkedin "about" section and asking GPT to make an interesting comment on it.
3rd line: Value prop. We know ecom brands want to increase ROAS and we're giving away our secrets for free
4th line: CTA.
​
With this simple framework we're able to get reply rates in the range of 14% - 18% where the average cold email campaign would get 2% - 6%
Few key things to note though.
Your freebie must be extremely valuable and reveal at-least a little bit of your secret sauce. We're banking on the fact that they will read it and decide that they don't have the time or resources to pull it off themselves. So once they see your case studies and testimonials at the end of it, they're more willing to book a call with you.
​
Okay, freebie sent, what's next?
In most cases, if you don't follow up, nothing will happen. They read it and something else came up. Sometimes they will book a call straight away, but that's a minority.
Wait a day and then hit them with
" Hey Ed, did you have the time to go over the doc I sent?
Quick question, are you currently doing anything email related?"
​
This followup usually will get the most amount of positive replies. Now you can find out their current situation before deciding to invite them to a call.
​
For the most part, cold emailing is about LISTENING to business owners problems. You actually want to HEAR them before you pitch anything. If they feel heard and you develop a natural conversation, it's so easy to get them on a call and pitch your offer.
​
That's about it for this post, if you have any questions, ask them in comments and check out my other posts.

Curious to see how many founders here are doing B2B sales with your SaaS/product/service. Let's build our networks and learn from each other. Share your business + if you are doing sales + what the hardest part was for you to acquire the first paying customer in the comment section!
View Poll

Anybody have any experience with this? Tips? Advice?
A bit of background. We bought our house before the price boom in 2020 for about 950K. Were in a very hot market at the time, and continue to be, and predictably will continue to be hot due to our proximity to the GTA. We now figure the house would sell at $1.4-1.5M. Ourstanding mortgage is about $725K.
Neither of us like our jobs, but we are stuck doing them due to what I call the reverse golden handcuffs. To keep the house, we need to make good money; to make good money (at least in the short term) we need to be part of the GTA rat race doing jobs that we dont particularly like. Long hours, stress, time away from our young children etc. all to see the money be pissed away on a ridiculous mortgage and bloated costs of living.
So were thinking of selling, and moving to some small or mid-market elsewhere in Canada. If we sold at $1.5M we would have north of $700K in cash upon sale. We were thinking of going somewhere where we could pay cash for the home and live mortgage free, presumably reducing the need for us to keep up with the Joneses running the proverbial rat race.

First
Memory transcription subject: Luke Schmidt, Human Businessman
Date [standardized human time]: December 18th, 2136
I was the only human in the bar. I chalked it up to timing and chance, as it wasn’t a hostile bar. Aside from a few glances and the fact that people passing by my table took great care not to touch me, I had no issues. I could barely keep my head off the table, but that was more a function of tiredness than anything. I had arrived on Venlil Prime only a few days ago, and the goofy sleep schedule messed with my brain. Barlethy Shipping did provide us with blackout curtains to set up over the windows of our bedrooms, but it was still challenging.
That wasn’t even mentioning all the work I’d been doing. I was a salesman for Barlethy Shipping, which had been established for about 50 years prior to First Contact. FTL ships were horrendously expensive, and usually only the government had access to them, but the Barlethy billionaire family cared quite a bit about expanding their business on this frontier, and were willing to pour millions into private FTL ships for their employees, as well as efforts to ensure that the Venlil legal system wasn’t a hassle. I was meant to set up business deals with aliens, using a variety of methods of varying moral standing, and although others had already done so, there was still a whole planet of opportunity.
As such, I had been talking to Venlil, viewing their wares, and traveling almost all the time I’d been here. When I wasn’t doing that, I was eating and sleeping. I really needed a break, so after fourteen hours of business, I arrived at the bar for a much-needed drink. I’d made a few successful deals thus far, so hopefully Barlethy Shipping wouldn’t mind the downtime too much.
I wasn’t really paying attention to the aliens around me, as I was rather exhausted, so I didn’t notice when the unfamiliar alien walked up to me. I did not recognize which species this was, which energized me. New things always did. The species was honestly rather ugly, which was weird because all the aliens I’d seen thus far were either cute or sleek, in my opinion. They had rough gray elephant skin with sparse thick, black hairs scattered around it, which made them look more like a hairy human than like an alien with fur. The top of their snout dangled down over their mouth, and they had short tusks and weird little giraffe horns. Their tail curled up like a squirrel’s, and their fingers were long, thin, and far too numerous. They looked like a squat, mammalian Arxur. And then, they sat down across from me.
“Hello there. You’re unique too! Isn’t that fun? Being the only one of your kind in sight really isn’t all that fun, but you get used to it,” she said, in a friendly, conversational tone that was apparently female, according to my translator.
I didn’t think that unfamiliar aliens were willing to get within an arm's length of unfamiliar humans. Maybe the Venlil or our other good allies, but I had never seen this race before. I said as much. “Pardon me, but who and what are you? I have never seen your species before, and I don’t think you’re allied with humanity.” I figured that she must be a regular here, since nobody gave her a second glance. Maybe she’d expressed wanting to meet a human for a while. I still had no idea what her deal was, though.
I think I came across a little harsher than I intended, but she didn’t seem to mind. She began, “Oh, pardon my manners. My name is Polkif, and I am a Zhetsian. You’re right, we’re not allied with humanity, and there aren’t a whole lot of us on Venlil Prime, so you probably haven’t heard of us. We don’t have a very large diaspora. I’ve been here a few years, and I’m used to being a novelty.”
I hummed, interested. Some part of me was always eager to talk to aliens, and I could indulge that now. Most of the time, my interactions with aliens were distinctly more… hostile, than I’d like, but that was unavoidable. Well, here was an opportunity to avoid hostilities! Though, I was still wondering why this wasn't shaping up to be hostile, so I asked, “Why are you comfortable walking up to random, unfamiliar humans? Even people who have been here since First Contact with us and who generally like humans aren’t often comfortable doing that. Especially since we have a reputation for being aggressive when drunk.”
Polkif snuffled, which my translator told me was laughter. After a few seconds, she said, “Well, we’re Zhetsians! We’re expected to be bold. We do have to be mindful of other species’ norms when offworld, but I don’t think they’ll kick my door down and drag me off to the predator disease facility just for being excited about talking to a human. I suppose you don’t know if they will until they do it, but I’ve gone this long without biased officers bagging me, so I figure my logic holds up. Besides, I don’t mind standing out and having to make an effort to fit in if it means I can avoid the current issues on my native planet, Miluja. Well, the issues are everywhere in Zhetsian space, but they’re especially strong there.”
I was intrigued, and thoughts of tiredness were out of my mind. Of course, there were a whole lot of aliens with all different cultures and histories, but this was new, even compared to other aliens I knew of, and was shaping up to be exciting. I would be especially tired later, but I didn’t mind the adrenaline that interest and excitement gave me right now. I prompted her, “What kind of issues?”
Polkif obliged me. “Civil unrest issues. All five Zhetsian planets are having issues with stampedes, mobs, protesting, and armed rebellion, but on Miluja it’s devolved into a civil war. Or Colony World 3, as it’s known offworld. They don’t like that we landed on naming it after Milu, since they say he had predator disease, but it’s tradition to call it that, and I like it better than the generic name, at least.
“Once the Cilany broadcast came out and reached us, it was pandemonium. Due to the anti-predator religion, a lot of people assumed that we were predators, so we split from the Federation. All the death cults and secret predator or predator-diseased sympathizers came out of the woodwork declaring this to be proof that they were right all along, and now everyone should join up with them and make a utopia, or something. Of course, all the elements that prevented those guys from making themselves known before were still there, so the government and the Federation-sympathizers cracked down on them. The rebellious elements were emboldened, though, and had quite a few guns and lots of repurposed farming equipment, so they fought back. This led to all the sympathizers still in the government to come out and support the rebellion too, except they were discovered, and you had tusk-fights in offices everywhere. It devolved from there, and now the whole planet is engulfed in civil war.
“The other planets are doing better, though not by much. Nitto is probably doing the best out of all of them, since the overwhelming majority of the government and populace was able to unite around the Nitre Rebellion’s legacy and kick the Federation out. Kipresa and Colony World 4 are undergoing low-level fighting and their share of unrest; their problems are mitigated by the fact that most of Kipresa just want to make money and aren’t up for fighting, and Colony World 4 knows that its denizens are mostly criminals, so they have a habit of not looking too closely as long as you don’t cause problems and there continue to be people willing to buy their ore. Mother Plains, our homeworld, has had more luck with the government cracking down on rebellion and dissent, but there are still decently sized patches that are held by rebel forces, and the Federation and government are growing more unpopular by the day.
“In short, there’s fighting and disruptions everywhere, though the last ship that came from Zhetsian space came a month ago, and I’m not sure how it’s progressed without me. The fact that no more ships have come is troubling enough. As for alliances, I can’t imagine that the UN wants to get involved in our civil wars, especially since most of the official governments would reject them anyway. So, we’re not allied with either the Federation or the UN, and I think we're best off focusing on getting ourselves to a stable position before helping anyone else with their problems.”
I sat back, stunned. Of course, in the back of my mind, I had figured that there might be intraspecies fighting somewhere in the Federation, but I’d started to discount that as a possibility, with how herd-focused and timid the Federation seemed. Species-wide civil wars and unrest was not what I expected. Though, if that’s what the situation back home was like, no wonder it seemed perfectly safe walking up to strange humans. I’ve known a few people from countries with civil unrest issues, and while some of them are intensely paranoid, some are fearless and barely blink at what normal people would consider notable dangers.
She continued after a few seconds. “I’m not quite sure where I stand on the issue. I am quite willing to call my home Miluja, and I have a lot of family who are farmers and on that side of the conflict, but you get leery of supporting such people after long enough away. The walls have ears when it comes to expressing dissent, you know. You’ve got to be on high alert if you want to do things the Federation government doesn’t approve of without them knocking on your door. It gets exhausting to hold such opinions after a while, in the face of all the opposition to them.”
She shook her head side-to-side slightly, and it occurred to me that she was probably looking for listeners in her blind spot. She had lowered her voice, too, so that I had to strain to hear her over the din of the bar. Even with how milquetoast that bit of opposition to the Federation ideology seemed, she didn’t seem like she wanted people to notice it. I’d had my share of paranoia, certain that the aggressive and somewhat underhanded negotiation tactics I’d used would be revealed, and I’d be fired and cause a huge diplomatic incident that would end in me being burned to a crisp. Well, her concerns couldn't have been that bad, since she seemed to settle down quickly enough. After she was done, she tipped her head back a bit to sip from her drink. Her snout prevented her from tilting the glass to her mouth all the way.
I decided to talk about myself a bit, since she seemed inclined to sit in silence, though she didn’t move away from my table. “Well, I’m sure you know about Earth. I’m here because I’m a representative of Barlethy Shipping, and I’m supposed to be negotiating deals with aliens, mostly Venlil. It doesn’t sound like we’ll be dealing with Zhetsians anytime soon, if it’s as bad as you say over there. I’ve been here for about a week on this trip, though I was here for a few weeks already during the Battle of Earth, and I’m already exhausted. Work and a weird sleep schedule will do that for you. After I’m done here, I’m going back to my hotel to sleep.”
Polkif responded, “Ah, I see. I’ve been an offworld business rep before, and it is not fun. Seeing other planets is enjoyable to a degree, but the schedule is grueling, other planets always have weird day/night cycles, and people tend to look down on Zhetsians as rebellious. I left for Venlil Prime about five years ago to help run a new branch of the farming equipment manufacturer I did sales for, though they try to hide their Zhetsian origins, and I exclusively work in non-public-facing roles. I was supposed to come back last month, but that didn’t pan out for obvious reasons. Oh well, I’ve got stable employment, since they’ve kept me on, and I think I can manage.”
I checked my holopad, and noted the time. It was 30 minutes until I wanted to go back to my apartment and sleep, since I’d scheduled an hour for this. A few thoughts flashed through my mind, most notably that getting back earlier would result in even more sleep, and that Polkif seemed nervous about discussing certain topics where others could hear. An idea sprang to mind, and I voiced it. “It’s been a pleasure talking with you, but I probably ought to start heading back to my hotel room. Do you want to discuss more things on the way? I’d love to hear more about you and your species, but it’s rather crowded in here.”
Something glinted in her eyes, and her fingers started twitching madly, bringing to mind images of sea anemones with bony tentacles. She responded, in a rather weird tone, “Oh, I’d love to do that. I don’t need to be anywhere for another three claws, so I’d be glad to discuss things on the way. Why don’t we finish our drinks and go?”
I’d almost finished my drink, so I downed the rest just as she chugged over half of her glass at once to finish it. As she hopped off the stool, I stopped leaning on the wall behind me, a poor substitute for a backrest, stretched my back a bit, and then grabbed my things and followed her.
It was rather empty outside, with only a few scattered and easily-avoidable groups of Venlil here and there on the street. I started towards my hotel, and Polkif followed. Once we’d gotten a decent ways away from anyone, Polkif started talking in a quiet but still conversational voice. “So what would you like to know?”
“Anything interesting,” I said. “Perhaps why you have a reputation for being rebellious, or why your government doesn’t like this Milu character, or why some of your planets are having it worse than others.”
“The walls have ears, but I have better vision and probably better hearing than you and most Venlil, so I’ll stop talking if there’s a chance of unwanted listeners. Do note that what I'm about to tell you is not the official history, and I could get in very serious trouble if people knew that I believed, or at least seriously considered, this stuff. I can drag you down with me if you start telling people about it. Capiche?”
This sounded serious, especially since her tone had gotten noticeably sharper. She seemed a lot more alert and less casual now, even considering the comments she made in the bar about the officials who handled predator disease, which reminded me of the old “knock on the door” of governments who took away people who opposed them, now that I thought about them. That was worrying, but it was probably something that required more context to understand. Also, it did not occur to me that aliens would have a word that translated to “capiche”, but I considered that it was context-appropriate and nodded. Polkif continued.
“Alright, so the first thing to know is that unwanted ideas and movements that spring up among us never quite manage to die, however much the Federation wants them to. We have quite a few dissident groups that are officially labeled “death cults”, as well as a lot of rebellious movements that the Federation has been working to stamp out. Many of these groups have survived centuries of opposition, and sometimes they preexist First Contact. The most notable of these groups are Linked Chains, the Steward Branch, the Inside, and the Nitre rebellion stuff on Nitto. Though, Linked Chains has spread offworld and has a pretty significant non-Zhetsian membership, so it isn’t near-exclusively Zhetsian like the others.
“What you should know is that, apart from a handful of bog-standard criminals and a few people looking for an excuse to cause harm, nobody dies or supports dying or misery in those groups. The Steward Branch is a religion that, especially now, is suspected to have been the original, true religion of Zhetsians, and which has as a core doctrine the idea that all life is precious and necessary for gaining true understanding. Including the predatory life. Linked Chains thinks that predators are necessary for the ecosystem to function properly, something that you humans seem to agree with. The Inside and the pro-Nitre stuff are the anti-Federation movements on Miluja and Nitto, respectively.
“The official accounts are pretty accurate as far as the origins of three of the movements, though Bilte is not evil, stupid, or manipulative like they portray him, the non-Steward branches are likely some combination of invented or blown way out of proportion by the Federation, and they like to underrepresent the amount of animosity that lingered after the Nitre rebellion’s resource issues were handled. Really, you need unofficial sources to get good histories for anything involving those movements. The thing they lie the most about, though, is the origins of the Inside on Miluja.
“A little over a century ago, Miluja, then only known as Colony World 3, started a program of reintroducing certain predators onto the planet in order to deal with pests. We’re a farming colony, you understand, so dealing with pests was a rather large priority, and sheer practicality overwhelmed the propaganda in this instance. The Exterminators Union threatened to withdraw over these changes, the planet called their bluff, and they left, only to realize that nobody wanted them back. A bounty system was implemented for unapproved wild predators, but a lot of other predators besides the original pest-killers started hanging around and coming out from the unannihilated parts of the wilderness that had been left when the Union left. People stopped minding, apparently. You can still access The Seven Sons of Aboulo TV show if you know where to look, it tells you something about what it was like back then. Much better than the contemporary first iteration of The Exterminators, which was a piece of over-the-top propaganda, though I digress.
“Of course, that wasn’t going to last forever. I can only imagine the reason we didn’t get shut down instantly was because we were, and remain, a bit of a backwater, and they all bought into their own lies enough that they thought we’d collapse on our own due to our changes. We didn’t, so they started helping the process along.
“The Farsul showed up to Zhetsian space and started poking around. The Farsul poking around in an unimportant, obscure species like ours can only mean trouble. They did some preliminary reconnaissance, then they threatened us if we didn’t disarm all of our civilian ships. We had the bright idea to retrofit all of our ships with guns, but apparently that encourages predator behavior, or something. Those made up almost all of our fleet! We really couldn’t afford the sanctions, scrutiny, accusations, and ostracization that would come from defying the Farsul, so we dutifully disarmed our ships, and shortly thereafter the Arxur showed up.”
At that, Polkif stopped talking, and a Venlil suddenly came out of a building that we had assumed was closed, almost hitting us with the door. The Venlil only heard the last part about the Arxur showing up, according to my calculations, and after a look of startlement that he shared with us, he turned around and headed the opposite direction. Polkif exhaled, and said, “The annoying thing about Venlil Prime is that there isn’t a night when everyone sleeps. There’s always a sizable portion of the population awake and active at any given moment, so you can’t avoid people staring at you nearly as much as you’d like.”
I bet a lot of people stared at Polkif. She seemed to be a regular in that bar, but elsewhere? Given that Polkif had stopped talking before I noticed the Venlil coming out of the building, I got the feeling that she was hyper-aware of scrutiny and always thinking about how people would perceive her every move. The walls have ears, after all. No wonder she was so noncommittal in the bar, compared to here. I figured that I should keep my observations to myself, though, and responded, “I can see that. On the bright side, not having a night means there’s nowhere you shouldn’t go at night. Wait, does the Federation even have street crime?”
Polkif snorted, which my translator told me indicated derision, same as for humans. “You’re more likely to get reported for predator disease for being out alone than to get mugged. But, yes, that will happen on occasion. Usually it takes the form of criminals running up, grabbing your bag, and running off again, no violence or confrontation involved. I know for a fact that there’s more violent crime than the Federation likes to admit to, though. Anyway, back to the story? Nobody’s watching.”
“Please.”
“Alright, so where were we? Farsul, ships, Arxur… Ah yes, the Arxur raid. After our fleet was significantly reduced, a fleet of more than a thousand Arxur ships showed up to Colony World 3. Normally this would be a death sentence, but a combination of tactics, guts, and on-the-ground resistance ended in us decimating the Arxur fleet, which then retreated with almost no cattle. Miluja hasn't had any Arxur problems since; they say we taste bad, and decimating their fleet probably put us firmly in the “don’t bother” camp. Fine by us! Anyway, during the battle, we’d asked around for help, but the other planets weren’t willing to divert resources, and I also suspect they wanted to avoid retaliation. They had to have known about the Farsul ship order. We also sent a few scouts further away to ask for help from other species, and that fleet did show up! Once the battle was already over and the Arxur were already retreating. Lazy cowards barely fired a single shot.
“As you might imagine, that fleet, known as the Assistance Fleet, stuck around. They offered to help us rebuild our bombed infrastructure and almost-annihilated fleet, for a hefty sum of cash and quite a lot of food. The other requirement was that we revert all of the changes we had made regarding predators and accept what was essentially an occupation. Our remaining pristine wilderness? Gone. Our new and unique ideas? Either well-hidden, taught away, or trapped in the minds of those stuck in facilities. Our wildlife? Mostly gone, although the original netry birds and jutalem are still around, despite the best efforts of the exterminators. Stubborn little bastards, they are. Some have taken them as a sort of symbol.
“The last important bit from that period is Milu. Things really sucked after the Assistance Fleet established themselves, as stated previously. Milu was a bureaucrat who schemed to smuggle out a whole bunch of information that the Outside occupiers wanted to destroy, subverted a great many efforts to diagnose people with predator disease and kill predators, and even worked to convince the physical fleet to head home instead of being threatening in our orbit. All around a stellar guy. He eventually got found out, diagnosed, and sent to a facility. The Outside tried to publicize it, for whichever reason, maybe to demoralize the Inside. It instead turned into a huge scandal, which ended in somebody blowing up the facility Milu was kept in, which resulted in several staff members dying and most of the inmates escaping, including Milu, who was never seen again. People started calling the colony Miluja around that time. Means something like “Milu’s Continuation” in the old Zhetsian language that people use to name things. As you can imagine, the Outside does not like that name, and while using it isn’t enough for a diagnosis, it will get you a whole lot of scrutiny that can easily lead to one.
“So, that’s that, mostly. Lots of fighting, lots of rebellion, lots of farmers telling their children all the things they don't teach in schools, and always the looming Federation ready to squash anything they don’t like. Personally, I’m quite surprised you lot managed to get a foothold. They go so hard on the propaganda.”
That was… a lot to take in. ‘Why does the Federation let them be like this?’ and ‘How horrible can the Federation be?’ were hardly original thoughts at this point, so I latched on to the one thing I understood well. “Well, Tarva was nice and nobody rushed us until we could handle it, and those were the lucky parts. Beyond that, it’s really a matter of time, as people see us not snapping and eating them. Personally, I suspect that the Federation going so hard on the propaganda was their undoing. They tell everyone that predators are pure evil, then predators who aren’t pure evil show up, so people figure the old framework no longer applies and they start judging things more rationally.”
Polkif hummed for a second, then responded, “That’s a decent theory. One would hope that some of that tolerance would extend to me, but I suppose you’re new, and old habits die hard. You know, there’s a few places on the planet I can’t go because of how riled up the populace is about predators, especially lately with you humans arriving. We’re the rebels, so I must be doing something horrible! Clowns, the lot of them.”
I imagine Polkif couldn’t get away with much, if what I took from her was accurate. Her race may have had some leeway with how deviant they were expected to be, but everything about her told me she was always under a lot of scrutiny. Though, this information didn’t seem like someone who perfectly obeyed every law and whim of the Federation would know about. So, I asked her, “If you’re under so much scrutiny, how do you know all this stuff? These unofficial histories don’t seem like something you could easily access.”
Polkif spoke again, but slower and with a weird cadence. “There’s more scrutiny for the Zhetsian diaspora than for Zhetsians on Zhetsian planets. That’s not to say that you aren’t always on high alert at all hours of the day because you never know who’s watching, who’s listening, who’ll report you, and what they’ll take as a sign that you have predator disease, or need your assets confiscated, or what have you. It just means that you have more trustworthy confidants and more leeway on Zhetsian planets. More people who can tell you stories and pass around contraband.
“As a relevant example of contraband, have you ever heard of The History of Non-Sapient Predators?”
I said, “No, I haven’t.”
She started twitching her fingers again, and the front of her snout flopped around a bit. I wasn’t aware she could move it. Then, she spoke. “The History of Non-Sapient Predators is one of the most well-known contraband books, at least amongst Zhetsians. It’s generally considered unsafe for us to get involved in movements offworld, and I’m not sure what contraband books exist elsewhere. Anyway, it’s up there with The Wild and Wondrous Deep, The Linked Chain, and The Social Strain. It’s an anthology of documents from the Galactic Archives, detailing the rise and fall of Colony World 3’s anti-Federation movement, as well as the context it takes place in.
“Most of the documents are publicly accessible in the Galactic Archives, just arranged in an unflattering manner. Some of them require special credentials to access, and a few are definitely not in the Archives, or reference documents that aren’t. It’s a common rumor that the Farsul Government Employee Registry doesn’t exist and is either completely hidden for some reason or a code for something else; also that many documents that used to be on the public network but classified were deleted or moved to a secret location or network after this book was created.
“It’s published under a pseudonym, and there are many theories on who made it. Whoever created it would have had to go to the Farsul homeworld, since the Archives are located there, and would have had to find a way to access non-public documents. It was definitely compiled before Milu, since neither he nor the name Miluja are mentioned. It cuts off after the Rebuilding starts. It was likely made by either a Zhetsian from Miluja or someone who greatly values Miluja, since it’s really only our history, despite the broad-sounding title. I’m sure there are other books detailing other species’ forgotten histories and interactions with non-sapient predators, but I don’t know about them. This is the history of our non-sapient predators.
“Anyway, that book is the defining source of the actual history of the Inside and Colony World 3. Copies are rare, but I used to know someone who had one back on Miluja.”
Wow. With every word that came out of Polkif’s mouth, a picture was being made of the side of the Federation that was so old and paranoid that it wouldn’t reveal itself, even now that Federation narratives were being questioned across the planet, or especially now that that was happening. Though, apparently Polkif wasn’t so paranoid as to hide it from me. I knew that my status as a human made people assume I was comfortable with predatory things, but I found that I did not take Polkif for the type to trust anyone she wasn’t extremely confident in. So I asked her, “Why are you telling me all this? I know I’m a human, but I could tell people. I’m a stranger to you.”
She snuffled again. “Remember when I said that I could drag you down with me? Well, I’ve actually been looking into you for a bit. You’re the only human I’ve seen out here, what can I say? I was interested. I’m quite good at navigating electronic things, and I happen to have discovered several dossiers of blackmail that your shipping company has provided you to help you make deals. Perhaps not as predatory as it could be, but I’m sure I could portray it properly if I needed to make this known to appropriate parties. I’m sure you know how illegal it is and how much of a diplomatic incident this would create.”
Wait.
She knew about that?
Sudden terror gripped me. I liked to think of my activities as aggressive business tactics, but her statement reminded me that it was still blackmail and would likely end in jail time and a diplomatic incident if I were caught. She also refueled the paranoia of getting reported for it that had been plaguing me ever since I arrived on Venlil Prime as a businessman. And, since this random alien who was simply interested in me could find it, that meant that I was in a very precarious position. Out of fear, and desperation, I shot back, “If I reported you, wouldn’t law enforcement just take you away before you could do anything, and wouldn’t they not listen to you if you’re a known predator? You seemed to imply that back at the bar.”
She replied just as quickly, “Exterminators. They deal with cases of predator disease, or really any crime involving the Zhetsian diaspora as they like to assume that we all have predator disease. Anyways, as you’re a human, they’re much less likely to believe anything you say, and that combined with experience and security measures means I will absolutely have time to send it off before they get me. I can be anonymous if need be. And don’t you try to delegate reporting to anyone or do it anonymously; if anyone comes knocking on my door, I’m blaming you, and out this goes.”
Well, damn. I stopped in the middle of the street to think, barely noticing Polkif’s eye glittering as she stopped next to me. I really should have known that someone like Polkif would only reveal anything to anyone if she was very sure that they wouldn’t reveal anything. Whether because she trusted them as people, or because she held something over them. I drastically misjudged her; she was intensely paranoid, but so good at masking that you never knew until she was already acting against you.
The aggressive negotiation tactics already stressed me out. When combined with Polkif’s knowledge of them, they made me feel far out of my depth. My mind was racing, but something did occur to me, and I asked her, “Do you do this frequently for the sake of it, or do you want something from me? You don’t seem the type to task unnecessary risks.”
More snuffling, of what I thought was a distinctly different character than previous snuffling. Probably a malicious laughter, if I had to guess. “I did have an idea that required a human. When I said that I had no copy of The History of Non-Sapient Predators on Venlil Prime, I lied. Had to see how you reacted, after all. I do indeed have a copy that I took with me from Miluja, and have made copies of it since. I was thinking that humanity having a copy would be useful. You guys can translate it, make copies, get famous and make boatloads of cash off of it, or whatever else you can think of. The Federation doesn't have eyes or tendrils on Earth, so the book, our history, won’t die, or at least it has a greater chance not to. I have no clue how many copies there are across the Federation, but I know it’s not that many. I was under the impression that humans quite liked the preservation of knowledge and history, based on what I’ve seen of humanity’s reaction to the Cilany and Yotul situations. So, you wouldn’t mind preserving important history that's been suppressed by the Federation.”
That was… surprisingly benign. I was about ready for her to demand I fork over all of my money, go rogue with my company ship, or commit crimes against exterminators and the government. A little bit of smuggling, especially of something this important, was nothing, especially compared to the activities I’d been engaging in. I already had to smuggle in some of the negotiation material, anyway.
She continued, “As I said, this book is very, very illegal, and even as a human you’re likely to get in a lot of trouble for having it. As you’ve already been able to hide all that blackmail, you shouldn’t have a problem hiding this, but do be careful, and do not get caught. Only look at it once you’re back on Earth, away from prying eyes, and don’t let your company find out until you don’t need their support. I'd recommend keeping your identity wholly separate from your ownership of that book. As for getting it to you, I happen to know that you’re going to be going to a certain library to do research on Venlil agricultural history tomorrow - you really shouldn’t use the DailyMemo112 app, it has poor security - so when you get there, look out for the book titled “History of Agricultural Exports of Venlil Prime: Volume 18” by “Bitsly” in the agriculture section. It’s a fake cover, obviously, with a few fake pages too, but it's what you're looking for, so take it and go. You should probably buy a few other books about Venlil Prime trade, for cover. Any questions?”
Aside from the fact that she casually mentioned that she knew about my daily schedule for the remaining 2 weeks of my trip, that was surprisingly straightforward. A few plans for what I'd do with the book were even percolating in my mind; I'd translate them to English, of course, and then I could post them anonymously online, maybe I could put a paywall or tip jar in there to make money off of it? I didn't need the money, since my job paid me well, but this could blow up, and I wouldn't be one of Barlethy Shipping's spacefaring employees if I didn't keep an eye out for opportunity. None of these ideas were something I needed Polkif for, though. So, I replied, “No. Uh, thank you for telling me all this? Fascinating stuff.”
“You’re welcome, and thank you, if you pull this off successfully. Oh, and don’t tell the UN. They care quite a bit about Venlil laws and sovereignty, you know. Them knowing will attract attention that neither of us want. Never tell anyone anything unless you absolutely have to, you know. Now, I believe that is your hotel right there?”
I looked away from Polkif, and noticed that we were indeed in front of the huge, gray hotel building I was staying in. I wasn't sure how Polkif knew it was mine, but I probably shouldn't have been surprised at that point. It spoke to how adrift and detached from all non-business endeavors I was on Venlil Prime that I didn’t recognize the area around the place I was staying until it was pointed out to me. With a sudden bout of melancholy washing out some of the paranoia, I said, “Indeed.”
She flopped her snout around a bit, twitching her fingers all the while. I assumed, or at least hoped, that this was the Zhetsian version of smiling. “See you never, probably. Further contact would only be suspicious. The walls have ears, so be careful. Goodbye.”
I watched her walk off, back towards the bar. I entered my hotel, feeling dazed now that everything had time to settle in. The adrenaline was wearing off, and with nothing new or exciting to occupy my attention, I crashed hard. Exhaustion, combined with the events and emotions of the past hour, made me incapable of having thoughts more complex than a sense of paranoia and a desire to go to bed.
I stumbled up to my room and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, without even pulling the blackout curtains over the window.
Previous

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for advice on how to best design a PBI dataset for profit and loss (P&L) statement analysis and ad-hoc reporting. I am likely overthinking the problem but any best practices, or examples, would be greatly appreciated.
Background & Desired Capability
I work in financial planning & analysis (FP&A) with corporate reporting (i.e. month-end, annual budget planning) being a significant part of the job. Outside of this recurring work I also run a lot of ad-hoc reporting for my teams and management using the same P&L data but for a wide range of (sometimes random) topics and purposes.
My end-goal is a dataset that allows me to:

1. Generate formally structured P&L statements aligned to my chart of accounts
2. Create ad-hoc analysis and measures not formally tied to the chart of accounts
3. Rely on a central source of truth for myself and my team vs. everyone pulling their own data as needed

Data Sources and Structure
Data Sources:

• My company restricts data warehouse access to the P&L data, I can't get direct access to the DW
• Data access is only provided to users through an Excel add-in called SAP BPC (EPM)
• I can download an Excel file of granular tabular data each month which will become my data source for any dataset creation

Data Structure:

• The data is accessed through a tabular format populated in Excel (through the add-in), there is no accessible star schema
• The "dimensions" include:
  • Customer
  • Date
  • Product
• The facts are organized in a P&L account hierarchy
• All data (fact & dimension) is stored in a ragged & stacked tree hierarchy (example below just in case these are not the correct terms)
  • For example, when accessing the DATE field, the system gives you a field which you can drill into, of which any level (or multiple levels) of the hierarchy can be selected and pulled into Excel. The structure below shows how DATE is "stacked", the months under each quarter would follow the same structure:

1. Fiscal Year 2020
   1. Fiscal Year 2020, First Half
      1. Fiscal Year 2020, First Quarter
      2. Fiscal Year 2020, Second Quarter
   2. Fiscal Year 202, Second Half
      1. Fiscal Year 2020, Third Quarter
      2. Fiscal Year 2020, Fourth Quarter

• The facts themselves are stored in the same way, I have a field called "PROFIT", when I drill into it the next level down branches into "EXPENSES" & "REVENUE", and so on into a ragged hierarchy usually 3 to 8 levels deep (depending on what part of the P&L you are looking at)

​
Design Issues
I ran across Chris Webb's article on "The Pros And Cons Of Modelling Measures As A Dimension In Power BI on dimension" (Chris Webb's Blog - Dimensional Design) which lists many of the same issues I'm facing now but I didn't see how to apply it in a solution.

• I have a significant number of P&L accounts so organizing them into columns and maintaining measures (and measure branching) for each would be annoying but not impossible
  • Technically, I can't use external tools on my work computer but I do have Tabular Editor 2
• Having the account facts in a column would be annoying as I would have to create just as many measures, just in a different manner (see below) though measure branding would be a bit easier (see last bullet point)

​

Sales Measure 2 = CALCULATE ( SUM ( 'Sales Unpivot'[Value] ), KEEPFILTERS ( 'Sales Unpivot'[Measure Name] = "Sales" ) ) 

​

• The dimensions & facts do change (though slowly) as new accounts/products/customers are added over time
• The stacked nature of the P&L accounts means that many of the metrics I would need to calculate (e.g. 'PROFIT') are already pre-computed

​
Ideally any solution would be low touch (but I recognize that "no touch" is impossible), easy to update when changes do occur, and allows flexibility when I need to create random new measures on the fly to answer ad-hoc business questions.
If anyone has any best practices or past experiences I'd really appreciate your insight!

Hello!
large batch of cleanouts from me some freinds/teammates. I will do my best to get back to each and every one of you but this oils the largest listing I have done in quite some time. First come first serve if i don't hear a response within 24 hrs. I will move on to the next person in queue if there is one. Just trying to be clear and avoid any messes.
Prices DO Not include shipping and are all OBO unless noted otherwise. Not really interested in trades at this point well maybe (I have a odd interest in a m1919 ) but feel free to ask and or offer, but really cash is king. I can quote USPS, UPS, and FEDEX. Payments handled via PayPal and local pickup is a option in east central WI.
Most of the smaller items are Flexible and or I am willing to deal on if buying other stuff.
​
NPO AEG VSK 94 w 9a-91 kit
Pics: https://imgur.com/a/fQKSUhB
Sales overview: https://youtu.be/ypG28woLCXg
New never fielded NPO AEG VSK94 all stock, Includes the gun, Upgraded lightweight suppressor, 4 additional midcap mags (for a total of 5), conversion parts if you wanted to convert it to the 9a-91 (grip, upper reciever w folding stock, outer barrel, inner barrel, and barrel nut if running it without supressor and original manuals and documentation. This is a beautiful odd gun that is absolutely built like a tank all steel receiver with a hard phosphate coat same as the real deal. the VSK94 historically is/was used by the spetsnaz, fsb count4er terrorism units and other russian special forces as a 9x39 subsonic DMR as a easier to manufacture alternative to the likes of VSS. The 9A-91 primarily has seen use with Russian police forces. It is used as a cheaper and more versatile alternative to the SR-3M Vikhr
I did a video look at this gun in detail here: https://youtu.be/6Aop8yqT5Gc . Gun was shipped in parts from russia, so no original box, I assembled it and went over install and reviewed it as i went. I did also examine the gearbox as well while it was out of the gun. You can find a internal review here: https://youtu.be/7uyfZ__9r3Q
Asking $875 Obo for everything
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KWA RM4 ERG Magpul edition
Pics: https://imgur.com/a/q6SIBzQ
Sales Overview: https://youtu.be/7AS_XO12oX4
This gun is used I have fielded it a few times but pretty low milage (i tend to collect more than I play).
Package include, Gun, 1x 30 rnd mag w/cutoff, 6x K120c's with cutoff, Leapers red/green dot, magpul backup rear iron sight, and original spring/recoil weight.
Internally

• cleaned regreased re shimmed,
• AOE and airseal work
• new bearing piston head
• oring aluminum air snozzle
• High torque neo motor.
• basic mosfet install with self resetting fuse
• Prommy 6.03mm tightbore barrel
• the Ulysses recoil system for KWA ERG's (this is only available in Korea and took some doing to get here) this is adjustable system that lets you go from about a m90 to about m110 in power while safely increasing the felt recoil, I have heard others comment its close ish to 9mm in terms of recoil by far the most you will get out of a electronic recoil system but its still a little weird as it technically recoils forward.

This gun is a blast to use, but it really wasnt getting the feild time from me over my other replicas so decided to sell it. Its a great PTW or "realistic" training type of weapon due to functioning bolt cutoff and that all mags can be locked to a realistic 30 rounds if desired, disabling the trigger after the last round fired and requiring you to hit the bolt release after changing a mag before you can fire again (note its not a GBBR the bolt doesn't actually blow back)
Asking $550 OBO
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Agency Arm G17 Fatal 13 Build
pics: https://imgur.com/a/6P5y5ZM
sales overview: https://youtu.be/VOopPJtGkiU
This was a personal build fielded a few times, was really my fist deep dive into pistol building and stippling.
Includes

• G17 With RMR
• 1x we short mag
• 2x WE extended mags
• Plano case (if you want it has custom cut lower section for this gun but will likely increase shipping costs)
• Box of spares/additional parts see video for full details but most of a we g18, two frames, nozzle rmr cutout plate. and agency arms Glock backplate

Build itselft is CNC aluminum G17/18 agency arms slide ported on the top. High pro sights, RMR replica (will include a new battery for it). Lightweight BBU, Guarder nozzle, Threaded aluminum outer barrel, stainless steel inner barrel lapped with a maple leaf bucking and ikey, increased dual recoil spring, Agency arms trigger, agency arms magwell. Custom frame work stippling done by your truly.
Asking $355 obo
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VFC FNX 45 Tactical Pics: https://imgur.com/a/n8q4sL2
Sales overview: https://youtu.be/nGLHiVKC7mo
VFC FNX 45 tactical with original box 2 additional leak free mags (for a total of 3), spare backstrap, and 3 spare mag seals. used in good condition full stripped cleaned and relubricated before sale. picked it up as I had been wanting one for awhile, but then got bitten by the AAP bug.
Asking $165 obo
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MODI/Flyee JPC Coyote New
pics: https://imgur.com/a/foZcnZe
MODI/flyee JPC size L in coyote brown brand new never fielded. decided I'm really just more of a chest rig guy. made from 500D ballistic nylon has a wide range of adjustment and has the proper rubberized webbing sort of material on the shoulder straps. Includes original closed cell foam plates.
Asking $65
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Golden Eagle GBBR NIB
https://imgur.com/a/Eya0qn6
Selling this never been gassed or fired can be tested or chono'd on request. The GE GBBR system is a WA clone this means you can use WA upgrade parts (Which basically means GHK parts as they also run on the WA system). The receiver is Polymer but the hand guard and barrel are metal. The handguard is what they call the delta style which is sort of this interesting almost triangular shape see pics. From what I have heard these may not be the most amazing GBBR but are a fair base/entry into the GBBR world without breaking the bank with reasonable aftermarket part support.
evike link: https://www.evike.com/products/81101/ (its the delta mlok 13") if you want more details
Asking $175 OBO
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Echo1 TROY TRX M7A1 M4 (7" variant)
https://imgur.com/a/pIyejic
Another Entry sort of gun metal upper and lower, was originally destined to be a custom build out for a team mate but ended up going another direction. comes with standard nicad/nimh and basic wallwort charger, personally i would still look to move over to lipo but its a starting point. Troy industries trades on the receiver sights etc. Interesting battery compartment/buttstock setup
evike link: https://www.evike.com/products/63918
asking $175 OBOSOLD
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Matrix Raystar M4
https://imgur.com/a/6oR02Kc
New in box, selling for a freind. Stock was originally damaged in shipping and was replaced, original buttstock will be included as well but as mentioned is cracked.
Poly upper and lower comes with everything pictured. Interesting design on their flash mag I kind of like the larger pull tab. Not a whole ton to talk about its new and its a cheaper starting gun.
Asking $110 OBO
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Cybergun Python .357 NIB (4" version)
https://imgur.com/a/dDxhg4D
Its a Co2 revolver not too much to say, unfortunately it is one of the hotter shooting variants shooting a quoted 380-410 FPS range with .2's. Comes with the 6 Shells and speed loader. New in box never used or fired.
here is product link if you need any more info https://www.evike.com/products/93884#pagetabs
Asking $75SOLD
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M4 Short mags
pics: https://imgur.com/a/4adAUBI
70 rnd sort pmag clones with ranger plates and top covers.
asking $20 for the lot of 3 or $8 ea
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SRS Project/Scrap Stock
https://imgur.com/a/HhPArrP
Was originally a tan stock used as a dye test for dying the nylon fiber a camo pattern and masking techniques. Then later was modified and material removed to test fitment of a CO2 reg into the stock. you still should be able to lock-on the stock plate or the spacers but you will be missing several of the latching or locking teeth on the sides.
Asking $10 OBO
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Gate Aster V2 rear wired.
https://imgur.com/a/Odqb6zy
Not OEM packaing but brand new never installed comes with all the materials required to install
Asking $65 OBO
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Compact Rail mounted 40mm Grenade Launcher
https://imgur.com/a/NzdMd9N
Evike link (visually explains it better as product shown out of pkg): https://www.evike.com/products/21995
Really more of a minimalist 40mm grenade shell holder picatinny mount. See evike link for more details on usage/installation options as I didn't want to open it for product photography.
Asking $20 OBO
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LCT OD G3 Grip
https://imgur.com/a/ronpy55
Asking $8 obo
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Hi Capa Mag bodies
https://imgur.com/a/wtpaeKQ
jsut the bodies themselves if you have a damaged or beat up one AW/WE in origin I believe, no valves or other parts included.
Asking $8 for the lot or $3 ea
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Silverback Parts
https://imgur.com/a/j2CYfoI
Silverback Fast Hopup (right)
New unused Silverback Fast hopup for srs rotary style adjustment takes aeg buckings.
asking $35 obo
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"SOFT AIR" SCAR springer
https://imgur.com/a/juQgNyK
yep lovely pretty plastic scar spring rifles brand new in box and yep not great, on the plus side I believe they take a standard AEG style mag, have 1 left available.
PRICE ill toss one in with any major purchase if you ask or $10 + shipping
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HK 51 Extended outer barrel (believe it was designed for the CA series)
https://imgur.com/a/vOodtA0
14MM CCW its a extended outer barrel nuff said
Asking 12 OBO
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Smaller Stuffs (desc should be on the image in the Imgur album)
Make offers here!
https://imgur.com/a/zemAXXF

Description	QTY	Price	status
M4 Target Grip. basically PSG1 style grip for M4's	1	$12	SOLD
LBX Project Honor Camo/Sets. https://imgur.com/a/AYVcpOH	Small combat Shirt x2, Youth Pant x1 (fit the wife) measured 30-32 waist	$10ea or 18 per set or 15 for whats left OBO	Small/youth set 30-33 waist via measuring SOLD SOLD SOLD
ACU UCP Unuforms, coat and kneepads https://imgur.com/U9dkEWB	2x Lg/long pants (34-36 i think), 2 lg/long shirts, 1x parka, 1x knee-pads/elbopads	$ 15 per set or 9 per piece. parka $15 obo and knee-pads/elbopads $8 OBO for the lot
MISC Pouches and Gear	Drop leg platform, bowman headset, longer smg type taco, 3 cell ACU mag pouch, black camo holster, 2x black holster, handcuff? pouch, Desert storm era Goggles (for looks I dont think i would trust them)	$ ~2-4 Ea or make a offer	Only handcuff pouch, left available
"China Camo"	1x MC set 32-34 waist has darts in it to enlarge not sure exct size but perhaps up to 36?, 1x desert camo forget the name 32 ish waist. 1x 32 Mossy oak pants.	$ 8 per set or 4 per piece OBO

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Freebies:
anything in THIS image https://imgur.com/F8lFh1J
also this nagant stock its plastic for a Co2 nagant 44 https://imgur.com/a/o4Xl5CQ free just cover shipping or bundle with anything else
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whew there we go, and i do have permission to keep this separate from my services thread.

We have the LG UltraGear 27GP850-B attached to our gaming computer, which is also attached to our part time WFH dock. It's been great for both. However, the SO would like more screen area and we don't want to do dual monitors.
I saw the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 is on sale for $1,099. I like the OLED for gaming and would appreciate some of the TV-like features when doing other stuff in the office. I think she'll like a bit more room without going 49" super ultrawide as well as great viewing angles and color from the OLED as well.
What sorts of downsides would we see by going with this over getting a second 27GP850-B, choosing a non-OLED UW like the LG 38BN95C-W (38WN95C-W), or even the Alienware AW3423DWF for a similar price? I see the OLED G9 and likely other options are close to market, which probably explains these sales, but we don't want to go over $1,200.