			  MAILPOS V 1.0
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	 Put a POS terminal in your customer's home.
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Do you run a small Mail Order business?
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Don't you envy the retailers with their sophisticated 
Point of Sale systems: nobody sends them messed-up orders,
do they.

You know the kind of orders I mean:

-    Prices from last year's catalog (or out of the air)
-    Stock numbers that don't match the descriptions
-    Incorrect postage
-    Sent to the wrong address
-    No return address
-    Arithmetic errors
-    Invalid Credit Card numbers

You get the general idea.....

It would be great if you could send all of your customers a
Point of Sale system which could

-    Validate stock numbers and Look Up Prices.
-    Calculate postage automatically
-    Print your correct address and phone number
-    Allow the Customer to file their own name and address
-    Perform perfect arithmetic
-    Print an Order Form
     (or fax it, if your customer has a fax card)

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	      Take a look at MailPOS.
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(You need Windows 3.1)

Just run Setup.exe (which you have just unzipped) and follow the
onscreen instructions.

Once you start the application, you're on your own - if you
need instructions, then I haven't done my job.
After all, your customer probably wouldn't read them anyway.

Valid stock numbers include:

  7055, 8626, 535, 6226, 6951, 7852, 1628, 226, 3649, 9385.
  There are lots more. Look in file PLU.TXT.

Credit Card numbers are validated (offline), but if you are
nervous about using a real number, "1" will work.

Note how all the totals are calculated on the fly, including
postage, fees, quantity calculations and of course Price Look Up.

Note also that as you move the mouse pointer over the screen,
a help screen at the bottom tells you what you can do.

Click on the total button, and admire the clear, correct order
form. If your customer has a fax card, the form could be faxed
directly to you.

Like it?

Think of the possibilities:

-   You could send your customers a copy of MailPOS with
    your regular catalog.
-   If you have a web site, they could download it from there,
    at no cost to you.
-   You could give away copies at trade shows.

Think of the High-Tech image you'll project.

Think of the money you'll save in lost orders and phone bills. 

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Now what?

The program you have is not a demo - it's the real thing.

Unfortunately, you can't use it. It doesn't have your
prices or stock numbers, apart from anything else...

However, if you send me the following

1.      Your price look up file (up to 16,000 items)
2.      Your name and address
3.      Your logo 
4.      Your rules for postage and fees
5.      Your list of acceptable methods of payment.
6.      A check (see below for how much)

You'll soon be the proud possessor of your very own MailPOS.
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Now, the detailed stuff:

1.      PRICE LOOK UP (PLU) FILE

	This should be a standard .TXT file, the kind produced by
	packages like Notepad, on a 3.5" disk.

	There should be one line for each item, in the format:

	<stock number>, <price in pennies>, <description>
	 stock number up to 8 characters
	 price up to 6 digits
	 description up to 30 characters (with no commas,please)

	For example, the line

	 ABCD123, 1995, Faux Ming Vase
	
	describes

	 a Faux Ming Vase, price $19.95, stock number ABCD123.

	The file PLU.TXT was used to generate a the dummy PLU file
	for MailPOS. Feel free to use it as the basis for your file.

	We'll transform this text file into a more concise, random 
	access file PLU.URF (which can't be modified using Notepad).

	Be very careful when constructing your price file. I cannot
	validate its contents - you are the only one who knows
	your prices and stock numbers. 
	

2.      NAME AND ADDRESS

	Typed on a piece of paper will be fine. 
	It should be the address normally used by your
	customers when mailing orders.
	We'll hard-code this into the program, to make it more
	difficult for someone to rip-off your copy.
	This address will appear at the top of your order form.

3.      LOGO

	If you provide me with a copy of your logo in GIF
	or BMP format, I'll put it at the top of the order
	entry screen.
	If you don't, I'll put the company name.

4.      POSTAGE

	Tell me how you calculate postage:

	Percentage of merchandise total?        What percentage?

	Ranges (e.g. less than $15.00     -  free
			  $15.00 - 19.99  - $1.50 
		     etc)                       Specify. 

	Surcharges for UPS, Fedex etc           How much?

	Do you charge a fee for CODs            How much?

5.      METHODS OF PAYMENT

	What methods of payment do you accept?
	Check? Credit Card? Gift Certificate? COD?
	Other?


6.      HOW MUCH DO I PAY?

	The basic charge is $100.00 (CT residents add 6%)

	This includes:

	-       Importing PLU file.
	-       Incorporating your name and address
	-       Incorporating your logo
	-       Conforming to your Postage and fee
		calculations
	-       Reducing acceptable methods of payment,
		if required.
	-       Unit testing your version
	-       Sending you the completed application
		(email or disk).
	-       30 days telephone support (TO YOU)

	It does not include:

	-       Validating the contents of the PLU file.
	-       Direct support of your customers.
	-       Enhancements to the basic product,
		such as, but not limited to
		-       extra functionality
		-       extra methods of payment
		-       PLU files > 16,000
		-       longer stock numbers or price fields

	However we'll be glad to quote for these activities
	on a time and materials basis.

7.      WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I RE-ISSUE MY CATALOG?                

	Send us your new PLU file, in the standard format,
	and if this is the only change, we'll send you a copy
	of MailPOS with the new prices for only $75.00.

8.      AND FINALLY, WHO ARE YOU, and WHERE ARE YOU?

	My name's Doug Urquhart, and until recently I designed
	Point of Sale systems for a Major Multinational
	POS Vendor.(I've been doing it for fifteen years).
	If you've bought anything in North America within the last
	twelve years, chances are high that you used my code
	to do so.
	Thanks to a recent downsizing, you get to use my expertise
	for considerably less money than you would have had to
	pay my last employer.

	If you need any further information about MailPOS, send
	an email to urquhart@localnet.com.

	If you want to buy it, send all the stuff I asked for 
	to:
		Doug Urquhart   
		Southport Software
		257 Hulls Highway
		Southport CT 06490

	Enclose your email address or phone number, so I can
	acknowledge receipt and give you a delivery date.

===============================================================
DEFINITION OF SHAREWARE

Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software
before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue
using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs
differ on details -- some request registration while others
require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With
registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue
using the software to an updated program with printed manual.

Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software,
and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific
exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished
programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are
of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs
and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of
distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy
and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a
specific group. For example, some authors require written
permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their
Shareware.

Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You
should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook,
whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes
fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy.
And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware
has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the
product, you don't pay for it.
===============================================================
DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT

Users of MailPOS must accept this disclaimer of warranty:
"MailPOS is supplied as is.  The author disclaims all
warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation,
the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose.
The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or conse-
quential, which may result from the use of MailPOS."

MailPOS is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge
to the user for evaluation.  Feel free to share it with your
friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of
another system.  The essence of "user-supported" software is to
provide personal computer users with quality software without
high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to
continue to develop new products.  
If you find this program useful and wish to use MailPOS with 
your own data, you must make a registration payment of $100 
to Doug Urquhart.
The $100 registration fee will entitle you to one copy of 
MailPOS, customized specifically for you.
You may distribute this copy freely, provided that you do not
modify it, or its data, in any way.

MailPOS is Copyright(c) Doug Urquhart, 1996

