~thirdeye's~ Nova Lox

If you are a regular reader you know I really field test any recipe, or technique before publishing it here.  My technique for Nova Lox was developed from many sources and for well over a year I continued to refine my method.  It's now December of 2012, and I'm ready to publish Revision 3, which I have been using for 11 months.

Fish: Salmon or Steelhead fillets, normal thickness, de-boned and skin-on. The fresher the better.  I repeat..... the fresher the better.  I suspect that larger trout fillets could also be used, but to date I have not utilized trout.

History: "Nova lox is less salty than other varieties of lox, and it should have a light smoke flavor."  When developing my method below, I began working from descriptions like the one above of what Nova lox was to certain folks. And I sorted through a lot of descriptions, the funny thing was I discovered that Nova lox meant different things to different folks. Even my friend and Guest Pit Boss Lynne in Nova Scotia couldn't nail it down.  Now, to some this would be a dead end street..... to me it was an education in preparing salmon which had ties to several cultures.

My research led me to numerous curing methods dating back more than 100 years. Many of these older methods used large quantities of salt, long curing times and required long soak-out times,…I reasoned they were sort of a carry-over from the days of “preservation curing” when refrigeration was not available to everyone. My goal was to keep some of the principles of the Nova lox methods intact, but utilize a modern approach with respect to the curing process, especially when it came to the amounts of salt used.

Unlike other techniques, my process uses a two-stage (or double) cure, two periods of overnight resting and 5 to 8  hours of cold smoking.  This procedure takes about 60 hours from start to finish.  The fish is in the refrigerator during the curing and for both overnight rest periods. I think a safe shelf life of the finished product is 4 to 5 days, although mine rarely lasts longer than 3 days. Contrary to the majority of lox recipes I found, I prefer some seasoning on my Nova lox, both for flavor and appearance. And I also like just enough of a distinct smoky flavor to overcome any issues folks might have with eating un-cooked fish.

PREPARATION OF THE FISH

Often food safety experts will recommend fish which has been commercially frozen when making lox.  The quick freezing and well below zero temperatures will kill any baddies associated with uncooked fish you may worry about.  That said, I prefer using extremely fresh fish which has not been frozen.  I'll let you decide how to select your fish.

When starting with a whole side, I will remove the tail section and cut a strip off the belly section – this leaves a rectangular section that is somewhat uniform in thickness which will be used for lox. Run your fingers from the head end toward the tail end feeling for any small pin bones. Pluck them out with a pair of needle nose pliers. Rinse the fillet in cold water, then pat dry.  Use a knife at 90° to the fillet and lightly scrape the surface of the fish... this will remove the little bit of flesh which was disturbed when the fish was filleted, and it will also close some of the  gaps in the grain you may notice. (this is similar to lightly scraping any bone dust and loose fat off a steak or pork chop that was cut on a band saw)

Dry Cure – 10 to 12 hour cure time.

50:50 mixture kosher salt and brown sugar. (For a 7” long fillet I use 1/3 cup of kosher salt and 1/3 cup of brown sugar) Sprinkle a thin layer of the mixture onto a long piece of plastic wrap, the area should be slightly longer than each fillet. With the remainder of the dry cure, cover the surface of the flesh side of the fish (including the sides and ends), then turn the fillet flesh side down onto the wrap. Cure is not needed on the skin side of the fillet. Fold up the sides and ends of the plastic wrap forming a pouch, place fillet on a tray or platter in case the plastic wrap leaks. The skin side should be up.  Here are several fillets in the dry cure.



You can place a weight on the wrapped fillet to insure good contact of the salt/sugar mixture and the fish during the curing time. I use a small cutting board with a couple of cans of soda on it for weight. Cure time is 10 to 12 hours in the refrigerator. During the dry cure step the salt and sugar will liquefy and form a syrup. At the end of the cure time, remove the fish from the wrap, rinse under cold running water and lightly scrub the fish with fingers in order to remove the syrup and any un-dissolved sugar. The fish will be a darker red and feel slightly firm. Next,  the fillets move into the wet (brine) cure.

Wet Brine Cure Recipe:

Large batch: 1 gallon of water, 10 ounces of salt and 1/4 cup of white sugar.
Small batch: 1 quart of water, 2.5 ounces of salt, 1/8 ounce (or 2 Tablespoons) of white sugar.

Mix your brine ahead of time using warm water, then allow it to cool down in the refrigerator. Keep the brine in a non-reactive (plastic or glass) container. I like canning salt because it dissolves easier, but kosher will work. Whichever you choose, weigh the salt for accuracy. The white sugar will keep your brine really clear, its main purpose is to knock the bitter edge off the salt.

Brine Cure Time - 7 to 10 to 12 hours. Single fillets can be brined in a zipper bag. For larger fillets I use a small plastic bucket. The brine cure will make the texture of the fish relax, but will not wash out the color or cause the fillet be mushy. I prefer the 10 hour brine time unless I have thick fillets, then I go with 12 hours.  A good tip would be to experiment with a couple of pieces and different brine times.

Soaking and Equalizing – 8 hours to overnight:

Soak-out: Rinse the fish under a gentle stream of cold running water from your faucet (this is called “freshening”) for 3 or 4 minutes. I put the fillet on a plate, flesh side up, and allow the water to flow across the meat. Next, soak the fillet in cold water for 4 or 5 minutes in a bowl or plastic bag. Freshening is an old technique which was used because early Nova Lox brines were very, very strong. (An alternate to freshening + soaking would be a longer soak-out, say 10 minutes)

Equalization : Dry the fillet with paper towels and place on a dry tray or plate. Use a small rack or a couple of chopsticks under the fillet. Do not cover the fillet. At this point the curing is complete and you have lox. It will need an overnight rest in the refrigerator to allow it to firm and to allow the salt to equalize within the fillet. Following the “equalization time” you can cut a thin slice to sample it for texture and flavor. Lox becomes Nova lox when it undergoes cold smoking. There are a variety of seasoning options including using no seasoning at all. I prefer to season the dried fillet lightly with white pepper, black pepper and dill weed before the overnight rest. I like the hint of seasoning combined with the light smoke.

Cold Smoking –  3 to 8 hours:

Background information: My current choice of equipment for cold smoking in the A-Maze-N cold smoking tray which can be used in almost any cooker provided you have adequate draft. It requires special sawdust and provides a gentle smoke for hours with almost no heat. No other heat source is used, the sawdust in the cold smoking tray is lit and the unit is placed inside your smoker. The fillets are placed on the smokers racks.

Prior to using this method I used a Big Chief box smoker, but the Big Chief created more heat due to its hot plate smoke generator. Ideally the temperature of the cold smoker should be below 100 degrees. I would often unplug the Big Chief several times while cold smoking to allow it to cool down, or fill a pan full of ice below the rack of fish to help cool the smoke. On several forums I have seen positive comments about using a soldering iron placed through a hole in a tin can containing some wood chips, but I have not tried out this method.

Cold Smoking Method: I prefer an Apple/Hickory mix of sawdust in the A-Maze-N cold smoking tray. Smoking time is a personal preference and the style of smoke generator you use as well as the draft characteristics of the smoker have a big impact on flavor delivery. The only way to determine the correct amount of smoke flavor is to experiment the first time you make Nova lox. Cold smoke the fillet for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, then removed the fillet and sample several thin slices. Use additional smoke time as needed.

My Smoking Times: Spring, summer and fall - I can tell you when using my Smokey Joe “tallboy” smoker, my cold smoke times are around 3 to 4 hours. The draft is different in my Big Chief so I need more like 4 to 5 hours of cold smoke time.

During the winter I set up the A-Maze-N cold smoke tray in my Big Chief and found by plugging in the burner for 15 minutes every hour I could raise the temperature of the box from 30 degrees to 70 degrees. (I was afraid the 30 degree temperature would be too low). My winter cold smoking time was around 5 hours.

Second Smoke Option:  Sometimes I have removed my Nova Lox from the cold smoker and chilled it for an hour or two, then sampled. Sometimes it needs a little more smoke flavor.... no problem, just return it to the cold smoker for another dose of flavor.  An hour or two usually does the trick.


Preparation For Eating – Overnight Rest Recommended: After cold smoking, the Nova Lox needs to mellow overnight in the refrigerator to have the best flavor. The chilling also allows for easier slicing. Make the slices as thin as possible, and serve them on a chilled plate. The texture can be described as “candied”, and the smoke and salt should be noticeable but subtle. The amount of saltiness can be adjusted by more or less time in the rinse/soak step. Smoke flavor is adjusted by wood selection and/or cold smoke time. 

~thirdeye's~ Nova Lox

If you are a regular reader you know I really field test any recipe, or technique before publishing it here.  My technique for Nova Lox was developed from many sources and for well over a year I continued to refine my method.  It's now December of 2012, and I'm ready to publish Revision 3, which I have been using for 11 months.

Fish: Salmon or Steelhead fillets, normal thickness, de-boned and skin-on. The fresher the better.  I repeat..... the fresher the better.  I suspect that larger trout fillets could also be used, but to date I have not utilized trout.

History: "Nova lox is less salty than other varieties of lox, and it should have a light smoke flavor."  When developing my method below, I began working from descriptions like the one above of what Nova lox was to certain folks. And I sorted through a lot of descriptions, the funny thing was I discovered that Nova lox meant different things to different folks. Even my friend and Guest Pit Boss Lynne in Nova Scotia couldn't nail it down.  Now, to some this would be a dead end street..... to me it was an education in preparing salmon which had ties to several cultures.

My research led me to numerous curing methods dating back more than 100 years. Many of these older methods used large quantities of salt, long curing times and required long soak-out times,…I reasoned they were sort of a carry-over from the days of “preservation curing” when refrigeration was not available to everyone. My goal was to keep some of the principles of the Nova lox methods intact, but utilize a modern approach with respect to the curing process, especially when it came to the amounts of salt used.

Unlike other techniques, my process uses a two-stage (or double) cure, two periods of overnight resting and 5 to 8  hours of cold smoking.  This procedure takes about 60 hours from start to finish.  The fish is in the refrigerator during the curing and for both overnight rest periods. I think a safe shelf life of the finished product is 4 to 5 days, although mine rarely lasts longer than 3 days. Contrary to the majority of lox recipes I found, I prefer some seasoning on my Nova lox, both for flavor and appearance. And I also like just enough of a distinct smoky flavor to overcome any issues folks might have with eating un-cooked fish.

PREPARATION OF THE FISH

Often food safety experts will recommend fish which has been commercially frozen when making lox.  The quick freezing and well below zero temperatures will kill any baddies associated with uncooked fish you may worry about.  That said, I prefer using extremely fresh fish which has not been frozen.  I'll let you decide how to select your fish.

When starting with a whole side, I will remove the tail section and cut a strip off the belly section – this leaves a rectangular section that is somewhat uniform in thickness which will be used for lox. Run your fingers from the head end toward the tail end feeling for any small pin bones. Pluck them out with a pair of needle nose pliers. Rinse the fillet in cold water, then pat dry.  Use a knife at 90° to the fillet and lightly scrape the surface of the fish... this will remove the little bit of flesh which was disturbed when the fish was filleted, and it will also close some of the  gaps in the grain you may notice. (this is similar to lightly scraping any bone dust and loose fat off a steak or pork chop that was cut on a band saw)

Dry Cure – 10 to 12 hour cure time.

50:50 mixture kosher salt and brown sugar. (For a 7” long fillet I use 1/3 cup of kosher salt and 1/3 cup of brown sugar) Sprinkle a thin layer of the mixture onto a long piece of plastic wrap, the area should be slightly longer than each fillet. With the remainder of the dry cure, cover the surface of the flesh side of the fish (including the sides and ends), then turn the fillet flesh side down onto the wrap. Cure is not needed on the skin side of the fillet. Fold up the sides and ends of the plastic wrap forming a pouch, place fillet on a tray or platter in case the plastic wrap leaks. The skin side should be up.  Here are several fillets in the dry cure.



You can place a weight on the wrapped fillet to insure good contact of the salt/sugar mixture and the fish during the curing time. I use a small cutting board with a couple of cans of soda on it for weight. Cure time is 10 to 12 hours in the refrigerator. During the dry cure step the salt and sugar will liquefy and form a syrup. At the end of the cure time, remove the fish from the wrap, rinse under cold running water and lightly scrub the fish with fingers in order to remove the syrup and any un-dissolved sugar. The fish will be a darker red and feel slightly firm. Next,  the fillets move into the wet (brine) cure.

Wet Brine Cure Recipe:

Large batch: 1 gallon of water, 10 ounces of salt and 1/4 cup of white sugar.
Small batch: 1 quart of water, 2.5 ounces of salt, 1/8 ounce (or 2 Tablespoons) of white sugar.

Mix your brine ahead of time using warm water, then allow it to cool down in the refrigerator. Keep the brine in a non-reactive (plastic or glass) container. I like canning salt because it dissolves easier, but kosher will work. Whichever you choose, weigh the salt for accuracy. The white sugar will keep your brine really clear, its main purpose is to knock the bitter edge off the salt.

Brine Cure Time - 7 to 10 to 12 hours. Single fillets can be brined in a zipper bag. For larger fillets I use a small plastic bucket. The brine cure will make the texture of the fish relax, but will not wash out the color or cause the fillet be mushy. I prefer the 10 hour brine time unless I have thick fillets, then I go with 12 hours.  A good tip would be to experiment with a couple of pieces and different brine times.

Soaking and Equalizing – 8 hours to overnight:

Soak-out: Rinse the fish under a gentle stream of cold running water from your faucet (this is called “freshening”) for 3 or 4 minutes. I put the fillet on a plate, flesh side up, and allow the water to flow across the meat. Next, soak the fillet in cold water for 4 or 5 minutes in a bowl or plastic bag. Freshening is an old technique which was used because early Nova Lox brines were very, very strong. (An alternate to freshening + soaking would be a longer soak-out, say 10 minutes)

Equalization : Dry the fillet with paper towels and place on a dry tray or plate. Use a small rack or a couple of chopsticks under the fillet. Do not cover the fillet. At this point the curing is complete and you have lox. It will need an overnight rest in the refrigerator to allow it to firm and to allow the salt to equalize within the fillet. Following the “equalization time” you can cut a thin slice to sample it for texture and flavor. Lox becomes Nova lox when it undergoes cold smoking. There are a variety of seasoning options including using no seasoning at all. I prefer to season the dried fillet lightly with white pepper, black pepper and dill weed before the overnight rest. I like the hint of seasoning combined with the light smoke.

Cold Smoking –  3 to 8 hours:

Background information: My current choice of equipment for cold smoking in the A-Maze-N cold smoking tray which can be used in almost any cooker provided you have adequate draft. It requires special sawdust and provides a gentle smoke for hours with almost no heat. No other heat source is used, the sawdust in the cold smoking tray is lit and the unit is placed inside your smoker. The fillets are placed on the smokers racks.

Prior to using this method I used a Big Chief box smoker, but the Big Chief created more heat due to its hot plate smoke generator. Ideally the temperature of the cold smoker should be below 100 degrees. I would often unplug the Big Chief several times while cold smoking to allow it to cool down, or fill a pan full of ice below the rack of fish to help cool the smoke. On several forums I have seen positive comments about using a soldering iron placed through a hole in a tin can containing some wood chips, but I have not tried out this method.

Cold Smoking Method: I prefer an Apple/Hickory mix of sawdust in the A-Maze-N cold smoking tray. Smoking time is a personal preference and the style of smoke generator you use as well as the draft characteristics of the smoker have a big impact on flavor delivery. The only way to determine the correct amount of smoke flavor is to experiment the first time you make Nova lox. Cold smoke the fillet for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, then removed the fillet and sample several thin slices. Use additional smoke time as needed.

My Smoking Times: Spring, summer and fall - I can tell you when using my Smokey Joe “tallboy” smoker, my cold smoke times are around 3 to 4 hours. The draft is different in my Big Chief so I need more like 4 to 5 hours of cold smoke time.

During the winter I set up the A-Maze-N cold smoke tray in my Big Chief and found by plugging in the burner for 15 minutes every hour I could raise the temperature of the box from 30 degrees to 70 degrees. (I was afraid the 30 degree temperature would be too low). My winter cold smoking time was around 5 hours.

Second Smoke Option:  Sometimes I have removed my Nova Lox from the cold smoker and chilled it for an hour or two, then sampled. Sometimes it needs a little more smoke flavor.... no problem, just return it to the cold smoker for another dose of flavor.  An hour or two usually does the trick.


Preparation For Eating – Overnight Rest Recommended: After cold smoking, the Nova Lox needs to mellow overnight in the refrigerator to have the best flavor. The chilling also allows for easier slicing. Make the slices as thin as possible, and serve them on a chilled plate. The texture can be described as “candied”, and the smoke and salt should be noticeable but subtle. The amount of saltiness can be adjusted by more or less time in the rinse/soak step. Smoke flavor is adjusted by wood selection and/or cold smoke time. 

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33

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33

Doncaster Airport Is Open At Last

From the moment I heard about the proposed plans for Doncaster airport I was a supporter. I even sported a sticker on my car showing my support, although there were a few folk in Doncaster who didn't want the plans to go ahead. Well tough luck because the plans did go ahead. Doncaster Airport was to be situated at the old RAF base in Finningley which boasts one of the longest runways in Europe. A terminal was built, staff were employed and trained, airline companies caught on and very soon it was ready for business.

Doncaster Airport (owned by Peel) was given the rather silly name of Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport but I can understand why it wasn't just named Doncaster Airport. After all not many people have heard of Doncaster, especially those who don't live in this country. From what i've read I think they used the name Robin Hood to attract international visitors to the airport, and Sheffield was added to the title as it's the closest city to Doncaster and more people have heard of it. Well regardless of it's official name most people refer to it as either Doncaster Airport, Donny Airport, or Finningley Airport (as it's situated at a village called Finningley)

Just a few short weeks ago this airport was opened for the first time and I had my flight tickets ready. We'd booked a holiday to Benidorm and whilst we usually fly from Manchester Airport or East Midlands this time we wanted to fly from Doncaster as it's only a few miles away from where we live. Much more handy.

The journey to the airport was very easy as we knew where it was but those unfamiliar with the place may struggle with directions at this moment in time as due to a dispute with the council on road signs there are only little yellow signs and these can be few and far between. Hopefully very shortly this should be sorted out but for now if you're travelling to Doncaster Airport I would find out the directions prior to travelling so you don't get lost.

On arrival the terminal building is pretty impressive. It looks state of the art with huge glass panelling and looks pretty much like an airport abroad. In fact because we arrived at the airport on a hot summers afternoon it felt like we were already abroad. The car park is huge and plenty of spaces were available including dozens of disabled spaces right near the terminal entrance. I'm unsure as to how much the car park costs as we were just dropped off.

Unfortunately we did encounter a slight problem straight away and one which i've never encountered before. You have to put a coin in the luggage trolleys to use them and we didn't know this so we had no change. It's a good job the shop (a Spar) inside the terminal was open otherwise we would have been stuck for change, thankfully they changed a note for us so everything was OK. The trolleys cost £1 or 1 euro which you get back when you take your trolley back.

Inside the terminal it's quite clear to see the building work hasn't quite finished yet. Work was still going on around us if rather quietly. Not many people were around, there was none of the airport hustle and bustle or noisiness. In fact it made a rather refreshing change. I'm sure once it's been open a while longer and more flights are taking off it'll get busier and more hectic but for now it's nice to have a quiet airport.

Checking in was easy although the clerks were a little slow, i'll give them a break though as they're new to the job and it's not like we were in a rush anyway. Once checked in you don't go to the other side like normal, instead you take a right turn and go up some stairs. So the 'other side' is actually the top floor. This reminds me a bit of Humberside Airport which is one of the smaller airports.

Departures is a fairly small area with a small duty free shop and a small general shop. To be honest it's not very impressive but i'm sure given time it'll be far better. There's a Costa Coffee Shop which does lovely coffee if a little on the expensive side and a bar. The smoking area is tiny and you have to wait your turn to sit down as no way is there enough room for all the vile smokers (which includes me)

One gripe I did have was the baby change facilities which to put it bluntly were crap. For a start there was no sign directing us to where it was so we had to ask. Then when we found it all it consisted of was a hard bench for changing the nappies, a sink and a toilet. No baby change mat was provided, no chair for breastfeeding Mums, no comfort whatsoever. There was even a hole in the ceiling with a wire hanging down. Still, like I said the airport isn't finished properly yet so hopefully they'll get this sorted ASAP.

Our plane was delayed slightly but only by half an hour. Whilst we were waiting to board we watched in laughter as the ground crew tried to empty the toilet on the plane but ended up covered in all the waste. That was rather funny. Still they're new at their jobs and I don't think they'll want to make that error again in a hurry. It gave us some decent entertainment whilst we waited though hahaha.

On returning to the airport after our holiday it was rather a disappointment. We had to wait 15 minutes on the plane after landing because the ground crew could only find one set of steps for us to unboard by. It was discovered the other set of steps were on another plane which had landed earlier that day so the whole plane ended up unboarding with just one set of steps. What they doing by not having enough steps? Go figure.

Luggage collection was pretty easy and as we were the only plane to have landed within ages the building was very quiet. Again the trolleys had to be paid for but at least there were plenty available unlike a lot of airports.

On entering arrivals the first thing I noticed was this disgusting smell of turps or something. Yeah welcome to Doncaster hahaha. The turps will disappear once the building work has finished but they could have tried to mask the smell with something. One HUGE bonus about arrivals is there is the good old Spar shop (where we got our change for the trolleys at the start of our journey) The Spar shop was still open even though it was past 11 at night, this was handy to stock up on milk and other essentials for when we got home. I can't remember ever entering an arrivals where you can access a shop, a huge bonus for Doncaster Airport in my eyes.

Taxi collection outside was a bit of a nightmare. There is a huge space for the official airport taxis but if you've ordered a taxi from other companies the pick up area is relatively small. I saw no-one get into an official airport taxi (probably too expensive) most people had ordered other taxis which meant there was a huge jumble of taxis spreading from one side of the airport to the other, and queueing even outside the airport park. As bad luck would have it our taxi took over half an hour to show up which really annoyed me as we only live a 10 minute drive from the airport but after waiting for our taxi for ages it took us nearly 45 minutes in total to get home. Not the airports fault, our taxi companies fault. Don't order Micks Taxis to pick you up from the airport as they're unreliable. Order Bawtry Taxis as I saw loads of them all arrive promptly.

So that concludes my review of Doncaster Airport (oh sorry I mean Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport) Yes there are a few teething problems but it's only just opened. Although not many flights take off from here yet it's sure to increase very rapidly. Already demand for tickets is so much higher than they ever anticipated. Another two terminal buildings are in the pipeline and more facilities and shops are to be built. Give it time and it'll be a fantastic airport to fly from, especially for me with living so close. It's a great benefit for Doncaster town and for the people who live here.

In time and when I fly from Doncaster again I shall update this review with changes they've made. For now i'd like to give it a 3.5 star as some areas could be improved but as I can't give half stars i'll have to give it 3. It pains me to not give it 5 stars but it's not a finished airport yet, a lot still needs to be worked on.

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Doncaster Airport Is Open At Last

From the moment I heard about the proposed plans for Doncaster airport I was a supporter. I even sported a sticker on my car showing my support, although there were a few folk in Doncaster who didn't want the plans to go ahead. Well tough luck because the plans did go ahead. Doncaster Airport was to be situated at the old RAF base in Finningley which boasts one of the longest runways in Europe. A terminal was built, staff were employed and trained, airline companies caught on and very soon it was ready for business.

Doncaster Airport (owned by Peel) was given the rather silly name of Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport but I can understand why it wasn't just named Doncaster Airport. After all not many people have heard of Doncaster, especially those who don't live in this country. From what i've read I think they used the name Robin Hood to attract international visitors to the airport, and Sheffield was added to the title as it's the closest city to Doncaster and more people have heard of it. Well regardless of it's official name most people refer to it as either Doncaster Airport, Donny Airport, or Finningley Airport (as it's situated at a village called Finningley)

Just a few short weeks ago this airport was opened for the first time and I had my flight tickets ready. We'd booked a holiday to Benidorm and whilst we usually fly from Manchester Airport or East Midlands this time we wanted to fly from Doncaster as it's only a few miles away from where we live. Much more handy.

The journey to the airport was very easy as we knew where it was but those unfamiliar with the place may struggle with directions at this moment in time as due to a dispute with the council on road signs there are only little yellow signs and these can be few and far between. Hopefully very shortly this should be sorted out but for now if you're travelling to Doncaster Airport I would find out the directions prior to travelling so you don't get lost.

On arrival the terminal building is pretty impressive. It looks state of the art with huge glass panelling and looks pretty much like an airport abroad. In fact because we arrived at the airport on a hot summers afternoon it felt like we were already abroad. The car park is huge and plenty of spaces were available including dozens of disabled spaces right near the terminal entrance. I'm unsure as to how much the car park costs as we were just dropped off.

Unfortunately we did encounter a slight problem straight away and one which i've never encountered before. You have to put a coin in the luggage trolleys to use them and we didn't know this so we had no change. It's a good job the shop (a Spar) inside the terminal was open otherwise we would have been stuck for change, thankfully they changed a note for us so everything was OK. The trolleys cost £1 or 1 euro which you get back when you take your trolley back.

Inside the terminal it's quite clear to see the building work hasn't quite finished yet. Work was still going on around us if rather quietly. Not many people were around, there was none of the airport hustle and bustle or noisiness. In fact it made a rather refreshing change. I'm sure once it's been open a while longer and more flights are taking off it'll get busier and more hectic but for now it's nice to have a quiet airport.

Checking in was easy although the clerks were a little slow, i'll give them a break though as they're new to the job and it's not like we were in a rush anyway. Once checked in you don't go to the other side like normal, instead you take a right turn and go up some stairs. So the 'other side' is actually the top floor. This reminds me a bit of Humberside Airport which is one of the smaller airports.

Departures is a fairly small area with a small duty free shop and a small general shop. To be honest it's not very impressive but i'm sure given time it'll be far better. There's a Costa Coffee Shop which does lovely coffee if a little on the expensive side and a bar. The smoking area is tiny and you have to wait your turn to sit down as no way is there enough room for all the vile smokers (which includes me)

One gripe I did have was the baby change facilities which to put it bluntly were crap. For a start there was no sign directing us to where it was so we had to ask. Then when we found it all it consisted of was a hard bench for changing the nappies, a sink and a toilet. No baby change mat was provided, no chair for breastfeeding Mums, no comfort whatsoever. There was even a hole in the ceiling with a wire hanging down. Still, like I said the airport isn't finished properly yet so hopefully they'll get this sorted ASAP.

Our plane was delayed slightly but only by half an hour. Whilst we were waiting to board we watched in laughter as the ground crew tried to empty the toilet on the plane but ended up covered in all the waste. That was rather funny. Still they're new at their jobs and I don't think they'll want to make that error again in a hurry. It gave us some decent entertainment whilst we waited though hahaha.

On returning to the airport after our holiday it was rather a disappointment. We had to wait 15 minutes on the plane after landing because the ground crew could only find one set of steps for us to unboard by. It was discovered the other set of steps were on another plane which had landed earlier that day so the whole plane ended up unboarding with just one set of steps. What they doing by not having enough steps? Go figure.

Luggage collection was pretty easy and as we were the only plane to have landed within ages the building was very quiet. Again the trolleys had to be paid for but at least there were plenty available unlike a lot of airports.

On entering arrivals the first thing I noticed was this disgusting smell of turps or something. Yeah welcome to Doncaster hahaha. The turps will disappear once the building work has finished but they could have tried to mask the smell with something. One HUGE bonus about arrivals is there is the good old Spar shop (where we got our change for the trolleys at the start of our journey) The Spar shop was still open even though it was past 11 at night, this was handy to stock up on milk and other essentials for when we got home. I can't remember ever entering an arrivals where you can access a shop, a huge bonus for Doncaster Airport in my eyes.

Taxi collection outside was a bit of a nightmare. There is a huge space for the official airport taxis but if you've ordered a taxi from other companies the pick up area is relatively small. I saw no-one get into an official airport taxi (probably too expensive) most people had ordered other taxis which meant there was a huge jumble of taxis spreading from one side of the airport to the other, and queueing even outside the airport park. As bad luck would have it our taxi took over half an hour to show up which really annoyed me as we only live a 10 minute drive from the airport but after waiting for our taxi for ages it took us nearly 45 minutes in total to get home. Not the airports fault, our taxi companies fault. Don't order Micks Taxis to pick you up from the airport as they're unreliable. Order Bawtry Taxis as I saw loads of them all arrive promptly.

So that concludes my review of Doncaster Airport (oh sorry I mean Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield Airport) Yes there are a few teething problems but it's only just opened. Although not many flights take off from here yet it's sure to increase very rapidly. Already demand for tickets is so much higher than they ever anticipated. Another two terminal buildings are in the pipeline and more facilities and shops are to be built. Give it time and it'll be a fantastic airport to fly from, especially for me with living so close. It's a great benefit for Doncaster town and for the people who live here.

In time and when I fly from Doncaster again I shall update this review with changes they've made. For now i'd like to give it a 3.5 star as some areas could be improved but as I can't give half stars i'll have to give it 3. It pains me to not give it 5 stars but it's not a finished airport yet, a lot still needs to be worked on.

	PROTECT YOUR FAMILY GET QUOTE insurance quotes web site house insurance term insurance

EBAY Exploit, manipulate, prey on the weak

What on earth is eBay?
****************************
In short eBay is the most popular and well known auction site on the World Wide Web bringing online buying and selling to literally dozens of countries and languages. Not long ago the only place you could bid on an auction was at an auction house. The only places you could pick up decent 2nd hand items or genuine bargains were at car boot sales, dismal markets or charity shops. The only way you could earn money was to get a job or break the law. Not any more. With the introduction of eBay.com in 1995 came one of the biggest and most lucrative internet businesses ever seen and suddenly everyone, young and old, were eBaying.

www.eBay.co.uk is obviously my prefered site with me being a UK citizen so this particular site is the one i'm going to cover. I'm not gonna drone on about the obvious things such as how to become a registered member or how to place an item up for auction. If you want that kinda info there are eBay help pages which do a good enough job without me repeating it all here. I'm here to try to help you maximise your auction profits, teach you how to exploit other eBayers stupidity and laziness, and generally how to use eBay to your advantage. Make eBay work for you.


My perception of eBay before becoming an active member
**********************************************************************
Firstly before we get onto the juicy stuff I should tell you I didn't always have a good opinion of eBay. I'm a cynical person by nature so when it comes to the internet i'm not exactly the most trusting person. I was especially wary of eBay because I expected to be ripped off. I didn't like the fact you couldn't touch or feel items before buying them. I worried about paying for things online. What if something went wrong?

As for selling my unwanted items/tat, I just couldn't be bothered. I thought it'd be too much hassle and hard work for not a lot of return. Rather than sell my items and make a bit of much needed dosh I either threw them in the bin, gave them to friends, or took them to the local charity shop. Let's face it, I was just too plain lazy to try.

I can honestly say now after being an active buyer and seller for a while I was right to be cynical about the buying part, being cynical helps you avoid the pitfalls. BUT I was wrong about selling being such hard work. In fact it's very easy work for quite a fair return and so much fun at the same time. My attitude to eBay has overall totally changed since I became actively involved and learnt my way around the site. I was a member for around a year before fully appreciating what eBay has to offer. I went from an extremely occasional browser to an every day eBayer within the blink of an eye. All it took was a little patience to learn the sly and crafty tricks of the trade and then there was no stopping me. Time to get to the interesting and juicy stuff then........


How to take advantage of sloppy and lazy sellers
************************************************************
When i'm looking for a specific item i'll type combinations of keywords into the search bar. For example I recently searched for a Thomas The Tank Engine Bean Bag Chair. Rather than type in that whole sentence I would type in 'Thomas Chair' then i'd do another search for 'Thomas Bean Bag' then i'd do another one for 'Thomas Beanbag chair' etc. Even if 4 products are exactly the same the individual sellers may use totally different keywords in their item title so I research as much as possible and generally i'll go for the one where the seller has put less effort into the auction title and description. More often than not a poorly and sloppily written listing will reach a lower end price than a well written listing. Photos have the same effect, if not more so. A rubbish picture of a fantastic item will put no end of people off bidding. I've seen it happen before where one item has received zero bids and an identical item has reached over £10 come the auction end.

I've become an expert with regards to product/keyword searches, it's all about being inventive. Mis-spelt item titles are another favourite of mine for hunting out and exploiting. Search for Scoobydoo instead of Scooby Doo and sometimes you'll come across a little gem of a bargain. One purchase which instantly comes to mind is the iRobot DVD I bought. It was spelt with a number 'one' before the Robot rather than the correct letter 'i'. Well if sellers are gonna be sloppy with their listings it suits me fine so long as I can keep benefiting from their laziness.


Buy from sellers who eBayers stay away from
*******************************************************
I like to take my chances with newbie zero rated sellers. A lot of eBayers don't bid on auctions by zero rated newbies. Suits me fine as it means i'll hopefully bag another bargain. Hey there's nothing wrong with buying a low priced item off a newbie. If they turn out to be rip-off merchants you can always open an eBay or Paypal dispute against them. I'll take my chances if it means I may get a bargain thankyou

A fair amount of eBay sellers also put potential customers off bidding on their auctions by using the following phrase 'i'm not responsible for items lost/damaged in post' Lots of regular eBay forum members refuse to buy anything from a seller who washes their hands of all responsibility the minute the item is at the post office. You see the seller is actually FULLY RESPONSIBLE for items until the buyer receives them safely and soundly. I disregard the 'i'm not responsible' phrase cos I know damn well they are responsible no matter how much they protest, shout, kick or scream. Suits me if others refuse to bid on the auctions, it's less competition and more chance of a bargain for me.

As above those sellers who have strict and sometimes down right rude and aggresive T & Cs attached to their auctions usually find themselves with people refusing to bid. I don't care. If they get rude and aggresive with me they'll get the same attitude right back at them. Hey as long as I get my bargain and the item arrives safely I couldn't give a monkeys.


Choosing the right auction keywords to maximise profit potential
****************************************************************************
How do you make your fortune out of something which rarely sells for even 99p? It's all in the power of marketing. Exploit certain product words and leave them open to more than one interpretation. Exagerate the greatness of something even if you think it's shite. Example, i've just sold a Madonna CD called Music. This CD rarely sells for even 99p as no-one wants it, it's a crap album and there's far too many of them listed on eBay. So how did I sell mine for £5.50 with £1.99 postage? Easy!! No-one else had bothered to market the CD as being a Special Limited Edition which included not one but TWO cds, one of which was a pink coloured cd and contained a video and loads of remixes. So with a carefully thought out auction title consisting of good keywords it attracted more potential customers than this CD would normally attract, plus by pointing out what everyone else had omitted it made my Madonna CD look quite unique (even though it's as common as muck in reality)

The correct auction title is probably the most important thing of all to consider as I proved with the Madonna CD. The words you choose are the words you're hoping people will type into the eBay search box. If good keywords have been chosen anyone who's looking for a product similar to what you're selling should be able to find your auction without a hint of bother. Use the entire title character allocation up, there's absolutely no excuse for leaving half the space blank. If you're selling a Simpsons Talking Radio Alarm Clock then make sure ALL those words are in the title, what's the point of just describing it as a Simpsons Talking Radio Alarm? All those people typing Simpsons Clock into the search box will not come across your auction cos you were to lazy to think about it logically and you missed out the word CLOCK. In the words of Homer Simpson, doh!! (this is a real example by the way)


Taking advantage of impulse buyers
**********************************************
Oh impulse buyers are fab and there are so many of them. I've only recently started using the Buy It Now (known as BINs) feature to sell items and i've gotta admit it's much better than putting your item up for auction half the time. Of course it depends what the item is as to whether it'd be better on a BIN or an auction, but with things such as board games and PS2 games i've had much more success and made more money with BINs than I would've done if it'd gone through auction. With BINs you can afford to ask for more money than you really think you should be asking for your item. I just sold a used Yahtzee boxed game for £4.99 (BIN) with an extra £2.50 postage. At auction i'd have been lucky to get £3.50 for it. But when people want something immediately rather than wait a few days for an auction to finish they're usually willing to pay that bit extra. More fool them. With auctions the potential buyer has plenty of time to ummm and aaah about what they're willing to pay and whether they really want/need the item. With a BIN all it can take is 5 seconds of impulsive madness and they've gone and bought it before really thinking about it. I also try to undercut other BINs by 25/50p so mine is the best BIN deal to go for.


Let's not forget about the 'more money than sense' suckers
************************************************************************
I'm not experienced in this area as I don't sell the high value items that these suckers waste their money on. These suckers are the ones who think eBay is always the cheapest place to buy all items from and believe everything they see to be a bargain. It doesn't cross their naive minds that the item may be available elsewhere for a much cheaper price, they just don't bother to check. Mobile phones and MP3s (to name just 2 products) have been known to fetch a higher price when sold 2nd hand on eBay than it would cost to buy a brand new and boxed one from elsewhere. The sellers of these items must be rolling around crying with laughter. What an easy profit they must make. If I had the money to buy a couple of MP3s from a cheap shop (like Argos) i'd give it a shot myself. If people are willing to pay inflated prices then I wouldn't say no to taking advantage of these gullible sods and raking in the profit. It wouldn't be classed as ripping people off. An item is worth whatever people are prepared to pay for it so be it on their own stupid heads if they end up paying £50 over the value of the item.

How and where to buy resaleable easy profit making items
***********************************************************************
Disclaimer - Incase the tax man is spying on me I must point out that I haven't specifically bought any items for the sole purpose of selling them at a profit on eBay or elsewhere. I'm just a normal private seller and do not operate as a business. Keep your smelly little noses out of my meagre little earnings and go catch those who make thousands in profit each year without declaring a penny of it whilst at the same time claiming disability benefit and every other allowance under the sun

BUT I can admit to buying items then flogging them for a profit on eBay a few months down the line when the item is no longer wanted. I've picked up a couple of things at car boots which have found there way onto my auction list. The latest item being a toy friction Noo Noo which was bought for 10p around a year ago and sold yesterday on eBay for £1.70 plus an extra £2.25 postage. I'm auctioning Scoop from Bob The Builder right now and that originally cost us 50p from the same car boot we bought Noo Noo from.

Products which are usually easily resaleable are childrens toys, childrens books and anything else relating to children (except clothes which I find a nightmare to flog) Buy popular branded toys for as little as possible from car boots. Haggle for all you're worth. Exploit the generosity and goodwill of car booters by getting as many items as you can for peanuts. Books by popular authors such as Rod Campbell and Mick Inkpen can be picked up 2nd hand for as little as20p, flog them on and make a good £1.50 profit on the pair. Unbranded toys will be more difficult to profit from but certain branded ones generally don't lose much value, and sometimes increase in value within a short period of time. Take the Cookie Monster puppet I bought just over a year ago from Woolworths for £9.99. I did a bit of research before deciding to put it up for auction and low and behold I found out this particular Cookie had been discontinued and was quite a rare item. It sold for over £30. I shall definitely be looking out for any of these at car boots (course i'll hang onto it for a few months before selling so the tax man doesn't get on his high horse)

In the meantime if anyone spies an old 70s/80s Brownie uniform can you forward it on to me please (it's a little known about money making treasure)


Pro-actively advertise your eBay auctions for FREE
****************************************************************
Such a simple idea and yet very much under-used. On the eBay home page down near the bottom is a link to the Want It Now section. This section is for members to place FREE adverts regarding products they WANT but are struggling (or too lazy) to find themselves. Now each time I put something up for auction I go straight to the Want It Now section to see if anyone is looking for a similar product to what i'm flogging. If I find someone that may be interested in my item I just click on the 'respond' link and place the eBay item number in there. It's such an easy and fast way to draw more potential customers to bid on your auctions. You're basically leading the horse to water. They're saying 'I WANT this kinda thing' and you go up and say 'hey i've GOT that kinda thing'. Hey presto!!


Exploitation, playing on weaknesses and profiting from laziness might seem wrong to some people.......
*******************************************************************
.....but the name of the game on eBay is to grab a bargain and to sell at the best price. So long as rules are adhered to there's no harm in exploiting anything i've mentioned above. I can't say i've made enough of a profit to call it an income but the money has come in great use for various things. With just 11 weeks of proper eBaying under my belt i've made around £600/£700 which has paid for a family caravan holiday next year, dozens of bargain dvds, £80ish of Xmas pressies for my Son, i've withdrawn some money for general spending, bought other bits and bobs and still I have over £40 in my Paypal account which will go to buy more Xmas presents. I think i've done pretty damn well so far and it just goes to show if a lazy bum like me can do this well then so can anyone. I'd highly recommend you give it a shot. Just make sure you jump into eBaying with eyes wide open and full brain in gear. There's far worse people than me on there.

EBAY Exploit, manipulate, prey on the weak

What on earth is eBay?
****************************
In short eBay is the most popular and well known auction site on the World Wide Web bringing online buying and selling to literally dozens of countries and languages. Not long ago the only place you could bid on an auction was at an auction house. The only places you could pick up decent 2nd hand items or genuine bargains were at car boot sales, dismal markets or charity shops. The only way you could earn money was to get a job or break the law. Not any more. With the introduction of eBay.com in 1995 came one of the biggest and most lucrative internet businesses ever seen and suddenly everyone, young and old, were eBaying.

www.eBay.co.uk is obviously my prefered site with me being a UK citizen so this particular site is the one i'm going to cover. I'm not gonna drone on about the obvious things such as how to become a registered member or how to place an item up for auction. If you want that kinda info there are eBay help pages which do a good enough job without me repeating it all here. I'm here to try to help you maximise your auction profits, teach you how to exploit other eBayers stupidity and laziness, and generally how to use eBay to your advantage. Make eBay work for you.


My perception of eBay before becoming an active member
**********************************************************************
Firstly before we get onto the juicy stuff I should tell you I didn't always have a good opinion of eBay. I'm a cynical person by nature so when it comes to the internet i'm not exactly the most trusting person. I was especially wary of eBay because I expected to be ripped off. I didn't like the fact you couldn't touch or feel items before buying them. I worried about paying for things online. What if something went wrong?

As for selling my unwanted items/tat, I just couldn't be bothered. I thought it'd be too much hassle and hard work for not a lot of return. Rather than sell my items and make a bit of much needed dosh I either threw them in the bin, gave them to friends, or took them to the local charity shop. Let's face it, I was just too plain lazy to try.

I can honestly say now after being an active buyer and seller for a while I was right to be cynical about the buying part, being cynical helps you avoid the pitfalls. BUT I was wrong about selling being such hard work. In fact it's very easy work for quite a fair return and so much fun at the same time. My attitude to eBay has overall totally changed since I became actively involved and learnt my way around the site. I was a member for around a year before fully appreciating what eBay has to offer. I went from an extremely occasional browser to an every day eBayer within the blink of an eye. All it took was a little patience to learn the sly and crafty tricks of the trade and then there was no stopping me. Time to get to the interesting and juicy stuff then........


How to take advantage of sloppy and lazy sellers
************************************************************
When i'm looking for a specific item i'll type combinations of keywords into the search bar. For example I recently searched for a Thomas The Tank Engine Bean Bag Chair. Rather than type in that whole sentence I would type in 'Thomas Chair' then i'd do another search for 'Thomas Bean Bag' then i'd do another one for 'Thomas Beanbag chair' etc. Even if 4 products are exactly the same the individual sellers may use totally different keywords in their item title so I research as much as possible and generally i'll go for the one where the seller has put less effort into the auction title and description. More often than not a poorly and sloppily written listing will reach a lower end price than a well written listing. Photos have the same effect, if not more so. A rubbish picture of a fantastic item will put no end of people off bidding. I've seen it happen before where one item has received zero bids and an identical item has reached over £10 come the auction end.

I've become an expert with regards to product/keyword searches, it's all about being inventive. Mis-spelt item titles are another favourite of mine for hunting out and exploiting. Search for Scoobydoo instead of Scooby Doo and sometimes you'll come across a little gem of a bargain. One purchase which instantly comes to mind is the iRobot DVD I bought. It was spelt with a number 'one' before the Robot rather than the correct letter 'i'. Well if sellers are gonna be sloppy with their listings it suits me fine so long as I can keep benefiting from their laziness.


Buy from sellers who eBayers stay away from
*******************************************************
I like to take my chances with newbie zero rated sellers. A lot of eBayers don't bid on auctions by zero rated newbies. Suits me fine as it means i'll hopefully bag another bargain. Hey there's nothing wrong with buying a low priced item off a newbie. If they turn out to be rip-off merchants you can always open an eBay or Paypal dispute against them. I'll take my chances if it means I may get a bargain thankyou

A fair amount of eBay sellers also put potential customers off bidding on their auctions by using the following phrase 'i'm not responsible for items lost/damaged in post' Lots of regular eBay forum members refuse to buy anything from a seller who washes their hands of all responsibility the minute the item is at the post office. You see the seller is actually FULLY RESPONSIBLE for items until the buyer receives them safely and soundly. I disregard the 'i'm not responsible' phrase cos I know damn well they are responsible no matter how much they protest, shout, kick or scream. Suits me if others refuse to bid on the auctions, it's less competition and more chance of a bargain for me.

As above those sellers who have strict and sometimes down right rude and aggresive T & Cs attached to their auctions usually find themselves with people refusing to bid. I don't care. If they get rude and aggresive with me they'll get the same attitude right back at them. Hey as long as I get my bargain and the item arrives safely I couldn't give a monkeys.


Choosing the right auction keywords to maximise profit potential
****************************************************************************
How do you make your fortune out of something which rarely sells for even 99p? It's all in the power of marketing. Exploit certain product words and leave them open to more than one interpretation. Exagerate the greatness of something even if you think it's shite. Example, i've just sold a Madonna CD called Music. This CD rarely sells for even 99p as no-one wants it, it's a crap album and there's far too many of them listed on eBay. So how did I sell mine for £5.50 with £1.99 postage? Easy!! No-one else had bothered to market the CD as being a Special Limited Edition which included not one but TWO cds, one of which was a pink coloured cd and contained a video and loads of remixes. So with a carefully thought out auction title consisting of good keywords it attracted more potential customers than this CD would normally attract, plus by pointing out what everyone else had omitted it made my Madonna CD look quite unique (even though it's as common as muck in reality)

The correct auction title is probably the most important thing of all to consider as I proved with the Madonna CD. The words you choose are the words you're hoping people will type into the eBay search box. If good keywords have been chosen anyone who's looking for a product similar to what you're selling should be able to find your auction without a hint of bother. Use the entire title character allocation up, there's absolutely no excuse for leaving half the space blank. If you're selling a Simpsons Talking Radio Alarm Clock then make sure ALL those words are in the title, what's the point of just describing it as a Simpsons Talking Radio Alarm? All those people typing Simpsons Clock into the search box will not come across your auction cos you were to lazy to think about it logically and you missed out the word CLOCK. In the words of Homer Simpson, doh!! (this is a real example by the way)


Taking advantage of impulse buyers
**********************************************
Oh impulse buyers are fab and there are so many of them. I've only recently started using the Buy It Now (known as BINs) feature to sell items and i've gotta admit it's much better than putting your item up for auction half the time. Of course it depends what the item is as to whether it'd be better on a BIN or an auction, but with things such as board games and PS2 games i've had much more success and made more money with BINs than I would've done if it'd gone through auction. With BINs you can afford to ask for more money than you really think you should be asking for your item. I just sold a used Yahtzee boxed game for £4.99 (BIN) with an extra £2.50 postage. At auction i'd have been lucky to get £3.50 for it. But when people want something immediately rather than wait a few days for an auction to finish they're usually willing to pay that bit extra. More fool them. With auctions the potential buyer has plenty of time to ummm and aaah about what they're willing to pay and whether they really want/need the item. With a BIN all it can take is 5 seconds of impulsive madness and they've gone and bought it before really thinking about it. I also try to undercut other BINs by 25/50p so mine is the best BIN deal to go for.


Let's not forget about the 'more money than sense' suckers
************************************************************************
I'm not experienced in this area as I don't sell the high value items that these suckers waste their money on. These suckers are the ones who think eBay is always the cheapest place to buy all items from and believe everything they see to be a bargain. It doesn't cross their naive minds that the item may be available elsewhere for a much cheaper price, they just don't bother to check. Mobile phones and MP3s (to name just 2 products) have been known to fetch a higher price when sold 2nd hand on eBay than it would cost to buy a brand new and boxed one from elsewhere. The sellers of these items must be rolling around crying with laughter. What an easy profit they must make. If I had the money to buy a couple of MP3s from a cheap shop (like Argos) i'd give it a shot myself. If people are willing to pay inflated prices then I wouldn't say no to taking advantage of these gullible sods and raking in the profit. It wouldn't be classed as ripping people off. An item is worth whatever people are prepared to pay for it so be it on their own stupid heads if they end up paying £50 over the value of the item.

How and where to buy resaleable easy profit making items
***********************************************************************
Disclaimer - Incase the tax man is spying on me I must point out that I haven't specifically bought any items for the sole purpose of selling them at a profit on eBay or elsewhere. I'm just a normal private seller and do not operate as a business. Keep your smelly little noses out of my meagre little earnings and go catch those who make thousands in profit each year without declaring a penny of it whilst at the same time claiming disability benefit and every other allowance under the sun

BUT I can admit to buying items then flogging them for a profit on eBay a few months down the line when the item is no longer wanted. I've picked up a couple of things at car boots which have found there way onto my auction list. The latest item being a toy friction Noo Noo which was bought for 10p around a year ago and sold yesterday on eBay for £1.70 plus an extra £2.25 postage. I'm auctioning Scoop from Bob The Builder right now and that originally cost us 50p from the same car boot we bought Noo Noo from.

Products which are usually easily resaleable are childrens toys, childrens books and anything else relating to children (except clothes which I find a nightmare to flog) Buy popular branded toys for as little as possible from car boots. Haggle for all you're worth. Exploit the generosity and goodwill of car booters by getting as many items as you can for peanuts. Books by popular authors such as Rod Campbell and Mick Inkpen can be picked up 2nd hand for as little as20p, flog them on and make a good £1.50 profit on the pair. Unbranded toys will be more difficult to profit from but certain branded ones generally don't lose much value, and sometimes increase in value within a short period of time. Take the Cookie Monster puppet I bought just over a year ago from Woolworths for £9.99. I did a bit of research before deciding to put it up for auction and low and behold I found out this particular Cookie had been discontinued and was quite a rare item. It sold for over £30. I shall definitely be looking out for any of these at car boots (course i'll hang onto it for a few months before selling so the tax man doesn't get on his high horse)

In the meantime if anyone spies an old 70s/80s Brownie uniform can you forward it on to me please (it's a little known about money making treasure)


Pro-actively advertise your eBay auctions for FREE
****************************************************************
Such a simple idea and yet very much under-used. On the eBay home page down near the bottom is a link to the Want It Now section. This section is for members to place FREE adverts regarding products they WANT but are struggling (or too lazy) to find themselves. Now each time I put something up for auction I go straight to the Want It Now section to see if anyone is looking for a similar product to what i'm flogging. If I find someone that may be interested in my item I just click on the 'respond' link and place the eBay item number in there. It's such an easy and fast way to draw more potential customers to bid on your auctions. You're basically leading the horse to water. They're saying 'I WANT this kinda thing' and you go up and say 'hey i've GOT that kinda thing'. Hey presto!!


Exploitation, playing on weaknesses and profiting from laziness might seem wrong to some people.......
*******************************************************************
.....but the name of the game on eBay is to grab a bargain and to sell at the best price. So long as rules are adhered to there's no harm in exploiting anything i've mentioned above. I can't say i've made enough of a profit to call it an income but the money has come in great use for various things. With just 11 weeks of proper eBaying under my belt i've made around £600/£700 which has paid for a family caravan holiday next year, dozens of bargain dvds, £80ish of Xmas pressies for my Son, i've withdrawn some money for general spending, bought other bits and bobs and still I have over £40 in my Paypal account which will go to buy more Xmas presents. I think i've done pretty damn well so far and it just goes to show if a lazy bum like me can do this well then so can anyone. I'd highly recommend you give it a shot. Just make sure you jump into eBaying with eyes wide open and full brain in gear. There's far worse people than me on there.

Freebie Hunting Money Grabbing Tight Arse

It's been quite a while since I applied for lots of freebies though I do apply for a few bits and pieces here and there. There was a time (over 2 years ago) where I was addicted to freebie finding and sad old me would happily spend many hours wasting away scouring the net for all manner of freebies, giveaways and junk. Since I started applying for freebies all that time ago I must have accumulated at least two hundred freebie with things ranging from little crappy pieces of rubbish that have gone straight into the bin, to fab little items that i'm over the moon about. Everyone loves a freebie and I am certainly no exception. The poor postman at one point was delivering up to 10 parcels/envelopes a day. Yes I have my internet obsessions and this was my first.

So of all the junk and suprises I have received what are my favourite 10 free items? Below you'll find my countdown (or rather count-up because i'm odd) including links wherever possible so you too can get your mitts on something for nothing.


1. My best freebie ever has to have been an extremely sharp chefs knife. Now don't bother asking me where I managed to swindle this one from because i've got absolutely no idea whatsoever. That's the trouble with me. I used to apply for so many things that when I finally recieved them I didn't even realise i'd sent for them. Well strangely (and rather worryingly) this chefs knife came in just an envelope addressed to me without any word of the company it came from or any information at all. In fact at the time I can remember thinking how dangerous it was to send a sharp knife like this in just an envelope through the post. What if my Son had got hold of it? That would have been a disaster. But anyway he didn't get hold of it so that's OK. The knife itself is actually that sharp that my Hubby cut his finger open while chopping up spuds. Oh well, it's his own stupid fault. He should be more carfeul. This knife is still going strong today and is as sharp as ever over two years since I received it. It's also the most used knife in our house and the most used knife i've ever owned.


2. Original Source are a fantastic site who regularly give away quality freebies from their range of haircare and bath products. I've had many samples of various Original Source products over the past couple of years. My most recent sample was a trial size bottle rather than just a sachet. LOVELY! I love this brand. Right now they're giving away 1 free bottle of either shower gel, bath foam, shampoo or conditioner (various scents available) Just register with the site and order yours. Only 1 bottle per household is allowed so make sure you've plenty of addresses you can have them send a bottle to (such as parents, Grandparents, friends, neighbours etc) Here's the link http://www.originalsource.co.uk/home/


3. Dolmio vouchers were another great find of mine. When bored of the freebie sites what I used to do is go onto various different companies websites and send them an email asking if they've got any free samples as I am keen to try more of their range of products. This works an absolute treat. Dolmio sent me 3 x £1 vouchers which I could redeem at most shops where they sell the Dolmio range. Yippee! I love making Spag Bog so I exchanged the vouchers for 3 large jars of their tomato based cooking sauce. Such little effort on my part acquired me quite a large reward in return.


4. A free jar of Sacla Sauce makes it as my 4th best freebie. Sacla are another producer of cooking sauces whom i'd never heard of until one day a freebie site directed me to their website where they were giving away freebies. I joined up with their website and low and behold a few days later I recieved a voucher for a free jar worth up to the value of £2.50. Wow they sell expensive stuff. Well I made sure I got a jar worth £2.49, after all there's no point getting one worth 99p when they're allowing you up to £2.50 is there..?. I've just checked the Sacla site and although they state there's currently no offers or promotions it can't hurt to register with them and cross your fingers. Go to http://www.sacla.co.uk/ and give it a whirl.


5. 5 packets of Paxo stuffing jumps in at number 5. In reality you were only supposed to apply/register once but sod to that silly rule. I applied so many times I lost count. I think they became wise to me in the end because they stopped sending me them. I never really bought stuffing previously but it's now a regular item in the shopping trolley (Not the Paxo brand mind, nooo I buy the cheaper Tesco branded stuffing which tastes just as good) Go to http://www.britishturkey.co.uk/ and register your details if you want this freebie too. I can't confirm whether the freebie is still available as it was never advertised in the first place but it doesn't hurt to try it out. As with the last one, keep your fingers crossed.


6. Chesswoods cooking apron crawls in at number 6. I heard from freebie forums most people who applied for this never recieved it. Well I did! My Hubby has nicked this off me and now wears it with pride as he does the housework. I'm presuming all I did was register on the site and they sent it to me but don't quote me on that. The website address is http://www.chesswood.com/ but the site states only free recipe books are available at the present time. Y'never know though. Just register and see.


7. Free Yorkshire Tea is always a sure fire freebie bet. This is one of the most common freebies to be found. No matter which freebie site you go onto you'll find a link to this. I assume this freebie offer is on permanently as whenever I go to the website it's always mentioned. The link is http://www.bettysandtaylors.co.uk then you need to click on the 'Yorkshire Tea' link situated at the bottom of the page, on the next page click 'A Cuppa On Us' and away you go. Enter your details and you'll receive a sample box of 10 tea bags as quick as a flash. This freebie is number one when it comes to speed of delivery, sometimes all it takes is a few days. To date i've recieved 5 or 6 packs of the tea at least. While you're on this site search around for any free coffee samples available. They used to give away free packs of filter coffee (of which I received 4/5 packs) but the site looks like it's been redesigned and unfortunately I can't find the link.


8. Free yummy scrummy Jelly Beans. I'm not talking about the cheap and nasty fake ones. I'm talking about the proper Jelly Beans. Yum, yum. This freebie would have made it to number one if it wasn't for the slight difficulty and inconvenience involved in getting your mitts on them. The site in question gives away 100 free mini packs per day, every single day of the year. You can apply for four packs per residential address within a 3 month period but you can get around that silly rule by using your mothers/fathers/brothers/grandmas/neighbours address aswell. I find a way to get around everything. When all 100 packs have been applied for they restart the sample allocation at various times to give everyone a chance to apply for one. It used to be the case where if you applied for a pack at around 7 or 8 in the morning you were practically guaranteed to get one but these days it's harder to guess the time when the samples will restart. A couple of weeks ago I applied successfully at around 1 in the morning and received my yummy pack of Jelly Beans just a few short days later. The address is http://www.jellybelly-uk.com/survey if you want to have a go youself. There is a short Jelly Bean survey to complete but do what I do and just tick anything then it's over in no time and the pack will be yours.


9. Rarely do websites give out free toys but I found one that did and the offer is still available over two years later. All you need to do is register a child aged 4 or above with the site and a toy will be shipped out to the child. The toys are age specific but i'm unsure whether they're sex specific. I've registered my Son on 3 occasions using a different address and age for him. Using age 4 he received a little teddy bear. Using age 8 he received a crappy deck of cards which went straight in the bin. Best of all (and what i'd recommend) is registering your child as a 7/8 year old as when I used this age my Son received a bottle of magic everlasting bubbles which don't burst. He loved those. The link is http://www.time4toys.co.uk/toyclub/ One thing to bear in mind is the speed, or rather the lack of speed, which this company deliver the free toy. My Sons first toy arrived in around 4 months, the second in around 6 weeks, the third in around 2 months. Not the quickest freebie by all means but it's worth applying for all the same.


10. My final choice is a free large tub of Utterley Butterley. I was bored one day so I started clicking onto different websites and sending loads of emails asking for free samples, just like I did with Dolmio. Lucky old me was sent a voucher just a few days later for a free large tub. I'm not sure what site I went on to get this as sometimes I apply by the company name as opposed to the product name.


Freebies can be found everywhere, you just have to look around and have a bit of patience. My motto in life is 'why pay for something if you can get it free'. I'll tell you what, I must have recieved about £20 worth of freebies in one week alone back in my freebie heyday so it's definitely worth it. Hey, it pays for the internet usage if nothing else.

What I will say to those who apply for freebies is above all you have to be patient and don't assume all companies will keep their freebie promise. Some companies can take months to get on top of things and send out what they have promised you. Some companies don't even honour the agreement at all and you will never recieve it. Keep trying and keep applying, it's a great suprise to get out of bed in the morning to find a huge bundle of 'presents' at your door.

Of course there are many other perks to be had from the online world including receiving cold hard cash, vouchers, gifts etc. iPoints, MutualPoints, RPoints, Cashbag, Sweet Collect and tons of other sites reward members for completing surveys, using search engines, joining other sites, making online purchases. Some of these reward sites are more aimed towards the online goods purchaser which is no good if you don't buy online but it's perfect for frequent online buyers. Cashbag in particular stands above the rest if you're talking about money for nothing. I can't vouch for Cashbag completely as i've only been using this site a few weeks but so far the outlook is extremely sunny. Check it out yourself here http://www.cashbag.co.uk/ or click on the link on my Dooyoo profile page which will take you straight there.

Finally I can't finish this review without mentioning Dooyoo.co.uk and the other review site Ciao.co.uk. Dooyoo certainly has perks and those perks keep me supplied with DVDs from Amazon. At 3p per member read of each and every review no matter whether the review is helpful or not it works out very well for most members. Crowns are awarded each week which carry the value of £1.50 with them and thankfully these are pretty easy to receive unlike Ciao.co.uk whos monthly diamonds are more of a mystery than life itself. There are more review sites out there than just Ciao and Dooyoo but these are the main ones in my life and of these two I can say with 100% certainty that Dooyoo rewards members far better than Ciao.

So off you go then. Start to earn back the amount you pay for your internet connection (plus more) and have fun while you're at it.


PS. If you have a complaint with a particular company then make sure you tell them about it. The best free things come from complaints as I've found out. In one week alone I recieved a £5 gift voucher for McDonalds and £3 voucher for Asda after I emailed both companies with a letter of complaint. It pays to be a moaner so don't forget that.

Freebie Hunting Money Grabbing Tight Arse

It's been quite a while since I applied for lots of freebies though I do apply for a few bits and pieces here and there. There was a time (over 2 years ago) where I was addicted to freebie finding and sad old me would happily spend many hours wasting away scouring the net for all manner of freebies, giveaways and junk. Since I started applying for freebies all that time ago I must have accumulated at least two hundred freebie with things ranging from little crappy pieces of rubbish that have gone straight into the bin, to fab little items that i'm over the moon about. Everyone loves a freebie and I am certainly no exception. The poor postman at one point was delivering up to 10 parcels/envelopes a day. Yes I have my internet obsessions and this was my first.

So of all the junk and suprises I have received what are my favourite 10 free items? Below you'll find my countdown (or rather count-up because i'm odd) including links wherever possible so you too can get your mitts on something for nothing.


1. My best freebie ever has to have been an extremely sharp chefs knife. Now don't bother asking me where I managed to swindle this one from because i've got absolutely no idea whatsoever. That's the trouble with me. I used to apply for so many things that when I finally recieved them I didn't even realise i'd sent for them. Well strangely (and rather worryingly) this chefs knife came in just an envelope addressed to me without any word of the company it came from or any information at all. In fact at the time I can remember thinking how dangerous it was to send a sharp knife like this in just an envelope through the post. What if my Son had got hold of it? That would have been a disaster. But anyway he didn't get hold of it so that's OK. The knife itself is actually that sharp that my Hubby cut his finger open while chopping up spuds. Oh well, it's his own stupid fault. He should be more carfeul. This knife is still going strong today and is as sharp as ever over two years since I received it. It's also the most used knife in our house and the most used knife i've ever owned.


2. Original Source are a fantastic site who regularly give away quality freebies from their range of haircare and bath products. I've had many samples of various Original Source products over the past couple of years. My most recent sample was a trial size bottle rather than just a sachet. LOVELY! I love this brand. Right now they're giving away 1 free bottle of either shower gel, bath foam, shampoo or conditioner (various scents available) Just register with the site and order yours. Only 1 bottle per household is allowed so make sure you've plenty of addresses you can have them send a bottle to (such as parents, Grandparents, friends, neighbours etc) Here's the link http://www.originalsource.co.uk/home/


3. Dolmio vouchers were another great find of mine. When bored of the freebie sites what I used to do is go onto various different companies websites and send them an email asking if they've got any free samples as I am keen to try more of their range of products. This works an absolute treat. Dolmio sent me 3 x £1 vouchers which I could redeem at most shops where they sell the Dolmio range. Yippee! I love making Spag Bog so I exchanged the vouchers for 3 large jars of their tomato based cooking sauce. Such little effort on my part acquired me quite a large reward in return.


4. A free jar of Sacla Sauce makes it as my 4th best freebie. Sacla are another producer of cooking sauces whom i'd never heard of until one day a freebie site directed me to their website where they were giving away freebies. I joined up with their website and low and behold a few days later I recieved a voucher for a free jar worth up to the value of £2.50. Wow they sell expensive stuff. Well I made sure I got a jar worth £2.49, after all there's no point getting one worth 99p when they're allowing you up to £2.50 is there..?. I've just checked the Sacla site and although they state there's currently no offers or promotions it can't hurt to register with them and cross your fingers. Go to http://www.sacla.co.uk/ and give it a whirl.


5. 5 packets of Paxo stuffing jumps in at number 5. In reality you were only supposed to apply/register once but sod to that silly rule. I applied so many times I lost count. I think they became wise to me in the end because they stopped sending me them. I never really bought stuffing previously but it's now a regular item in the shopping trolley (Not the Paxo brand mind, nooo I buy the cheaper Tesco branded stuffing which tastes just as good) Go to http://www.britishturkey.co.uk/ and register your details if you want this freebie too. I can't confirm whether the freebie is still available as it was never advertised in the first place but it doesn't hurt to try it out. As with the last one, keep your fingers crossed.


6. Chesswoods cooking apron crawls in at number 6. I heard from freebie forums most people who applied for this never recieved it. Well I did! My Hubby has nicked this off me and now wears it with pride as he does the housework. I'm presuming all I did was register on the site and they sent it to me but don't quote me on that. The website address is http://www.chesswood.com/ but the site states only free recipe books are available at the present time. Y'never know though. Just register and see.


7. Free Yorkshire Tea is always a sure fire freebie bet. This is one of the most common freebies to be found. No matter which freebie site you go onto you'll find a link to this. I assume this freebie offer is on permanently as whenever I go to the website it's always mentioned. The link is http://www.bettysandtaylors.co.uk then you need to click on the 'Yorkshire Tea' link situated at the bottom of the page, on the next page click 'A Cuppa On Us' and away you go. Enter your details and you'll receive a sample box of 10 tea bags as quick as a flash. This freebie is number one when it comes to speed of delivery, sometimes all it takes is a few days. To date i've recieved 5 or 6 packs of the tea at least. While you're on this site search around for any free coffee samples available. They used to give away free packs of filter coffee (of which I received 4/5 packs) but the site looks like it's been redesigned and unfortunately I can't find the link.


8. Free yummy scrummy Jelly Beans. I'm not talking about the cheap and nasty fake ones. I'm talking about the proper Jelly Beans. Yum, yum. This freebie would have made it to number one if it wasn't for the slight difficulty and inconvenience involved in getting your mitts on them. The site in question gives away 100 free mini packs per day, every single day of the year. You can apply for four packs per residential address within a 3 month period but you can get around that silly rule by using your mothers/fathers/brothers/grandmas/neighbours address aswell. I find a way to get around everything. When all 100 packs have been applied for they restart the sample allocation at various times to give everyone a chance to apply for one. It used to be the case where if you applied for a pack at around 7 or 8 in the morning you were practically guaranteed to get one but these days it's harder to guess the time when the samples will restart. A couple of weeks ago I applied successfully at around 1 in the morning and received my yummy pack of Jelly Beans just a few short days later. The address is http://www.jellybelly-uk.com/survey if you want to have a go youself. There is a short Jelly Bean survey to complete but do what I do and just tick anything then it's over in no time and the pack will be yours.


9. Rarely do websites give out free toys but I found one that did and the offer is still available over two years later. All you need to do is register a child aged 4 or above with the site and a toy will be shipped out to the child. The toys are age specific but i'm unsure whether they're sex specific. I've registered my Son on 3 occasions using a different address and age for him. Using age 4 he received a little teddy bear. Using age 8 he received a crappy deck of cards which went straight in the bin. Best of all (and what i'd recommend) is registering your child as a 7/8 year old as when I used this age my Son received a bottle of magic everlasting bubbles which don't burst. He loved those. The link is http://www.time4toys.co.uk/toyclub/ One thing to bear in mind is the speed, or rather the lack of speed, which this company deliver the free toy. My Sons first toy arrived in around 4 months, the second in around 6 weeks, the third in around 2 months. Not the quickest freebie by all means but it's worth applying for all the same.


10. My final choice is a free large tub of Utterley Butterley. I was bored one day so I started clicking onto different websites and sending loads of emails asking for free samples, just like I did with Dolmio. Lucky old me was sent a voucher just a few days later for a free large tub. I'm not sure what site I went on to get this as sometimes I apply by the company name as opposed to the product name.


Freebies can be found everywhere, you just have to look around and have a bit of patience. My motto in life is 'why pay for something if you can get it free'. I'll tell you what, I must have recieved about £20 worth of freebies in one week alone back in my freebie heyday so it's definitely worth it. Hey, it pays for the internet usage if nothing else.

What I will say to those who apply for freebies is above all you have to be patient and don't assume all companies will keep their freebie promise. Some companies can take months to get on top of things and send out what they have promised you. Some companies don't even honour the agreement at all and you will never recieve it. Keep trying and keep applying, it's a great suprise to get out of bed in the morning to find a huge bundle of 'presents' at your door.

Of course there are many other perks to be had from the online world including receiving cold hard cash, vouchers, gifts etc. iPoints, MutualPoints, RPoints, Cashbag, Sweet Collect and tons of other sites reward members for completing surveys, using search engines, joining other sites, making online purchases. Some of these reward sites are more aimed towards the online goods purchaser which is no good if you don't buy online but it's perfect for frequent online buyers. Cashbag in particular stands above the rest if you're talking about money for nothing. I can't vouch for Cashbag completely as i've only been using this site a few weeks but so far the outlook is extremely sunny. Check it out yourself here http://www.cashbag.co.uk/ or click on the link on my Dooyoo profile page which will take you straight there.

Finally I can't finish this review without mentioning Dooyoo.co.uk and the other review site Ciao.co.uk. Dooyoo certainly has perks and those perks keep me supplied with DVDs from Amazon. At 3p per member read of each and every review no matter whether the review is helpful or not it works out very well for most members. Crowns are awarded each week which carry the value of £1.50 with them and thankfully these are pretty easy to receive unlike Ciao.co.uk whos monthly diamonds are more of a mystery than life itself. There are more review sites out there than just Ciao and Dooyoo but these are the main ones in my life and of these two I can say with 100% certainty that Dooyoo rewards members far better than Ciao.

So off you go then. Start to earn back the amount you pay for your internet connection (plus more) and have fun while you're at it.


PS. If you have a complaint with a particular company then make sure you tell them about it. The best free things come from complaints as I've found out. In one week alone I recieved a £5 gift voucher for McDonalds and £3 voucher for Asda after I emailed both companies with a letter of complaint. It pays to be a moaner so don't forget that.