You`ll probably find that the GEMM shopping cart is more streamlined than the typical shopping system. Most shopping cart systems require you to go through many screens and lose your place in a list of selected items. In GEMM, the shopping cart appears in a separate window, and it`s possible to complete an order with one or more sellers by filling in a single screen of information, even if you`ve never registered in the system before. The GEMM shopping cart also makes it easy to re-use shipping and payment information from a previous order, and it remembers items that you`ve left in your basket during previous sessions.

If you have any questions about a field or button, click on the "`?`" that appears next to it to see a full explanation in this window.

How to use the shopping cart

1) Place desired items in your shopping cart

To put an item into your cart, click on the "BUY" link that appears next to each listed item that you desire. The GEMM shopping cart will appear in its own window separate from the search/browse window. You can continue to search for and select other items in GEMM. Any additional items that you select will be added to the shopping cart list in its own separate window.

You can close this window at any time. The window will reappear every time you select an item or click on `display shopping cart`from the "menu" link at the top right of your screen. However, if you make changes to quantities, the login, shipping address, billing, etc, be sure to click on the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the screen before closing the window.

AOL Users: Some AOL browsers will generate a new window each time you add a new item. Simply close old shopping cart windows. We apologize for this inconvenience.

To remove items from your shopping cart: To remove an item, set the quantity to "0". To remove all items from your cart, click on the link that appears at the top of the cart screen.

2) Select the shipping and payment methods to be used with each seller.

Remember that GEMM is an open marketplace in which you order directly from many different sellers. If you order more than one item, it is likely that the items that you select will come from more than one seller. If this is the case, you may be dealing with more than one set of payment and shipping policies. You willl need to indicate for each seller how they are to be paid and how you would like them to ship items to you.

Payments and shipments from different sellers cannot be consolidated. If you`d like to minimize the number of different sellers that you purchase from, try using the "best price" view and setting the "preferred seller" to a seller of your choice. This will display a column with matching entries from your favorite seller right next to columns showing best price available from any vendor and best used price, so you can easily select items from one vendor but keep an eye out for bargains available elsewhere.

3) Provide your ship-to and payment information

If you have used GEMM in the past and remember your original e-mail address and password, you can click on "Lookup" at any time to have the information filled in instantly. If you are using GEMM for the first time, fill in the necessary shipping and payment information fields which are displayed towards the bottom of the shopping cart screen.

4) Review charges and press "Authorize"

The "Authorize" button is located at the very bottom of the shopping cart window. You may need to scroll down to find it. Clicking on this button places your order for all of the items currently listed in the shopping cart, and authorizes GEMM and/or the sellers of the items that you selected to charge your credit card according to the selected shipping rates (unless you chose check / money order payment option).

Important Note: Before clicking on "Authorize", be sure to review all of the charges for items remembering that shipping, will be added as indicated. If shipping charges are not clearly indicated in the form, click on the "shipping charge" link to see a full description of the seller`s policy & rates.

About overseas shipping: Pay special attention to shipping charges for items ordered from overseas vendors, where shipping can range from $3 to $10 per item or more depending on the seller. It may be that you can find the same item from a vendor in your country, or that the "bargain" item that you selected is no longer a bargain when overseas shipping charges are added.

5) Sit back and wait for your item to arrive

You should receive an e-mail notification from GEMM that your order was successfully placed within 24 hours. If you paid by credit card, the ordering process is complete. If you are paying by check or money order, you will receive e-mail notification of the exact amount to send once sellers confirm availability.

The time to respond and ship will vary between sellers. See "Ordering" for more information about the ordering process and how you can track progress of each item you have ordered.

Cart functions and fields

Your E-mail address (required) GEMM requires that you have a valid e-mail address to place orders in GEMM. This (along with your password) is used to uniquely identify you and your orders. It is also used to notify you of changes in status of your orders.

Password If this is your first time using the GEMM system, you should give yourself a password that will be easy to remember.

If you have used GEMM in the past and remember your password, indicate it here and then press the "Lookup Existing" button. If you`ve forgotten your password, you can find it at the bottom of a notification e-mail that GEMM has sent to you in the past. Alternately, press the "E-mail forgotten password" button to have your password sent to you.

This is a "low security" password that is just intended to keep people who know your e-mail address from ordering music using your credit card or tampering with your orders. Even if someone were to obtain your password, it would not be possible for them to use it to obtain your credit card numbers since the GEMM system does not display this information once it is entered ("XXXX" is displayed instead").

Lookup Existing Use the "Lookup" function only if you have used the GEMM ordering system in the past. You must first fill in the same e-mail address and password that you originally used.

"Lookup" will fill in the remainder of the form with shipping and payment information you used on your last order. It will also recall any items that may have been left in your shopping cart from a previous session.

E-mail forgotten password If you`ve used GEMM to order in the past but have forgotten your password, you can have it e-mailed to you. The e-mail message will be sent out immediately, and will generally take from 5 to 30 minutes to reach you. Note that you will also find your password at the bottom of any e-mailed GEMM notifications that you may have received in the past.

It`s a good idea to re-use your old password rather than give yourself a new one because it makes it much easier for you and sellers to track all of the items that you order through GEMM.

Bill to / cardholder address The name and address that you provide must match that under which your credit card or bank account is held. You only have to fill in the "Bill-To" information if it is different from the "Ship-To" information.

Phone Phone numbers are made available to all sellers that you order from. You will rarely be called unless you`re ordering relatively expensive merchandise and there is some question or need for verification.

Payment Methods Since some vendors in GEMM do not accept certain forms of payment, we give you the option to specify more than one method. If you prefer however, you can just provide one payment method (Visa or Mastercard is recommended since it is currently the most widely accepted among GEMM vendors).

GEMM bulletins Check this box if you would like to receive an e-mail notification of important news affecting GEMM shoppers such as major changes or improvements to the system or the addition of a significant new body of content.

SAVE CHANGES Click on "`SAVE CHANGES" whenever you make changes to any of the information on this screen but are not yet ready to "AUTHORIZE" the order.

If you have provided an e-mail address and password, "SAVE CHANGES" will save the information for yourself and the items in your shopping cart so that you can resume shopping at a later time.

If all information on the screen is correct and you are ready to place your order, you do not need to press "SAVE CHANGES". You can simply press "AUTHORIZE".

AUTHORIZE Click on "AUTHORIZE" once you have selected all items that you wish to purchase, and you have verified all of the shipping and billing information on the screen. This will forward your order to the sellers, and give them or GEMM permission to charge your credit card or request check/money order for the amounts indicated.

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MISCELLANY

The "general" order field As an alternative to selecting individual items listed in the GEMM database, some sellers will allow you to use a "general" order field in GEMM in which you can type a list or message describing additional items that you wish to obtain from the seller.

A general order field can be called up for a vendor by clicking on the "General Order Form" button that appears on their full info screen.

Since it limits the ability of the ordering system to track your order in detail, it`s recommended that you avoid using this general form field whenever possible.

GEMM has no extra charges or hidden fees.

GEMM makes its revenues from commissions on purchases made through the GEMM ordering system.

When you order an item from a seller on GEMM, you pay nothing above the seller`s confirmed price including shipping.

Special Instructions to the Seller You can include a message of any length to be attached with your order to be brought to the attention of the seller.