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What does the High Street offer?
We are offering you an email address that is really easy for you and your customers to remember and use. All mail forwarded to your High.St address is virus and spam checked before it is forwarded to your current email address. The High.St web site also allows visitors to your town to browse the shops and make contact with you. Easy access and easy contact means more business for you.
Are there any other benefits?
Yes. Because your own email address remains private you can restrict its use to family and friends; the public need only be aware of your High.St address. That should help keep down unwanted email to your private email address.
What if we are not on the High Street?
This does not preclude you from getting a YourName@YourTown.High.St account. The main street in many towns is not called the High Street and in others the shops spill over into adjacent streets. As long as customers associate your business with a town centre then you will benefit from joining us. If your address is a road that is an extension of the High St, then we will show your shop in the town index list of High St shops (see Inverness as an example). If your premises is nearby, then it won't appear on the list of High St shops but as a separate entry with a link to your website after the main list of High Street shops.
What if I don't have an email address?
Our service relies on forwarding to another address but you may have this already if you have Internet access. Even if you don't, it is free to sign up for an account with Hotmail, Yahoo or many other sites. Best of all, it doesn't matter if this free account is a bit obscure because your customers only ever have to remember your simple High.St address!
What if I want to change my email address?
That's no problem. Just let us know and we will redirect mail from your old address to your new one. We recommend a period of overlap to ensure a smooth transition but your customers will never know because they will simply keep using the same High.St address. The process is similar to asking the Royal Mail to redirect your mail when you move house.
Sounds good. But what is .St?
The Internet uses many suffix extensions to indicate the broad category an address
refers to. dotCOM is primarily used by COMmercial websites and dotORG by ORGanisations. There are also country codes like dotUK for UK addresses and dotDE for Germany. dotST refers to Sao Tome & Principe; an island off the coast of Africa. It is this extension we have adopted to represent our familiar abbreviation for Street - St.
Can we use another country's extension?
Yes. The Internet is a truly global phenomenon. Sao Tome and Principe recognises the unique value of its St extension and promotes its use as a valuable resource to improve the life of its inhabitants. The domain is run in partnership with a Swedish company, guaranteeing cutting-edge technical quality and a very reliable service.
What happens if someone has my first choice for a name?
No two people or businesses can have the same address so if there are two similar shops on your High Street, the first to register will be able to choose their preferred name and the other shop will have to think of a different name. For example, one might choose Pharmacy@YourTown.High.St and the other, Chemist@YourTown.High.St
Can I reserve a name?
No, registrations are awarded on a strictly a first-come first-served basis.
What about Trademark names?
The same rules of law apply to Internet names as they do to other business names. In other words, you risk engaging the wrath of some big players if you tried to register names like WaltDisney@YourTown.High.St or McDonalds@YourTown.High.St. We will investigate your right to register some of the more familiar trademarks but our Our Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) clearly state that the ultimate responsibility and liability for complying with International laws rests with yourself.
How long can I keep my High.St name?
All registrations run continuously for as long as you pay the appropriate fee and the service is operating. We will normally send out a reminder when your registration is due for renewal but it is ultimately your responsibility to ensure we receive payment before your name's anniversary. We recommend paying by Standing Order or Direct Debit through your bank. That way, you won't forget to renew and you won't run the risk of losing 'your' name.
What do I do next?
Return to the main screen and then follow the 3 simple steps: Read and accept the Terms & Conditions. Fill out the form with your forwarding details. Arrange payment through your bank or by downloading and completing the Standing Order form.
Do you offer any other services?
We are planning to. The most significant of these is to provide you with a web address similar to your High.St email address. For example: www.YourShop.YourTown.High.St will take a customer direct to your web site. This requires a server upgrade but will be provided free for those who have already registered and provided a web link when they completed the application form. Note, this will be in addition to the link we already provide from the Town Index page. We also plan to include a search facility for people trying to find a particular shop name or product.
What if I don't have a web site?
We can provide you with a simple page with, for example, your address and telephone details and the sort of products or services you provide. See the example on the Sample Page. There is a small cost for this service but it is probably one of the cheapest ways of getting a presence on the web. We can also arrange larger websites, contact us for details. Of course, you can still use the email service without a web site.
So is this a 'shopping' site?
We are different. Most shopping sites let you search by product and then provide a list of retailers. We let people view the town and the shops they will find there. A link is provided so that they can contact you by email and, in the near future, link to your own web site. In this sense, they can shop from the High.St but you won't be competing with thousands of other on-line retailers.
What else do I need to know?
Hopefully we have provided all the information you need but if you would like additional information, you can email us at:
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