For nearly one and a half years now, I have been a regular eBay-buyer, with more than a few dozens of purchases ranging from $5 to $500 and above. Personally, I have noticed a growing number of Mauritians showing a real interest in online shopping and they are always looking for someone to reply to their queries and clear their doubts about this new shopping trend. I take great pleasure to reply and provide any additional information on one of the most visited articles of this blog. Special thanks to all those who dedicate their time by providing answers to other Mauritians.
With this increasing popularity and expansion of online stores, a few Mauritian web sites have also grabbed this opportunity to promote and commercialize their products on the web, while offering visitors to carry out online purchases using their credit cards/paypal and even “cash on delivery” facilities.
Some of these online stores deal in :
- Flowers/Fresh vegetables/Wine/Food(including sushi)/Coffee
- Airline/event tickets
- Electronic stuff including Computers/Cameras etc
- Gifts
- Clothing
List of a few Mauritian online stores
As requested by some readers, here is a list of the stores I came across :
Do you have any additional links to share? Please use the comments section below.
Ashesh previously wrote a great post summing up the different aspects on this topic and the comments section turned out to be very enriching with contributions from persons representing various online Mauritian stores. I highly recommend this post if you want in-depth details.
Nearly one year after his post, I want YOU to answer to a few questions :
- Did you know that these Mauritian stores exist?
- Do you feel that these web sites were (adequately) advertised or have enough media coverage?
- Do you think that it’s worth to shop online within our small island?
- Will you buy from one of them?
- If no, Why? Will discounts/better offers encourage you to give a try?
- Do you think that people doubt carrying out online payments through the infrastructure and security implemented in Mauritius?
Feel free to share your thoughts about Mauritian online stores…
Yashvinblogs 
http://www.airmauritius.com
Buy online and the ticket gets cheaper as no service charge is applied. But if you are going for a multi stop over its cheaper going to an agency
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I only pay my MT Bills online and yes MRA Returns. But would have like to buy commission online where they deliver it home in case the price the they offer is competitive
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Hello, I really like to use ebay, I have also heard of themultishop.mu and would like to know whether it’s safe and reliable 😀
Can anyone guide me here?
Thanks.
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If paypal would allow Mauritians to receive money, i would have done my eCommerce site.
But how can those sites accept paypal? Has PayPal changed his policy recently?
Reasons why such sites might work:-
– Much faster delivery
– After sales services can be offered as customers could easily go to the store in case of problems.
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There’s also:
Sheridan mobility http://sheridanmobi.com/index.php
which is a mauritian store.
– No, I don’t know any of them except one: flowers in mauritius and I do think they had advertised on the radio.
– Judging by their web design, it is clear that most of them do not know about web marketing and usability principles, and I guess they do not know how to really market a product and I can’t really blame them for that.
– It might be worth to shop online if there’s home delivery and there are other advantages exclusive on the online store attached to it: gifts, discounts, friend referral, etc…
– As for the security aspect is concerned, people might not be conscious of how solid can an infrastructure be (think Sony millions of accounts hacked ) http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700132275/Another-246-million-Sony-accounts-hacked.html ), but if basic principles of security are followed, I would go for it, if there is something worth to buy. And yes, people will have doubts of how secure it is 😉
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BTW, the price of computer components at http://www.themultishop.com/ is a BIG joke !!! :S :S :S
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Hi Yashvin,
Nice post… Will be great to hear feedbacks on online shopping in Mauritius, especially problems encountered throughout the process…
Cheers
Kamal
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among those site you have mentioned, i can see the only one http://www.TCLOnlineStore.com is more operational in mauritius as i saw it on MBC TV several time in december. i though they are first in mauritius .. TCL sell everythings you think and its like an ebay.. advantage i have is they offer home delivery, loyalty point that convert into cash voucher, 24/7 customer care toll free 800**** . it has a SSL 256bits socket for data encryption and payment secure by MCB Payment gateway… its an online store where you can bargain for prices etc… Ship worldwide and delivered in within 24hours or less in mauritius.
its a very friendly user website design .. try a look there http://www.tclonlinestore.com
Kamlesh Rambutt
Buyer
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Can we collect/ receive online money from PayPal or other company in Mauritius now?
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@Kashik: Definitely not with PayPal, at least not for the moment. A workaround would be to have a foreign account linked with your paypal acc.
As for local banking institutions, MCB (and I think SBM as well) do provide facilities for online payment and most of the sites listed above use MCB’s platform.
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Every tech products in those online shops are overpriced, I’d rather buy it on newegg or ebay
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Mauritius, c’est un plaisir!
Instead banla baisse prix pu online store banla increase li. Moris la mo dir ou…
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I’m actually planning to launch an online shop. I see these as the main problems of existing sites: payment options, lack of well designed user interface – even TCL fails here and lack of a proper marketing plan.
The shop I’m planning to launch will work a bit like ebay (I’m looking for sellers right now!) and will accept PayPal, Credit Card, CIM Paymobile, Internet Banking (like MRA’s transfer and even Cash on Delivery depending on seller). Delivery by courier or free pickup in the North, Reduit and South. I’d also like to know what else would interest you? Apart from discounts and coupons if you refer your friends…
Once the site is ready to be promoted, I’ll ask you to review it Yashvin 😉 and all your friends here.
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when we compare prices on ebay and local mauritians online shopping its mostly the same becuz every product who come from abroad must be paid for lond distance shipping cost + Duty (if applicable) + Vat .. when u calculate it,it cost you the same 🙂 that is y i recommended TCLOnlinestore.com (Mauritius)
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@Kamlesh:
The only problem with TCL is that they have obsolete PC parts and most of their links are broken, a lot of their sub-pages are blank
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Technically if you import in numbers, you can actually sell for less than on ebay; or if you go to China and negotiate the price personally. But who does that here?!
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@ ashvindx
What you meant by tcl fails? in what way dear? TCL is an international company .. its first in Mauritius .. first Bargain store around the world… Secure payment.. increddible design ,Registered by Minister of Commerce & Information of technology as seen on newspaper last time i think… http://www.tclonlinestore.com is a trademark registered.. TCL is a GROUP OF COMPANIES in Mauritius & Australia
So, No a company first before comments on it dear 🙂
Akashh..
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@ashvindx
Technically you can sell for less, but what about quality control?
I’m an RC hobbyist, and in the past we used to import some spare parts from HK (glow plugs and what not) then we started importing from the US, well here’s the thing: the one from US is more than twice the price but lasts 5 times longer. They are both of the same brand and made in the same country. Same thing goes for the tires we use, we now import from Europe.
Last month I bought a blackberry pod from China, it broke within 3 days, had to buy the genuine one in the end.
Bon marcher coute cher…
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@Akkash by fail in the user interface, I mean that the site does not encourage the user to buy.
Read about UX design. One big issue is blank categories e.g. Furniture. Then whenever you click on a category, you see a while list of subcategory icons above and the list of products below! When you first enter the site, there’s a popup that tells you to click Close… The positioning of the search box, cluttered menu (why doesn’t ebay show all the menus on top?), using red button for buy… well I could go on. It’s not enough to just make a site functional or good looking, it should be user focused.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a big company or small, the usability and online marketing concepts apply to all. Just compare the interface of the local shops with the best i.e. eBay and Amazon. Not just the look, but also the positioning of items, ease of checkout, clearly specifying terms etc.
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I can understand ashvindx totally.
From a user point of view, TCL fails. In which ways?
The first thing I wanted to do after opening the TCL website as a user was close the tab immediately. You know why? I was overwhelmed by colours and information. What makes the success of a website apart from its solid hardware and software infrastructure are its marketing strategies and UI.
Think about it. Look at the big websites (htc.com, bbc.co.uk, amazon, ebay), do they use tons of colours, or do they focus on attracting the users on what they sell? Where do you focus your user as soon as he/she opens the first page?
Also, it is not because people know how to master jquery, php, css, html, flash, network infrastructures that they can build successful websites. It goes much beyond this. It’s not about graphic designing, many graphic designers fail somehow as UI designers because it’s really not their thing.
You should start reading Web Interfaces Guidelines, about Usability concepts (anyone doing a basic degree in IT would do Human Computer Interaction as subject somewhere down the line), about Page Click Analysis (where do your users click or go most frequently) and use sound techniques to evaluate your design. Get to understand your users, their needs, do not assume that your design is “increddible” – as quoted from above – just because you think it’s incredible. It’s not about You, it’s about your Users.
Also, I do buy computer parts from Mauritius and not from ebay or newegg because I get the warranty and replacement to faulty components fast, and I can assure you that many businesses sell much less than you and still make profit. I bought a Core i5-2500K + motherboard at a fantastic price which is a superior CPU than the most powerful Core i7 without motherboard that TCL sells.
Don’t take all these as personal attacks, but rather as guidelines for improvements.
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Agreed JR. So all these local shops have some work to do.
Yashvin, there’s one more shop: http://www.acdcomputers.com
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error loading the page
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Thanks @ashvindx. Just added it.
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you forgot jacey.org
okey, its not really an online store but if you bought a computer from them, you can just drop them a phone call to order an item you found on their website and they get it delivered right to your doorstep.
A long time ago, I ordered a 1gig kingston pen drive and they got it delivered. Not by snail mail. Their mobile technicians brought it for me and i paid in cash. Now don’t abuse, they did that because I’m a regular customer.
thats crazy! for one small pendrive!
IMO, they’re definitely the 2nd top company who care about their customers. 1st is Kalachand (but they don’t have an online store).
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indeed jacey (the business, not the website obviously) has good prices, and one of the rare businesses to sell Intel Core i(x)-2(xxx) (Sandy bridge) processors
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@jaceydotorg:
I hate to disagree with you. I’ve been a long time ex-customer of them since they have been in business and they are just a bunch of lazy people who are more than unprofessional.
They don’t sell the “latest” sandy bridge as you mentioned and for the mid-level core x series they have, they sell it for twice the price which is a scam as they import via sea mail in bulk and get a lot of import tax exempts from the government. They do have some nice prices for other items like psu and coolers tho but imo, they don’t deserve your hard earned money.
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mahabalix.com Free FFmpeg web hosting…. used to accept credit cards but currently accepting only bank transfers, cheques, money orders etc.. may be will resume paypal, credit cards etc in future
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TCLOnline and Multishop are certainly 2 impressive shops. Their prices, though are not so impressive.
The point of an online shop is to give you good discounts, right?
But… From TCL:
(And I hate the way right-click is disabled there. If I wanted to steal your “copyrighted” content, I’d just turn off Javascript!)
Transcend Pendrive 8GB, USB 2.0, High speed 133x : Rs 831.00
And Multishop?
Western Digital WD10EALS Caviar Blue Hard Drive – 1TB : Rs 4,949.99
That’s about the same price you pay “offline”. Ok you have a larger variety, but the prices are not very competitive imho… As someone said above, borderline overpriced.
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@Sil: My father bought our first windows pc 12 years ago, in 1999, at jacey computers. A P3 machine with win98 and all. At that time customer service was way better than what it is now; I remember that they came home at 9pm to deliver a SiS vga card. But that was a long time ago. I’m not going into details so I’ll tell you the short version.
.I’ve bought, for me, for family and friends, more than 10 PCs
.None of these PCs had any serious problems (except for one cousin, one exception)
.I’ve never ever been at their workshop or office to buy a computer from them – All was done through fax, phone and now email and website. Just tell them the specs or choose the ones you like from the website and they get it delivered with full warranty.
.Delivery never took more than 4 business days.
.I’ve never paid for labor warranty.
.They have a lot of PC parts – In Mauritius, they are the leader in custom-built PCs, everyone knows that.
How can they offer lifetime warranty and still make money?
-They NEVER repair damaged/corrupted PC parts. They will either tell you to buy a new one or, if your computer is still under warranty, they will repair it if it is not complicated or replace it.
I think this is why some people say customer service is expensive and in some way, cheap (if you see what I mean).
But hey! December last I’ve bought a Core i3 PC for just Rs22K.
Here are the specs: http://imgur.com/z7auj
And what are you taking about? They DO have the 2nd generation core i processors (sandy bridge).
http://bit.ly/kRHp4G
They just don’t have the 2nd gen Core i7 CPU, the one release this year YET because no Mauritian can afford that, except PC enthusiasts, which are rare.
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@Raj: It has nothing to do with online shopping but thanks, I was looking for a local webhost service.
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@jaceydotorg – Old Sandy bridge you mean ? One of my friends went there and checked it… Not worth it for the 1st edition of the Sandy Bridge… There are some issues with them… So basically, buying the current Sandy Bridge processors from Jacey is like buying an outdated part or a piece of junk…
For your comment of “They just don’t have the 2nd gen Core i7 CPU, the one release this year YET because no Mauritian can afford that” …
Sorry buddy, but it seems you are wrong there. Sandy Bridge processors are cheaper than 1st Gen processors when you compare the i7-2600 to a Core i7-980X for example… And i know quite a few people who bought the i7-980X instead of the 2nd generation ones… It’s not about if they can afford it or not. Also you don’t have to be an Enthusiast to buy a great hardware, but it’s what you do with it that counts… So there are many people out there who will spend their money… wisely… 🙂
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@Kamal: I meant NEW 2nd gen intel Core Processors (Codename Sandy Bridge). The Core i7-2600K, the one I was talking about costs ~Rs11,000 online (excluding vat and shipping costs). Not every mauritian can afford that and not everyone NEEDS this computational power. They will also have to sell the old CPUs before they make new additions to their stock. And PC enthusiasts will know their gears, so the 1st gen core i7 EE processors are definitely out of the list. I was not comparing 1st gen and 2nd gen intel core processors btw.
Jacey computers is selling the Core i5-2500 and Core i7-2600, both released this year. They are outdated already?
One of your friends went at their showroom, like, a year ago? Their website is updated buddy. Check out the link I’ve posted above.
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Jacey sells overpriced CPUs, I regularly go there but I never noticed any High end CPUs.
Everything in Mauritius is obsolete, even newly released products take months to appear here…
Concerning their website its junk, once I had to buy some spare parts, these were listed as ‘in stock’ but when I went there the salesgirl told me they never had the product. They have a poor QOS and just don’t care about the customers
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I think many are diverging from the original blog subject. Weren’t we talking about which online stores there are and whether they are worth buying? What difference does it make that you get 1st gen or 2nd gen CPU as long as you have the convenience of buying online! Because only a gamer/3D artist or so with notice the difference between a Core i5 and Core i7 anyway!
I think Jacey has been doing a good job. After sales service is where I think they build their initial reputation about 10 years ago… I don’t know now…
One comment about Mahabalix – it’s such a badly designed website, I wonder how they are offering web design as one of their service. If I wasn’t able to find the contact page easily, how will anyone buy their service online?
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@jaceydotorg – Seems you don’t keep up with the updates on parts etc… The first batch of Sandy Bridge CPUs that came out this year had issues on them and they had been re-called by Intel. Same as compatible motherboards at that time and now there are B3 Revised motherboards for Sandy Bridge processors… Currently, on Jacey’s website and when my friend went there in April this year, there were no B3 Revised motherboards, so even if the CPU is ok, you will be buying a faulty motherboard to go with it. Anyway, no point discussing about this with you, you will never understand.
” And PC enthusiasts will know their gears, so the 1st gen core i7 EE processors are definitely out of the list. ” <— At least i had a good late night laugh… It's nice to see that you don't know the difference. Anyway…
By the way, do you work for Jacey ?
Cheers
Kamal
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I came across another online store today:
http://pascalcomputers.com/
It’s a clean and easy to use design, has a mobile version, prices look comparable to offline. The only downside is limited choices in each categories, but sufficient to the ordinary buyer. They could use some advertising…
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Mauritius is too small for online shopping..
We would prefer better to go and buy the stuff directly from the store.
Some stuffs in my opnion that can be ordered online are:
Block
Macadame
Ciment
Fefaille
Brick
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MUS not ready.
Connectivity issue. too expensive. not widely available.
And also pena assez dimoume dans moris. 1.2m dimoune ena. la dans bizin compte ban vieux. ban zanfan, ban ki pas coner ki veut dire internet , etc etc
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I know this one: flowerinmauritius!! the website is in this state maybe because they were not very interested in making the website beautiful as much as the bouquets they arrange for customers! sometimes you can’t blame web designers (and the whole team) if the stubborn customer wants their website in a particular way. I think mauritians are way too pessismistic! We should go for online shopping!
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Er, excuse the noob tone: what would you recommend as international online shopping website?
The only reliable ones i’ve come across so far are ebay.com and laredoute.fr: any others, please?
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but we cant buy from laredoute being in mauritius
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Oh no… but then, how come my brother-in-law get his La Redoute things in RODRIGUES??? 🙂
Détrompez-vous, tres cher monsieur, ils livrent vraiment sur Isle de France, pardon, Maurissiuss…
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Taaiii…
Enn photo ki koutt 20 badinn!!
By the way, excuse the n00b0-style question: which online stores – apart from e-bay, amazon, la redoute – would you recommend?
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Hi guys, please I need some help asap. How can I shop from newegg.com, and have the package shipped to me in Mauritius? Please its urgent. Thanks.
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http://www.muglobalfashion.com here is my online clothing store guys check it out 🙂
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http://www.bookstore-mauritius.com/
http://shop.mango.com/MU-en/mango/clothing
http://hassamalgroup.com
http://www.mode.mu
http://www.shoponline.mu/
http://www.sheilafashion.com/index.php/
http://www.lingerie-oze.com/
http://www.made-in-mauritius.com/
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Thanks
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http://www.sonofbeach.mu/
http://www.phytopharmaonline.com/index.html
http://www.shirts.mu/
http://www.kiteshop-mauritius.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=57&lang=en
http://www.winshayeltd.com/
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ACDE computers??? This site does not work and only a fool will buy online from there.
Never buy any IT product there. The guy is a big CROOK and LIAR!
I decided to buy a customized PC there (despite some friends advising against buying at ACDE) and gave him a list of PC components to be assembled. I paid full and he told me I will receive it in 5 days at home on 15-March-2013. Date arrived, I took a day off at work and waited until 16:00pm and still no delivery, no call from ACDE. I called them, her wife answered and told me she will call back in 15 minutes. After 30mins waiting for her call in vain, I called them, her wife (who is very likely to be an undeducated person) put me on hold until the boss talked to me. He started to tell stories such as RAM not available, processor Core i5 out of stock and he will put a Dual Core temporarily. I asked him why he did not tell all these stories when I paid him but started to reply arrogantly as if he he knows everything and told me to come and collect the PC 2 days after.
When I came to collect my PC (not yet fully assembled), I was shocked. First, the casing which I chose was not there. He put a cheap casing and when I asked him to explain, he told another bulls*t that the casing which I asked for had cooling problems and was not recommended. Second, instead of putting an ASUS motherboard which I chose and which was written clearly on the invoice, he put a very cheap BIOSTAR motherboard. Again, he told me another bullcrap that brand does not matter for motherboard. As if he was talking to an average Jo in computers. Third there was no DVD RW but a simple DVD-ROM!!! This time he used his favourite excuse: “Out-of-stock! DVD-ROM is temporary but in 3 weeks time we will come to your place and replace the processor to core i5, and DVD-ROM to DVD RW!”
And obviously after 3 weeks elapsed, I had to call them again several times until I went to the police. Fortunately the police were very co-operative and went to ACDE to force the guy to give me what I paid for!
To conclude, DO NOT waste your money there. If you want buy IT products in Mauritius, go to reliable place like Jacey, PASCAL, FastClick, Courts, etc. ACDE Computers is an unreliable store run by someone who is an amateur, a liar, a crook, a thief! The store is dirty, very untidy and these 2 guys (The owner and his wife) are very unwelcoming. They deserved to be sued and their business should be closed!
My friends were right. They told me ACDE sells refurbished parts and their after-sales service is crap. Do not buy there!
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Oh gosh.
Crooks like them should not be allowed to switch on a computer 🙂
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http://www.sashiahtrading.com
Free delivery, multiple payment options
Quality products from Europe
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http://www.zanana.mu
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