Lady Javien, you make a good point just in general. I think common courtesy has gone by the wayside everywhere. Not just with the merchants, but I've seen a lot of rudeness just in daily life, everywhere I go. For some reason, people are growing more and more intolerant of each other and simple things like saying thank you becoming forgotten. I'm not a merchant, but I do have a few freebies on my website. When people have taken the time to e-mail me and let me know they appreciated something I made, I've always written back and said thank you for their nice words. Let's face it, none of the merchants here do the volume of business that Bill Gates does. It's not like their whole day would be used up sending out thousands of thank yous to their buyers. In some ways it reminds me of how some celebrities behave toward their fans. When they don't give autographs or they snub and ignore fans when they try to speak to them, they're basically snubbing their "bosses," because it's the fans who pay for tickets, CD's, videos, etc., and are putting the cash into their bank accounts. Common courtesy from them is the same as anywhere else. Lady Javien's merely reminding us all that we need to be more polite to each other, not just in the MarketPlace, but everywhere. I second that! Melanie