TPOPS Definition of Items

Items that will be asked about in the survey	Purchases within the past:
Home or Cellular Telephones, Answering Machines, or Other Phone Accessories	2 Years
Personal Computers or Peripheral Equipment	2 Years
Calculators, Typewriters, or Other Information Processing Equipment	2 Years
Watch or Jewelry Repair	2 Years
Watches	1 Year
Jewelry	1 Year
Shoe Repair or Other Shoe Services	1 Year
Clothing Rental, Alterations, or Repairs	1 Year
Computer Software or Blank Media	1 Year
Accessing the Internet at Home or Away Including Separate or Bundled Charges	6 Months
Bread, Cookies, or Other Baked Goods, Including Frozen	2 Weeks

 

Home or Cellular Telephones, Answering Machines, or Other Phone Accessories

Includes all types of home and cellular telephones such as wall phones, desk top phones, combination wall and desk phones, cordless phones, and cellular phones including internet-ready and wireless phones. Peripheral equipment: like telephone answering machines, telephone auto-dialers, caller ID units, and pagers; accessories like replacement batteries for cell or cordless phones, handset cords, wall to phone line cords, modular phone wall plate or jack, wall phone plates, and adapters.

Excludes telephone services and rentals or repairs.

Back to the top

Personal Computers or Peripheral equipment

Includes personal computers, (desktops or all-in-ones, notebooks, and tablets ) as well as computer components sold separately such as processor chips (CPU), keyboards, CD-ROM and DVD drives, monitors, printers, scanners, video and sound cards, speakers, and hand control devices. Also includes non-hardware computer accessories such as cables, printer cartridges, printer stands, computer batteries, monitor mounts and stands, laptop locks, etc.

Excludes:

• Removable media and storage
• Computer software
• Online services
• Rentals
• Repairs

Excludes computer software and online services. Also excluded are rentals and repairs.

Back to the top

Shoe Repair or Other Shoe Services

Includes:

• Repair/replacement of heels, lifts, soles
• Re-gluing / re-stitching
• Dying, shining, polishing, stretching
• Orthopedic modifications

Includes shoe repair and other shoe services for men's, women's, and children's shoes such as: repair/replacement of heels, lifts, half or full soles, re-gluing, re-stitching, dyeing, shining, or polishing, stretching, and orthopedic modifications.

Back to the top

Clothing Rental, Alterations, or Repairs

Includes:

• Repairs
• Alterations
• Rental of tuxedoes, jackets, formal gowns, bridesmaid dresses, wedding gowns and costumes

Includes rental and repairs, and alterations for men's, women's and children's clothing items and accessories. Clothing rental includes tuxedoes, jackets, formal gowns, bridesmaid dresses, wedding gowns, and costumes.

Excludes:

• Repairs and alterations to shoes

Back to the top

Watch or Jewelry Repair

Includes:

• Watch cleaning
• Watch overhauling
• Watch replacement parts
• Ring sizing
• Ring replacement/addition of stones

Includes cleaning, overhauling, and replacement of parts (including batteries) for a specified wrist watch; and the replacement and/or repair of settings for women's rings such as ring sizing, replacement setting, and the replacement/addition of stones.

Excludes:

• Jewelry repairs other than watches and rings

Back to the top

Watches

Includes:

• Fine, casual, and sport watches
• Pocket watches
• GPS watches

Includes all types and styles of watches worn on the body for men, women, and children. Includes both fine, casual, and sport varieties of wristwatches, pocket watches, special purpose watches, GPS watches, chronograph watches, ring watches, and skindiver watches.

Excludes:

• Smartwatches
• Fitness trackers

Excludes smartwatches, fitness trackers, and single purpose stopwatches that aren’t part of a standard watch.

Back to the top

Calculators, Typewriters, or Other Information Processing Equipment

Includes:

• Printing calculators

Includes calculators, adding machines, typewriters, and other information processing equipment for non-business use.

Excludes:

• Personal computers
• PDAs and handheld PCs

Back to the top

Accessing the Internet at Home or Away including Separate or Bundled Charges

Includes:

• Residential Internet Service Providers
• Internet away from home
• Internet Service Bundled with Cable and/or Phone Service
• Domain Names

Includes charges for Internet access and other online services such as Webhosting, domain names, and file hosting for non-business use. (Providers of these services may include Internet Service Providers, traditional telephone companies, as well as cable TV companies and satellite companies). Bundled services (internet service, land-line phones, and TV service) are also eligible as long as internet services are specifically included in the bundle offered by the outlet.

Excludes:

• Subscription services, such as online magazines or newspapers
• Online Gaming
• Cell Phone Internet service

Excludes any charges not specifically related to obtaining such internet access or online services. Fees to access additional information or services provided by particular websites are excluded. Fees for online activities such as music or video downloads, streaming media; both music and video, fees for online gaming, subscriptions to online newspapers or magazines are excluded.

Back to the top

Computer Software or Blank Media

Includes:

• Computer games
• Apps for cell phones

Includes software on media such as DVDs or CD-ROMs or digital download format. Software used for word processing, databases, spreadsheets, accounting, personal finances, graphics, communication, utilities, language, education, and games and operating system software that contains a variety of applications are eligible. Apps which are available for purchase from cell phones are eligible for pricing here as long as they are not free. Includes all forms of blank media, including recordable discs, SD cards and flash drives.

Excludes:

• Software packages for encyclopedias, reference, or text books.
• Paper for printers
• Computer Accessorires

Excludes individual software packages for encyclopedias, reference and textbooks, paper for printers, and computer accessories.

Back to the top

Jewelry

Includes:

• Necklaces and bracelets
• Rings and earrings
• Cufflinks
• Loose stones

Includes all types and styles of jewelry for men, women, and children. Includes both fine and fashion/costume varieties of necklaces, chains, bracelets, anklets, rings, earrings, pins and brooches, pendants, charms, and cuff links. Jewelry sets, unfinished jewelry items (such as a ring setting), and loose stones are also eligible.

Back to the top

Bread, Cookies, or Other Baked Goods, Including Frozen

Includes:

• Bread
• Biscuits
• Cookies
• Pastries
• Rolls
• Cakes
• Unfilled ice-cream cones
• Doughnuts
• Muffins
• Cupcakes
• Crackers
• Pies
• Bagels
• Brownies
• Bread products
• Dough/Batters

Includes bread: cracked wheat, French, Italian, oatmeal, pita, potato, pumpernickel, raisin, rye, sour dough, tortillas, Vienna, white, and whole wheat and bread type cakes: nut breads, date breads, gingerbreads, baba au rum bread, banana nut breads, sweet breads, and raisin nut bread. All cakes, cupcakes, brownies, fruit and nut breads. Cakes: angel food cakes, birthday cakes, cheese cakes, layer cakes, pound cakes, rolled sponge cakes, sheet cakes, wedding cakes, and customer ordered cakes. All cookies: sugar, chocolate chip, oatmeal, sandwich, assortment, filled, iced, and frozen cookies, packaged or unpackaged. Unfilled cones that are used for ice cream. All crackers: saltine or soda, graham, snack crackers, flavored crackers and matzo. Bread Products: bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, corn flake crumbs, all types of bread stuffing, stuffing mixes, cracker meal and croutons. All fresh and prepackaged bakery products like: sweet rolls, Danish pastries, cinnamon buns, coffee cakes, strudels, doughnuts, crullers, twists, pies, tarts, turnovers, and filled pop tarts. Frozen and refrigerated bakery products like: biscuits, rolls, bagels, croissants, muffins, cupcakes, cakes, pies, tarts, turnovers, doughnuts, sweet rolls, coffee cake, waffles, and pancakes. Frozen and refrigerated dough and batters like: biscuit dough, roll dough, bread dough, sweet roll dough, cookie dough, pancake or waffle batter, and pie crust shells. Fresh rolls: crescent rolls, croissants, dinner rolls, hamburger/hot dog rolls, and sandwich rolls. Muffins: bran, cornmeal, English, white flour, and muffins with and without fruit. Biscuits: buttermilk and plain.

Excludes:

• Cones containing ice-cream
• Crackers filled with cheese or peanut butter

Back to the top

 

Last Modified Date: December 31, 2018