Many people just getting started on eBay have reservations when it comes to selling to International buyers. Possibly they’ve heard a few second-hand horror stories, or they feel it’s simply not worth the extra hassle.
eBay provides you with the opportunity to sell to buyers all over the world. This opens a huge new market to the seller. It also allows you to receive more interest in your items and higher closing prices.
In many categories, some of the most active buyers live outside the United States. As an example, at the time I’m writing this, if you were selling collectible Pyrex glass, many of your serious bidders would be from Japan.
I have been selling internationally on eBay for five years and have been selling to International buyers right from the start. It’s not difficult, doesn’t take much more time and, if you follow a few simple do’s and don’ts you shouldn’t run into any problems
There are only two methods of payment, which will ensure absolute zero risk regarding sending product overseas:
1. The first is wire transfer directly to your bank.
You can contact your local bank and they will walk you through a wire transfer transaction. It is very similar to the process of having a payroll check deposited in your account. As soon as a payment is deposited electronically into your account it can never be touched by any source other than by you, the account owner. Once the bank notifies you that payment is wired or transferred into your account, you can ship the product.
2. The second is http://www.auctionpayments.com/, which is a division of Western Union. This was originally called BidPay.com and the name has been changed to Western Union (R) Auction Payments.
Payment for this method is completely processed via email. You will then receive a physical check from Western Union. This usually takes three to four days after your email confirmation. Very Important! Do not ship the product when you receive the email confirmation. Wait until you physically receive the check from Western Union.
There are three other methods of payment that you will need to decide if you will, or will not, accept. These do pose a small amount of risk:
1. Paypal payments. You will find that many International buyers have PayPal accounts and will ask to pay through PayPal. While PayPal does provide a seller protection program, it requires that you have proof of delivery. The United States Post Office (my recommend shipping venue for reasons talked about below) doesn’t offer this for International Mail.
I’ve been accepting PayPal from International buyers all along. However, nearly all my International sales are in the antique and collectible categories. Historically, collectors have never been as much of a non-payment risk as people buying consumer products. If I was selling in the electronic or computer categories, for example, I might seriously reconsider my payment policies.
2. International Money Orders. Many sellers accept International money orders in US Dollars. There is a common misconception that these are as good as cash. That’s not the case. There are instances of stolen and forged money orders right here in the States. This problem, while minute, exists for International money orders also.
3. Cashier’s Checks. Just like money orders, there is a common misconception that they are as good as cash. There have been cases where blank stolen cashier’s checks, or even bank checks have been forged.
Additional considerations when shipping products to International buyers.
Shipping products Internationally does involve a little more work, but it’s nowhere near as involved as many make it seem.
Unlike products shipped within your own country, the major difference is the need to include a customs form. These forms are free and supplied by the carrier you chose, whether it is the US Postal Service, Fed Ex, UPS, Etc. You will need to state the weight, the item and it’s value, the destination, etc.
When shipping Internationally, use only the United States Postal Service. Most, if not all countries charge duty on items coming into their country. These are based upon the value of the item and, for expensive items, can get pretty healthy. With some other carriers, you may find that you end up paying this duty tax and not the buyer. With the USPS, all import duties are collected from the buyer and not you.
Shipping internationally can be profitable and fun. You may even find that you end up becoming good friends with some of your overseas buyers. Just be careful about how you take payment, be aware of the shipping procedures, and send via USPS.
Gary Hendrickson has been making his living selling on eBay for more than six years. He’s the author of two eBay related ebooks, has a blog for eBay sellers, and is the owner of ColdItems.Com.
ColdItems.Com
The Auction Rebel Blog
There is an amazing amount of new auction information and tools that come to our training facility everyday. We have one person that purchases products and evaluates their worthiness as to if we should get licensed and give to our students.
Sometimes we all get so involved with the latest and greatest traffic tool or product source I forget that some folks need to remember some of the basic tools and systems that were new once and are still good. Here’s a couple of standby free tools that everyone should have if they have a website.
The following is a basic toolbar, when you enter a web address a number will come up on the toolbar (that number is not always accurate but it is the number that the site is on the search engine directory). The smaller the number, the better. When you click that number you can do many things. Some I’ll talk about in the next article, but primarily you can check the traffic of that site. Our product evaluater uses that first before buying a new tool or service (if someone is selling you traffic and they have none, it’s a good idea to stay away from them).
Download the Alexa toolbar here
http://download.alexa.com
The next thing to help with your SEO (search engine optimization/ranking) is to check and see if your web designer (we do this constantly with the websites we build for our students) has got your META tags entered properly. There are lots of variables here and the robots change their perameters all the time. You can go to this site and it will run a free analysis. Then it will also let you regenerate the way it should be.
http://websitesubmit.hypermart.net/metataganalysis.htm
I’ll be posting regularly on our sites.Why am I writing about websites when we are an auction training company? Good question. We feel your website is your business hub. The auction sites like eBay, Yahoo and Overstock are income generators, but your site is the headquarters. You can also make income off Clickbank products, affiliate programs, newsletters, auctions and your own web site.
A quick tip. Whenever purchasing an item from eBay, fill out the feedback form and make sure you include your site URL. This is one more little thing that will drive somebody to your site.
First, its about margins. Then, its about traffic.
Well, one more thing. We all know about link exchanges (they help with getting you traffic and most importantaly they help your search engine ranking). There are many free systems you can install on your site. The one we use for our students is http://www.cplinks.com/cpdynalinks. We like it because it’s automated and your link partners can set up their link without you spending a lot of time.
Next, you need link partners. This site lets you select the categories you are looking for link partners in and it sends a request to all members inviting them to link with you. It’s a super tool and again, its free. Go to http://value-exchange.sitesell.com/
Hope that helps you out.
If you have questions or having any problems, we offer a no cost 15 minute consultation. Just call 800-827-0282.
Kirk Meyer
Auction trainer
www.freeauctioncourses.com
Kirk Meyer,head of auction education at http://www.freeauctioncourses.com, speaker at top internet summits.
Today, more and more people are gradually opting for eBay as an alternative market site for their items. And the more people try on selling their products on eBay, the more they conclude that eBay is the best market site to sell products online.
So, for people who want to know why eBay had fast become one of the best website for selling items, here are some reasons online shoppers need to know:
1. It is not just a marketing website, it acts like a “virtual” garage sale as well.
Usually, a marketing website caters to people who need to sell their products. But most of these marketing websites only allows people who are really into business and that the products they offer should be of high quality.
However, eBay does it differently. It acts like a virtual garage sale, in which, a seller can still sell items that are already old. And so, ordinary people who wanted to make profit out of some old item that still has value or those who want to simply get rid of it, eBay is the only site that can provide such service.
2. E-Bay builds the seller’s character.
There are features on eBay that serves as ways for sellers to build integrity at the same time establish rapport.
The “seller’s feedback” section and the “ask a seller question” tab create a solid foundation based on trust among the eBay members. In this way, the buyer gets the feeling of security while doing transactions with the seller. Just the same, the seller’s reputation is solidly established.
3. It offers a low investment.
For those who really want to make a business out of selling on eBay, they are guaranteed of a low investment capital. Actually, there is no capital that has to be paid. It’s the selling fees that only need to be accomplished by the seller. If compared to charges of other marketing websites, eBay’s selling fees are relatively lower.
4. The selling process on eBay is a lot simpler.
E-Bay does not require sellers’ additional requirements like trade name, domain name, or any other pertinent documents being asked by other marketing websites. The only thing eBay requires a seller to do before posting an item is to create an account, after which, he or she can already start the posting the items to be sold.
5. It has an “autoresponder” system.
This means that the seller do not have to stay online most of the times just to get hold of any response from the buyers. E-Bay eliminates the hard-selling type of sale.
David Riewe is a Publisher and Online Marketer. Visit his eBay Blog to Discover 101 Ebay Auction Tips in this FREE ebook www.push-button-online-income.com/ebayblog
Are you finding that auction after auction fails to attract any bidders or buyers? It happens to the best of us sometimes - take a good look at these things to see if any of them could be making your bidders avoid you.
The starting price was too high: People don’t want to have to make a high bid before anyone else has - you should always start your auctions low and let the bidders bid them up.
The fixed price is too high: If you’re just selling with Buy it Now, then of course your items won’t sell if they’re too expensive. Try reducing the price a little each time the item fails to sell.
No picture: Most buyers are reluctant to bid on something without a picture, and that goes even more for high-value items. Think of it from the buyer’s point-of-view: would you want to bid on an item when you’ve no idea what it looks like?
You had a reserve: Reserve prices scare away buyers like you wouldn’t believe, not to mention costing a percentage of your final sale price. Avoid them like the plague.
Bad spelling and grammar: If your titles are spelled wrongly, then no-one will find your auctions. If your descriptions are incoherent, then no-one will know what you’re talking about. Always run your text through a spelling and grammar checker before you put it up on eBay.
Too much for shipping: You might be expecting people to pay more for shipping than they’re prepared to. Give them a few cheaper options that will take longer, or use cheaper materials.
Negative feedback: If you got negative feedback on your last transaction, expect things to be slow for a while. Try selling cheap things for a while to get your account back in good standing.
Nasty terms: Don’t write things all over your auction like “I will only accept returns in PERFECT condition” or “Serious bidders only, no timewasters!!” This is entirely unnecessary and just makes you look difficult to deal with.
No PayPal: Many buyers simply avoid any seller who doesn’t accept PayPal as a payment method - they can’t be bothered with the hassle of anything else. Even if you don’t like PayPal, you should accept it if you want to business on eBay.
The items were bad. You will have to accept that there are some items no-one wants - perhaps they were hyped to begin with, but now people had heard that they’re useless and stopped buying. Before you come to this conclusion, though, check everything else you can, and check if anyone else is managing to sell it. If you’re sure, try to return the items, and buy in some new stock.
When selling on eBay is so much trouble, you might start to wonder: should I just go and sell my stuff somewhere else? In the next email, we’ll take a look at the various alternatives to eBay that have sprung up over the years.
Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.
Dental Implants - Due Diligence You have seen your family dental practitioner and s/he has determined you are a good candidate for dental implants. What then?
Your family dentist will most like refer you to one of his/her colleagues s/he feels is competent to do cosmetic dental procedures, including dental implants. This does not necessarily mean that such an individual is qualified, however. Although chances are excellent that your family dentist would refer you only to someone who was an expert, you should not take it for granted that such a dentist is trained in Prosthodontics.
This is the point at which it is important to do your due diligence. Think of it this way; when it comes to determining who will do your dental implants, you are essentially hiring someone to do a job, the way any employer would hire someone for any job. Like any employer, the burden is on you to determine if the employee - in this case, the prosthodontist - is qualified and able to do the job for which you are hiring.
The first thing to do is call the Board of Dentistry in your state and find out if there have been any complaints or rulings against this person in regards to his or her practice. This is your right; you are investigated when you apply for a job, so your prospective dentist should expect no less.
You can also contact the American Dental Association and find out if this dentist is listed by the Board of Certified Prosthodontists. While there is no state requirement that any dentist practicing Prosthodontics be so listed, the BCP is one of the ways in which the dental profession in the U.S. regulates itself.
You also have the right and responsibility to ask for references, just like any prospective employer. For reasons of privacy, the dentist cannot give you contact information of his/her current and former patients, but s/he can have them contact you.
Finally, make sure that you receive a written document outlining what the treatment consists of and exactly how much your dental implants will cost
How do you establish an effective brand? Branding–creating a distinctive corporate identity for your business–is critical to your success as an entrepreneur. You can, and must, use the process of setting up and managing your business entities to establish your own distinctive brand.
The world’s greatest companies have mastered this art of branding. You don’t need even need to to see the name of the company to recognize the Mercedes or MacDonald’s logo, so effectively have these companies imprinted their identity into the minds of the consumer.
But branding is not just about a logo. It’s also about making sure that you have a consistent identity, one that is reflected in your website, your stationery–all communications with the public. Individual entrepreneurs often use a haircut, accessories, even style of dress-as the “Man in Black” Johnny Cash did–to imprint their identity into the minds of the public. Even a small business owner doing business on eBay will profit from having a consistent, memorable image as an established, reliable firm associated with expertise in its niche.
You can use the process of structuring your business (see our newsletter) to start building a strong brand. Whether you are establishing an LLC or a corporation or other entity, you will want to follow a number of steps to make sure that your structures will build a strong foundation for your brand.
I recommend that you follow the sequence below:
1. Make a list of several possible names for your company that reflect your area of expertise and your USP–”Unique Selling Proposition”. Number them 1 to 5 or even 10 in order of priority.
2. Check with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm (or the Intellectual Property Office in the country where you live if you live outside the United States) to make sure that you have not selected a name, one you might soon be using in a potential trademark, that is already taken. Running a search is an easy matter on the internet. If you find that the name or mark is already taken by someone engaged in a line of business close to your own, make a note of it and move on to check the next name on your list.
3. Conduct a similar search on the web site of your state’s or province’s authority for establishing corporations–in most cases, the Secretary of State. If you are considering setting up a Nevada corporation or LLC, be sure to do the same both in Nevada (https://esos.state.nv.us/SOSServices/AnonymousAccess/CorpSearch/CorpSearch.aspx) and in your home state or province. You can find the appropriate authority in your state easily by doing a search on Google.
Make sure that you check both the LLC and the Corporation databases. There could be a corporation with a very similar name to the one you want to use for your LLC that your sate authorities might not catch if the corporation and LLC divisions are separate. Too close a similarity with the name of an entity of a different type will cripple your efforts to establish a distinctive brand and could cost you in the long term. Years ago the Body Shop did not bother to do this checking outside of California, and ended up being forced to change their name when challenged by a more successful business started earlier with a similar name years later.
4. Next, conduct a search on the fictious names (or DBA “doing business as”) registry of your county or other local jurisdiction. Once your make a decision on a name for your entity, if you are using anything other than your own name or a name that clearly indicates exactly what you are doing (something other than Mary Jones Plumbing, for example) or if you add something like “Associates” to your name, you will need to file a fictitious name statement with the County Clerk. There is usually a nominal fee associated with doing this, but Don’t think of this as an annoyance. It is actually an effective way establish your exclusive claim to the use of your DBA.
By the way, you’ll also need to check with your municipal government to see if you need to register to do business in their jurisdiction. This will no doubt cost something, but it is an essential part of doing business. I prefer to think of it as yet another opportunity to brand myself in the mind of the public.
5. Check with a web domain registrar (such as LuckyRegister.com) to see if your preferred name or names are available. If your first choice is not available as a .com or .net or other common domain type, you now have the option of setting up a .ws (for web site) domain. You can do that at: http://www.azurpacific.ws. Or, you can choose a variant like xxxxxonline.com or xxxxxxlive.com. Go ahead and purchase the domain names that correspond to your preferred business name. Even if you don’t use it, domain names are valuable virtual real estate these days–you might be approached to sell one of the names you’ve purchased later and make a tidy profit!
6. Select your preferred name and reserve it with your state authority. Sometimes the entity formation process can take longer than expected, and you want to be sure that the name is reserved exclusively for you long enough for your structure to be put in place. The reservation is good for a certain period of months or days.
7. Be sure to register your preferred entity name as a DBA or fictitious name if required by your regional authority.
Once your entity is in place, you’re ready to brand yourself by developing a memorable graphic logo, ordering your professional stationary, and getting your web site developed around your new corporate identity.
There is, of course, much more you can do to build your brand. Kim Castle’s free BrandU newsletter is an excellent resource that I highly recommend. You can sign up for it free at our website.
Copyright 2006 Azur Pacific Associates
Germaine A. Hoston, Ph.D. is President and Treasurer of Azur Pacific Associates, a consulting and translation firm and distributor of the Secret Millionaire Asset Security System and Eventis wealth-building courses. Get a free gift when you sign up for her free wealth structuring eNewsletter for entrepreneurs at: http://www.wealthstrategies202.com
Image is so vitally important to a franchising companies brand-name, that each and every franchisee must maintain consistency of appearance in their franchised outlets. This means that maintenance and repair of the business location must be up to standards of the confidential operations manual of the franchised business at all times.
If a franchised outlet is in the state of disrepair and looks it, but customers will know and it will be difficult for them to maintain consistency and quality in the goods and services they perform and provide. It is for this reason that every franchisor must pay specific attention to this detail. Below is a clause I put into all of our franchise agreements to address this issue;
3.18 Maintenance and Repair
3.18.1 Maintenance and Appearance of Business Location
Franchisee must maintain the condition and appearance of the Franchised Business in a manner consistent with The Car Wash Guys System image. Franchisee will perform all maintenance that is reasonably required from time to time to maintain the condition, appearance and efficient operation of the Franchised Business, including replacement of worn-out or obsolete fixtures, equipment, signs, supplies and inventory, repair of the interior and exterior of the premises and periodic cleaning and decorating. If at any time in the Franchisor’s reasonable judgement the general state of repair, appearance or cleanliness of the Franchised Business does not meet Franchisor’s standards, then Franchisor will give Franchisee written notice specifying the action to be taken by Franchisee to correct the deficiency and Franchisee will initiate the required action immediately upon receipt of the notice.
— —- —- —- —-
as a franchisor you would be well advised to talk with inexperienced franchise attorney about the maintenance, repair and appearance of the franchisee in their business location and be prepared to address this issue not only in the confidential operations manual but also in the franchise agreements. Consider this to those experts.
“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
The urban context and landscape surrounding the hotel consits of typical late 19th century buildings.
Our structure, completely modernized, consits of 22 rooms provided with any comfort and facilities. We offer you a 24/h high professional service.
Our friendly staff, speaking all the main foreign languages, will be always at Your disposal, offering every assistance to guarantee the most confortable stay.
The Structure of the hotel consists of:
Lobby-Hall
Italian Bar
Breakfast Longue
22 rooms
We offer : single, twins, queen, three and four-bed rooms, luxury suite and junior suite, to reach a gran total of 49 beds.
Every bedroom, is supplied with inside safe locksystem, selfadjustable air conditionated, phone with direct external line, satellitar television and frigobar. double panels windows and is well illuminated. Beds are very comfortable supplied with orthopedic mattresses.
All the materials used for the furniture respect new U.E.’s safe regulations.
Every bedroom is supplied with high quality sheets and covers.
Bathrooms are spacious and provided with bathtub and/or showers.
The Lobby is arranged to contain the reception and entertaining areas, furnished with elegant leather sofas, as well as the rooms.
Services:
Nº 6 urban phone-lines and taxi call
Automatic wake-up call
Fax and photocopy service
Valuables custody
Conventionated external parking
Car rental
Train and plane tickets service
Itaian Bar
Breakfast and buffet from 7.00 to 10.00 A.M.
Room service on request (book before)
Internet access
Various services according to guest requirements.
Location
The Hotel is located 700 mt. from Duomo square, near the undergorund stop San Babila (MM1).
The convenient ubication of the hotel, close to any public surface transport and subways, guarantees fast connection to the heart of the city and the suburbs. It is particulary easy to reach the Trade Fair Center, the Historic District and all the main and most famous fashion and shopping areas of Milan.
It is easy to reach the main motorways: (A4 east) to Venice and Lake of Garda; (A1 south) to Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples; (A7) to Genova, SanRemo and France; (A9 ) Como, Switzerland and the lakes Area; (A4 west) to Turin. Furthermore, to reach the two airports of the city, Linate and Malpensa, is easy and fast by Shuttle (from Centrale FF.SS.) or by TAXI (this service is also bookable in advance at our front desk).
Looking for budget Hotel in Milan? Pls visit our catalogue of Hotels, where you can find also a wide range of Tours in Florence and compare price for double room in Milan.
During the past decade, I have noticed the prevalence of name changing, as I am sure you have also. Several of the organizations with which I am involved have chosen new and different names that they feel represent them and their missions more descriptively. Companies who were ready for a new start have changed names to reflect a new attitude, direction and/or focus. Some of these changes have made a positive difference, others have just caused confusion.
What we name ourselves, our businesses and/or the way we describe our services can make a huge impact. For example, I teach fitness classes and have discovered that the name of the class can determine how many people try it (of course, just like a business, once you attract them, you must make it so good they want to return). I started teaching a lower body callisthenic class which has turned into a huge success. Rather than naming it “Lower Body Workout,” I feel that the name we chose — “Pain in the Butt” — has helped to attract the large number of participants.
Decide what impression you want to have your name and/or the name of your company make. For example I know many independent professionals who use their own name followed by “and Associates.” This sounds serious and a bit conservative to me. Law firms that in the past have listed many names of the various partners are now shortening their names. A good example is Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue which became Jones Day at the start of 2003.
I chose the name “Creative Keys” for my company because I work in so many different creative areas it covers them. I like the word “Keys” because keys open doors and more, and because my initials are CK it seems easy for people to remember it. Although, I must admit that I sometimes get calls from people needing a set of keys to open a locked door.
When choosing a longer name, consider whether it would work as an acronym. People remember acronyms, especially if they are short and punchy. Our Ohio storytelling group goes by the name of O.O.P.S! which stands for the Ohio Order for the Preservation of Storytelling — a real mouthful. The fun part is that when I am giving a presentation or being introduced for any reason, I always have the emcee mention my involvement with the Ohio Order for the Preservation of Storytelling so that when I get up to the lectern, I say, “O.O.P.S!, that’s another story.” It is not only an attention getter, it is also easy to remember.
Think of all of the easy acronyms: IBM, UPS, FedEx, P & G, MS, to name a few. I do a lot of work with community development corporations and their names are long, so acronyms fit the bill. The Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition is known as CNDC for example. Once you have picked a name with a reasonable, easy-to-remember acronym, you will need to repeat it everywhere until others become used to it - just as they will with any name that is heard often.
Take your time and have fun picking a great name for your business. You want it to last a long while and be remembered easily.
Chris King is a free agent, professional speaker, storyteller, writer, website creator / designer, and fitness instructor. Chris has what she calls a “Portfolio Career” –many careers at the same time. If you wonder if you could handle and love having a “Portfolio Career” you will find a free assessment to take at http://www.creativekeys.net/portfoliocareertest.htm Sign up for her eclectic E-newsletter, Portfolio Potpourri, at http://www.freelanceliving.com You will find Chris’ business website at http://www.creativekeys.biz
Graduation caps that we provide in our ranges are the best available in the market. We have studied through out the various details of all materials, colors, styles according to the latest styling and the best comfort for the high school graduation students and we have brought the best results out of our long and deep research.
Graduation accessories
When you need to have the best quality products available in the market then you do not need to roam through the websites for your products. For specifically the serving of the students, we have here given graduation caps and tassels with full broad opportunities to select you products out of the range we have served you and you will find everything that would be best available.
We do not have cheep quality materials because we have the doctrine of dealing with high quality caps and gowns only even then we have kept out pr ices as low as possible. Our target is not the profit but just the service itself.
