Chinavasion.com – reviewed

www.ChinaVasion.com is a Chinese site that has a large variety of electronic goods ranging from vehicle navigation systems and mp3 players to cameras and bluetooth headsets. They are quite established and internationally renown (so you don’t have to speak Chinese)

They have a steady supply of goods so dropshippers and online merchants can sell for a long time.  They accept Paypal and credit cards so payment was a very easy task.  Almost all of their goods have warranties ranging from 3 months to 5 years (and they honor them)  they have a program where the more things that you buy from their site the better discount you get, permanently. They make a great Chinese supplier if your looking for a dropshipper.

On the down side they are in China so it’s costly to go to a facility and physically see their merchandise.  The time change can be a nuisance as well especially when your waiting on an important email from them.

Recellular.com – reviewed

www.Recellular.com is a preowned cellular phone sales company based out of Michigan.  They have been in business for quite some time  and proven themselves to be a successful company.  They sell many different brands along with their perspective accessories.  This was the first company that I started buying wholesale used cellular phones from. I’ve been making a killing with them.

Not only do they have a large inventory, but their selection changes each day; meaning that the selection changes a lot. They also offer an extremely inexpensive unlocking service for their phones so that they can be used on other cellular services as well (we would get 30% more profit for each phone if they were unlocked and they’re easier to sell.)

Beware though depending on what type and age of the phone some of them can be in poor shape. They offer a tested selection of devices that are guaranteed to work but they may be cosmetically unattractive.  On the brighter side they gave me business contacts to buy phone housings and antennae from, at a decent low price.

Sex Sells – Your Products.

So, I probably should have titled this “convincing people to look at your listing”  but that probably wouldn’t have gotten you to look here. But I promise I did it to prove a point.

In the explanation of your product the there are two areas “title” and the “description”

The title of the listing or product heading is really important, it separates your from the rest and has to do so in 50 letters or less.  If it’s new write “new” if it’s used you might not want to write anything about that in the title at all because it sounds too negative.   You have little space to grab some ones attention and get them to look at your product use it well and as a hint look at how other people abbreviate things and follow suit.

In regards to the description, be honest.  You can say anything you want in the description as long as its short and sweet but most importantly always be truthful. Were not in the business of cheating or misleading people out of their money are we?  NO….. But it’s possible to be too honest. Try not to be foolish about what you say, you still want customers and it’s all in the wording.  Instead of “used” say “pre owned”  instead of “old” say “vintage” but don’t lie about the facts  you’ll be better off and you’ll sell more and you’ll even had a few repeat customers.

Walter Cronkite – Fair Winds and Following Seas.

We Salute You Commadore, Rest in Peace

I wanted to say a little bit about the passing of a shipmate of mine Walter Cronkite, I never personally knew him and though he was a bit before my time, his charisma and outstanding journalism truly set the precedent for many to come.    He was sought to provide information about the world around us and he excelled at it.  His highest character quality is shown in his relationship in the United States Coast Guard as an auxiliary member who volunteered his time and efforts in the service of others, not for money but of the kindness of his heart and his desire to help those around him.

Farewell Commodore, Walter Cronkite; May the wind be at your back and sun shine upon your face.

Alibaba.com – Reviewed

“Dear Charles,

There is a really big site called www.alibaba.com, they put buyers in touch with wholesale sources. I saw some good deals on it and I was wondering if it was safe to purchase from.

Please advice

Victor”

Alibaba, Friend or Foe

Thanks for asking Victor.

I have one cautionary tip for www.alibaba.com, in Arabic the word Ali Baba it is used as a derogatory term often targeting American soldiers, this name is similar to calling someone a  “thief”, “pirate” and “cheater”.

Just use that as a cautionary note.

Realistically  all it can be a very good site to get new suppliers from, I understand that they have a rating system that will allow you see if the company has invested time and money to establish themselves as a legitimate supplier of wholesale goods.  I understand that you can buy virtually any thing form there and you can get screwed pretty badly too. If you do plan on using www.alibaba.com, use their tools that help to reduce the risk of dealing with a scamming antipreneur.

Also look into a good escrow company to help with money transfer and never use a wire transfer with a company. its impossible to get back if you send it to a scumbag antipreneur.

If you do have a good or bad experience let me know here.

WholesaleCentral.com Review

www.WholesaleCentral.com is a great place to look for many of your wholesale needs. It basically allows you to search through a fairly extensive list of American (mostly) wholesalers.  I’ve gotten some great deals on here and I haven’t had any negative experiences yet with any of them.  Most of the sellers here are real wholesalers that have prices conducive to allowing you to make money, there are a few no-salers that try to sell things here in at normal retail prices  (c’mon were not retailers, give me a break)

over all I would come back here and check in often because all of the items are updated frequently.

Buying from over seas- (mainly China)

I for one am not ashamed to say that I chose to buy my most of my products from China i really don’t care the country of origin is. When I first started selling cell phones online, the sales rep from the company I dealt with was a total jerk, he would always talk down to me and make me fell unimportant because I wasn’t a large company.  So I fired him. who was this man to make any entrepreneur feel like they don’t deserve respect.  I started working from home because I really enjoyed it, it was where I found peace and that guy disrupted my peace.

So I searched around long and hard before I found a Chinese company that had high quality products and treated me like I was important. I’ve done business there every since. I can understand that someone might say that they would like to do business in their own country, that’s cool; if it works for you then stick with it.  The truth is that most of the companies in your own country get their products from china anyway.

It’s not that I’m unpatriotic or that I don’t care about American businesses. All businesses all over the world need to grow and I just want to give my business to someone who treats me with respect. Is that too much to ask?

Good people do go and bad people do bad regardless of where they’re from.

I’m proud to say I am an equal opportunity businessman.

Charles Carver

President  www.thewebworker.net

Politics and Video Games

I have a really hard time watching tv and seeing political representatives embarrassing us as a country. What is it, exactly; that makes a good politician? Does any one really know. Some might argue that an extensive education level provides a stable foundation for good politicians, or maybe some one who is vastly familiar with current events or one who has a strong religious belief system and maybe the type of person that just puts family values first.

I certainly don’t,

I’m not so sure that they are good traits to have any more. Politicians judged on things like these have successfully provided the building blocks for our current situation. Unemployment in America is at it’s highest in a longtime. Healthcare is flawed and people don’t get the medical attention that they need to survive. Obesity has become an epidemic, responsible for killing millions in association with the problems that it causes. All the while our politicians are lying to us, embezzling money or taking kickbacks, cheating on their wives, throwing parties in the white house and setting terrible examples for the youth or tomorrow.

Hmmm, this is all too negative there are too many problems because of these politicians and I for one, am not a big fan of it. But, I am a big fan of video games.

As a young kid I spent about as much time playing games as I did outside playing. Some of my happiest memories were of my father and I playing games at a convenience store or arcade together during a lunch break. Or my sister and I taking turns trying to save a princess, but always finding out that she was in another castle. (It still kind of frustrates me)

I did learn alot from many of the games that I played as well; things like strategy, history, ingenuity, determination and most importantly problem solving. I always had so much fun that I really enjoyed learning these things.

I’ve figured out over the past couple years that I don’t agree with a politician having the same old values that once seemed so important to us. That obviously hasn’t worked out for us. Those limited and superficial traits don’t really prove much. What does this person enjoy doing I their free time?

I think we need to crawl out of this hole we’re in and we need some one totally different from our choices in the past;

Genuine.

I’m convinced we need to look deeper into some ones hobbies what do they really enjoy doing? Regardless of sex, age or race; all I want is a good person ;some one who wants to be strategic, loves to learn from history, stays determined in the face of hardships and of course they should thrive on problem solving.

Video games helped me learn all of these things and taught me that it’s what’s inside that counts that’s what’s really important.

Cover your butt

Cover your own butt.

I have literally sold thousands of things on eBay and Amazon. The fact remains the same, regardless of where you sell things the place that you sell them on will virtually always side with the buyer in the event of a problem (there will definitely be a problem at some point)

My suggestion is to stay ready by keeping good records of all sales.

I got screwed when I shipped a box or phones and accessories to a customer and even after he recieved them and game me a positive feedback saying ” great phones, great seller.”

After about a month, this same seller filed a dispute with PayPal stating that they didn’t ever received the phones. And the $160.00 I had made was now in holding by them.

I tried to make a good argument and it failed because I didn’t have a tracking number for it.

I ended up losing the goods and the $160.00.

The morale of the story is any online market place will almost side with the buyer because the seller will most likely continue to sell again, regardless of how they get screwed.

Just thinking about it irritates me.

Remember to cover your butt, always get tracking numbers.

Charles Carver

President www.thewebworker.net

Questions about shipping

A new web worker just asked me today.

“what’s the deal with drop shipping, do you do it? Why would I want to have my products dropshipped?

I don’t do it, but not because it is a bad idea. There are a few reasons that I don’t take advantage of having my stuff dropshipped.

Reason 1 is I like to physically see my goods so that I can ensure that it is always exactly what I ordered. My customers deserve the best so I want to have as much control of the invintory as possible.

Reason 2 there’s always a larger fee associated with it. I typically sell things from $5 to $300 online the extra cost to have something done for you hasn’t been worth it to me.

The third reason (most important to me) is that I like to ship everything the same day it’s ordered I have a ton of repeat customers thatkeep bringing business back because I sell good quality stuff and it gets to them really fast.

Overall drop shipping is a good idea if you can afford it, if you trust the supplier (and the product), if your customers don’t expect to receive their goods in 3 or 4 days and lastly if you want to work less and sell more.

I hope this helps you make your decision. Let me know what you think?

Charles Carver
www.thewebworker.net