Common Sense eCommerce

UPS Ground Rates will be going up on January 1, 2007. This is not terribly surprising considering the cost of fuel and the fact that UPS simply must do this once in awhile to cover the inflation.

Did you know that UPS will discount your rates the more business you give to them? I had known this but was quite surprised when we got a letter from UPS outlining more favorable rates for us due to our volume. Now our UPS volume has not that been that great (we utilize the US Postal Service as much as possible), but it does add up over time. UPS apparently tracks this and rewards this for businesses who ship fairly often with UPS (and pay their bills on time).

So if you feel like rates can only go up up up, try giving some business to UPS and they may reward you with more favorable rates. I do not know if FedEX does this, but if you frequently switch between carriers, this might be a good reason to stay with one.

UPS has a page where you can preview the 2007 rates (Link here)

Tags: Small Business Shipping, UPS Shipping Rates, United Parcel Service

Most eBay sellers pay a great deal of attention to the last few hours of an eBay listing. It’s usually there that we see the greater amount of activity. This is due to a couple of reasons.

One has to do with exposure. For eBay search, the default sort order is ‘Time Left’. This means that when people use search to find an item, they will see the listings that are closest to ending in descending order.

Also some advanced buyers use sniping software. This software is designed to place the bid for the buyer within the last few minutes of the auction and does not require them to be present.

At the other end, are the newly listed items. When shoppers use the eBay ‘browse’ feature, the default sort is ‘Time Listed’; just the opposite of the ‘Time Left’ sort used in search. This means when people use browse, they will see the listings that are newly listed in ascending order.

It is widely believed that most eBay shoppers find their item via search. However, it is also believed that a significant number of them also use Browse to find items. So don’t think that your newly listed item will have no exposure! Someone will see it.

Tags: Home Business, Home Based Business, eBay Home Business, eBay Business

If you have a website that sells products and uses a merchant account, did you know that your merchant account comes with limits? Bad things can happen when you exceed your limit. Did you know that your bank may freeze your funds under some conditions?

Here is an article that gives some insight into this seldom discussed part of merchant accounts. Establishing a limit on an account is part of the Merchant Bank’s risk management process. The criteria for actually freezing funds varies from bank to bank, but it’s generally based on a certain amount over that monthly limit and other risk management criteria. Generally what they’re looking for are sudden spikes that may signify fraud.

The month of December is particularly problematic for this because sales for products are generally much higher due to the holidays. The first step in avoiding any funds freeze disaster is to know what your monthly limit is.

If December sales look like they’re going to push you over that limit, don’t be afraid to contact your merchant bank and tell them your having a good month. They should record this information and in most cases, they’ll understand that sales tend to spike this time of year.

Tags: Online Merchant Accounts, Merchant Account Limits, Merchant Account Funds Freeze

I was in a store today and saw a rather odd sign posted everywhere:

“Due to recent events, we are no longer able to accept Travelers Checks.”

I thought, recent events — what recent events?  I asked the cashier what recent events caused this?  The cashier had no idea or was not about to say.

What were they thinking?  Why not just post “We no longer accept Travelers Checks” and leave it at that?  Customers will not really need a reason and even if they did, “due to recent events” is not a reason.

That started me thinking about stuff we often see on web pages.  How often do you get the sense that it’s just fluff or extra words to fill in space?

I like to change out web site text as often as possible and I like to have other people read and critique it.  Often silly statements like that sign end up in my writing and it may take another set of eyes to catch it. 

But don’t give your customers superfluous messages. Spend the energy telling what they need to know and how your business can benefit them.   This store might have said “we can no longer accept Traveler’s Checks but we do accept Visa, MasterCard……”.
 

If you’re selling goods on eBay, are you finding the Post Office to be a bit crowded this time of year? Print your postage online to save trips and long line waits in that crowded place. You can set up an account at USPS.Com and establish a “Click and Ship” account. Then just fill in the blanks and print out a label with postage on your own laser or ink jet printer.

Aside from a printer, one thing you will need is a postal scale. A good 5 pound postal scale can be purchased online at the USPS website (link here). If you need a higher capacity scale, they also have a 10 pound scale for not much more (link here). You can find these types of scales at Office Depot and other office supply stores.

In practice, things that weigh more than 5 pounds are generally best sent via another shipping method such as UPS or FedEX. Somewhere around 5 pounds you reach a point of diminishing value for shipping US Postal Service (unless the item can fit in one of their ‘flat rate’ boxes).

So what do you do with the package when you have printed the label with postage and attached it? Hand it to any postal carrier or you can drop it in the package drop bin at the post office. Then wave to the folks in line as you stroll by!

Tags: Postal Shipping Tips, Holiday Shipping, Online Postage

I would have thought no, not generally.  But today in the Wal-Mart I thought twice about that question.  I bought some groceries, and took the line that seemed to be reasonably short: 2 people in front of me.

Little did I know it would eat up about 20 minutes.  The woman who was being served, was a complex transaction. I’ve seen home loans approved in less time!  It was a combination of not understanding the rebate coupons, the discount coupon dates among other things.

A lot of the problem was with the customer, but there were also things the cashier did to prolong the transaction, such as having several conversations with the toddler in the cart and taking the long road to explaining that a coupon is expired.  Similarly, he engaged the lady in front me in lengthy friendly conversation when it was her turn. 

Now this clerk was just one of those ‘people’ persons who loved to engage people in conversation. Probably makes him a naturally good sales person.  But does that make a cashier?  One of the responsibilities of a cashier is to keep the line moving and in this case, the clerk seemed to just focus solely on the customer in front of him.  Instead he may have done better by balancing the need to converse with the line needing to move a bit faster.  

I’ll be looking to avoid standing in his line next time!

Tags: Customer Service, Slow Customer Service, Customer Complaint

There are lot of courses and information products you can buy online that supposedly show you “how to” do things with online businesses. “How to Start an eBay Business”, “How to Build an Affiliate Business Online”, “How to Start an Online Drop Ship Business”, and so on. I just made those titles up, so no offense to the authors if they really exist.

The problem with many of these information products or ‘courses’ is that they’re just no good. Many of them might have been good at one time, but were written many years ago and the information contained in them is no longer relevant. Others may be poorly written or worse, may be full of incorrect information.

Sometimes what was once correct information is no longer true. An example would be link exchanges. I blogged here that I think commodity style link exchanging is no longer a good idea. This view is supported by people in the SEO industry who are far more knowledgeable about this than me. Yet, you will still find eBooks that talk about mass link exchanging as though it’s the hottest thing since iPod.

Before you buy an online course or information product, check to see when it was written. If it’s more than a few years old, think twice. If it is older, find out if it gets updated. An older information product that gets updated periodically may still be useful.

Also check to see what the seller’s refund policy is. If they’re offering a ‘no questions asked’ return policy, check the fine print. How long do you have to return it? What are the conditions of return?

Do a little research up front to avoid spending your hard earned money on old or incorrect information.

Tags: Online Course Ripoff, Information Product Ripoff, Online Business Course, Online eBay Course

I got a spam in my email from PricePlay, which was really only a press release. I am beginning to look at press releases as spam. PricePlay, as near as I can tell, is a site where you select goods and then play an interactive game. The better you get at the game, the lower your price for that item gets (or something like that). I guess the idea is that your buyer sticks around for awhile playing a game.

First of all, a company that has to resort to spamming me with their press release gets knocked down a rung on the ‘legitimacy ladder’ to begin with. Secondly, this site is a bit confusing and I suspect that buyers might be suspicious of something they don’t fully understand.

I decided to give it whirl. The sign-up itself was suspect. I did not even put in a real email address and it let me get away with it! I played a Grand Prix game which I lost miserably because I could not get back to game instructions. Then I played a ‘whack a mole’ game which wasted even more time. With each mole whack, the price on my item was dropping.

I am not sure what the seller gets from this. There is a “Visit Sellers Website” button showing which you can use to go to their site.

If you get really good at the game, I suppose you get the item free? I couldn’t say; I didn’t have that much time to spend.

Tags: Strange Business Models, Odd Web Businesses, Press Release Spam