How to income - How to get much money at home - Work at home, Increase traffic = { Money }

Unless you have been living on Mars for the last few years, you may have noticed that there has been an explosion of online auction sites that suddenly rocketed out of cyberspace and into our living rooms,  changing forever the way we shopped and how much we paid for anything our little hearts desire.

All of a sudden, everybody had the chance to be their own boss. Importing for resale was not something limited only to those with their own stores, warehouses and mansions,it was something we could all do for fun and money.

Unfortunately, along with the deluge of inexperienced importers that flooded the market came the unscrupulous and less fortunate creatures that crawled out of the wormholes with their hand out. Many and varied are the stories of thousands of dollars simply vanishing into a digital void leaving us with no sign of our precious merchandise or clever fakes instead of guaranteed authentic items.

In New Zealand, we have nowhere near the wholesale resources that others enjoy within their own countries. Because we are so far away we have become accustomed to making our wholesalers leap through burning hoops followed swiftly by the crack of our whips that follow them halfway round the world before we part with our hard earned cash.

These are the rules I set for myself that had to be ticked off before my half closed eyes opened, my creased brow smoothed and my money was prized from my fist with a virtual crowbar. As everyone knows, Chinese sources are the ones that will save you the most money before you buy, but taking the step out of your comfort zone can be a trying, if not terrifying step. This checklist is just as valid to anyone else who wishes to source items from unfamiliar, not necessarily English speaking parts of the world.

1. Find out as much information as you can.

Do as much research as you can to ascertain the credibility of the seller. Find out the physical address of the company and give them a call to verify it actually exists. Enter the phone number here to check it matches the country of origin. You can look up the white pages of that country at www.yellow.com/international.html.

Check the company is actually registered in the country that they say by asking the seller to provide you with a valid registration, or do a search of that countries companies registrar. You can do this by going in through their countries government website. In NZ you click on Government Services - Business and Trade - Companies and through there you can search the companys registrar. It is fairly similar worldwide. There is a small fee for a detailed search, but it is free to find out basic information. If a company claims to be in any European country they need a VAT ID in order to do business. Asking for this will usually send fraudsters scampering.

2. Never go with a seller who provides you with just an email address or website alone.

If a website looks legitimate by all intents and purposes, check their domain information by typing it into a whois, this will tell you where, by whom and when the website was registered. Be wary of sites that are registered in a different country or sites that have been set up very recently. Be wary also of sellers who provide you with a yahoo or hotmail address as legitimate companies will almost always have seller@company.com addresses.

3. Carry out background checks.

Make use of online credit services to make sure that the seller isn’t registered with them. Obtain all the seller’s contact details, including their bank’s phone number and a fax of any personal identification, tell them no offence, but for your own peace of mind you need to check them out. You can then sign up to someone like www.records- registry.com to check their credit history. Call the bank and make sure the bank account number matches the company or person you are dealing with. Get in contact with their local credit agency for information about their local dealings with other companies.

4. Get it on paper.

Prepare an in-depth sales contract and list your conditions of sale, how you have agreed to pay, a complete inventory, shipping details etc. For a directory of INCOTERMS (International Commercial Terms) - a universally recognised set of definitions of international trade terms, visit www.iccwbo.org so there is no discrepancy as to which shipping method you have agreed on. Fax it to them and get them to sign it. If you cant do this yourself, ask family members and friends if they know a lawyer or law student to draw one up for you.

5. Use an Escrow service.

www.escrow.com acts as a secure third party to protect the Buyer and Seller. Beware of sellers trying to convince you to use other Escrow services, it is very easy to set up a fake website or engineer fraudulent emails. Insist on setting up your own transaction, only with Escrow.com.

6. Try to use safe methods of payment.

Credit Card: This is a relatively safe method as credit card companies will usually refund you if you are a victim of fraud. Wholesalers may be cautious of taking credit card orders because if the card or number is stolen, then the funds are deducted from their bank account to refund the victim after they have already sent the goods to the fraudster. It is up to the wholesaler to ascertain whether or not the order is fraudulent, this is why most companies will only ship to the address on the card.

Tags: Avoid scams, Get income, How to income

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