Hello all my fellow forum members!
To all those looking to start in this wonderful yet stressful business, let’s get a few of the most commonly asked questions out of the way, so that we are not forced to repeat our selves over and over and… well, you get the idea…
Q: I can get 50 PSP’s for 2,000 pounds… can you beat this price?
A: Yes, our sellers could beat this price if they were scammers! I have bought PSP’s before and can tell you, you will never find that price if you want the real thing. The best price you will get for psp value packs is you are buying in the 10-100 quantity range is around $190-$210 US and around 120 pounds (Vat Inclusive). If someone is offering you PSP Value packs for say $150 or 80 pounds, then run and don’t look back.
Q: What about iPods? I want to buy 25 iPod 4Gb Nanos… what is the best price I will find?
A: For that many iPods, about the best price you are going to find is about $215 or 125 pounds or so. These are rough estimations understand. But just to give you an idea, if someone offers you say $165 for an iPod, then they are clearly scammers. You have to by at least ten thousand iPods to get that sort of price…
Q: Xbox Premium’s for $200?
A: Please, think clearly before sending someone money for something like this. For 25 of these you could expect to pay like $375... Maybe a tiny bit cheaper, but not a whole lot…
Q: I got a message from a guy in Nigeria who has a great deal on ipod / psp / Xbox / live ammunition, etc. Should I wire him the money?
A: Go right ahead if you want to make his day and fuel him with more cash to scam more people. Nigerian scams are classic. In fact, if you get any email from any supplier or buyer or bank deal in Nigeria, just delete. Its not even worth the time to read. Trust me, this will give you more time to look at real business opportunities.
Q: I sold an item on eBay and this guy from England with a son in college in Nigeria wants to send me prepaid postage to send it to his son. Should I do this?
A: Simple answer - No, no, no.
Q: Is Escrow safe? If so what about NigeriaEscrow4you.com? And wire transfers, etc?
A: Yes, Escrow.com is as safe as you are going to get for a payment option. I have dealt with them and they are completely legit and have extremely helpful customer service.
Any other escrow company is questionable and I would not deal with them. I am not going to go into the logistics, but it is too easy for people to set up an “escrow” company and then try to rip you off with it. So if the seller or supplier you are talking to is offering another escrow company and will not use escrow.com, ask him why. And be very cautious.
Wire transfer is about as unsafe as you can get. Only if you know the supplier (and I mean KNOW him/her) should you send wire transfer. This is not to say that only scammers use this payment. I have used this payment for one of the more famous sellers on this forum and everything went great. If you know the person, it is a cheap, fast reliable payment technique. But it is also so hard to trace back to a seller and get your money back, that scammers use this payment a lot.
Credit cards are generally safe (not the same as debit cards) since most of them offer chargeback. Check with your credit card company to get the details of your plan and protection.
Q: I hate paypal, it sucks!
A: That is not really a question. Anyway, there are many things that paypal does that are questionable. Yes, they do hold money sometimes for 180 days with little or no explanation and will freeze your account for crazy reasons. Still, some people rarely ever have problems. I have had my account frozen, but got it set back to normal with a simple 20 minute phone call. It all just depends on how you use Paypal and what your monthly transactions are like. Also, don’t make Paypal your only payment option… never good to put all your eggs in one basket so to speak… check out payment processors and other websites on this forum… there are some good ones.
Q: How do I deal with irate customers / suppliers / Paypal employees / in-laws?
A: Name calling, threatening and general anger gets you no where. Discuss things like an adult… a sane, patient adult. Don’t let people walk over you, but be patient and understanding whatever the situation is. Remember, everyone is just trying to make a living and generally if you are polite to them, they will reciprocate. (Note: This may or may not work with in-laws…. I have no experience there, hehe)
Q: Can you experienced guys tell me where to get awesome products at low prices?
A: No. We want to help you here, but we aren’t going to baby you and give you everything. You gotta work… that’s why this is called business. So ask us questions about companies, payment options or whatever… but we can’t just give away our sources… we Worked hard for this stuff.
Q: Ok, I asked about a company on this forum and somebody answered me with this long post all about the website, how long it has been set up, the owner, etc. How do I interpret this?
A: This is called a ‘whois’ search and can be found
here. Basically look at the addresses, phone numbers, contact names, etc and make sure they line up with the website. Also, if the website has only been around a few months be very wary. If it has been around for several years it has at least a little more reliability.
And don’t forget who makes this website possible: Anthony and all our Mods. Without them a great many of us would have lost a lot of money… So, all you newbs, enjoy the site, learn and soak it all up, contribute where you can and lets enjoy this great forum.
