Personal Payments to India Via PayPal Suspended

A few days ago, I read in a forum that a guy who holds a PayPal account registered with an Indian address could no longer receive personal payments to his PayPal account. According to him, the payments that were sent to his account were automatically reversed and sent back to the senders.

I thought it was just a temporary glitch but at this point, it certainly looks serious and if I hold an Indian PayPal account, I would be extremely worried too. Heck, I am worried even though I hold a Malaysian PayPal account because of our erratic policies.

Anyway, at this point, PayPal has suspended all personal payments to PayPal accounts registered in India. PayPal has also suspended withdrawal (or transfer) of funds to local banks. According to a source, PayPal took this move because of new Indian policy that requires the identification of people who are involved in international money transfers and PayPal is not able to do so.

I'm going to keep tab on this one.

International Trade Show

My friend, Kent, has invited me to join him in an international trade show in China later in the year. He knows that I am planning to expand my business and he thought that being exposed to an international trade show will give me an idea of what to expect dealing with international suppliers and buyers.

This isn't the first time he has invited me and I have always declined because of language barrier but Kent will be participating in the trade show to promote his honey to a wider consumer base and will be hiring a local translator. That's right, he can't speak Mandarin either!

Kent said that there's much to do between now and then, especially with planning his exhibitor's booth. It will be like a carnival with outdoor booths but Kent cannot decide if he should rent space indoors or outdoors.

According to Kent, if he takes an indoor booth, he doesn't have to spend as much since he already has already has trade show carpet and trade show flooring that he could use. If he were to rent an outdoor booth, he would have to get ready a logo canopy. Of course, it will be costlier but it will be very attractive and eye catching. I believe it will be investment well spent.

Kent has plenty of logo mats that he printed for the previous trade shows that he participated in. He told me that actually, it is not easy to clinch a deal during a trade show because of the tremendous amount of people but it is a good avenue to bring his brand name to more people that's why he took such opportunities to hand out premiums.

Anyway, I haven't decided if I will be going. I'd love to, of course, but every time I am away, I suffer a double loss.

eBay Boy Fined £1

I felt really ridiculous reading this news report on Daily Star (UK) that eBay Boy was only fined a nominal £1 even though his online scam was £100,000! That's like a total mockery of the judiciary system!

Phillip Shortman, 22, who is also known as "eBay Boy" is said to have led a luxury life from his ill gotten gains from selling non-existent goods on eBay, holidaying in New York, hired limousines and bought branded clothes.

Apparently, eBay Boy was only fined £1 because he had spent all the fraudulent proceeds and do not own any property. Yeah, right. Is that so easy to get away from a crime? I really pity his victims. It looks like that's the last they have seen of their money.

What riles me even further is the fact that people like eBay Boy are driving away buyers and this in turn hurts genuine sellers. It's like a chain effect, you know?

Source: Daily Star

Tax On Erratic Income

A friend was asking me if she should submit her income tax come April. She is like me, running a small home-based business, but her niche product is handmade accessories while I deal with lingerie.

This is a question that I have asked myself many times previously too. The problem is that home-based businesses like ours do not earn us a lot and worse still, income is so erratic and dependent on the amount of time we put in. I have often wondered if it's worth the hassle of keeping proper accounts and paying quite a lot to an accountant to help us with filing our income tax even, especially now that it's self-assessment.

I talked to a couple of friends who helped me find out what should be done for people like me from their tax consultants. Yes, I was too cheap to go and speak to one myself, in case they charge me consultation fees!

Anyway, I was told that even if we earn so low that we are not taxable, we still have to declare out income tax. A friend shared with me that he too previously did not declare his income and did not pay income tax. When he did, he felt that it was exceptionally easy to apply for a loan. In fact, his auto and home loans were approved within just half a day!

While I do not have any plans to buy a car, I definitely am planning to buy property in the capital city. I have been checking out prices for landed property for the past two years but unfortunately, still have not saved enough money for a decent house. I would need a home loan for that but am not ready yet to commit to a long term loan. It just scares me. I guess it is mainly because my income is too erratic.

Still, like I was told, even if we have no taxable income and do not plan to take out an auto or home loan, we would have to do this if only to keep the IRS at bay.

Red

Red is the colour of the month this February as Chinese around the world usher in a New Year. I visited a lot of shopping malls over the past week as I was doing my Chinese New Year shopping and every corner seems to be red in colour!

Of course, pink is also seen everywhere because of Valentine's Day which falls on 14th February, 2010, which coincidentally, is also the first day of the Chinese New Year! This coincidence makes these two days extra special.

Besides roaring business for retailers, another sector to benefit highly from these two occasions that are celebrated this Chinese is the food industry. A friend, who runs his own restaurant, told me that it certainly has been a long time since he was this busy. I guess that after the long drought no thanks to the recent economic recession, things are beginning to pick up once again and people are beginning to spend once more.

The Right Time To Buy

A friend told me that he would like to purchase 2000 units of a particular share. I was not keen because of the direction it has trended over the past three months with very low volume but I didn't mention anything to him.

If I have his capital, I would invest in precious metal instead, especially gold. Actually, now is the right time to buy gold bullion, despite its already high price but even though it has fallen significantly over the past year, the price per ounce is still above $1000 currently.

This friend said that he is not familiar with investment in precious metals but will do a study of it to be more informed of market trends. However, like all investment opportunities, timing is a major deciding factor to determine if one makes a profit or loss. Well, at least that's what I think.

Battling Excessive Shipping With eBay Bucks

eBay has always tried to discourage sellers from charging excessive shipping to avoid a higher Final Value Fee (FVF) to the point of even making free shipping compulsory for some categories though this will be lifted come 30th March, 2010, if I remember correctly.

Anyway, eBay is rolling out a programme called eBay Bucks which is in BETA now but the aim of it is to bring in the help of buyers to stop sellers from charging excessive shipping fees. eBay Bucks is a "cash back" or cash reward programme that would earn the buyer two percent of the purchase price. Shipping and handling not included.

While previously it did not matter to a buyer if he paid $100 for the item and $15 for shipping, with eBay Bucks, it will make a difference if he paid $115 for the item that comes with free shipping. Let's see how effective eBay Bucks will be.

Relocation Of Warehouse

My sister told me that her company is relocating the warehouse again to one with a lower rent which means that she would have to drive further to work but the main problem now is thinking of where to move to and how to move all those stocks. My sister is in charged of the stocks of beauty products but she and her colleagues do not relish the thought of carting those heavy boxes to another warehouse yet again. My sister said that it was a nightmare for them the first time and nobody wants to relive the nightmare!

I advised my sister to suggest to her boss to engage a Moving Company this time. It isn't even expensive and the relocation could be done swiftly and efficiently without disrupting their usual business, which would happen if all of them have to do the moving themselves. Her boss may be stingy slave driver but I am sure she is a very sensible lady too.

And knowing the boss, she will surely ask my sister to look for the best movers in town; best in terms of rates and service. And I could supply my sister with just the ideal company for this relocation of their warehouse.

*** This post has been sponsored.

Kim Kardashian Does Her Bit For Haiti Earthquake Victims

Kim Kardashian, through her eBay Store, Kims Closet Clothing Store, is doing her bit for the earthquake victims of Haiti by auctioning off her branded clothing, shoes and accessories. Not only that, she has also roped in her mother Kris, sisters Kourtney and Khloe, Khloe’s husband Lamar Odom and boyfriend Reggie Bush to clear out their closet for charity too.

Kim has always been very eBay savvy and has used the platform to raise funds for charity, one of them being her pet charity, Dream Foundation, which grants wishes for terminally ill adults.

Kim’s auctions have always been very successful. I guess she is so hot, everyone wants a piece of her! If you are her fan, or even a fan of Kourtney and Khloe, or just love to watch Keeping Up With The Kardashian’s, you shouldn’t give these auctions a miss!

Rental Too High

Corrine, a friend, told me that she has decided to relocate her office because she is no longer able to meet the high rental. I have always thought that it was too high and told her so but she said that she was paying for the premier address. Still, I never thought that it was worth the money! It’s not as if she was doing door sales.

Anyway, Corrine said that she has given notice to the landlord and because she has two months' deposit with him, she did not have to pay her rent for January and February but will have to evict by the end of the month.

Corrine has a lot of stuff to move and has no idea where to start. She asked me if it would be a good idea to cart away her things in the office little by little or to only do so at the end of the month. I think she should just leave the work to a Boston Moving company since they are professional movers and would know how to handle a relocation better.

But first, Corrine will have to look for an office for rent that doesn’t come with such a high rental but that would still be convenient for her.

*** This post has been sponsored.

Miley Cyrus Auctions Grammys Dress For Haiti

Miley Cyrus has pledged to donate the dress that she wore to the Grammy Awards to Red Cross to be auctioned off on eBay to raise funds for the Haiti earthquake fund to help the victims of the recent Haiti earthquake that shook up the country.

Miley Cyrus, 17, wore a dark blue Herve Leger dress to the Grammys as you can see in this photo. Miley looks awesome in the dress but I don't think it could be carried off well by most women in the street.

But perhaps the winning bidder wouldn't even be wearing it. The winner may just want to OWN something that was worn by Miley Cyrrus because that's what fans do, at least those who could afford it! Proceeds go to charity, after all.

I'll be looking out to see how much fans of Miley Cyrus are willing to pay for this!

Power Pilates

My mother has been attending physiotherapy classes at a local hospital nearby for the past couple of months because of pain in her knees and wrists. The pain is probably due to old age but it impedes her movements. I try to accompany her when I can but I do wish that there is some sort of exercise that she could do at home instead because it would be more convenient for her.

I have been told of Power Pilates Boston by a friend, Paul, who hurt his knee in a sporting accident. The nagging pain never left him although he has tried many different exercises but Power Pilates has been rather effective in helping him move better.

From what I read on the website of The Movement Center of Boston, Power Pilates is offered in various group sizes, from private individual classes to group sessions. Clients are also grouped according to ones knowledge of Power Pilates, from beginner, intermediate to advance classes. This means that one could start Power Pilates no matter how old she is. Age doesn't seem to be an issue so my mother will have no problems taking up this form of physical exercise.

From what I learned from Paul, I think that if my mother takes up Power Pilates, she doesn’t even have to attend her physiotherapy classes.

*** This post has been sponsored.

PayPal Withdrawals Free In the UK From 11th Feb

PayPal has scrapped all fees for withdrawals in the UK directly to a bank account. It is free to withdraw in the USA no matter the amount but as far as I know, all other PayPal withdrawals in other countries outside of the United States have a minimum withdrawal amount to qualify for free service.

In the UK, it is free to withdraw your PayPal funds only if you withdraw a minimum of £50.00. For withdrawals of a lesser amount, £0.25 will be charged. It's about 0.5% service fee if you withdraw slightly less than £50. Is that a lot? I know it should be free since we are withdrawing out own money but it's not too high, I think.

This positive change will come into effect this 11th February, 2010 and I can imagine that there would be thousands of PayPal account holders in the United Kingdom making withdrawals as soon as 11th February, 2010 dawns. These will be people who have just a small amount of funds in PayPal for years. Happy for them!

Difficulties In Collecting Debt

A friend told me of the difficulties he is facing collecting outstanding payment from a couple of customers. He said that it is very frustrated for him because the amount is not big and it is not small either. The cost of chasing for it is sometimes higher than the money owed, especially if he engages a lawyer to issue a demand letter.

I asked him if he has thought of engaging Collection Agencies to do the job instead, since they are a lot cheaper but just as professional when it comes to collecting debt. It doesn't matter what industry he is in. Companies like American Profit Recovery deal with creditors in almost every industry and have a very successful track record too judging from the total monies resolved for their clients to date.

As a business person myself, I am very aware that often times, it is the ability to manage our accounts receivables that determines the profit or loss of our business for the year. My friend definitely could not go on like this as it drains his energy and resources. It would do his business good to hand over the task to professional collection agents who are very diplomatic yet effective in their approach.

*** This post has been sponsored.

1st Series of Major Changes For eBay UK Sellers In 2010

eBay UK has just announced its first of three series of major changes for the year and after reading the long list of changes, I got dizzy because there are just too many for this one round! I don't sell on eBay UK but I do know of fellow Malaysian eBayers who are doing so and they tell me that the most significant change for them is the reinstatement of International Site Visibility. This means that by listing on eBay UK even for fixed price items, they would also receive the exposure on eBay US and eBay Canada.

I think it is good news to know that eBay has decided to do away with mandatory free shipping and it will be replaced by postage cap. While this is an awesome change, I am afraid that the imposition of mandatory free shipping may have chased away some genuine sellers.

If you are selling on eBay UK, you really should understand the many changes that will be rolled out in from April, 2010 and how they will affect you as a seller. The official eBay announcement page is HERE.

Mobile Employee Auto Allowance

Wilson told me that his company has just clinched a deal, a major deal, but it's in a neighboring state and a few of the employees would have to travel weekly on location until the project is completed. Wilson said that since out-of-state projects are very rare, they would have to travel on their own and no company vehicle will be provided.

Wilson doesn't like the idea of using his own vehicle but he and his colleagues who are involved in this project have been assured that auto allowance will be calculated and paid at the end of the end when the project is scheduled to be completed.

It is actually a good idea for the company to adopt such a vehicle reimbursement program as it has more advantages for both employer and employees. Such programs are highly flexible and could be customized to the needs of each company. In this case, Wilson’s company only has to reimburse employees who are traveling to the neighboring state to manage this project.

Although in the beginning Wilson and his colleagues were not happy to have to use their own car for work purposes, especially when they have to drive out of state, they felt better knowing that the auto allowance paid would be fair to them and tax-free too!

*** This post has been sponsored.

Jan 2010 eBay Seller Updates

eBay has announced important updates for Sellers, with important changes especially for Cross Border Sellers. Some of the changes include new standard fees, new stores fees, new one fixed price format, new Buyer & Seller protection programs, top-rated seller status for cross-border sellers on even more eBay sister websites and some other new listing features.

As with most eBay update announcements, changes will only come into effect in about 2 – 3 months’ time so most of these updates announced this time will only come into effect beginning 23rd March, 2010 and will follow through in the next few weeks from there.

Right now, I can’t tell yet if these changes will be more in favour of eBay buyers or sellers yet but I guess time will tell when these changes are actually implemented and tried out.

For more information on these updates, click this link:
http://pages.ebay.com.sg/sellerinformation/news/OverviewJan2010.html

No Plastic Bag Shopping

Living In Ipoh, green shopping hasn't exactly caught on yet but I know that a major shopping center has already stipulated one day a month as Green Shopping Day where plastic bags will not be dispensed as usual. Shoppers are expected to bring their own shopping bags or carton boxes for heavy shoppers.

I am not a heavy shopper so I am trying to do my bit for the environment by declining the use of plastic bags even when it is not "No Plastic Bag Day" or even when I have forgotten to take along my own shopping bag.

I know that it is not enough that only one person doing so but I believe that given time and education, all of us will be able to adapt to shopping with our own reusable shopping bags. I have always thought that using new plastic bags is a waste, anyway.

Ticket Scalpers Upset Paolo Nutini Fans

Fans of hot Scottish sensation, Paolo Nutini, are upset that they couldn't buy tickets for his gig in King Tuts this February. Tickets were put on sale by Ticketmaster and could be bought online, over the phone and at Ticketmaster offices, though some were earlier allocated to fans of the official Paolo Nutini fan club, and rightly so.

According to genuine fans of the singer, the tickets must have gone within seconds they were released because they couldn't seem to buy them even though they were waiting online and on the phone waiting to place an order.

But surprisingly, or maybe not, tickets for Paolo Nutini gig at King Tuts can be found on eBay and Craigslist already and at way more times higher than face value of the tickets too! Imagine a £25 being sold for £400! Obviously, this isn't a price most fans could afford to pay.

Online marketplaces don't seem to do anything about ticket scalping. A good way to end this would be to ban the sale of tickets, unless it is in bidding format and starting at below the face value of the tickets. This would help curb ticket scalping, me thinks, since it would no longer be lucrative enough for their effort. What do you say?

Serena Williams Turns Negative To Positive With Charity Auction On eBay

Serena Williams, who was fined a total of US$92,000 last year for her outburst at a lineswoman at the US Open, will launch an online auction on eBay which will run for a total of 92 days.

Serena hopes that auctioning of her memorabilia, clothing and accessories will raise US$92,000. Proceeds from this series of auction will go towards various charities in the United States, Africa as well as to victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Serena said that she wants to turn something negative into positive and had wanted to donate part of her fine to charity but that suggestion was rejected by the International Tennis Federation so she decided to run her own charity auction online.

Let's hope that she would be able to achieve her target with this auction!

Dreaming Of A Riviera Maya Vacation

It really has been such a long time since I have gone on a REAL vacation and I feel that I totally deserve one, especially a romantic cancun vacation. I have worked hard, though not as hard in the past year but I think that is only because I need to recharge my batteries.

As a single person, I have no one to go with on a romantic vacation but there are Riviera Maya vacations that cater to families too. Come to think of it, it has been ages since we have gone on vacation as a family and it is high time we do so while my parents are still in good health.

I have to speak to my siblings about this and I am sure that if we pool our vacation budget, we would be able to go on vacation to the Riviera Maya together as a family.

Maxis Dividend Received

Last week, a friend told me that his Maxis dividend cheque has arrived. He lives in Kuala Lumpur so it's only logical that he would get his earlier since I live in Ipoh. Well, I didn't have to wait too long, luckily. Mine arrived on Monday, 18th Jan, 2009.

As I have calculated based on a news article, Maxis declared 6 sen dividend per share which means that for most of us who was successful in the balloting for Maxis customers who qualified for only 1000 shares, we will be getting RM60 dividend. It's not a lot but Maxis said that dividend payout will increase in 2011.

Another friend of mine in Melaka has received his Maxis dividend cheque for RM300. He isn't a Maxis customer but bought 5000 shares on the opening day at RM5.40 per share. Although he suffers from paper loss right now, at least he gets to enjoy his RM300 cash.

I have to be frank that I am quite disappointed with the 6 sen dividend but then I am hoping that Maxis will be more generous this year.

Organic Pest Control Solution

My friend asked me if I would like to keep another pet now that my dog has died. Actually, I dare not anymore. I feel so bad that my dog contracted tick parasite THREE times over the past two years. I didn't manage to rid my house and garden of ticks successfully because I was afraid that the chemicals in the pest control products would cause us harm. I guess if I had used the pest control solutions more generously, my dog would not have had to suffer three bouts of infections.

On the other hand, I can't tell what would happen to us if we were exposed to these chemicals whether through skin absorption or inhalation. You know, I have a friend who was a horticulturist who died of lung cancer and I think the culprit was all the pesticides that he inhaled through the course of work since he was a non-smoker.

The sad thing is that I only know now that there are natural pest control products that are effective not only against ticks but also other household pests like fleas, bugs and insects without introducing various chemicals to the household which may be detrimental to our health and harmful to the environment as well. I guess it is still not too late to know now.

*** This post has been sponsored.

Update On Proton Exchange Programme

My friend, who told me that he felt cheated by the recently concluded Proton Exchange Programme, told me that all those who submitted their applications to participate in the Proton Exchange Programme after 31st October, 2009, have been rejected.

What these people, more that 7,000 of them, were offered instead, was RM2,000 in cash rebate instead of RM5000 rebate and worse, these people could only buy Proton cars manufactured ion 2009 instead of 2010.

My friend told me that a year of depreciation of the value of the Proton car would be more than RM2000 already which means that they aren't benefiting much from the programme even though the programme has yet to end when they submitted their application. It was still within the time frame.

According to this friend, he is going to opt out of the Programme which means that he will have to pay full price for the car, though it will be a 2010 car, and he will not receive the RM2000 cash rebate and do not have to send his current car in to be scrapped.

Well, who is to be blamed? I believe that my friend and everyone else in the same boat only decided to participate in this Exchange Programme at the last minute because of the "end of vehicle life" policy that was to be implemented but scrapped subsequently upon the uproar from owners of older cars.