eBay Malaysia Community ~ Christmas Gift Exchange Program

The good people of the eBay Malaysia Community came up with a novel idea of exchanging gifts among Malaysian eBayers this Christmas. This is the first year it is held, and if successful, hopefully it will be a tradition.

To participate, you'd need to come up with a gift, with a minimum value of MYR10 (excluding postage). This gift has to be shipped by either Registered Mail, parcel or Poslaju where a tracking number is provided, in case of item losing its way in transit.

Next, submit your eBay ID, name, e-mail address and gender to xmas_4u@hotmail.com.

To make things easier for your gift giver, do include clues on what you'd like to receive.

For example:
Things I collect: Stamps, coffee mugs, photo frames
I have pierced ears...or I don't wear jewelry
My favorite color is Black & Silver
Things I don't like Jigsaw Puzzles/Books
I'm allergic to Fragrances, Body Lotions
I love any Beauty Products or Stationery

Your details will be kept private and confidential and would only be given to ONE EBAYER the one who will be buying you the gift.

Closing date to submit details is 2359hrs, Monday 11th Dec, 2006.

Details of your gift recipient will be emailed to you latest Thursday 14th Dec, 2006.

Once you received the item, you are required to take a picture of it and post it on the Community Boards.

If you have any questions feel free to post it up on the Boards, or email / MSN xmas_4u@hotmail.com.

For more details, please go to the forum thread HERE.

Choose Insurance

Choose Insurance is a Car Insurance website that is based in the United Kingdom. This site allows you to compare car insurance from top insurance companies in the United Kingdom.

Based on your requirements, Choose Insurance will let you know which insurance company will give you value for money, whether it is for Car Insurance or home insurance or travel insurance and many more.

If you were denied an insurance claim or are still waiting for your insurance to pay out since ages ago, Choose Insurance offers you free legal advice.

There is an on-going competition right now, where you can submit your experiences with insurance companies and stand a chance to win £100. It's so simple.

Let's Celebrate

Not because I made a tremendous sale, or had a hefty profit margin, but this lovely bra & thong set finally found a home. You wouldn't believe the holding time this went through. I wondered why people did not see the beauty of it. Of course, the size of 34C/M did not help matters. Most Malaysians aren't that well-endowed.

But that's all in the past. This set, which has been the top item viewed in the WebStore for months, has found a new home and a new owner. Cheers!

Unique Wedding Favours from MyWeddingFavors.com

MyWeddingFavors.com offers a wide array of unique wedding favors, so lovely, I'm spoilt for choice and have a hard time deciding which to pick. I feel like I want to buy them all.

Each wedding is unique as it is a special once-in-a-lifetime occasion. Therefore, wedding favors MUST be unique and special too, whether it is a reflection of the wedding couple or as a evergreen keepsake that guests will treasure forever, this perfect gift can be found on MyWeddingFavors.com

Forever photo glass coaster from MyWeddingFavors.com is a beautiful and popular wedding favor. This coaster comes in a gorgeous frosted glass frame where you can place your photo in the middle.

The coaster, measuring approximately 3.75" x 3.75" can also frame your placeholder or personalized tag. It comes tied with a sheer white organza ribbon and packaged in twos. At a maximum price of $1.60 each, it definitely is a steal.

Another popular selection is the heart bottle stopper. This "Sterlings" Heart Bottle Stopper has a romantically chic heart-shaped handle. This 5" stopper comes in an elegant, velvet-lined box with a clear top and a matte-black bottom measuring approximately 6" x 2 1/4".

The gift box is then tied with a sheer white organza bow and a blank "Thank You" tag, where you can hand write your personalised message. To get the best price of $1.95 each for *Sterlings* Heart Bottle Stopper with Free Personalized Tag by purchasing 96 pieces or more.

The other unique wedding favors that caught my eye are the Luminous Silver Love Votive and Luminous Mini-Lanterns. Both are so cute, any guest would be delighted to receive them.

The set of 4 "Be Seated" Victorian Chair Tea-Light Place Card/ Photo Holders, at $1.71 each, is really unique. I can imagine no one would have the heart to light the candles. They make such unique decorative pieces.

Genuine or Not?

A few days ago, I was asked if the Victoria's Secret I'm selling are genuine products or not, as my prices are way cheaper than what are being sold on VS Online Store.

Well, I have seen Calvin Klein imitations that were Made in China, but to be frank, I have yet to see any fake VS, at least not in my city.

Sometimes, I do receive enquiries that are an insult to me as a serious e-trader but I tell myself to handle any situation like a pro, to handle each (potential) customer in a way that I myself hope to be handled, if the roles were reversed.

Back to the question, I WISH I were selling fake branded goods, so that I have more items to sell and less holding cost, not to mention huge profit margin.

Does one realise the cost of stocking branded items? Moreover, the market is very small in Malaysia, especially for branded lingerie and on top of that, purchasing online where one is not able to inspect or try on first, unlike buying from a traditional brick-and-mortar establishment.

Anyway, if one is serious about selling online, it is of utmost importance to sell good quality items. Bad quality, let alone imitation products, will drive away buyers.

Baby Gift Baskets, Anyone?

A new addition is a joyous occasion for any family and in this special moment, unique baby gifts are the gifts that befit the occasion. Who needs anymore old fashioned Baby Gift Baskets from the mall?

The Corner Stork offers a wide selection of creative baby gift baskets that will make any new parent smile.

The Five piece Lamb Baby Basket is a lovely lamb-themed baby gift basket, which includes an 8 inch tall soft, finely furred plush toy with blushing cheeks and sweet brown eyes. He is so adorable; anyone would love to have it. Even adults, I tell you!

This gift basket includes a soft cashmere pale yellow blanket but the reverse side is fine ivory satin.

But that's not all. Inside are also a plush peapod rattle and finally a handprint tin, ready to capture the memory of tiny little hands!

All these come in a reusable wicker basket, which is lined with an upscale eyelet liner.

The liner has tiny bows at each corner with tan embroidered, framed lamb and star scene with the wordings, "Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are."

Basket measures 7" x 5" and is tied in fine silky mesh bag.

Cute as a Button Baby Gift set is a baby gift set uniquely for baby girls. It's such a lovely set that brings joy to any baby. This special set, containing wearable for babies from 0 - 6 months, includes a darling hat in pastel plaid embroidered with daisy detail, one pink daisy-print onesie and one shirt and a diaper cover set in pastel plaid. Diaper cover also has a quilted daisy!

This unique baby gift set also includes embroidered booties, bib and three soft terry washcloths. All these come in a reusable and well-made wooden box with cut out handles.

This wooden box can be used for storing and toting baby stuff or other special items for many more years to come.

My Two Years on eBay Malaysia

Yesterday, was exactly two years since I registered myself with and started trading on eBay Malaysia.

In the early days, eBay Malaysia was very quiet, without many buyers or sellers. Most of them were Lelong veteran traders, who are already very familiar with shopping online and bidding in online auctions, and more daring to try out the new system.

Some also have bought from eBay USA or other eBay international sites. So eBay Malaysia wasn't something to be weary of.

I have met some weirdos, some who are too free with nothing better to do than to play around with other people's auctions, some who sabotage, some who bid for fun, a handful of serial bidders, but a whole lot more sincere, friendly and understanding buyers.

I have met people who did not have the intention to deal, and yet bidded and won my item, and then left me a neutral feedback (should I be thankful it's not a negative?) at the first instance and I couldn't do anything about it.

I remember one guy who won my mobile phone, and I stupidly have it packed before receiving his payment, and he ended up not paying me and I had a wrapped parcel in my hands. Another time, it was a clutched bag. After that, NO more. No wrapping before payment.

I have also the misfortune to meet ultra demanding buyers who want the package shipped at once. One guy even told me to ship it out NOW, although the time was already 8.30pm. Exasperating, isn't it?

But I also have the luck to meet plenty of good people. People who are understanding enough to tell me that I can take my time in shipping, although I strive for same day shipping.

On eBay Malaysia, I have the reputation of being one of the fastest shippers and fastest to reply to e-mail enquiries. And I'd like to maintain this. Thank you very much.

Setting Up Your Own Corporation

It really is not that difficult to set up your own corporation in the United States. First of all, you need to choose your company name. Think of a name that is special, easy to remember and easy on the tongue, yet relevant to your business type.

Then decide you need to decide who will be the Directors, remember to include yourself, and who will be the officers like President, Treasurer and Secretary and management.

You also need to decide how many shares you want to issue. This is not that important for the time being unless you want to public list your company later.

Some States in the United States base their filing fee on the number of shares issued. For example a Nevada corporation can have 75 million of shares and still pay the lowest filing fee of $75. In Nevada, one person can hold all functions in the company, like director, president, treasurer and secretary.

Many people do not know the difference between LLC and S Corp. You can read all about them HERE.

IncParadise.com offers incorporation in all 50 States of the United States of America. If you want to see difference in fees check THIS PAGE.

Looking for Adult Sex Toys?

I have caught many browsers of my webstore searching for adult sex toys, there was one this morning, but unfortunately, I don't sell them! If I did, don't you think that I would have placed their photos upfront on the landing page to attract buyers?

Nah... I don't deal in adult sex toys. Never had although god knows I have received more than enough enquiries. I have a reputation to keep and I'd like to keep it pristine.

Even if I diversify to selling adult sex toys at a later stage, I will not be using this ID, and neither will I be selling them in Cyberpartygal's WebStore. Knowing me, I'd be setting up an exclusive store just for adult sex toys only.

And don't worry, if such a store materialises, you'd be the first to know!

Guaranteed Publicity with PublicityGuaranteed.com

Publicity is one of the most important aspects of business but we do not want to waste our money on publicity that do now bring us results, do we? This is where PublicityGuaranteed.com comes in.

PublicityGuaranteed.com keeps our cost low as it guarantees us the desired publicity with its results driven approach and we only have to pay for verified media coverage. This is a completely new paradigm in the field of public relations and revolutionized the competition.

We are also free to elect for the budget cap option to ensure the expenses on publicity stays within our budget.

For more information, visit http://www.PublicityGuaranteed.com

Today, My Birthday

I've been so, so, so busy lately, I envisioned myself working through the day, but a good friend told me to put work aside just for ONE day. And it's Sunday, for goodness sake!Which sane person works on a Sunday, eh? Oh well, so here I am, blogging, have some catching up to do to update 'em blogs :-)

I feel kinda bad when I see the handful of regular readers come to my blog, and keep seeing the same 'ol content only, so I try my best to update at least on alternate days, just hope that they enjoy reading my posts, although I'm no storyteller or prolific writer.

So yeah, today I received a few birthday e-cards from my buyers, not that I told them, but it can be easily deciphered from the MyKad number.Thank you to those who actually remembered and took the trouble to send me a greeting. I'm touched beyond words. Thank you, thank you so much.

A true friend is someone who has never missed your birthday even once since the day you met.

High Performance Affiliate Marketing e-Book

High Performance Affiliate Marketing is an e-book that is able to help me in generating income through affiliate marketing, as Jeremy Palmer shares his insider secrets with us.

I can't wait to try out the theory that I have read from the book and applying them on what I am doing right now. I trust High Performance Affiliate Marketing will be able to help me to generate more income through the affiliate programs that I have joined and also help me make the best use of AdWords which isn't doing all that great at the moment.

The best part is, if I am not satisfied with the book, I can just return it within 60 Day for a 100% money back guarantee! Hopefully, I can finally make money from home!

Saving For A Mannequin

One of the things that would greatly improve the images of products posted on my WebStore, apart from a better digital camera, is a MANNEQUIN!

Everyone has been telling me this, and some even suggested live models.

Haihh who doesn't want to be as huge as Victoria's Secret? Unfortunately I don't have the budget and too bad I am not as hot as Caprice to be my own model ;-(

So, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, that is to work hard the traditional way and then hope to save up enough to buy it.

I hope to get my hands on a white one, with head and all limbs intact. That would be awesome!

Charles Tyrwhitt ~ Formal English Clothings

Today I have the chance to review another WebStore, Charles Tyrwhitt, which has a brick and mortar shop based in 92 Jermyn Street, London.

Charles Tyrwhitt sells quality gents and ladies formal dress shirts, ties, cufflinks, suits, shoes and clothing, all English style.

Apart from selling through their real-world stores, Charles Tyrwhitt also sells online and by catalogue.

Charles Tyrwhitt is currently offering their latest range of winter clothing but at 1996 prices! Unbelievable but true!

Charles Tyrwhitt is so confident of their quality, they offer a money-back guarantee, whereby if you are not happy with your purchase, just return to them within three months to get a full money back, no questions asked.

Do I Keep The Angels?

In a recent post, I wrote on my new revamped WebStore with a different landing page and new graphics in conjunction for Christmas.

So after I got everything up, I asked my Sifu what he thinks of the graphics. Are the angels nice? He said, I have too many angels there.

So I asked, then how many shall I reduce it to? He said, "How about none?"

Hah... but I spent so much time putting them up. They're so cute. And it's only for a month.

He said, this is a WebStore and my main concern is for it to be attractive enough for people to stay and browse and hopefully make a purchase. Cute or not, my WebStore is not my house where I decorate it as I like. He told me that GIF images are passe.

Here's the screenshot once again.

So how? Shall I take the angels off? Or shall I reduce the angels to three or six?

LondonNights.com ~ Starting Point For Cheap London Hotels

While planning your trip to London, visit London Hotels by Londonnights.com where you can find good but cheap hotels in London.

Londonnights.com is a website that will help you in locating discount London hotels at a mouse click. Just input your check-in and check-out dates and your preferred room types and Londonnights.com will search out Cheap London Hotels for you from all the hotels in London.

Start your research into cheap hotels in London with Londonnights.com where you can find Central London Hotels or any hotels in London.

Cyberpartygal's WebStore Revamped!

If you wonder why I haven't been blogging, it's because I've been busy revamping and updating my WebStore.

When business is not so good, it's time to do a little analysis and rectify it. But I have to admit that if my friend did not make suggestions and asked me to correct my mistakes pronto, I wouldn't even have thought of revamping my WebStore.

So this is my new landing page. I believe it is called that.

Moreover, with only slightly more than a month to Christmas, it's time to bring out a Chrismassy feel.

Merry Christmas!

Related post:
In the Mood for Christmas ~*~

Sexy Girl Photos Are A Misrepresentation of Products

It is very funny that since last month, Lelong started to take action against Sellers who post sexy girl photos on their auction or sales page. I mean, this has been quite rampant; I don't know what took them so long to notice.

Anyway, posting sexy girl photos in auctions/sales pages that are not selling lingerie or swimsuit is not only a misrepresentation of product but also a violation of the Terms of Service of Lelong.com.my and the administrators have the right to remove it at once.

And even for Sellers of lingerie or swimsuit, we have to make sure that inappropriate areas of our model are covered or blurred. We don't want to be disrespectful to the community, do we?

Joining The Fight Against Search Engine Marketing Malpractice

When my friend first told me that there's money to be made in becoming an affiliate of some program, I was rather skeptical. I was wondering, if potential buyers clicked on my AdWords, but did not make a purchase, will I lose money? And my friend asked me, "What is business if there is no risk? At least you've tried!"

So I went looking for ways to spend as little money on AdWords as possible and my search led me to Apogee Search Engine Marketing website.

Apogee Search, a search marketing firm founded in 2001 and based in Austin, Texas, is the largest pure play Search Engine Marketing firm in Southwest America. Just last month Apogee Search decided to join the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), as a Circle Member, where there are only 48 Circle Members throughout the world, representing ten percent of the SEMPO membership base.

Circle Members provide the highest degree of endorsement and assistance to SEMPO all with the aim of hopefully stopping Search Engine Marketing malpractice, like click fraud.

Aha, now my fears are allayed.

1st eBay Private Workshop in Klang Valley

I have on numerous occasions received email from readers of this blog, asking me if I could assist in setting up their webstore. I thank these readers very much for taking the time to write in although sometimes I may not be able to give a personal reply.

A few months ago, I wrote that eBay is one of the best places to start e-trading: Going the eBay Way which I believe still holds true today.

Even if I have the time to provide assistance, I feel that I am not qualified enough. For one, I am not well-versed in the technical issues of setting up a webstore. But if anyone is interested to know about other aspects of e-trading, I invite you to read through my entries in this blog.

On the other hand, Malaysian PowerSellers, Chris Chan & Carol Fung will be conducting their first private eBay workshop in the Klang Valley on 26th November, 2006.

They have taken the trouble to register a new ID (chiic-a) and posted several listings on the sales page, This is only but one of them. Click while the auction is still active.

They strive to further educate anyone interested in eBaying with tips and tricks of the trade, that seemingly Uncle Griff did not have the time to share with you, even if you have attended the eBay Explained! 2006 Kuala Lumpur.

While all these are very noble of them, their ticket price is RM550.00 (discounted from RM950 and valid until 23rd November 2006) PLUS they have misused the eBay trading platform by placing their advertisements and abused the eBay Group mailing list to send out mass e-mail to all of us to tout their private workshop.

Now, this is a PRIVATE workshop, that means it is not endorsed by eBay. Go figure.

Steal That Deal With StealDeals.net

The holiday season is here again and there is a way to stretch your dollar, thanks to www.StealDeals.net.

www.StealDeals.net is an 18-month old website, that tracks the best deals available on webstores across the internet, much like what Digg is doing for blogs.

But not only does www.StealDeals.net list out all the current best deals that can be found online, it also has a list of all the best discount coupons from popular webstores and neighborhood brick-and-mortar stores.

With up-to-date information from StealDeals.net, where you can opt-in to their mailing list, never spend a cent more on your purchases. Your research starts with StealDeals.net

eBay Explained! 2006 KL Came, eBay Explained! 2006 KL Left

eBay Explained! 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia came and left. It was held on 12th November, 2006 at J.W. Marriott Hotel, in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. I was told that it managed to get one of the largest participants.

I was not able to attend. Living outside of Kuala Lumpur, I feel left out. It's a disadvantage. Bah!

Too bad I missed the tips and tricks dispensed by Jim Griffith, more affectionately known as Uncle Griff, the Dean of eBay University. Luckily, there are photos to feast the eyes.

The photos are HERE. You'll need to be a member of eBay Malaysia Group.

Related posts:
eBay Explained! 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
eBay Explained 2006 - Explained
eBay Explained 2006 - Registration Extended!

Wow ~ A $2.2 million eBay Business

Always on the lookout for ways to improve my eBay business, I came across an eBook written by Rob Frechette, an eBay PowerSeller who started selling on eBay part-time (like me!) but now runs a USD2.2 million business, selling 50,000 items a month. I'd be happy even to achieve a fraction of that!

Rob Frechette has only one full-time employee, besides himself, and yet could manage an online business of that magnitude. I am in awe, man!

Rob Frechette, the #1 volume seller on eBay, wrote this Ebay ebook from experience disclosing tips and tricks on how to go about selling on eBay step by step without incurring loans or debts (touch wood), from being a small time Seller 'til getting that coveted Platinum eBay PowerSeller status.

This book is most helpful to anyone serious about doing business on eBay and not only to earn enough to quit the dreary day job but with extras too!

Kiasu Order #2

~*~ Click on image to enlarge ~*~

So I received a second Kiasu Order a few days ago. All Freebies only, which are not for sale in the first place and not necessary to place in the shopping cart and check out, generating an order.

If a Buyer's order meets the minimum requirement I have set out as stated in my item description, I will automatically add it into the package.

*sigh* Some people never read, or pretend not to understand. *shake head*

Related post:
The Kiasu-est Order of All

eCards for Everyone, Really!

Thanksgiving and Christmas are just round the corner and it's time to source for a new eCards site, which led me to eCards for Everyone.

This is a WordPress powered weblog that focuses on various eCards and online greeting cards that caters to any special occasion, including birthdays and holidays.

This Thanksgiving will find me sending out the Talking Turkeys eCard to my loyal buyers. I hope they will find it funny, as I did.

eCards for Everyone is now my one-stop centre for eCards thanks to its link out to the major eCard sites like Blue Mountain, American Greetings and Egreetings. These are but just a few sites they have featured so far. I believe we can expect more to come in the near future.

Saving Time in Relisting

Yeah, finally eBay Malaysia sees it fit NOT to set relisting time default to seven days. Did they not realise that it is a waste of time to keep setting the duration every time we relist?

Some times, I forgot to set it to the desired duration of three or five days, and accidentally relisted it to seven days, and it's troublesome to end the auction and relist.

Very rarely do I want my items to be active for seven days. The shorter the time, the better exposure my items will get. Most of my lingerie are listed for three days at a time only. So you can imagine, with over a hundred items on auction every day, I spend a good part of my day relisting the items since I do not use any automated uploader or whatever Seller's tools. All are done manually.

Now that the items do not go back to the default seven days after auction ends, I can see that I am saving a lot of time without having to reset the duration to three days relisting each item.

And You ASK Me Why Don't I Sell More Bras?

As an online trader dealing primarily in ladies lingerie, I am often asked why don't I bring in more bras.

With thongs, I only have to deal with sizes from XS, S, M, L and XL, at the most.

But with bras? The cups could run from A to G or FF or EEE, and we haven't even taken into account the various measurements or styles, designs, cutting or fibre.

It is really a headache to encounter people who keep asking me for a size that I do not carry. Some would be looking for small bras, while some big bras, when I only have the most common sizes.

Moreover, it's found that more than 80% of women are wearing the wrong bra size. Most women, for convenience, buy the bra size that they have been wearing all these while, when what they should do is find bra size that fits NOW. Lifestyle, childbirth or weight fluctuation, for example, can change a woman's breast size.

Also, some people would be looking for the ultra sexy ones, so I have got those, and then along comes a man who wants the plainest sports bras in white only for his daughter to wear to school.

Ah... the headache, the confusion. And you ASK me why don't I sell more bras?

BullionVault.com ~ Trading Gold Bullion Online Securely & Cost-Effectively

Image courtesy of BullionVault.com

BullionVault.com is a revolutionary way for any private investor to buy, own or sell gold bullion online, easily and securely. This revolutionary idea makes BullionVault.com the world's fastest-growing online gold bullion service.

BullionVault.com has a selection of international vaults located in London, New York and Zurich and is always held in high-security in Brinks vaults.

Because the gold is never moved, it is exceptionally safe and secure to trade gold online, and only at a fraction of the cost usually associated with typical managed services.

Investors trade gold with each other, or with BullionVault.com, at the best price using the Market Order Board, trading at real-time world spot gold market prices and at wafer-thin spreads.

You can buy and sell gold at your price and get a profit in the process. Trading is from one gram up and is open 24/7 so it's very convenient for any investor from any part of the world.

Cyberpartygal's World, eBay My World

When I first launched Cyberpartygal's World on 3rd October, 2006, I had no idea about eBay My World.

Image courtesy of eBay My World

I don't know when they first had this page since I hardly log into eBay paid sites. Too bad it's not a feature-filled site, apart from allowing us to add our listings, eBay blog, biography, reviews and guides and favourite searches of items, sellers and stores.

Like eBay blog, I find their layout pretty boring and plain. I'm not sure if eBay allows template customisation or not, but of all the blogs and world pages that I surfed, they all have the same look.

Also, their title of *eBay My World* doesn't make sense. Shouldn't it be My eBay World? Bad grammar.

Get the Best Trade Show Exhibit for Your Needs and Budget

Not sure which trade show exhibit you need? Compare different sizes, features and prices at http://www.showstopperexhibits.com/.

Not only do they have options in a variety of sizes to meet any budget, they have an exceptional customer service department that can help you choose the best option for you.

It Shook the eBay World

Two weeks ago, there was hoo-haa on eBay. And naturally too. An auction for an old copy of "FANTASTIC FOUR 1 ... VF/NM 9.0 ... UNRESTORED" closed at US $16,303.00.

Who could ever dream that an old issue of Fantastic Four would fetch that price? It's astounding.

A glossy, off-white paged, Guaranteed Unrestored #1 with brilliant, deep colors, bright cover whites and no cover transparency or ink transference, without any right edge chipping or pre-chipping! Just a tiny chip at the tip of the top spine corner keeps this extremely desirable example from grading NM-! A monster example that will be the cornerstone of anyone's FF or #1 collection.

Not long after that, I received a message from a fellow member of our recycle group (also a fellow eBay member) that he is looking for old Beano and Dandy comics. This person is an elderly Caucasian man residing in Singapore. He thinks he can come to our Malaysian recycle group to trick people into parting with the valuable comics and then sell them off eBay himself? BAH!

The first issue of Fantastic Four was released in 1961, so you can imagine the value of Beano (1st issue in 1938) based on the price fetched by Fantastic Four #1.

Bruner's Insurance and Financial Services

Image courtesy of Bruner's Insurance and Financial Services

Bruner's Insurance and Financial Services has served the Tampa Bay (Florida, USA) area for over forty years. They are committed to deliver quality, value-added service to their clients and families.

Burner's offers Business Insurance in Tampa, besides insurance coverage for the home, car, boats (this IS Florida, you know?), commercial, life, health, investments & retirement and mortgages. Just about anything a person ever needs covered and at most affordable options too.

What I like about the site is that the President of the company invites feedback from dissatisfied clients openly by displaying his e-mail address on the website. This shows that they are really committed to improving their service if found to be lacking as what I have previously wrote in The Importance of Customer Feedback.

So if you are in or around the Tampa Bay area, get your insurance quote from Bruner's Insurance and Financial Services. You've got nothing to lose.

Escapade - Fancy Dress Costumes

Being a WebStore owner myself, I like to research on other WebStores.

So I came across this WebStore, Escapade, from the United Kingdom selling Fancy Dress Costumes. The storefront layout is very colourful, attractive and easy to navigate. It makes me want to surf around more.

They have a wide variety of fancy dress costumes (for men, women, children, and animal-shaped costumes) and accessories, including masks, wigs and novelty items for sale or to hire and at reasonable prices too. On top of that, they offer free delivery UK-wide on orders over £40. And they also accept international orders.

Making a purchase from Escapade's online store is very easy as they accept major credit and debit cards plus cheques made payable to "Escapade". It is very important to make it easy for customers to pay for their purchases and Escapade has looked into this.

Best of all, Escapade, which has been in business for twenty five years, has a brick and mortar store in Camden, London, so customers can go and check out the goods first if they wish.

Woman Sells Her Eggs On The Net

Did you hear of the story of Alexandra Saunders, a 25-year-old office worker, from Britain who is trying to sell her eggs on www.futurepundit.com since 2005? Her selling price? Around GBP5,000 and she was going to use the money to pay off debts from her credit card and store cards.

"It seemed like easy money. I had a lot of debt from living expenses, going on holiday and shopping for clothes. Selling my eggs seemed a much better option than working until I was 40 to pay the debt off.

"I also hated having no social life because I was working so many hours. So I just went on the website and posted my name and details."

It is illegal to sell eggs in Britain but it is legal in the United States. So any buyer who is interested will have to fly her to the United States for the surgical procedure.

While I am all for e-commerce, I draw the line when it comes to trading of living things and body parts. Eggs are not living things per se,nor are they a part of the body, but somehow it's still not right, especially when the money is used for settling off debts. Well, if it's to save a life then it's different.

I don't know, every one's looking for a quick buck nowadays. They think of all sorts of things to sell. And some are morally wrong too.

Read the comprehensive news report HERE.

Resource Forum Towards a Profitable Affiliate Program

As mentioned in an earlier post, I'm looking into affiliate marketing as a new income stream, besides e-commerce. Affiliate marketing, as I understand it, is also a form of e-trading, except that most products do not require packing or shipping. Most are downloadable as soon as payment is made.

I came across Affiliate Marketing Forums - Revenue Source, a discussion board for affiliate marketing, SEO opportunities and more.

Here, members discuss which affiliate program actually earns money, and which doesn't. Naturally, I am looking for the one which converts the highest.

What worries me most about affiliation programs is overspending on marketing, like buying Google AdWords. What if my ad gets a high click rate but the product doesn't sell?

Affiliate Marketing Forums - Revenue Source has a wealth of information from discussions by experienced affiliate marketers, and I believe, this is a good resource forum to start my research into the best way to go about joining a profitable affiliate program.

eBay Pop ~ Movers & Shakers of eBay

Image courtesy of eBay Pop

eBay launched eBay Pop on 1st November, 2006, a beta site that captures the current buying buzz, the most popular trends, the hottest things happening on eBay, fun little tidbits of information that revolves around activities on eBay and so much more.

It is the site to go to to check out the movers and shakers of eBay. I think it's definitely a good place to start researching for THAT niche product to sell.

TMX Elmo, featured Hot Item

Two days ago, I wrote TMX Elmo Heating Up Christmas 2006. On eBay Pop, TMX Elmo is the featured Hot Item, selling at an average price of USD108.13 each. Sizzling HOT, indeed!

Learning From the Apogee SEO Blog

I am thinking of joining an affiliate program upon the recommendation of a friend. He told me that if I were hard working, I can earn some serious money, though to be honest, I am totally clueless about affiliate programs, and yet he won't teach me how to go about it. I should be thankful he gave even me a lead.

Fortunately I came across Apogee SEO Blog. This is the Apogee search engine marketing blog and it has the latest news in search engine marketing, reports on Pay Per Click advertising, Pay Per Call, affiliate marketing and a wealth of information that can turn a website into a revenue engine.

Currently, I am especially interested in affiliate marketing and how to optimize my blog and webstore and I trust Apogee SEO Blog has all the information I require to turn this blog into a money making machine.

Dare I Or Dare I Not?

I was searching for more online money making opportunities when I found an American company that offers members the chance to sell their goods on their own webstore without any holding cost or capital outlay. That is so tempting. It would be a very good direction for me to take if I were to target the American market. America is a good place to start if I were to go international.

However, what I am ALWAYS afraid of, if the goods are not in my hands, is I don't really know how much trust I should place on them, since I can't even take a flight to their office or warehouse to have a look.

I can't really gauge their product quality in general nor know about their shipping time, though they did mention about shipping the day after clearance of payment, but how true that is, I won't know, unless I make a trial purchase from them but how many times can I test them without exhausting my own funds?

I don't know what's going to happen if they received payment from my Buyers but they delay shipping, or worse, did not ship out at all. And what if the quality is not up to expectations? These are my real concerns.

Dare I or dare I not put my reputation on the line, a reputation that I have painstakingly built over two years?

Bidnapper, the Uber Cool Auction Sniper

On occasions when I wish to bid on auctions on eBay, I always get put off when other members keep bidding and pushing the price sky high. I usually back out of bidding wars.

Why not use an auction sniper that can hold the price down because it will not bid throughout the auction but only at the closing seconds, automatically and via proxy bid to ensure that your bidding price is just enough for you to win?

In addition to that, Bidnapper, an eBay auction sniper, can even change or delete our bids without the hassle of logging into "My eBay" and protects our username from searches made by competition. This is uber cool, me thinks.

According to Alvin Roth (Harvard University) & Axel Ockenfels (University of Cologne, Germany) in “Last-Minute Bidding and the Rules for Ending Second-Price Auctions: Evidence from eBay and Amazon Auctions on the Internet”, late bidding may be the best response to counter price war or a dishonest seller trying to raise the price by using shill bidders to bid against proxy bidder.

Therefore, it really makes sense to use an auction sniper so that you won't pay more than necessary for an item and it will save you the trouble of bidding manually at the last seconds.

By the way, Bidnapper offers a 15-day FREE trial and that should be sufficient time to try it out. If you love it, then by all means subscribe to this service.

Granted, there are other auction snipers that are free, but free stuffs have fewer features. So if you're a serious eBayer, it is definitely worth investing into a reliable auction sniper.

The Importance of Customer Feedback

Yesterday, while randomly reading blogs, I came across this post and read it with a heavy heart.

Being a WebStore owner myself, I totally agree that a customer's feedback is very important. With feedback, positive or negative, only can we improve our Store.

It is true that the technicalities of a WebStore is of no concern to a customer. What a customer needs is a seamless online shopping experience. To me, communication through e-mail is sufficient. It is not necessary to follow up with a telephone call. Otherwise, why buy online? Might as well walk into a retail store.

The online store that Kean Jin made an order with should have just removed their payment option that doesn't work across the board. What is important to a Seller is the ease of payment for their customers. Then only can we begin to process their order.

Once we have a dissatisfied customer who writes a negative post like this, it is very detrimental to the company. We must always bear in mind the power of the internet. Even if later this matter has been resolved and this post is deleted, it will still be cached by the various search engines.

The thing is, a bad experience can affect someone's mindset and an affected customer may look at online shopping wearily, and hence it will affect other online businesses as well, especially the less established ones. It is most unfortunate.

Not Just Marketing, But Smart Marketing

I always believe that if you want to learn something, learn from the best. In business, marketing and entrepreneurship, who doesn't know that Donald Trump is one of the best, if not THE Best.

Then doesn't it make sense to study from Donald Trump himself? Trump University Marketing Mastery Program is said to make an entrepreneur out of the ordinary businessman. Marketing Mastery, offered exclusively by Trump University, doesn't just teach marketing. It focuses on smart marketing.

It is a 4-month program consisting of interactive online courses, special topic sessions, live, interactive teleseminars and Q&A sessions with top marketing professionals, and of course, Professor Don Sexton. Dr. Sexton is Trump University's subject matter expert and faculty member in marketing and sales.

What's best about Trump University is that they offer a "No Risk, 100% Satisfaction Guarantee" where if at any point during the program you feel that you are not gaining any special knowledge from the course and that it's not worth your fees, just return the course material for a full refund. No questions asked. Now, that is their smart marketing.

eBay Explained 2006 - Registration Extended!

There's great news and there's GREAT NEWS. For all who would like to attend eBay Explained! 2006, eBay has decided to extend the deadline for registration from 31st October, 2006 until 6th November, 2006, due to overwhelming response.

So, quickly head over to the REGISTRATION PAGE and get registered. Seats are limited.

If you miss this chance, there will be no second extension of deadline as eBay Explained! 2006 Kuala Lumpur will be held on 12th November, 2006.

And if you really missed this, you'll have to wait for ONE whole year for eBay Explained! 2007, if it ever happens in Kuala Lumpur, that is.

Good luck, everybody!

TMX Elmo Heating Up Christmas 2006

Do you know that this year, the most popular Christmas gift, for children and adult alike is TMX Elmo or also known as Elmo TMX? By the way, TMX stands for *Tickle Me (Elmo) Ten* or *Tickle Me Extreme*.

I’m sure everyone is familiar with Elmo, the Muppet from Sesame Street we grew up watching on TV and fell in love with. Since the very first Tickle Me Elmo toy which was brought to life by Tyco in 1996, he has evolved so much and there is no doubt in this tenth edition, TMX Elmo, is the best!

TMX Elmo / Elmo TMX may look like an ordinary toy, but don't be misled by his cute looks. The TMX Elmo doesn’t only laugh, he can talk too, and not in some electronic or robotic voice, but in his all-natural Elmo voice that we used to hear on TV. TMX Elmo is alive!

The phrase “roll on the floor laughing” cannot even begin to describe TMX Elmo’s hysterical laughter and all that action of how a good laugh is supposed to be. Not only is TMX Elmo fun, entertaining, and interactive, he is also a super stress reliever.

Tickle Elmo on his three interactive tickle spots (his chin, tummy or toe) if you're having a bad day and you'll be laughing as hard as him.

Tickle him and he starts laughing hysterically, slaps his leg twice, falls down into a sitting position then rocks himself back up.

Tickle him a second time, he repeats all the movements he did before, plus he falls backwards, and starts kicking his feet while laughing even harder.

Tickle him a third time, he goes through the first two motions, rolls over onto his tummy, and starts hitting the floor with his hands ending his laughing attack with a deep sigh.

There are two versions of TMX Elmo; one is labeled “Warning” and the other, “Top Secret”. Both look identical except that each says different things upon opening the preview flap of the box TMX Elmo comes in.

TMX Elmo retails at approximately USD40 at selected major toy stores across the United States, if they are in stock, that is.

For more information on where you can buy the two available versions of TMX Elmo, photos and even a video of TMX Elmo / Elmo TMX, check HERE.