DIY Wedding Planning

I have a friend who will be getting married at the end of the year. Although he’s the richest among all my friends, he does not plan to hire a professional wedding planner. He told me that he and his fiancé prefer to set up their own wedding from top to bottom and they are doing it with the help of online resources.

My friend mentioned that whether it’s a high class, big budget wedding reception or just a simple, yet memorable one, they will take satisfaction in knowing that they did everything by themselves. I certainly understand their DIY spirit especially on such an important lifetime occasion like their own wedding.

Luckily they are able to get whatever wedding information they want, including tips and tricks of a good wedding, from the Wedding Channel.

Guess Wedge Sneakers Enquiries

Many months ago, perhaps even a year or two ago, I wrote a blog post on the very popular Guess wedge sneakers. It was the in thing back then and I found various pairs with very interesting colours on the website of Victoria’s Secret.

After such a long time, though, I still get messages from people who came to my blog from search engines who are looking to buy Guess wedge sneakers.

The funny thing is that I wrote in my blog post specifically that the image that I enclosed was from the website of Victoria’s Secret and I even mentioned the price range as sold by VS. It makes me wonder if these people ever read. Some even thought that I sell Guess wedge sneakers. No, I don’t. I only sell sexy lingerie.

Obviously, I don’t reply to emails like these. I’m already busy enough!

La Senza Bridal Mesh Baby Doll

I received a very nice newsletter from La Senza very early this morning introducing their new bridal mesh baby doll. And guess what, the fussy me gives this new range of bridal lingerie 100%! That’s design wise I am talking about. As for quality wise, I wouldn't know unless I have a chance to feel them. At this point of writing La Senza still has yet to reach Ipoh, unfortunately.

This baby doll that I have enclosed in this post only cost MYR148.28 and it comes with a matching thong. I really like it but I am not getting married anytime soon so I will have to pass this. I think it’s value for money, though. The killer is in international shipping. Perhaps they should think about offering free international shipping for orders above a certain amount.

Beauty Job Placement Website

A couple of my girlfriends lost their jobs recently. Well, I am not surprised. Those who still have work are the ones who surprise me. Hahaha!

Since they were in the beauty industry, I told them that it is no use to look in the classifieds section of our local newspaper. For jobs in the beauty industry, they should check the beauty job placement website at BeautyJobs.com.

Personally, I have never used this website before but the main aim this website was set up was to allow beauty job seekers and beauty job employers to connect with each other to fill jobs.

Whether you are looking for hair stylist jobs or have hair stylist jobs to fill, BeautyJobs.com is a great website to head to. Of course, this is just one of the many beauty jobs available. I just used it as an example.

Maybank Security Verification

I received an email purportedly from Maybank asking me to reverify my Maybank2U account. Outwardly, it looks like a legitimate email but of course, I know better than to click on any links that came in the mail.

I wonder if these kinds of phishing mail are high tech enough to harvest our particulars stored in our computer by just opening the email. Well, I had to open it in order to write this post, right? LOL

Anyway, I logged into my Maybank2U account just to ensure that everything was fine but of course I did not go through the links but accessed the website of Maybank2u directly from my browser. Everything looks fine to me and I was not asked to request for TAC, as mentioned in the email.

If you have received a similar email, trash it, don’t even bother to open it. Maybank will hardly send email to us, let alone text messages to our mobile phone, unless it’s a TAC request.

Cold Storage Fresh Food People

There is a Cold Storage in Ipoh, in the basement of Ipoh Parade. I have been there numerous times and have bought their puffs many, many times from the bakery counter.

I actually did not want to write about this because I feel bad to give them a bad name through my blog but I have given them a chance already and once is enough, I guess.

You see, Cold Storage bakery has two refrigerators and I see that they kept cakes there which are already full of fungi. As a mystery shopper, I know that retailers and stores are not supposed to keep moldy or expired food in full view of customers. They could hide the food in a corner of the fridge if they need to use the fridge to store these food but not place them right smack in front of everyone who shops there.

So I told the staff to remove the food as it is very unsightly and may even cause contamination, after al mould travels through air, right? They told me that these are just for display and not for sale. Still ….

So on the second day of Chinese New Year, I decided to give them a call. I remember what day it was exactly because I was so free as I didn’t have to work and I wondered if the office of Cold Storage already opened after the Chinese New Year holidays.

One Malay lady answered my call and accepted my feedback and said that they will have the moldy cakes removed promptly. I visited Cold Storage a couple of days later and sure enough, the bad food was gone.

Recently, I went to Cold Storage again and there were moldy cakes once again. Gosh, I am not going to give them a call again because no, I am not that free!

Wedding Reception

If you have been following my blog, you would know that my sister got married at the end of last year. If there’s anything she regrets, it is that she did not host a wedding reception, like most migrant couples since they don’t have many friends and almost no family around.

Although it has been almost two months now, my sister still plans to host a party, not exactly like a wedding reception and there will be no bridesmaid or groomsmen, let alone groomsmen and bridesmaid gifts. LOL

In any case, it will be a small scale party just to celebrate their union and to introduce the spouse to colleagues. Even though it will not be a wedding reception in the true sense of the word, my sister still plans to get some wedding related gifts to commemorate the occasion. I think it’s a good idea!

eBay – DHL Pact Boosts Shipping For Asia Pacific Sellers

I read on Business Times yesterday that eBay and DHL have signed an agreement which would boost delivery times for eBay Sellers in Asia Pacific, including Malaysia.

Right now, I do not have more information available unless I make a call to DHL office but I bet that it is still too early to get anything concrete from the office staff, but what we were told is that this link up would cut shipping times by up to 50%.

This is certainly good news for eBay Sellers who are based in Asia Pacific and selling internationally. We often have to worry about delayed, or worse, missing packages. Getting low DSR rating, especially for shipping, is not uncommon for international sellers and it is not even our own fault. We wouldn’t mind a poor rating if eBay doesn’t make it a big deal and suspend such Seller accounts.

In any case, let’s wait for further information from DHL. What I am interested to know is the shipping rates that we will be charged. If I remember correctly, DHL and most courier companies have the policy of not disclosing shipping rates over the phone and this certainly pisses me off. If they don’t let me know how much my package is, how could I decide which company to go with?

Source: Business Times

eBay Retires Old Search Engine, Adopts Best Match

eBay issued a statement saying that they will remove their old search engine come April, 2009, which uses an old technology and fully adopt Best Match, which according to them, was fine tuned thanks to eBay member feedback.

I am not sure if eBay did listen to its users but I, and many of my friends, had opted out of the new search technology called Best Match and continued to use the old version search engine simply because it saves a lot of time and easier to search for what we want.

Of course, if eBay gives us nothing else but just Best Match, I would still use it but I gather, I would not be using it as often if it takes up lots of my time to search for the things that I want on eBay, unlike previously.

Well, let's see what happens when the whole search system is converted.

Business Book Summaries and Reviews

I recently bought myself the full set of Harry Potter. If you read my personal blog, you will know that I love reading but have not found the time to do so since I discovered the internet! Gone were those days when I completed a book a day! Harry Potter will have to wait but it sure feels good to know that the books are waiting for me WHEN I have the time to indulge in reading again.

Since working, everything I read is from the internet; newspapers, blogs, websites, forums, and the occasional eBook. Am thinking of buying Kindle 2 so that I could bring my eBooks everywhere and read on the go.

No matter how busy I am though, I still find the time to read business articles. Of course, I would love to read those business and self-help books that are on the bestsellers list but I don't think that will ever happen.

You can imagine my delight when told that I don't have to read all those books when I could just read important and relevant Business Book Summaries and Reviews that is offered by BusinessSummaries.com all for the price of US$69.95 only for a year of subscription.

Business book summaries and reviews would not only be helpful to busy self-employed people like me who take on a hundred and one tasks by ourselves but also company owners, executives, managers, officers, entrepreneurs and consultants.

eBay Mails 500,000 $2 Coupons To Members

In a bid to hold on to eBay buyers and generate more traffic to the website, eBay sent out a total of 500,000 coupons worth US$2 a piece to its members, hoping that members would shop on eBay at their Daily Deals merchants.

Soon after, eBay issued an announcement that all the coupons have been redeemed already but from reading the web, apparently, many people who received this code did not shop at eBay. None of my Malaysian eBay friends received such a coupon so it's pretty safe to assume that this eBay coupon code offer was only open to American users.

It would be awesome if they would offer us something like that over here on eBay Malaysia. Granted, traffic is not as high as eBay US but still, sales is sales no matter which site it is from.

Selling Everything

I read about the family who placed everything they owned on eBay as they needed to downsize. The only thing they did not sell were their bed, toys and the children. LOL Well, while I make light joke of it, I actually have been in that kind of financial position before so I do understand how desperate we could be sometimes.

A friend lost his job not too long ago and he is in this position right now. Although he does not have to support a wife because he is already divorced and he doesn't have to support his children anymore because both of them are already adults, without a job, he is still in need of money for his daily expenses.

He is right now selling everything that has value, including some rare coins. I told him not to simply sell them off without checking their real value yet, and if possible, not to sell them at all because one never know their potential value sometime in the future, right?

He, on the other hand, believes that he could trade in rare coins later when he is more stable financially. Hmm he is right too.

Superbid Wednesday Gone Crazy At Night

I wrote about Lelong's SuperBid before and mentioned that it's an awesome opportunity for us to snag items as low as RM1 but of course that never happens and if we are not careful, we may end up paying more for the item than what they are being sold in local stores. Well, it's up to our own judgment but then that's where the excitement kicks in, right?

Now, I don't know what prompted this but Lelong has decided to hold their Wednesday SuperBid at night from 10pm to 11pm (1 hour) as opposed to their usual 1pm - 2pm time slot. We may not have Formula One night racing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because of the costs involved but we could have frenzied night bidding on Lelong every Wednesday.

Having said this, I myself have never participated in any of Lelong's SuperBid. I don't know why but I keep forgetting or something will come up at that moment and I would have lost the chance and there goes another week.

Job Placement

As an online trader and blogger, I receive quite a number of emails daily. Some of them amuses me, some of the pisses me off and in most cases, I do not see the need to reply to.

Just a minute ago, I received a message from someone who came into my blog and asked me for job placement for their trainee beauticians. My goodness, don't you just wonder what sort of institute they are running? I am not even in the trade and because they have promised jobs for their students upon graduation they have to resort to contacting a blogger for job placements.

This beauty institute is most probably from India. Now, I have nothing against beauty schools in India. I just came to the conclusion from the name of the sender, from the language and from the IP address that had been recorded from my statistics tracker.

I could probably ask this person the name of his/her institute and let you guys know NOT to enroll with them! LOL

Trading In Stock Options

If you have been following my blog, you would have read about the drastic cuts in bank interest rates. Well, what could we expect with the global recession upon us? I guess the government wants us to spend our money and not keep them in the bank with the logical thinking that since bank interest rates are so low, we could get better returns investing the money elsewhere.

That is what my friend is doing. He told me that he has started to trade in options and has seen some profits. Perhaps it's beginner's luck, perhaps it's the hours he put in learning about stock options trading.

I should have followed suit since I have known for months now that I could read up on trading in stock options from Power Options. They have lessons for trading newbies just like my friend, and even for people who have not started trading yet, just like me.

No More Yellow Star On eBay France

All eBay buyers and sellers know that eBay assign stars to determine the level of ratings in a twelve point scale, the first being the yellow star and the last being a sweating star.

Recently, a French eBayer wrote in to eBay to protest the use of yellow in the star, saying that during World War II, when France was occupied by Germany, Jews were made to wear a yellow star on their clothes to single them out and be discriminated upon.

Surprisingly, eBay listened to him and changed the name of Yellow Star to first star, though they haven't changed the color of the star yet. eBay says that this is the first time they have received such a complaint, but of course, most countries do not have an issue with a yellow star and in fact, new eBayers would be happy enough to receive just about any colored star!

Get Paid Working Online From Home

As you know, I have been working from home for the past few years and enjoying every minute of it. I work my own hours at my own terms. The only disadvantage is that friends and neighbors think that I am unemployed and they keep offering me low paying jobs!

I want the same freedom for my sister, who works long hours but she is in the United States and unable to work alongside me. For some time now, I have been looking for an appropriate job suitable for her lifestyle where she could work online after work. Of course, I am not asking her to give up her job but having additional income, even if she has only a little time to spare in the evenings or on weekends, would be great for extras for herself and the family.

Just now, I was directed to the website of NHwahm.com and the words "NHwahm I will pay you today!" jumped out at me. I was curious about the program but after reading the whole website, I have to agree that this is a very realistic way to make money online at home. Also, I am glad to say that this information is absolutely free. There's no need to pay anything to learn how to make money online unless most sites. There's nothing to sell, nothing to pay, you work as and when you want and the risk is really very low.

Unfortunately for me, this offer is only available to North American residents so I am not able to participate, but I could get my sister to try. Hopefully, this would work for her.

Mastermind Behind Stolen Goods Sold on eBay Jailed Three Years

Many of my friends love to spend hours surfing eBay and other similar sites looking for bargains. I concede that it could be rather addictive especially when we nabbed a good deal. Some of my friends, when they come across a deal too good to pass, will write in to the Seller asking if the item is genuine.

It's funny when I told them that if the item does not carry any serial number, it's better not to know. True enough, today I read on BBC News about Michael Kavanagh, the mastermind behind a gang of drug addict shoplifters who supplied Michael Kavanagh with stolen goods that he then sold on eBay.

Michael Kavanagh orchestrated their activities so well so much so that he could afford luxury cars and exotic holidays that it took the authorities, with the assistance of eBay, where Michael Kavanagh had a few Seller's account, to crack him down.

I still maintain that if an item is sold cheaper than it normally would because it's stolen and the Seller wanted to offload it quickly, I would still buy it PROVIDED it does not have any serial numbers that could be traced. What about you? Would you buy stolen items from the web, if you knew beforehand?

Eyeing Netbook

It's funny that when I did not have a laptop yet, I was happy to have just about any laptop, though I did splash a little more to get a 12" mid-high range unit because I wanted one that had above decent specification.

Now that I have used this laptop for ten months now, I could feel its weight already and am eyeing a netbook as I plan to travel more next year. My current laptop is not even 2kg but with the adapter, extra travel battery pack, document and books, the weight feels burdensome already.

I tried out my friend's netbook and feel that is a good travel companion but it's not too suitable for working, but good enough to surf the web, reply to messages and occasionally chat online. Hopefully by the time I buy one, the price will drop further. Hehe!

Lance Armstrong's Stolen Bike

Lance Armstrong, along with three other cyclists, lost their bikes when a truck carrying their bikes during the Amgen Tour of California was raided by thieves.

Understandably, Lance Armstrong used Twitter to announce his loss and to offer a reward to anyone who could help him recover his stolen bike. Despite this setback, Lance Armstrong will continue with his race. Heh... I am sure he doesn't have only one bike, though he may have a favourite, and this may be it.

The funny thing was that someone saw this appeal and already listed fake adverts on Craigslist and eBay, with picture too, and listed the Seller’s name as Fabian Cancellara, one of Lance Armstrong's rivals.

These fake listings have since been removed but I can't help but wonder why some people are so free to do these things, and they find it funny to do it. Yes, it's funny but not to this point. Remember the case of the Senator's chair?

Of course, there had been many other listings that capitalized on current affairs and events but right now, I don't remember any. LOL

Source: Telegraph UK

Price Pickle Coupon Code Site

If you have been reading my blog, I am sure you'd know that I advocate online shopping, though I can't stress often enough that we have to make sure that we only shop at legitimate, secure online stores. Since the day I discovered that I could save a considerable amount of money by shopping online by using coupon codes, I have made it a point to find what I want online first, before hitting local stores.

Last evening, I was told of this coupon site called PricePickle.com. I have to admit that I have many such websites bookmarked so I was delighted to know of yet another coupon site which may offer different coupons.

What I like about PricePickle is its user-friendliness and easy navigation unlike a few other sites that I know of that seem over-crowded. Searching for coupons on PricePickle is really easy as well because we could either search for categories or product type and top online stores. This saves a lot of time.

Another thing I like about PricePickle is that expiration of coupons are shown upfront so we know if the coupon is still valid without having to try it out first. The codes with expiry dates are really helpful. They give me time to contemplate if I should buy, or maybe I should just forget it, seeing how we should all tighten our belts at this time of economic distress. Haha!

Teen Scammed Of iPhone

An American teen thought that selling off her iPhone on eBay would be the quickest way to some cash. After all, every one's doing it, right? As soon as she listed it on eBay and was won by a bidder in the UK, she was asked for her email address, which the buyer said is required for payment to be done. Soon after, she started receiving emails purportedly from PayPal, with logos and such saying that payment will be deposited into her account when shipping label is provided.

What can I say? This girl wasted no time in shipping it to the UK and provided the shipping label to "PayPal". One day, she even received an email from "PayPal" saying that there is a glitch and that payment totaling US$650, will be delayed slightly but assured her that it will arrive shortly.

By the time the girl, 17, realizes that she has been scammed, it was already too late to stop delivery of her iPhone. I figure by then, these scammers have already gotten their dirty hands on the item. PayPal also does not have any way for her to retrieve her item because even though she went through proper channel, PayPal requires any dispute to be lodged after 7 days of shipping.

Sara Kotomski filed a complaint with the County sheriff’s office but there's nothing they could do because the recipient is out of the country. I guess she could say goodbye to her iPhone and money. It's sad that Sara will not be the first or last scam victim.

Elizabeth Wong To Resign Over Leaked Nude Pictures

I read with a heavy heart that Eli Wong will be resigning from her political posts and Bukit Lanjan state assembly over her leaked nude photos. I feel pity for her because the Selangor state opposition is comparing her scandal with that of our former Health Minister, who was then Health Minister.

It's totally different even though both are politically motivated. In CSL's case, he's a married man, kept the "personal friend" as his mistress for more than ten years and still not repented after being exposed. Even though he is planning a political come back, it doesn't look like it's going to happen because he hasn't repented. His relationship with the mistress is non-negotiable.

In Elizabeth Wong's case, she, a single woman, had a "ghost" in the house, who snapped photos of her while she was sleeping. Well, that's the supposedly nude photos that I saw so far, of her sleeping in her sarong, and she wasn't nude but there's no guarantee what other kinds of photos that the "ghost" took and sold for money.

My friend, who is also friends with Elizabeth Wong, told me that it is too bad that of all his good friends, he only has one who is a lawyer but he's a Chicago injury lawyer who would not be able to help Eli Wong in this legal case. Yes, she should sue the perpetrator!

Best Skins Ever (BSE) Promotional Code

I get a lot of people asking me for valid BestSkinsEver promotional code. That's because I bought a handful of skins from BSE some months back with a coupon code that saved me a considerable amount of money and used the skins without a problem. Unfortunately, since the time I bought it, my Bestskinsever code has already expired.

Last night, a random reader dropped by my blog and tipped me off with the latest valid BSE promo code. It is BBNEWS54 for 20% off any order. I think it's awesome. My previous code which I used and have expired only provided me with 15% discount.

If you are using this, please drop me a comment to let me know if it works for you. I am sure an update would help others who are also looking for Bestskinsever promo code.

For Better Bathrooms

My sister told me that she would like to redecorate some parts of her home. I wonder why when the house is absolutely fine from the photos she took. She said she just wants something to keep herself occupied and at the same time, showcase her creativity!

My sister says that she would like to expand her bathroom. Although her house has three bathrooms, she will only be redecorating the one adjacent to her room, the one which she installed a chandelier!

I told her about Better Bathrooms where they have a good selection of bathroom suites, tiles, furniture, taps, baths, mirrors, lighting, accessories and even Jacuzzi, which I think she would like. The good thing about Better Bathrooms is that they have showrooms too so for people who are not comfortable shopping online, they could visit one of the many showrooms.

Although it's already mid-February now, the website is still touting January promotions. If you are planning to order your items, do make sure if you would still be able to enjoy discounts up to 60% off your order. You don't want to get a shock, do you?

In any case, if you are planning to redecorate your bathroom as well, Better Bathrooms is worth a visit.

MPH Book Sale

My aunt needed transport to MPH earlier this evening to buy a college workbook for her son. Apparently, she could get a 15% discount off the book by using her CIMB card. I am not sure if it's CIMB ATM card or CIMB credit card, though.

Anyway, I gave her a lift to MPH in Kinta City. Luckily, there was no crowd since it's Monday but what pissed me off was that when we reached the book store, there was only a copy of the book left.

We thought that we were in luck. My aunt proceeded to buy it but luckily found out before paying for it that the book is not eligible for the 15% discount. What the heck!

Can you believe that it looked like the whole store is on sale but just this book isn't? My aunt decided not to buy it. The normal price is RM70 and it's pretty expensive!

His & Hers Valentine's Jewelry

My friend received a His & Hers pair of designer costume jewelry. I think that they look awesome but because we come from the same city, I know where he bought them from and I have always thought that the price tag was pretty steep.

I have known of holsted Jewelers for some months now and if the husband, who is also a friend, had consulted me, I would have suggested that he purchase his Valentine's gift from this store.

For one, designer costume jewelry pieces from Holsted Jewelers are just as exquisitely beautiful, if not more so, but they are more affordable. Moreover, buying from an online store would not be as common for the wife as picking the gift up from a local store that she visits regularly.

BlackBerry Sold On eBay Loaded With Celebrity Phone Numbers

A British guy, Kent Devey, bought a used BlackBerry on eBay UK for £16 only to find that it still contained all the contacts of its previous owner. Numbers and email addresses included those of Julie Walters, Jude Law, Kevin Spacey, Natalie Portman, Stephen Fry, Louis Walsh, Julianne Moore and Paul O'Grady and some fifty other celebrities, Hollywood producers, cinematographers and screenwriters. Apparently, Kent Devey tried calling the numbers but it seemed that no one wanted to talk to him!

Well, some owners are not so high tech and they wouldn't know that the contacts have been saved on the device and not memory card. A lot of iPhone sellers also sold their contacts, photos, videos and surfing habits!

Reports mentioned that he sent the BlackBerry back to its owner, a producer, and in turn, was given a replacement BlackBerry and free tickets to watch Billy Elliot. I bet this guy isn't dumb and that he had backed up all the contacts before sending it back to the owner. I would have done so, though this does not mean that I would sell the information for money.

Source: Telegraph UK

Top Ten Valentine's Day Gifts

Valentine's Day is this Saturday. While many of my married girlfriends don't look forward to it because their husbands are too predictable or totally have no idea that Valentine's Day is just around the corner, those who are still unmarried are certainly looking forward to a romantic time and gift exchange.

Independent.co.uk has a great list of the ten best Valentine's Day gifts complied with those love birds who are running out of gift ideas in mind.

1. Personal love poem
2. Ladurée heart macaroons
3. White Rose bouquet
4. Paul Smith Mother of Pearl earrings
5. Goti ring
6. Personalised calendar
7. Murdock Barbers at Liberty
8. The Cheese
9. Prestat Rose & Violet Chocolate Cremes
10. One Fo(u)r mini champagne

While love poems, chocolate, jewelry, champagne and roses are great Valentine's Day gifts, I think that giving white roses would not be as appropriate for our Asian culture. Let's just stick to red or pink roses.

Source: Independent.co.uk

Embracing IT For A Competitive Edge

If you have a business or a commercial entity and have yet to implement IT into your business, you're probably wondering how to go about it or how much it would cost.

Many do not know that there are companies that specialize in it consulting and outsourcing which could help you, even if you know nothing about it. The main reason for you to outsource IT is to free up your staff, streamline work, lower cost and increase productivity hence profit but most importantly, allow you to concentrate on the business aspect of your company.

iCorps is an IT consulting and management services company with offices in Boston and New York with a long track record in helping companies large, medium and small make the best use of internet technology in various aspects of running their businesses.

Let's face it. In today's IT environment, there's no way we could escape from IT and the sooner we embrace it, the better it would be for our business because it gives us the competitive edge we need, especially in this leaner economy which we have to face in the next couple of years.

If you have a company in or around Boston or New York that is still not IT enabled, you should check out iCorps and see how they could assist you.

eBay UK Bans Knives

eBay UK has decided to issue a blanket ban on knives and other sharp objects except for cutlery knives (kitchen knives) due to the country's complex laws on trading and handling of knives.

I used to know a guy who sold knives, daggers, katanas, etc. on Lelong, though I am not sure if he is still doing that right now because I didn't check his trading profile, and I told him that as far as I know, it is against the terms of Pos Malaysia to ship knives and other sharp objects like his daggers and katanas.

He did not believe me and told me that he has shipped numerous packages without a problem even between West and East Malaysia. Well, I don't know, some people just think too much about the profit and nothing else.

Although I know that it's not a big deal to break Pos Malaysia's terms of use, I believe that if there is such a ruling, there must be a reason for it. As for Malaysian law, we are breaking the law if we carry a knife exceeding a certain length in public. This guy never thought what would happen if his buyers misuse the knives that they bought from him!

Mystery Snow Covered Ashford Car

I really take my hat off to Ryszard Nowobilski for turning around an unfortunate incident to something positive. Ryszard, 20, an archeology student in Ashford, Britain, has been trying to sell off his car for months now and hadn't been successful.

After the great snowfall last week which saw the worst in twenty years, and which buried Ryszard's car in a foot of snow, Ryszard thought outside the box and decided to place the car "as is" on auction on eBay UK.

What made it more interesting was that the starting price was only 99p without reserve. Only the bare minimum information of the car, which is still covered in snow, is disclosed in the description.

Interest for this mystery car is exceptional, attracting 37 bids to date, and it has been turned into a guessing game of the car model, including someone who guessed that it's a Ferrari. Me thinks it's an old beaten up car since he couldn't even let go of it for months when it was not covered in snow.

Now, with this element of surprise and mystery, bids rose to £1,550.00 with still another 4.5 days to the end of the auction.

Ryszard Nowobilski stresses that only serious buyers should bid and that should the winner fail to transact, he/she is still expected to foot the eBay. And since Ryszard has pledged 50% of proceeds to Citizens Advice, a charity organization, the winner, in the event of a failed transaction, is also expected to make a donation of the same amount to Citizens Advice! Don't play play!

eBay listing: Here
Source: Staines News

30% Canadian Couples Fight More

PayPal Canada has released results of a recent poll they recently conducted, which showed that 30% Canadian couples are fighting more because of the on-going global financial crisis. It really is not surprising. I am sure many marriages have been broken because of money and if this financial crisis drags on, this figure will only rise.

PayPal Canada conducted this study in conjunction with Valentine's Day in the hopes of driving gift shoppers, especially men, to shop at PayPal Canada's shopping microsite, which will be offering steep discounts on a range of Valentine's gift. Participating merchants include LUSH cosmetics and La Senza lingerie.

Visitors to PayPal Canada's shopping microsite could also send out free personalized Valentine's Day ecard. HHmmm wouldn’t that be too cheap already? :P

Addicted To Online Shopping!

My friends wondered why I like online shopping so much when I hardly buy anything when we hit the malls together. Isn't that funny? They don't believe that most of the time, I could buy something similar online at a cheaper price and you know, I love the extra savings.

Many people still do not know that by shopping online, we could utilize discount or coupon codes and perhaps even enjoy free shipping. Besides, no matter what we are looking for, we could always find it online, from discount Hansgrohe faucets to cheap wedge sandals.

In any case, I told my friend that they will love online shopping as well once they have tried it out. I know I am addicted to it!

Listing Everything On eBay

A couple listed almost everything they own, except their home, their beds and children's toys, on eBay to try to cope with their two children's medical expenses, which comes up to the tune of US$2000 a month, even with medical insurance.

After a few days, they were surprised to receive a US$20,000 bid for the lot of household items but they were skeptical if the buyers really have the money and if they would really pay up.

After chatting over the phone with the bidder, the couple was convinced that she is genuine and was ready to pack up everything to be shipped, only to be told later that the winner has no intention to take any of the stuff. The money was meant to help them without anything in return. Isn't that sweet?

This couple has in turn, donated many of the items that they had intended to sell off earlier. They felt like they should sell them for even more money but have now been inspired to take the blessings and touch other families.

Niche Stores & Products

I recently got together with a few friends over the Chinese New Year holidays. We all run an online business so there were plenty of things to talk about and experiences to share.

My friends tell me that with new eBay policies in place, mom and pop stores would have to take a back seat while those who offer niche products would have a better chance of surviving this harsh economy, even in online retail.

I think that niche product is definitely a good idea but I also feel that one really needs the passion to sell niche items. A lot of research has to be done and time has to be invested. Whether we decide to sell industrial clamps, branded watches or like me, luxurious lingerie, we must have the passion for it. After all, we will be handling this everyday!