Sunday, January 4, 2009

Are China's Wholesalers Going Bankrupt?

The world recession seems to be reaching the far
corners of the world.

Already having affected financial giants such as
Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers, and car markers
such as General Motors, it seems like the recession
is making its way into the wholesale business.

The Daily Yomiuri, one of Japan's leading newspapers,
has reported that China's main wholesale center, in Yiwu, Zheijiang Province,
is experiencing the effects of the recession.

With over 60,000 wholesalers located in the Chinese city,
the business pulse of its wholesale center can serve
as a good indicator of the state of the overall wholesale business.

But before you abandon your own wholesale and retail business,
keep this in mind.

Every challenge in life creates opportunities, especially in the
wholesale and retail field.

If Chinese wholesalers are starting to experience a downturn,
you can be sure that they will lower their wholesale prices.

And as a consequence of their inability to sell merchandise,
there will be a flood of surplus merchandise in the marketplace.

This means that you will have amazing opportunities to make
money in the wholesale and retail business.

You will be able to literally buys wholesale and closeout merchandise
for prices that are substantially below wholesale.

But what about selling the wholesale and closeout products
that you can buy?

People still need to shop for the products that they need.

But during a recession they are forced to look for the lowest
cost provider.

If you take advantage of the wholesale closeout opportunities that
are available, you will have a merchandise which you can sell at
amazing markups.

You can be the lowest cost provider by focusing on
wholesale and closeout merchandise.


You can see my brand name wholesale products at CloseoutExplosion.com

Designer Jewelry At Below Wholesale Prices, Starting At $1 Each WholesaleJewelryDropShipper.com

eBay Alternatives No One Talks About

With the rising fees and increased seller competition
on eBay, many astute eBay sellers are now looking
for other online auction venues.

Surprisingly, while eBay still dominates the
online auction market place, there are some
pretty interesting alternate online auction sites.

Below are some pretty good online auction
sites that can help eBay sellers that are looking for
more options.

Some of the following online auction sites
distinguish themselves from eBay by
charging a monthly membership fee
instead of any listing or transaction
charges.

Other sites charge similar listing
fees, or even higher fees than eBay,
but cater to a more focused market segment
that is more appropriate for your items.

You will usually receive a better selling price
when offering your item to the exact
market that needs it, as opposed
to the general market place.

Online Auction Sites:

Auction.com

Liquidation.com

Bidtopia.com

Specialistauctions.com

Webidz.com

Bidville.com

Bonanzle.com

eBid.net

Overstock.com

ePier.com

TheSOCExchange.com

iOffer.com

OnlineAuction.com

Craigslist.com

SalvageSale.com

Ubid.com

While none of these sites can
compete with eBay in terms of traffic,
you can still benefit since your expenses
will be lower, so you will keep a higher percentage
of your online auction proceeds.

I would not recommend dropping eBay,
but I would suggest setting up auctions
and listing your merchandise on some of these
other sites.

You never know on which site your ideal customer
is shopping.

You can see my brand name wholesale products at CloseoutExplosion.com

Designer Jewelry At Below Wholesale Prices, Starting At $1 Each WholesaleJewelryDropShipper.com

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Amazon Declares War On eBay

Amazon has officially declared war on eBay.

The opening salvo in what will prove to be one of the
most epic business battles on the Internet
has taken place.

Amazon's act of war was its decision not to accept
eBay's Bill Me Later payment system.

eBay's Bill Me Later payment platform allowed
buyers an extended period of time to pay for their
purchases.

The payment system was designed to encourage more
purchases from customers that might not have
the available funds for an immediate payment.

Using various metrics, including a credit check,
Bill Me Later would process the order, pay the
seller, and then allow the buyer up to 180 days to
complete the payment.

The buyer can be subject to a small interest rate
on his purchase, although in some instance the interest
rate is 0.

But the real issue arises when customers are unable
to pay their bills.

Bill Me Later has up to 180 days to initiate a charge back,
and retrieve the payment it has made to the seller.

So imagine an online retailer like Amazon discovering
6 months later that it will not be paid for the merchandise
it shipped out.

Even if the default rate is 1%, that translates into
tens of millions of dollars of lost merchandise for Amazon.

In economically strong periods default rates are pretty low,
but in today's recessionary environment the fear of default is
much higher.

Amazon seems to feel that the increased volume of sales on account of
eBay's payment system are not worth the risk of consumer default.

Or perhaps, the issue has nothing to do with Bill Me Later.

Amazon might be simply retaliating to eBay's encroachment
on its own turf, through eBay's focus on Buy Me Now auctions.



You can see my brand name wholesale products at CloseoutExplosion.com

Designer Jewelry At Below Wholesale Prices, Starting At $1 Each WholesaleJewelryDropShipper.com