ETD: 715 Special Report How-to; Legal issues for erroneously
priced goods; Taxes we pay; Redirect; Accept Check Payment from your
customer just like Wal-Mart
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post@gapent.com
Tue, 26 Aug 2003 10:07:05 -0400
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0715 August 26, 2003
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem@gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Special Report How-to
[3] Legal issues for erroneously priced goods
[4] Taxes we pay
[5] Redirect
[6] Accept Check Payment from your customer just like Wal-Mart
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Sorry about being a little late today. I'm heading back to NYC from
Atlanta, and couldn't send before I left.
I had lunch with one of our list members last week, and he brought up a
couple of questions. How does one establish a store on eBay? Does anybody
have personal experience? And, more importantly, is PayPal a viable
alternative, or are there still issues with their chargebacks?
A couple of administrivia issues for coming weeks. I'll be in London next
week, and may not get the digest out, depending on connections there. Last
time I went I could receive mail, but couldn't send it. The same will
happen the end of September (22-28) as I will be in London then also. So,
my apologies in advance if I do have problems.
Of course all of this would be avoided if I get some SPECIAL REPORTS from
y'all. I could post ahead of time, and release from the site. Anything
that will help our members will be accepted. Some example are in section2
below.
We have some information on the legal issue query posted in the last
issue. And, Jules Kaplan posted a list of taxes they pay. Wow! I never
stopped to think about it. And I'm sure there are others in other parts of
the world. The high cost of doing business.
You may want to consider alternate payments like Wal-mart and others are
now doing. Seems folks outside the US rely more on cash or debit cards
than credit cards. And checks are a viable alternative. I've accepted
checks online for seven years and never had a problem. Of course the cost
of cashing a foreign check can be an issue.
Finally, don't even open e-mail from somebody you don't know. There is a
new one going around that locks your computer. I had personal experience.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem@gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Special Report How-to
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Many of you have asked what is acceptable for a special report. My usual
reply is anything that will benefit our members, and nothing that blatantly
advertises our products or services. It should be 1,500 - 2,500 words. I
need content, so don't worry about how it reads. I'll edit them if you
would like.
At the end of each digest we have "DISCUSSION TOPIC AREAS." Here's some
example of what could be a special report in those categories:
+ Customer Service & Interaction - "How I regained a customer I lost"
- "Successful tips for dealing with irate customers" - "Customer service
drives add-on sales"
+ Credit card merchant accounts - "How to establish a merchant account"
- "How to accept credit cards online" - "Alternate payment methods" -
"Does PayPal work or do they still have chargeback issues?"
+ Retail software solutions - "Evaluating retail systems" - "Review of a
particular retail system (yes, vendors can submit their own)" -
"Warehousing systems" - "Barcoding including the new RFID"
+ E-Commerce + Security issues - "How to create a store on e-Bay" - "How to
setup an e-commerce site" - "How to protect my site against hackers" - "How
to protect my customer information"
+ Effective merchandising - "How to get folks to buy more" - "What display
works best in your store (or site)" - "How to use technology to merchandise
better" - "Open-to-buy and merchandising" - "Merchandising for the
customer: back to the future"
+ Trade Shows, Seminars & Conferences - "Review of any trade show that you
attended that is apropos for our members" - "Do seminars work for selling
your products/services?" - "Which conferences or trade shows are best and why"
+ Shipping and tax issues - "What's the best way to ship goods overseas (or
shipping period)" - "The delicate balance between prompt deliveries,
customer satisfaction and costs" - "How to save on taxes (legally, of
course)" - "Things to know when shipping overseas"
+ Regulatory issues - "What are the legal issues for pricing incorrectly" -
"Is my business regulated?" - "What regulatory issues do I need to know
when selling out of my state/province/country?" - "Will Sarbanes-Oxley Act
of 2002 affect my business? (IMHO - YES! If anybody wants to see something
on this, I will write it)"
+ Warehousing & Logistics - "Warehouse Management Systems (again, vendors
are welcome to discuss their offerings)" - "Radio Frequency scanning in the
warehouse" - "How to organize a warehouse for maximum efficiency" - "How to
measure productivity in a warehouse" - "Bulk picking vs pick by order" -
"EDI" - "How to prevent shrink (loss) in the warehouse"
+ Promotions and advertising - "What advertising is most cost effective" -
"What promotion items work best" - "Alternative advertising methods" -
"Should I do focus groups before beginning an ad campaign"
+ On-line marketing - "Does any online marketing work?" - "How I succeeded
with e-mail marketing (I promise we will not flame you even if you spammed
;-)" - "Do press release work?" - "Do Google ads (keyword ads) work?" - "Help!"
+ Differentiation - "What differentiates your business from your
competitors" - "How to create a differentiation strategy" - "Why be different?"
+ Doing business internationally - "What does it take to do business
internationally?" - "Resources for doing business internationally" -
"Pitfalls to avoid" - "Which countries to avoid and why" - "Sourcing overseas"
+ Effective web site design - "What works and what doesn't" - "Successful
sites and why" - "How a makeover increased my business"
+ In-The-News - "Any member who is in the news should send us the piece"
+ E-Tailer Resources - "Best/worst merchant accounts" - "Best/worst
software" - "Best/worst of anything relative to retailing"
OK folks, there are some ideas. Feel free to do something else. These are
example only. So, let's her from you.
George
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[3] Legal issues for erroneously priced goods
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Crona Barrett asked...
>Can anyone advise please what the current situation is if an
>etailer has erroneously priced goods or services for sale on
>their website? If they recognize the mistake, can they
>subsequently refuse to honor the order if a consumer has already
>placed an order? Is there any recommendation as to the kind of
>disclaimer language that should be used in this scenario?
Since you are in Dublin, this information from the BBC Watchdog may be
apropos...
Generally speaking, in contract law terms, a retailer does not have to sell
an item at the marked price. For there to be a binding contract there has
to be an offer which has been accepted. In the context of sale of goods,
the offer is made by the customer when he/she presents the goods at the
payment point (ie the customer offers to buy the goods at the marked price).
The till operator is then free to accept, or reject, that offer. This means
that if a till operator spots that goods have been mispriced, he/she can
reject a customer's offer to buy at the incorrect price, and offer the
customer the chance to buy at the correct price. The customer may decline
or accept that offer as he/she chooses.
Inevitably, retailers will make the odd mistake over pricing, but if you
become aware that a certain retailer makes a regular habit of doing it, we
suggest you report the retailer to the Trading Standards department of your
local authority.
In certain circumstances misleading pricing will amount to a criminal
offence, and Trading Standards departments have the authority to
investigate, and, if appropriate, prosecute.
The content supplied on this page is based on the law applying at
02/07/2003. Please consult your own lawyer for further information
regarding your rights.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/asktheexperts/goods/goods08.shtml
George
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[4] Taxes we pay
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Here is list of taxes we pay. This may be of interest to your readers. Not
one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our
nation was the most prosperous in the world, had absolutely no national
debt, had the largest middle class in the world.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Airport Taxes
Air Travel Security
Building Permit Tax
Capital Gains Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Court Fines (indirect taxes)
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel permit tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Internet Sales Tax Some States
Interest expense (tax on the money)
Inventory tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Local Income Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Septic Permit Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road usage taxes (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Road Toll Booth Taxes
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone federal excise tax
Telephone federal universal service fee tax
Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes
Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax
Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax
Telephone state and local tax
Telephone usage charge tax
Toll Bridge Taxes
Toll Tunnel Taxes
Traffic Fines (indirect taxation)
Trailer registration tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Can you think of any other taxes?
Yours truly
Jules Kaplan
E-commerce Payment Solution Provider
Find Out How to Reduce Billing and Collection Cost by 90%+
To find out go to: www.ezpaymentservices.com
ezpaymentservices@pobox.com
480-991-7025 OR 800-220-0468 - FAX 310-362-8746
Accept Check by FAX - PHONE - E-MAIL - INTERNET
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[5] Redirect
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Our moderator wrote...
>Note very carefully the @ sign at the end which redirects you to a phony
>page, that even I, a lowly marketeer can see..
>http://211.155.234.84/ which is not valid now. Originally it would have
>looked like CitiBank and they would have asked for your name and social
>security number.
That was definitely "news I can use", had no idea about how the @ can be
used to redirect what would appear to be a valid link.
Thank you very much,
Christie Mason
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
You are welcome. Be careful when opening mail. Today I got one from a FR
extension that said it was a test. I thought I recognized the e-address
(wrong) and opened it. A Java script then ran that said something about
"Judge <female name> is a big fat stupid cow." And it locked my
machine. I had to restart my computer, then go into my mail boxes with
Wordpad, find the messages and delete them. I wonder what folks who may be
technically-challenged will do?
So watch out!.
George
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[6] Accept Check Payment from your customer just like Wal-Mart
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OnlineChek.com to announce a new service that is available from
www.onlinechek.com You can now accept checks right from your shopping cart
or web site, but the difference is we offer two options. One is by
Electronic Funds Transfer, which requires you to be approved by the bank
similar to a merchant account. The other procedure is to print the checks
as paper drafts and deposit the check directly to your bank account instead
of waiting for the check to come in the mail. This requires no credit check.
To test drive how it works, please go to:
http://www.onlinechek.com/checkdemo.html at the bottom of the page click on
demo plus you can see the code how to integrate the system within your
shopping cart or web site. Their is only one problem, the EFT is only
available for US Companies, the paper draft process is available for US and
Canadian Companies.
What are Online Checks? Online Checks aid in your billing process and
improve your efficiency by allowing you to create payments in-house from
verbal or faxed authorizations. Online Checks can add to or replace the
traditional method of billing and collection with an easy to use automated
method.
By using Online Checks, you can reduce past due accounts, reduce the time
and costs to print and mail invoices, receive and deposit payments, and the
expense of lost revenue due to delinquent accounts can be eliminated.
Our Online Check EFT System provides you with interim reports that allow
you to be informed of the status of your transactions including returned
items, pending transactions and more. Unlike a paper check, you will know
within three business days or less if an electronic check has been paid or
returned.
Online Checks clears the way for the merchant or companies to avoid time
consuming processing of checks and bank runs for deposits. In most
instances checks submitted electronically are processed at the bank before
paper checks, allowing more electronic checks to clear.
Just contact info@onlinechek.com for any additional information or call
800-220-0468.
Yours truly
Jules Kaplan
E-commerce Payment Solution Provider
Find Out How to Reduce Billing and Collection Cost by 90%+
To find out go to: www.ezpaymentservices.com
E-Commerce Solutions that you have to SEE to BELIEVE
www.electronicfunds.com www.ezpaymentservices.com
www.onlinechek.com
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Links to follow
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GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.gapent.com/
Sarbanes-Oxley 2002 http://www.sarbanes-oxley2002.com
E-Tailer's Digest http://www.etailersdigest.com
ETD Archives: http://topica.com/lists/etailer/read
Prior to 29 Dec
1999 http://etailersdigest.com/archives/index.htm
Marketing Your Web http://www.gapent.com/myweb/
Automated Press Releases http://www.automatedpr.com