Cross Loader Blog

The Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, is requesting that the federal government adopt a law allowing the state to collect its 6 percent sales tax on goods purchased online. The Governor argues that the state law requires all internet purchases to be declared on tax returns but very few abide by the law denying the state its six percent sales tax.

So far, seventeen states have adopted laws requiring the businesses to collect sales tax on internet sales. This has led to a plethora of law suits from internet sales claiming that only the federal government, not the states, has the power to require collection of sales tax on internet sales.

Michigan claims that retailors are competing with internet sales and they are at a disadvantage due to the absence of a sales tax on internet purchases and wants the federal government to level the playing field for all retailors.

In an election year, tax issues become very sensitive especially for those Republicans in the U.S. Congress who pledged a “no new tax” policy. On the other hand, it is a very costly legal fight for state government to pass a law to require an internet sales tax due to almost guaranteed legal actions.

Whenever you are about to host an elegant event, the small details will seriously make the difference. Of course, you need the perfect outfit and an excellent hairstyle, but this is not all. Don’t be surprised to find less elegant individuals with a better looking outfit due to these small details. All in all, you need to take care of absolutely everything. The beaded napkin rings, for instance, represent some of these things you must pay attention to. Such items can be very sophisticated, yet funny and elegant at the same time. They are purely ornamental.

The same category also includes the beaded placemats, although they got nothing to do with an elegant event. Instead, they are used to impress your guests whenever you serve a meal. Whether you host a family reunion or a Thanksgiving dinner, such items will keep your table clean, but will also add a playful appearance to your meals. The housemakers will definitely show some interest in them and ask you where you got them from.

At the same time, the one and only actual purpose of the napkins you use is to hit the trash bin once they are used. You can use the cheapest ones on the market, but you can forget about a positive impression. The Kim Seybert napkins are excellent if you care for what people think. A complete meal takes care of everything, including the food, the “accessories” and the appearance. When you care for the small details, you know you cannot go wrong.

Traditionally online retailers do advertise specials prior to the holiday season. Online behemoth Amazon.com and others give free shipping and other incentives to attract the online shoppers prior to the holiday season.

During the 2011 holiday shopping season EBay introduced a new kind of shopping experience to woo the online shoppers. It opened a pop-up store on Dean Street in London’s West End from December 1, 2011 to December 5, 2011. They displayed products with QR (as in quick response) codes, where customers swipe their smartphones to get to the EBay online checkout stand. EBay setup two other somewhat similar storefronts in New York and San Francisco named Give-A-Toy in association with the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.

It was a new kind of shopping experience and the first ever QR code based shop. The London pop-up store gave customers another way to shop without the hassle from salespeople, no waiting in lines at the checkout stand and shop at the leisure of the customer. It was a mecca for smartphone lovers. Over the five day period, the London store attracted over 2,500 walk-in customers.

The EBay experience may open up a new way for e-commerce retailers.

Do you remember the last time you used a print phone directory to look up a phone number? Many of us were accustomed to checking the Yellow Pages to find a plumber, address or phone number, or even to see who is advertising. Then there was online advertising. Digital directory revenue climbed 14 percent since 2007 to $2 billion annually. Even though the online ad revenue is up, don’t count the yellow pages out yet.

The biggest problem for many of the online advertisers is how to get a better ranking for their ad. Many who click online only look at first few sites and seldom go to additional pages. This is not the case with yellow pages. Everything is in one place to see and compare.

Digital media is working hard to put an end to print directories. Some sources say that AT&T, the only phone company with a phone directory, is in talks to sell its yellow page portion of the business. Online behemoth like Google may like to see the end of print yellow pages. However, local services may hang onto their print directories as long as businesses seek ad space on them.

What you need to know about wholesale dropshipping – Introduction

You can use the Net to make some dollars. You can do it by taking advantage of aution sites and drop shipping. These are the basics: you put an item up for sale at an aution website, the client buys it, you pay the wholeseller and they will send the item off to the client. As you can see, it is a very simple process. If you have the time, you can do it right away. You can even do it in your spare time. A wholeseller will offer you many items at wholesale prices that you can resell online.

You just need to do your legwork to make some bucks. If you are stuck at home, you can use this strategy to earn a living online. Many people are making a full time income out of it. All you need is a plan and a way to put money fast into your credit/debit card. The next step is picking up hot products to sell online. If you do not have any complaints with an aution site, they will not look down on this type of strategy. However, you need to understand that it takes effort and time to get the right products to sell online.

First off, you should study the market carefully. Please check out your competition, hot items and the aution site. The next step is starting slowly to sell items until you find profitable ones to stick to. Please always see the long term picture. Then you need to build your own online store around your hot items.

What you need to know about wholesale dropshipping – Final words
Drop shopping is a great business model for most of us. It does not require a lot of time and money to start it off. It is a great way to go whether you are looking for extra bucks or want to make a full time living online.

Sony launched its PlayStation Vita (PSVITA), a handheld game console, on February 22, 2012 for the U.S. market. This new console features a 5-inch OLED touchscreen, built in GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G wireless and very powerful graphics. The Wi-Fi only system cost $249.99. My Vita with Wi-Fi and 3G Wireless cost $299.99. This is the most advanced portable (handheld) gaming console ever.

The 960×544 resolution touch screen may not have the iPhone 4 resolution but delivers bright, colorful, and stunning visuals.

The rounded chassis make it comfortable to hold. All buttons are contained in one solid piece of plastic making it easier to handle. The built-in dual control sticks are much more advanced compared to PSP or the 3DS.

The battery provides four to five hours of continues play. Vita comes with a 1.3 megapixel forward and backward camera.

Vita comes with preloaded apps and more available from the PlayStation Store. The Web browser is the best in the class. All Japanese games are available for download from PlayStation Store at a discount. Over 275 PSP games with some exceptions are also compatible with the system.

Performance reviews are trickling in and it is too early to gauge the success of the U.S. launch of Vita.

What is Google Checkout? You’ve probably heard of it before, so what is it? Essentially at it’s core it’s an online payment processor like PayPal. This allows you to add a credit card and pay for things online. The big difference between Google Checkout and other payment processors is that it only requires a Google ID, so if you already have a Google or GMail account, you already have a Google Checkout account, you just need to add a few details (such as a credit card). You don’t have to sign up for yet another account, and because it’s a Google product, it means that it is used throughout all of Google Products.

So if you want to buy a movie with YouTube’s movie service, or music with Google Music, or if you want to buy apps on Google’s Web Store for Chrome, you can do it all with just one account. You can also find many more vendors of just about anything you want that use Google Checkout if you search with Google Shopping, and check the “Google Checkout” box.

One downside to Google Checkout is that it does not offer email or phone support, but only support through their Google group. This makes solving any account problems very difficult as it’s possible that you will never get a response. The fees Google Checkout charges the sellers in order to use it’s service are generally the same as those charged by PayPal. At the moment (subject to change), the base fees for both for merchants is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. So as a seller, you’re not paying any more than if you were using other competing payment processors.

Google Checkout is a bit of a “new kid on the block” when it comes to payment processing, but it’s interoperability with other Google products will probably make it a major player within the next couple of years.

You need to look at both sides of a coin before doing anything. This is the same for ecommerce. The following is a list of advantages and disadvantages of eCommerce.
DisadvantagesItems returned. Many customers do not bother reading the whole product description. They are in a rush or do not have the time to do it. For instance, a cell phone that is made for using it in Asia might be bought by a US citizen.Credit card transactions. If the customer does not like the items, you will have a back charge from the credit card company. You will end up paying a charge in your account and they will also reverse the credit.Error in data entry. If you entered $0.9 instead of $9.0, you might be swamped with so many orders. However, the profits for that month will be wiped out.Search engines. If you do not get top rankings for your targeted keywords, you will be lost online. You need to hire an expert in pay per click advertising to get customers quickly. This situation does not happen with a brick and mortar business. You will get customers from the very moment you open your store if you locate it in the right place.

AdvantagesGlobal reach. You can get customers from all over the world. Ecommerce opens the posibilities to reach out a wide audience without limits in space and time.Location neutral. Your website is your online store. It does not matter where your customer live. He/she is just a click away from your website.No cashiers or supervisors. Your website is fully automated. There is no need to hire cashiers or supervisors. You do not even have to monitor the sales of your items.Opened 24/7 every day of the year. These is another of the major advantages of eCommerce.

Online sales menu are getting more exhaustive. By having fewer options to pick from may increase your sales. It also removes clutter from your site.

Consider organizing available items into narrowly defined categories. I am not asking you to offer less items but asking you to create more categories. So, under each category you have fewer items corresponding to that narrowly define category to pick from. So, you are not exhausting your customer and help them go through fewer clicks to make a quick pick from fewer items.

Research shows that having more exhaustive array of items under broadly defined categories frustrates customers and as a result loose sales opportunities.

Having a large display may catch an eye but not lead to a sale. So, streamline your offering by having more categories and help the customer’s decision making process. You will profit from a quick sale.

Is there a magic number you can offer in one category? The answer is no. Research may indicate up to six items may be helpful. But you decide how many you want to include in a category based on the product line you have for sale.

Try this and see for yourself.

It is estimated that the retail industry loses billions of dollars each year due to return fraud and it is causing serious concerns for the future of e commerce. If you are an online retailer you should look out for these forms of return fraud:

Return of items purchased with stolen or fraudulent credit cards

This type of return fraud affects merchants with both online and physical stores. Here the thieves steal credit card information and use it to make purchases online, then they go to the physical store and return the items for cash.

Wardrobing

In this case the buyer purchases the item with the intention of using it for a purpose and returning it for a full refund. The merchant ships the product and on returning, the buyer expects free return delivery as well. This is a common practice and merchants should review their return policy and should reduce the returnable period to discourage the practice.

Cross merchant, no receipt theft

This affects merchants who do not require identification for return. Thieves buy items online and claim that they did not receive it and claim a chargeback and return the items at a physical store with a lenient return policy.