Location Location Location

Week 22.2 Recent Communication. Location Location Location!

One day I walked by an old chap I known for years. He is selling food in one location using a make shift tent. Location is dependent on the approval from the relevant authorities.

He told me the best place he had was last year which was just beside the walk way where many customer walk. He pocketed about RM1000/= sales per day. Exact amount cannot disclose. For simplicity, RM1000/- sales figure is given.

Due to some reason, the authorities decided to move his place 20 meter away from the customer walkway, his sales drop to RM300/- per day.  Now he moved to another place which is nearer to customer walk-way, he said he is happy because he pocketed now RM500/= per day. I told him, if you can have his tent stall completely blocks the walk-way, then it may be possible for him to earn RM5000/- per day. We then laughed.

Well, the same thing goes to Internet search and Domain Name etc. If your name is easily remembered, website etc came out first in the google search result, then most likely sales is there. It is just waiting to happen (once the price is right boom the sale is there). Have a good weekend.

Duty Free Shop (silver)

Week 22.1 Duty Free Shop

Few years back, I was thinking how nice is it to set up one small duty free shop selling silver in Labuan or Langkawi. Soon I found the following, to sell silver coin cheaply to people in Malaysia is not viable unless there are some changes to the existing custom ruling for duty free shop. First, silver coin is not in the list of dutiable goods approved for sale in a duty free shop.

Appendix A 

List of Dutiable Goods That Are Approved For Sale in a Duty Free Shop :

• Food products
• Chocolate, confectionery
• Liquor, cigarettes, tobaccos
• Personal care paraphernalia
• Textiles, wearing apparel, clothing accessories
• Footwear, headgear
• Adornment (ceramic/porcelain/glasses)
• Jewelries
• Articles of base metal 
• Typewriter, calculator
• Electrical appliances
• Telephone set
• Audio / video equipments
• Toys, games
• Cigarette lighter, ball point pen(plastic)
• Sports goods
• Leather goods
• Television, radio.

Well if you can get it approved by relevant authority, then there are few more challenges to go.

Secondly, the establishment of Duty Free Emporiums / Complexes Downtown is subjected to these terms:

• Opened only to Public Listed companies or Government owned companies;
• The company’s paid-up capital must not be less than RM1 million and the Bumiputera equity hold is not less than 70%; and
• The width of the commercial space is not less than 25 thousand square feet.

Wow! But I do see a lot of duty free shops in Langkawi, maybe it was pre-approved long time back when the ruling are more relax I guess.

Another bomb! 25 thousand sq feet, wow! That lot of rental $ charges! The only way to go about it is to partner with existing duty free shop owner or operator. Just hope that they won’t ditch you away when everything is running smoothly.  You don’t need a big shop for selling silver bullion as the margin is very small. All you need is just a counter as 2-3 times bigger than a money changer counter.

On top of that, there is lot of restrictions on duty free shop such as who you can sell to, who you can’t sell to etc.

Until then, I don’t think is viable for me as I don’t have any networking and most importantly the $$$$.  Now I need to think what to do other than silver business. Nevertheless, if you have the relevant networking you can always give it a try. Bear in mind, the margin is very small and the prices are volatile.

Some of the texts are taken from the URL below

http://www.customs.gov.my/index.php/en/trade-facility/customs/free-zone-and-controlled-gpb/93-duty-free-shops?start=1

http://www.customs.gov.my/index.php/en/trade-facility/customs/free-zone-and-controlled-gpb/93-duty-free-shops

Canada Post nationWide Shutdown

Week 21.3 Canada Post

Hi Everybody,

 Just last month, I got some info that Canada Post on strike, I just ignore it. But today, I got an email from ebay informing me that Canada Post suspended it's operation. See the email below.

FYI, USPS also is in red as it has lost a lot of money in the past few years. It will be sometime but not long before USPS fall into this problem. I would expect other post services in UK, Europe, lastly Australia to have similar problem due to their culture of union strike. In post peak oil environment, union can't help, it just make the problem worst. Lot of copper thief in USA and UK now, lot of people out of jobs, I would expect postal mail thief soon.

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/usps-loses-8-5-billion-warns-of-bankruptcy/

Just warn U upfront that  if you do buy oversea via USPS or etc post, just be prepared one day that postal service may shut down. The only dependable source now is courier-services (UPS = U pun serik, TNT = Tomorrow not today etc) until it collapse in 2-4 years time due to low freight and high oil price.

>>

Dear seller,

According to latest news from Canada Post, it has suspended operations across the country because of the increasingly costly rotating strikes by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). Canada Post does not provide any estimate on how long the current situation may last.

All Mail Deposit and Delivery will be affected:

            All mail processing plants and letter carrier depots are closed and all facilities have been secured. No new mail will be accepted. Large volume mailers cannot deposit or receive mail.

            Mail Delivery is suspended to all addresses served by letter carriers represented by the CUPW (Urban). Some mail delivery will continue over the first few days of the lockout to clear mail remaining in the system in suburban and rural areas where delivery employees are represented by a different bargaining unit.

            Street Letter Boxes, mail slots on Community Mail Boxes, and other Canada Post mail-receiving equipment have been cleared and sealed to prevent mail from being deposited.

Take action

Pay close attention to latest news from Canada Post: http://clients.infopost.ca/en/

Suspend selling to Canada until Canada Post operation recovers

For existing transactions to Canada, please track them in a timely manner and communicate with buyers on a frequent basis.

Courier service

Week 21.2 Courier service

For courier service, there is nothing much to say except that

1.      They will do the custom clearance for you.

2.      If there is any custom tax, they will ask U to pay lor.

UPS =  U pun Serik. Apa pasal serik? Well, those who used UPS will know lah.! Check lowyat forum under postage and courier.

DHL = Dua Hari Lambat

TNT = Tomorrow not Today

Fedex = Forget the NICK name already.

Custom clearance will depends on the clerk/agents, bear in mind there are hundreds of packages to handle each day and they don’t have time to handle your package only.

If you have item which some are taxable, some are not, some are taxable at lower rate and some at higher rate all in one package.

You better make sure the item are declared properly cause some agent want to do easy work declared everything under one tariff (highest one easy), then you pay tax like mad lah. Most likely delay will happen in this scenario. If you insist, you can call them up and list out the item one by one along with the quantity and its tariff code. Otherwise it may be advisable to separate taxable item with non-taxable item.

Trading Of Over The Counter Gold And Silver To Be Illegal Beginning July 15

Week 21.1 One step harder to trade gold.

Source : www.zerohedge.com

The article mention that it is illegal for US citizen to trade Precious Metal by 15th July 2011 unless the delivery is done within 28 days which lot of vendor unable to do. Read the article below.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/trading-over-counter-gold-and-silver-be-illegal-beginning-july-15

Postal Services. Buyer Guide

Week 20.1 Postal Services. Buyer Guide.

Pay first, then only seller will send you the goods

Local Postal Services

Normal mail & pos express: No acknowledgment. Seller can just send the mail to any pos box. No need to queue. Buyer may dispute stating that the item is not received. Thus, I never send anything unregistered.

Pos Daftar and Pos Laju: Item are registered thus recipient acknowledgement is required but seller has to queue at pos office during office hour something that nobody likes to do.

Courier Services: Drop in (cheaper) at telcon&post branches or MBE Branches. Or courier companies can pick up the goods from you (additional charges applies)

International Postal Services

US First Class Mail Services and Other countries normal postal services:

No acknowledgement but very cheap around USD5+. Buyer may dispute that the item is not received, thus some seller preferred to send item as registered mail. (Starting at USD14+). Most seller practices discretion on certain buyer and certain country by looking at your ebay point and their past experience. So far, first class mail is still ok for me.  If the package is lost there is no way for you to check it. Sometimes, the package arrived faster than EMS for oversea shipment. If you start losing package especially in residential area, then it is time to stop using normal mail. Sometimes, the seller gives you a tracking no LC 123456789 US. That number is not tracking when the package goes out of USA.

Registered Mail:

Slightly more expensive starts at USD14+, $7 pound etc. For normal register mail, the seller will email you a register number. When the package reached KLIA, the registration number will be changed to local number.

E.g. RJ5422 XXXX X GB (From UK) will be changed to RF10408 XXXX MY

Sometimes, when you call 1-300-300-300 and give them the number RJ5422 XXXX X GB, they will not be able to find it for you. You need to call KLIA pos center, they will give you the converted local registration number RF10408 XXXX MY and you can track it from there.

Once the system show item is delivered, ebay and paypal will consider the case is closed unless the buyer dispute something else like fake goods, received less item etc.

EMS/Pos Laju and other express mail services:

More expensive and a common tracking number is given to you e.g.  EG XXXXXXXX US. You can call 1-300-300-300 to ask the status of the shipment or track it online at USPS and other country website. Normally, most packages are sent via EMS.

Lack of communication

Most of the problems are due to lack of communication, first you need to track the package online at various website. If you still don’t get the goods then

a)      Goods may be withheld at custom checkpoint. Thus, you get a pos laju love letter requesting you to clear the goods at KLIA or ask pos Malaysia to clear for you.

b)      Nobody at home when the pos-man arrived. If you didn’t get your goods, just call 1-300-300-300 until you get some definite answer. Sometimes for registered mail, no card etc left to you informing you to collect the letter from pos office. Happen to my buyer a few times.

c)      If the package is insured then you need to collect it yourself at pos Malaysia branch. However, there is no letter or mail asking you to collect it from the branch. Thus, you just call 1-300-300-300, they will tell you the shipment is withheld at which pos office and you go to that pos office ask the officer there. Make sure you give them both local and foreign tracking number in the case of registered mail. Sometimes, it takes them one hour to find it.

Complicated case. This one PHD (permanent Head Damage) in postal services

a)      Item with-held in custom, you ask pos Malaysia to clear the item for you. Pay the taxes. This one no refund one.

b)      Got the item. Item is not as described or lesser in quantity or inferior in value. Do a pay pal dispute.

c)      Paypal requested you to resent back the item to seller.

d)     Sending back item was not properly handled by you and Pos services. Relevant declaration RMA forms are not filled or missing.

e)      Oversea custom tahan your shipments.

f)       Seller gone missing, address is non existences.

g)      Or seller replaces the product then sends it back to you. Custom tahan again.

Generally, you need to tell custom and show them the proof that you already paid the taxes and now it is just sending the faulty item for replacement.

At the mean time, $ and time spend in handling all these. Susah lah. If it is like this, don’t buy from that seller again lor.

Go and visit lowyat forum look for keyword kastam or poslaju etc, lot of information are available there. Some buyers brought original DVD and ended up in various jabatan for sensorship reason.

Action PLAN

Most of it can be told by postal officer working in various pos office. Yet, not many of them shared their knowledge to the public. Well, what R U waiting for, look at the picture below

And don’t be a POSTAL CHICKEN and start buying things online.

Postal Services. Seller Guide.

Week 19. 2 Postal Services. Seller Guide.

First never post anything before full payment. Buyer can always buy from another seller and there will always be some seller who willing to sell to them in the future. There is little or virtually no effective way to penalize the buyer.  Since the margin is super thin, you only need one small default and there goes all your yearly profit. However, on the other hand, it‘s very easy to shut down a seller business if there is fraud. For seller reputation is important. It only takes 1-2 fraud cases to be known in some forum, blog etc then your business is as good as dead.

Before you post anything to your customer,

1.      Double check the buyer’s address using wikimapia.org, sometimes the address is non-existence. Happen to me once.

2.      Triple check the quantity you sent. Nothing more nothing less. Any extra oz is sent cost you at least USD40+/oz at current market price on 8^th June 2011. Any lesser amount, the buyer may think that you are dishonest.

3.      For multiple shipments, just make sure you pack the right stuff for the right buyer. Write down the address on the envelope in addition to the courier form. In that way, the courier people won’t get it wrong.

4.      For large shipment, better split the shipment to 2.5kg each so you can reduce the risk. Once the 1^st shipment received, ship the following shipment.

5.      Keep some of the old package boxes you need them for packing goods for your customer. Bear in mind that postal services is not a making $ business for the seller. Most of the time, packaging is subsidized by the seller.

6.      Send them via SMS or email the tracking no once you have send out the item.

7.      Check the online tracking on the fifth day after you have sent the item just to ensure that the goods are successfully delivered.

Better use private courier services rather than normal Postal service because

a)      If you make a complaint and forward all your evidence to any online forum you can do a lot of damage to them. Since courier is one of their core business, it‘s going to reduce their sales significantly. Thus, they will make sure no item is lost and no complaint on delivery. But if you choose a government owned courier then it’s a bit difficult, even though no profit and bad services the company is still there to provide service. Business is not affected at all. If something goes wrong with your package, they will ding dong you here and there. In the end, you just accept it-lah and bear the losses lor. Big pain for you no pain for them.

b)      So far I never hear of any item went missing for private courier services but for traditional courier one I hear lot of stories-lah. Please bear in mind, on and off there may be some late delivery services.

Courier Services

1.      Citylink pre-paid pack. RM15/- per 3kg, RM20/- per 10kg (West Malaysia), RM25/- per 2.5 kg (West Malaysia to East Malaysia). Available at all MBE offices. www.mbe.com.my

2.      Kangaroo Courier Services. Available at many telco&post branches. www.telconpost.com

These two are among the cheapest one. You can engage other courier services but from my experience buyer is unlikely to pay for these services.

Best is always COD, no risk for me and my buyer. Thus, I always give good discount for COD especially those that come and self-collect their goods with me. There are some other issues (unwritten rules) involved in postal services. Due to thief reason, it is not written here. Well, if you do happen to COD with me, just pop that question, I will tell you about it.

Jual Emas harga Tinggi. Beli Emas Harga Rendah

Week 19. 1 Jual Emas harga Tinggi. Beli Emas Harga Rendah

Dulu masa saya buat pajak emas, ada satu makcik tanya ar-Rahnu dia nak jual bukan nak pajak. Muka dia Nampak kasihan, tapi apa boleh buat, Ar-rahnu hanya pajak saja. Tak ada beli punya.

Ada juga I dengar kes di mana barang sudah dilelong dan nama anda ada di dalam system computer tertentu di mana pada masa depan, bila anda nak minta loan apa2. Susah nak dapat kalau tak tebus emas anda kat Ar-rahnu. Tapi ini I tak dapat confirm. You orang pandai2 lah cari info dan confirmation kat forum2 di Internet.

Ada jugak I dengar susah nak mencuba nasib untuk beli emas lelong kat Argo Bank dan Bank Rakyat. Jadi macam mana masalah ini dapat diselesaikan supaya pemajak/penjual dapat menjual pada harga yang tinggi dan pembeli dapat membeli dengan harga terendah. Jadi, kita perlu satukan pembeli dan penjual dengan Internet.

Penjual/Pemajak Emas

1.  Ambil gambar barang emas. Cantik2 . kalau muka cantik boleh buat sedikit solehkan, pakai barang kemas tersebut, jadi model sendiri sementara, suruh member2 ambil gambar. Kalau gambar cun macam ini

Saya ingat dan pasti harga bidaan mesti tinggi melampau.

2          Sebab U perlu $, pergi pajak kat Ar-Rahnu, dekat2 cukuplah tu. Dapat kan duit dulu tapi bila U taruh kat Bank Rakyat, dia orang charge minimum 1/2 bulan upah simpan + campur petrol , toll etc. = 1% lah. Kalau tinggal berjauhan kat hutan pendalaman, jual saja lah. Untung pun tak cukup petrol.

3          Scan receipt Ar-Rahnu ke dalam komputer. Keluarkan maklumat No kad pengenalan

4          You pergi cuba nasib jual2 kat ebay.com.my, lelong.com.my

Saya sarankan anda supaya taruh kat ebay.com.my dulu lah, tiada yuran buat masa ini. Ingat kat ebay.com.my bukan kat ebay.com. Ebay.com itu kena commission tinggi, tak berbaloi buat masa ini. Anda bolehlah taruh dan ceritakan kisah2 benar anda yang pahit (yang manis jangan taruh). Nanti orang bid tinggi2 kasi sama U. Bagi tau barang itu ada kat Ar-Rahnu, jadi orang confident bukan barang curi dan palsu. COD kat Ar-rahnu. So tak ada masalah lah.  Sebab ada security guard bersenapang, ada GK-300 untuk test ketulenan emas, Bank Rakyat boleh lapor polis jika ada pajak barang curi.

5. You boleh taruh auction 7 hari dengan hari permulaan RM140 (harga belian supplier emas terpakai) ataupun buy it now RM150/gram (harga spot emas) pun boleh.

6. Tengok siapa menang, contact email / hp lepas itu. Teman makCik, Nenek, Abang, Adik dan harap2 dinda cantik COD kat Ar-Rahnu.

Tapi, U jangan lah tamak sangat, nanti hilang segala rezeki. Sungguhpun emas itu U pakai 30 tahun, orang memang tak kisahlah tak mau tahu sejarah anda, orang mau harga murah saja. Itu barang agak2 berapa harga, orang tau punya. Kalau tak tahu IT dan komputer, susahlah sikit, suruh kawan2 ataupun saudara-mara tolong ambil gambil, scan resit taruh dalam komputer dan Internet. Memang susah nak suruh saudara pinjam duit kan, jadi pinjamkan sedikit masa untuk anda adalah satu permintaan yang manasabah.

Pembeli

1.      Kalau anda adalah pelabur, tiada masalah emas calar, kotor etc. Sebab akhirnya emas itu akan dileburkan juga. Anda Cuma nak dapatkan rezeki perbezaan harga sahaja.

2.      Kalau anda adalah pengguna emas, beli untuk sendiri, adik kakak. Sebelum U tolong tebus, tengok emas itu betul2. Tak kan lah U nak pakai emas cacat jadi U kena check ada calar ker dan lain lain.

Adakalanya cincin emas mungkin tak muat jari anda, gelang emas mungkin tak muat tangan anda. Ini susah sikit.

3.      You kena tulis satu surat, suruh penjual sign nombor kad pengenalan dan Nama penuh. Surat ini mengatakan yang Penjual telah menjual barang kemas itu kepada pembeli. Di tandatangani oleh kedua2 pihak.

4.      Semua resit asal emas itu patut diberikan kepada pemilik baru tersebut.

5.      Selesai.

Tak payah lah nangis2 lagi kat ar-rahnu atau kat kedai pajak. Kalau puas hati, bagi feedback +ve kat ebay.com.my dan you pun dapat feedback +ve jugak. Bila you buat beberapa puluh kali dapat kumpul banyak point, you ada reputasi kat Internet, jadi orang pun percaya sama U.  Kalau tak puas hati, lepaskan feedback buruk kat ebay lah. Nanti, orang tak ada caya sama U. You tak payah buat business lagi.

Tetapi ini semua hanya satu cadangan sahaja, mungkin berjaya mungkin tidak. Tengok nasib anda. Tiada siapa yang akan tau. Belum cuba belum tahu. Perjalanan seribu batu bermula dengan langkah pertama. Bila ramai orang buat ini macam, senang lah. Ia akan jadi satu budayalah sehingga institusi2 bagi upah simpan lebih rendahlah. Hihi haha. Don’t wori ada pembeli punya yang sedia menunggu barang cantik dengan harga murah.

Artikel ini tak ada copy-right, you kasi sembarlah ramai2. Tolong orang saja.

Nanti I pikir idea baru dan bagi nasihat lagi di artikel masa depan.

Let have a freer market for gold. This article was written in Malay because most of the pawner I seen is Malay and these enable them to get a better pricing for their product. This article is published earlier as I have something important on Monday.