Why should I
trust you as just an individual on the Net?
I quite agree, I
wouldn't do it. Or at least I
would not have done a few years back. This year a Thai
friend of mine wanted some parts for a Lambretta scooter
he was re building and I got him some parts over the net
from a man in the
UK. They
arrived and all was fine, but the only way I could deal
with the guy was to give him directly my credit card
details that worried me a lot but all was fine. The
worst one's that I have heard of are the big ones
though, the Amazons and the like as there you are just
another punter and every email is dealt with by another
person or, worse still, just a computer. Those I really
hate. Check out my order page on
http//www.jadeisus.com/jade-pay.htm You don't send
me the details of your card I don't want them at all.
You deal direct with the credit card company or a secure
server.
I started
trading this way over three years ago now. At first
dealing on E-bay my stock then was all at around the
$50.00 USD mark because I was convinced that nobody
would be crazy enough to send me any more than that over
the Internet. Then on one of my trips to Far East I came
across a really beautiful bangle; it was expensive but
it was really beautiful, so after much umming and arring
it was mine. I wanted it as a show-piece, not even
thinking that would ever sell it. In fact I was
convinced I would have it forever. But it was so nice I
didn't mind that at all.
To my great
surprise when I advertised it on E-bay it sold very
quickly and the man that bought it has since spent over
$40,000.00 USD with me over the past three years. All
the things he has bought from me are for his wife - he
must love her very much indeed. This changed my whole
outlook about dealing on the web from my side. I find
that I can trust the customers that come to my site. By
the way the URL is http//www.jadeisus.com For my first
25 years in business I was selling parts for motor cars
in Liverpool, England and trusting 95% of the customers
was a big no-no. But that's not the case on the net; I
find with my jade that the sort of people who are
interested in it are most trustworthy indeed. You can
have a look at the people that have written to me
telling me how happy they have been with the product and
service on
http//www.jadeisus.com/jade-jewelry-CS.htm
But this
above is just exercising my fingers. In fact I may well
add it to one of my pages, maybe the FAQ page. The real
reason you can trust me is that you don't have to,
because if you buy something from my site you have to
pay by credit card so your transaction is not with me at
all, in law - your law in the States. I am just the
shipping agent, the deal is done with the credit card
company. If there is anything wrong you just write to
them and they simple credit your account, then deduct
the cash from mine. You can check out what I say here
locally by asking the manager at any of your local
stores whom you know accept credit card transactions.
Your item can
be sent from me by EMS with an Airway Bill number that
can be traced on the net once it reaches the States for
details. Check out
http//www.jadeisus.com/jade-jewelry-PS.htm
I hope this
is of help to you. There is only me here so you deal
with just me; I think that is a major selling or plus
point, not a minus.
Why is your
check out procedure so naff?
That part of
the site I had set up by a web-site professional, who at
first advised that the way I should go is by way of the
shopping cart. You see this sort of check out on the net
frequently and it works fine. However it is only any
good for a site that has a set range of product i.e.,
someone selling Rolex watches or similar where they have
a range of maybe100 items, a set range that is not going
to alter every week or even month by month. The
advertisement for the item will cover one or one hundred
of exactly the same item. I hope you see what I mean
here.
With my
products, every item is individual. There are now
thousands of them, the range will get bigger as time
goes on and it should not be long before there are tens
of thousands of one-off items. The advantage for the
customer is he or she get the very best choice before
making their decision from many unique items. The
disadvantage is that the customer has to read the site
plus thinking about what they are doing.
If you can
imagine, when I announce that I am going away on a
buying trip I get a fair few emails asking me for
particular items, and then I get emails asking when they
are going to be on line, like how long, can you put mine
up first etc,. This being the case I have to in many
cases sacrifice quality of the ad. and photograph for
speed. I am with you here, leaning towards quality and
they will just have to be patient. This I am doing to
improve the quality of the products I buy, concentrating
now buying up-market products. I have been doing this
really for about two years now.
With the
amount of photos for a particular item, it's the same
thing really but apart from that you have to bear in
mind the downloading time from the net, especially when
considering putting up large pictures. Large photos are
really great for seeing the detail, especially on the
carvings but they are of little use if people never see
them at all because they are too impatient to wait for
downloading.
The points
you make are really good and many thanks for making
them. I do hope that in my explanation I have at least
let you know my thinking as to why my site is like it
is, at least for the time being. Don't get me wrong; I
wish I could make it as you suggest. I agree it would,
for sure, be better if I did but if I accept all your
recommendations at this time it would take me in the
region of three months to put up one buying trip’s worth
of products instead of three weeks. Therefore there
would be fewer new product.
That's the
long and the short of it really.
Why do you
live in Thailand, as this leads to possible mistrust of
people in one of the main Internet buying areas like the
USA?
The answer that I give to my young daughter in the UK
who lives with my estranged wife, Joan, is this. I live
in Thailand because it is strategically based in between
China
and elsewhere, cutting down travel expenses a great
deal. Therefore it allows me to sell my products at a
greatly reduced prices giving me a huge advantage over
my competitors in the USA. This is true. However there
is always a but or a however; that's not the whole
reason.
My main
reason apart from the wonderful life I have here due to
the relatively low cost of living, is I love the place.
I love the lifestyle, I love the country, I love the
people, I love the climate and as a web man I can work
from anywhere in the word providing I can get an
Internet connection. So where would you live? In a
grotty little apartment in a suburb of Liverpool,
England, or a wonderful bungalow in the beautiful
countryside of Thailand, with a swimming pool 60yds,
away in tropical temperatures all year round, costing
the same amount of cash. Perhaps selfish, but please
tell me if you would not do the same after you have been
ejected from the very nice house you bought in one of
the nicest areas of Liverpool.
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