# Do not start a business here!!!



## whisperingeagle (Mar 10, 2008)

I tried many different businesses and after spending money that I did not really have and earning nothing, I decided to try to live on the actual money that I get even though I wish it were more.

I tried the following with no success:

1) Ebay
2) Storesonline
3) SMC
4) ecrater.com

I spent money on getting websites that are not selling anything, and feel like a total idiot. I think I knew better but at the time thought it might work. Well I have learned a lesson that being trust no one, and never try to sell anything online........


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## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

whisperingeagle said:


> I tried many different businesses and after spending money that I did not really have and earning nothing, I decided to try to live on the actual money that I get even though I wish it were more.
> 
> I tried the following with no success:
> 
> ...


Well, I don't know if I would go that far. I personally wouldn't spend money to start making money online other than maybe for hosting & some advertising costs. I certainly wouldn't trust any business that asked me to pay money to sell their products for them. Even though I'm sure there are a select few who have prospered with those programs.


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## foxtrapper (Dec 23, 2003)

whisperingeagle said:


> Well I have learned a lesson that being trust no one, and never try to sell anything online........


Sorry to hear you've taught yourself that lesson. It's going to make your life painful, lonely and unproductive.


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

I advise all my new hosting customers, 

"The days of the dot com millionaires are over. If you work your site, invest in the time to make your site successful, and promote, promote, promote, you can actually make a living but you will not become rich"

I had one customer who had a brick and mortar store, the store was in trouble and he wanted his online store to bail him out. I gave him the speech but he didn't listen. It was then my fault that his online store failed. NOT

I've been doing this a long time. I've seen people make money and then I've seen people loose money.

Selling a product is hard on the Internet. For example.....

If you sell widgets. You have to price your widget at the same or nearly the same as all of your competitors. Think that people are looking for widgets and the next 'store' is just one click away. If they had to get in their car and drive to compare prices, then you could actually charge more for your widget but since the comparison is one click away you can't. You have to make it up by volume not by pricing the object. Make less on an item but sell more of those items.

One of items that are handmade are a bit easier to sell but... Still most people don't take into account the price of their time producing their product and grossly undersell it working more hours for less money. Getting the balance of value for the customer and fair price for you is the trick.

The lesson "don't trust anyone" is a hard lesson to learn but not everyone is out to screw you. I think the vast majority of people are honest and want to do the right thing but in the days of the Internet, you don't meet your customers face to face so it is very difficult to really know who your customers are.

For what it's worth


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

whisperingeagle said:


> I tried many different businesses and after spending money that I did not really have and earning nothing, I decided to try to live on the actual money that I get even though I wish it were more.
> 
> I tried the following with no success:
> 
> ...



I'm a PowerSeller on eBay. I also have a free-standing web store via CRELoaded (free).
I'm not getting rich, but I _am_ providing a significant portion of our monthly income... :shrug:

I'm sorry you've had trouble, but it wasn't the selling online that was the problem. Lots of us are doing it with some level of success everyday...


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

As usual, I am with Erin on her thoughts.

I am not getting rich, but have been able to keep the wolves away from the door with sales on ebay. I would do even better if I had the time and energy to list more items.

We have a local indoor flea market, and every week, I run into someone that swears that you *cannot* make any money selling there. I find that it is usually one of three things that they are doing wrong:

1. Merchandise that does not appeal to any buyer. 
2. Overpriced items.
3. Poor presentation of items.

While we are not getting rich at the FM either, I have been there for 4 years straight, and only lost money 2 months. Wanna guess whose fault it was? (Hint: Look at #1, #2 and #3.)

Clove


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

And I'm going to guess it took more than a few months to get to that point, clovis. 

In my case, the first few months I only made a couple hundred bucks. All of which were immediately plugged right back into more inventory. Slowly, but steadily, I started growing. 
But even now, I only profit about 25% of my gross...


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## OJ Rallye (Aug 4, 2005)

whisperingeagle said:


> I tried the following with no success:
> 
> 1) Ebay
> 2) Storesonline
> ...


1) ebay is an auction Like any auction there are fees. If you sold and didn't get paid, you shouldn't have delivered.

2) Storesonline....I googled this and found many complaints. I think we went to one of their free lunch sales pitches and saw it for what it likely is. We were surprised at how many there got out their checkbooks.

3) SMC....I've seen their infomercials. I can't believe many peoplke are gullible enough to believe what I saw and heard.

4) ecrater.com....I googled this and it appears to be website to sell stuff. I didn't look into their fees.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

ErinP said:


> And I'm going to guess it took more than a few months to get to that point, clovis.
> 
> In my case, the first few months I only made a couple hundred bucks. All of which were immediately plugged right back into more inventory. Slowly, but steadily, I started growing.
> But even now, I only profit about 25% of my gross...


You are right Erin.

My ebay really started as a fluke.

I saw an item listed on ebay, just by chance, and the seller was selling every one he listed. I had access to the same item, and started listing them.

I thought it was cool that I was putting $20 in profit in my pocket every week. I did that for over a year, and then started adding similar products. 

That was 4 years ago. I was doing very well, nearly every day was $100 in sales per day, until the economy slowed. Sales are waaaay down now.

Clove


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