Warning! Do Not Ship via USPS!

If you value the item you are shipping do not ship it via the United States Postal Service! Speaking as a business owner that ships worldwide let me warn you of the USPS trap. In the past two years the United States Postal Service has attempted to step up it's image. They have lost a great deal of business to United Postal Service UPS, and in an attempt to reclaim that lost business they have offered free shipping supplies, very cheap shipping prices, and online services from printing shipping labels to stamps. I fell for it. I paid a hefty price for that choice.
Three packages lost in four months. Merchandise totaling $650.00 is now gone. Three potential repeat customers are now buying elsewhere. The first two packages were sent surface shipment. I was lucky that I had insurance on those two items, although 5 months later, and I still have not received any money back. The last one ( I will ever send via USPS) was sent Global Priority Mail. A month later the customer contacts me to let me know they had not received the package. I pull up my shipping information, do a track and confirm, and they claim they never had the package presented to them.

I grabbed up all my documentation and went down to my post office, showed them the stamp they had placed on my customs form. They scrambled around in the back office for about five minutes then came out with there standard 1800 number for me to call. By the way, the only way to actually talk to a real person using that number is to speak gibberish into the phone, otherwise they keep looping you back to track and confirm. I had already ben thru this twice, so I went home and called the 1-800 -no- service customer service line. The “customer no service rep” told me I would just have to wait and see if the package came back to me. There was nothing else I could do. Global Priority mail is not a track-able service. Ok, then I need to file a claim. “Sorry sir there isn't a claim service for global priority shipment”. WOW.. If I provided my customers with that kind of service, I would be out of business in a year from all the Better Business Bureau reports.

Well, I can't accept that answer. I decided to contact the Postal Inspectors Office, and the Inspector Generals Office and report theft of my mail. They only investigate mail theft if you think your neighbor is stealing your mail, they do not investigate the United States Post Office. In the USPS attempts of improving their image, they seam to have forgot one important portion. Customers are customers and should always be treated as such.

The next time you buy something on line, and you wonder why the seller is using the more expensive UPS, then remember, they have to uphold a reputable image, and so does UPS, USPS doesn't seam to care what their image is. We want you to receive your item, and we will ship Fed X, or UPS, Never USPS.

Wow! I have been given an award!

Jim Newton the owner of Newton enterprises, Neutron Marketing, and Hot Stuff Leather and Lace has been selected by the National Republican Congressional Committee for the 2006 National Leadership Award for promoting pro business agenda including tax reform and fiscal responsiblity. Plus I will be serving on the Business Advisory Council, and I get an invite to have dinner with President George Bush!

Here is my press release.







Neutron Marketing

103 2nd St. Augusta, Ga. 30901

www.neutronmarketing.com

Phone- 706-722-2415

admin@neutronmarketing.com

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jim Newton

Office: 706-722-2415

Augusta Business Owner Jim Newton given the Congressional 2006 National Leadership Award, and appointed to serve on the Business Advisory Council.

Augusta, Ga. August 1st, 2006- Jim Newton an e-commerce entrepreneur has been asked to serve on the Business Advisory Council for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

The National Republican Congressional Committee had this to say “James Newton has been appointed to serve on the Business Advisory Council (BAC) in recognition of valuable contributions and dedication to the Republican Party. Mr Newton will serve the state of Georgia and is expected to play a crucial role in the Party's efforts to involve top business people in the process of government reform. The National Republican Congressional Committee is dedicated to making sure that small business has a voice in Washington.”

Jim Newton had this to say “ I am honored to be asked to serve on this distinguished council and will do my best to represent small business owners in the state of Georgia, the City of Augusta, and e-commerce marketers everywhere.”

Jim Newton owns Newton Enterprises and is in the e-commerce business and article writer. Newton Enterprises operates several web sites including lingerie and club wear sites www.hotstuffleatherandlace.net, www.hotstuffleatherandlace.com, and a web hosting and information products site www.neutronmarketing.com to name a few.

Mr. Newton publishes his articles in many places. One place you can view his articles at www.ezinearticles.com where he has been a featured author, and won several expert author awards.

Jim Newton is also asking for input from e-commerce marketers and small business owners in his forums at http://www.neutronmarketing.com Jim feels that it is now his obligation to carry as many voices with him as he can.

For further information, contact Jim Newton at jim@neutronmarketing.com.


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Also here is the Certificate of Award, and The press release from the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Shhh I'm going to let you in on a secret. eBay does not always have the best deals on-line. It's true. Many shop at eBay thinking they are getting the best deal around. Are they?

Let's take a look at a basic economy rules. Rule - They higher the overhead, the higher the price of the product. eBay has continued to increase it's prices on merchants. Recently they announced a 500% increase on store listing fees. Although Bill Cobb President of eBay north America claims that the increase will amount to 6%. The actual increase from .02 cents per store listing to .10 cents per store listing for listing prices of $25.00 or more is a 500% increase.

What's the big deal, 8 cents pffftt.. ? I know that doesn't sound like much if you are a buyer. Let's take a look at what it means to a merchant, and then what that really means to a shopper on eBay.

First eBay does not allow options in their listings. If I want to sell a sexy lingerie gown that comes in black, red, and white and sizes small, medium, large, x-large, 1X, 2X, and 3X. I can't do that in one listing and let the buyer pick one. I have to list each size and color in a separate listing. In other words to sell this one item means I have to create 21 listings. That's only $2.10 right? Wrong, I also have a store fee, that fee for a basic store is $15.00 per month. Still not bad, but wait, we still have more fees. If I want a gallery picture so you can see the product before you click it, that's an additional fee of .01 cent. Then, when you buy it, eBay will charge me a final value fee of anywhere from 3 to 10% of the final cost. If the item was sold for $99.00 then that is another 7% or $6.93 add in the Pay Pal fees of another $6.93. Already the have taken more than 50% of my total profit for that one item (remember I have to buy the item too).

Not all my listings are going to sell each month. If I want to offer a large selection then I will have to have many listings that don't sell each month. So, if I have 700 listings and sell $1,000.00 worth of merchandise, I will be lucky to walk away with $100.00 in my pocket for the month. If I sell that well.

The competition on eBay is steep. Most months I am not going to do that well if I am selling something like new clothing. The only way for me to make up for this overhead is to increase the price of my goods.

If I sell on a web site my overhead is much lower. I have a hosting fee, you can get a good sized web site for about $5.00 per month. I don't have listing fees, I can include more information, have a more attractive listing, and sell for LESS.
Why sell on eBay? Because of traffic. I sell more often on eBay than I do on my site because of the traffic eBay pulls in. They pull the traffic because people have the assumption they are getting a better deal on eBay, or that eBay sellers are some how more legitimate. The truth is far from this.

Many of you have already experienced the .01 cent auction only to find out the shipping was outrageous. The seller resorted to making the price up in his shipping tricking you to bid on an item. Granted, there are a lot of honest hard working merchants on eBay, as well as selling on their own web sites.

Here is another eBay trick I do a search on Google or another search engine for hot items, let's say digital camera's I find a great price, maybe 25 to 30% off retail. I copy the picture, copy the information, and put it up on auction for the same price plus 10%, add an additional 5 dollars in the shipping, and start taking bids. If it is a hot item I may sell it at or above retail. I take the order, go back to the site, make the purchase and send have them send it to you. You could have purchased the item at the same price the seller did if you had just done a search and found the web site.

Even Hot Stuff Leather and Lace sells on eBay, although I sell for less at my site, and offer a larger selection. Do yourself a favor before you make your next eBay purchase, do a search and see if you can find it for less. WWW.hotstuffleatherandlace.net sells through Pay-Pal, so you still have the same protection. Plus your credit cards and debit cards have plenty of protection too. To the point where you really no longer have to worry about purchasing on-line any longer. Visit us for the best deal on sexy lingerie and club wear.