Shipment to Mexico on it's way

I made my first shipment to Mexico yesterday, right from the post office. I filled out the paperwork required and there should be no problems. I have not sent anything to Mexico for a long time since at times, things do not seem to make it to the final destination....I wonder why??.
I sent some skirts to my mom and to my sister-in-law. I was told by the post office that the shipment should be received between 10 and 14 days. Right now I just have to wait and see if everything goes well..

In the meantime, I'll continue to work on my website: www.amilcarherrera.com A have added a few things recently...andI have completed the 1st phase of my other website: www.greathomes.info

I'll continue to work on liquidating the inventory that we have on the clothing business using several avenues....and we'll see how things go from there.

News (8/17/06): Sorry, I have not been able to post the results from the shipment I made to Mexico. The skirts arrived ok. (the box was still closed and sealed with the registered marks from the US Post Office). Yes, I used the USPS and I registered the mail. (I saved about $60 USD or more on shipping when comparing to UPS, DHL or Fed Ex...) The 2 forms that I used were PS form 2976 (Customs Declaration form) and PS form 3806 (form to register mail). I sent an invoice to Mexico using Paypal and I received the payment ok as well.

www.amilcarherrera.com

I am finally working on my next website (www.amilcarherrera.com) and I have added a couple of things, one of them being:


I'll keep adding information as I go...

I'll use this site for information purposes and see what works and what doesn't...

Liquidation to start next week!!

We'll start liquidating everything that we purchased for the clothing business, starting June 19, 2006. We'll liquidate clothes, hangers and fixtures (we'll keep one of these, they are great). We might keep the cash register for a while or we might decide to sell it later....we'll see.

We'll open next time combining it with a typical garage sale (used) items.

Whatever that does not sell, we'll continue selling it online on larger lots and or we'll export it to Mexico. (This would most likely happen late August / sometime in September) but we'll see..

If you are interested on buying a larger than usual lot of clothes, please contact me. Check out the store so you could have an idea on what we have.

Ten Diez Marketing

I am finally working on this new company (Ten Diez Marketing) that I had formed a few months ago. I am trying to create small websites for people that are trying to sell their homes on their own (FSBO). By having a personalized website, people can look at your property shown in a professional but personalized way. This is my first website created for this business: www.6939islanddrs.info

A lot of people look on the web for homes or they are curious about additional features in homes that they are looking at. A website would provide additional information to potential buyers so they can make a better decision.

I am offering this service at a very affordable rate....so I can get people excited and we'll see what happens...

If you are interested on this service, please e-mail me for a quote.

Exporting to Mexico

I am currently doing the research to export to Mexico. There are some key steps to follow to ship items at a reasonable cost. The best way to send merchandise (so far according to my research) is by using the USPS and filling out the customs forms. Would the items arrive to Mexico and safe? how long would the shipment take to arrive? Well...I'll be trying that out within the next 2 weeks....and we'll go from there. If everything works well, I'll start listing items in Mercado Libre in sets of 2 so the final customer saves on the total shipping cost. (I calculate that to be between $ 16 and $20 USD per shipment - if under 4 lbs). We'll see what happens from there.

Things are selling!!

70% of the items that I have listed on eBay have sold. This is very good news. I have just listed a few more things and I'll keep watching. I am selling all items at a very good price for the customer so my profits are gone (if any was left there).

Check out our latest listing go: Here

I am happy to announce that I have made 1 contact that might be interested on a business deal. We'll see what happens. No details will be disclosed here...sorry.

At this point, I'll continue to sell on eBay and I am looking at registering at Mercado Libre (eBay in Mexico) so I can export some of the items (I speak the language!! so that's a plus). I'll try that out and go from there...later on I might try selling something else but 1 step at a time...

Still trying different things out...

I have posted now a few things on eBay and I guess I found out that by using the Reserve Price feature, you end up paying an extra $ 1.00 in fees.... so you either start with a very low bid or start with a higher starting bid..what would be best? I guess it depends on the product you want to sell but in my case, it is not worth using the Reserve Price Feature....unless I was trying to sell something that was over $100 USD...which a have a few of those but we'll see....

At this point and after I receive more positive feedback, I'll be listing more items (I would like to list 2 to 3 items 3 to 4 days a week or so - depending on how fast I can get on listing items using eBay's Turbo Lister).

Why are people taking so long to send their feedback? Some of them already received their items...oh well....it's just going to take me longer to BUILD that GOOD OLD reputation....

DKNY & YOUNIQUE Jeans

I just listed last night 2 pairs of Jeans using the eBay Turbo Lister application. I liked using it but it crashed on me 2 times and the information that I had typed was gone. I guess I needed to do some updates. Once the updates were completed and my account information was filled in, everything worked fine.

At the end of the "learning curve" I think this software is very useful since you can make changes or create new templates in a hurry. After that, you can use them quite fast....I still do not know if things sell better with little information about the items being sold or if you mention a lot of the details...I would prefer details but everyone is different....Let me know which way to like it...

FUN trying THIS and THAT....

Well,... we had a good day last Friday May 5, 2006 - we had a couple of people that we know stop by and they purchased a few items from our Store. Plus they put 1 skirt aside for later this week. (After PAY DAY). We basically sold (bids in place) on the pairs of jeans that were listed on Ebay. Tonight, I'll list another pair of Lucky Brand Jeans that we have, I'll make a few changes to the eBay template that I have for those type of Jeans and I might list a skirt or a pair of shorts....and we'll go from there...

Brand Name Selling Online

We are starting to list some items Online (in eBay) and we have a link in our Store too.

Check it out...and let me know what you think. I still need to refine my listings...

Jeans Listed!!

I listed last night 1 pair of Lucky Brand Jeans on eBay. We'll see how that goes. Tonight, I'll list another pair. This other pair is of different size....

One toy that is HOT right now is the Tamagotchi....

2nd set SOLD!

I just sold in eBay my second set of CDs. They sold for $8.51 + shipping of $4.50. I have not received the payment yet but as soon as I receive it, I'll ship these Cds.

Tonight I'll be listing at least 1 pair of Lucky Brand Jeans- Easy Rider style that came in one of the lots of clothes that we had purchased. If I can, I might list 1 skirt too but we'll see....and we'll go from there....

In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy life as much as I can.....Worrying about things do not add 1 minute of happiness... Read Matthew 6:19 through 34 and I Peter 5:6 through 8

SOLD!!

My first set of 18 Used Cds was SOLD last night on Ebay for $11.50 plus shipping of $4.50 for the set (a lot more than what I was expecting but I guess you never know how is watching the auction in the last few minutes).

Since this person wanted to arrange to meet somewhere for pick up (since he is in the area), I have made a discount for him but I am waiting for his confirmation to make sure he is ok with that. I am not sure if he is expecting that fee to be completely gone becuase of the shipping not being made..(But I would still have to drive somewhere to deliver these Cds....) We'll see what happens in the next 1 or 2 days.

To my surprise I also received 2 Second Offers and since I did not know what that meant,I had to read about that last night. This "Second Offer" opportunity is used in case the winning bidder does not pay, then you could contact the person offering the second offer to see if they are interested in purchasing the item being offered...

In regards to the Second set of 18 Used Cds that I have listed in Ebay, there are no bids in it but "1 person is watching" ....does it mean anything? Not really but we'll see in about 25 hours from now...

Taking it easy and slowly...

We are changing our attitude:
1. God is first on everything
2. We will continue to pray
3. We will be taking things slow
4. We will have patience
5. We will not panic
6. We will understand that takes time to build a good customer base and have sales
7. Everything takes time to build....

I have been taking some advise from my DAD and my cousin Victor and they both suggest the same (have patience...). I was just to eager to offer customers a great deal and wishing a flood of people to stop by and make a purchase.....but I have been reminded of 2 things, TIME and PATIENCE...but 1st of all, GOD, our Creator and my Savior....

More online

This weekend was not as good as what we had expected (This type of business typically takes time to build - 6 to 12 months or more for a conventional brick and mortar store and we just cannot invest any more money into it). We were told by several customers that they would come back. We'll see.... In the meantime, I'll be working on listing items on ebay - starting next weekend and after I had received some feedback....

I'll like to start with an Ebay store to have more visibility but we'll see...

Selling on-line

I posted on ebay last night 1 set of Used CD's (18 Used Cd's) and I went really low for the set and they're basically purchased already but I still have to wait for the auction to finish next week. This weekend I am posting another set of Used CD's (another set of 18 Used CD's) and I'll be adding some Lucky Brand Jeans and maybe some other things and see how things go from there....

We're doing more

We'll start selling some items on ebay too, little by little - just to add another way of selling our items....and we'll see where everything goes from there.....I have only purchased 1 thing from ebay so far (earlier this year) so this would be a new experience for me too...(I know, it's kinda late in the game....)

Updated!!

Our website was updated, that new page was printed and displayed at the Store and it includes a Special on Skirts due to the Freeland Walleye Festival - we expect more people to come today and to buy....and I keep praying..

Looking better and better

The weather is getting better, we are getting more people into the Store now and we are also getting more buying customers....and I keep praying...

Moving slower than expected

Things are moving slower than expected in our first few days (but we've had some sales) and this is a BIG WEEKEND (Freeland Walleye Festival)...so our hopes are up and we keep praying. I know I said I was going to wait to the end of the 1st week before I post anything again but I just could not wait... I have also made some additional changes to the website www.bncoutlet.com