|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Hurricane Katrina Donations Could be Many Millions More - eBay Sellers Try in Vain to HelpYesterday I saw a mention in someone's email ezine about a kind person who had an eBay auction with the proceeds going 100% to help victims of the horrible Hurricane Katrina.It struck a chord with me because I had wanted to set up something similar, but found that the “eBay Giving Works” charity program seems to be terribly flawed for us small sellers. I had researched it the day before, eBay goes through Mission Fish to handle the administrative tasks and distribution. Here in a nutshell is how I understand it works. You set up an eBay auction and pledge a percentage of the proceeds to go to a charity. You pick the one you like. If the auction sells, the buyer pays you, and Mission Fish charges your credit card, taking out $3.00 per transaction for their fees, plus 3% to cover credit card fees. That's reasonable, they need to cover their overhead and payroll expenses. Then Mission Fish sends the balance to the charity. The minimum donation per item has to be $10.00. Again, so far so good, I can understand that. Now, I noticed in the auction that I visited that the seller had set up a dutch auction, with 1000 “lots” available, each for $1.00 each, with the proceeds going 100% to her favorite charity that would get food to the Katrina victims. I was about to place a bid for several $1.00 lots (a dutch auction lets you “win” as many of the item as you like, all at the same price). Then it hit me, why couldn't I do the same kind of dutch auction, maybe she had found the way to get around the $10.00 per item restriction, and found that it was a minimum $10.00 per auction. It would only make sense that it would work that way, since Mission Fish charges the seller's credit card, if all 1000 lots sold, that would be $1000 for the charity, Mission Fish would take $3.00 plus 3%, the seller would collect (hopefully) the $1000 from the buyers, and all she would be on the hook for would be the eBay fees. Those fees, plus her hard work, would be her personal contribution. So I went back to eBay and Mission Fish and researched the deal again. I found out that sure enough, in a multiple item auction, Mission Fish requires a $10.00 donation from the seller for EVERY ITEM that sells in a multiple-item auction (dutch auction). So, if the seller had 1000 lots at $1.00 each, and they all sold, Mission Fish would have charged her credit card on file for $10.00 for each lot, a total of $10,000.00! And they would have taken their $3.00 + 3% fee for each of those 1000 lots, more than $3,000.00 for their trouble! At that point, I realized the seller either had deep pockets and was matching contributions 10 to 1, or she misunderstood what would happen to her. I sent her an email, and to end a long story, she indeed misunderstood, was obviously fairly upset at the prospect of paying $10,000, and ended the auction early. Now, I'd like my readers to do one of two things. If you think that eBay and Mission Fish are mishandling the charity program, as I do, please contact one or both and point them to this blog entry, or just write your own letter with your thoughts. You can contact Mission Fish here: http://www.missionfish.org/Help/contactus.jsp eBay is always more difficult to contact, but you can try starting here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/contact_us/_base/index.html The other thing you could do is support the eBay seller's cause, she had to end the auction but she took the trouble to set up a web page for donations, you can access and support it here: http://www.flipidy.com/secondharvest.htm Perhaps with enough pressure on Mission Fish, they'll get together with eBay and allow dutch auctions to be counted as a single donation, instead of multiple individual items, and encourage more charity in the future. For those with homes, families, relatives or friends in the devasted area, my hearts and prayers go out to you. I hope this information will in some small way help someone somewhere. About the author: Dennis Becker is author of a regular blog about different ways of earning money on the Internet, titled appropriately enough "Success On The Internet". You can find it at: http://www.fantastic-ebooks.com/index.php Circulated by Article Emporium Discover The Simple Automatic Way To “Collect” Testimonials From Your Happy Customers! Copyright 2005 Quick Turn Marketing International, Ltd. Dear Friend, Okay, this week we're moving on to "higher education" with Website Conversion 101. It's a practical lesson and so easy to apply you'll wish someone had told you about it sooner. Now, as you al... Things To Consider When Starting Your Own Work At Home Internet Business If you think that starting your own work at home internet business is the answer to your problems; whether it's money, child care, illness or a desire for more free time, then you MUST choose wisely. Too many individuals eagerly leave their paying jobs in orde... Top 10 Reasons WHY RSS Autoresponders Are Becoming A Permission Email Marketers BEST Friend Copyright 2005 The IWE, LLC. All Rights Reserved. IS Permission Email Marketing In Trouble? With the rising concern of Spam Filters/Blockers, Blacklisting, Bounce Backs and CAN-SPAM Act laws, email is sadly becoming a VERY unrealible vehicle to deliver your marketing ... Email Marketing 2005…Do's & Don'ts Copyright 2005 MHG Consulting 1. Make sure all your email recipients are opt in or double opt in. This means that they have subscribed to your ezine, newsletter, report or e-course. 2. Always provide an unsubscribe link 3. Always sign each email with your... Hurricane Katrina Donations Could be Many Millions More - eBay Sellers Try in Vain to Help Yesterday I saw a mention in someone's email ezine about a kind person who had an eBay auction with the proceeds going 100% to help victims of the horrible Hurricane Katrina. It struck a chord with me because I had wanted to set up something similar, but found that the “eB... Skip 1 of These Steps and Say Adios To Your Ebiz Dreams Why do most online small businesses fail? Because they fail to recognize and act upon the profound difference between offline and online commerce. Offline, it's all about "location, location, location." Put your business where people crowd by and you're all set. Get your cash re... The Home Business University That Changed My Life Copyright 2005 Gobala Krishnan During my first 2 years as a struggling home business entrepreneur dreaming of making big money and leading a free lifestyle, I made many mistakes. Some of those mistakes cost me money. Others caused me heartache, and a few almost completely de... How To Choose The Best MLM Leads Copyright 2004 Jeff Schuman What are the characteristics of the Best Mlm Leads? This is a good question to ask before you spend any money buying leads to build your MLM business. Before we get to that let's take a look at why you would want to buy MLM leads in the first plac... Home Based Business; Quick, Easy Money...And Pigs Will Fly Here come those flying pigs! Does it ever end? I've been involved with Internet-based home businesses for some time and I continue to be exposed to a seemingly endless barrage of offers (all costing me money, of course) claiming to be "the secret" for making... The Opt-In Secret Copyright 2004 Adam Waxler The Opt-In Secret Everyone knows that in order to be successful online you need build a large (quality) list through some type of Opt-In offer. You see them now on virtually every site you visit on the internet, some type of form,... DOH! A Home Biz Even Homer Simpson Could Do Everyone likes Homer Simpson, dummy that he is, because let's face it—there is a little Homer in all of us. Have you ever come across a business opportunity you would have liked to try but didn't because you were afraid of your own ineptitude? Well, leave your fears aside fellow Ho... Why wont your advetising work! Hi my name is Terry Cinnamon, and here is an article that i think will help a lot of you out there, who are confused on how to market their product either because your new to marketing on the internet or because the things you have tried havent been working. This atricle s... Self Promotion : It's My Turn I spend a lot of time promoting other peoples' businesses. Today, I am going to get into a little self promotion. What I mean by this is... Rather than spending a bunch of words, going on about how my partners and I can help you in your marketing efforts; which we can do ... Using Your Online Presence to Drive Offline Sales from Your Customer Base and Beyond, Part 2 Copyright 2005 Tom Swanson In the last article in this series, I talked about a few basic ways to drive in-store sales by using your online presence. In this, the last installment of the series on this topic, I'm going to cover some more in-depth strategies to boost sales a... Domain Name Registration and Privacy Copyright 2005 Richard Keir The internet is a wonderful thing, except for a few small details. When you register your first domain name, you get your introduction to one of them. There's a lot of information they want. Your name, your email address, your physical address, ...
|
|
|||||
|
||||||