Blog

What I get

 

Well, wow I just had the delight of losing my original blog post. I went to “save” it in the browser and it did no such thing. I should have written the damn thing in a text editor like I am now. What continues is a emulation of my original post:

 

 

I was talking about Friday when I finally got my seller’s permit! I started applying to distributors and I already got accepted by one!

 

 

MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) is my new favorite term! Some manufacturers enforce a MAP and you have to sell your product at or above that price and that can mean nice margins for the merchant (me!).

 

 

I also worked on my ecommerce site. I had thought that Magento was going to work out when I found that there was a free extension that synced your store with eBay and Amazon, but the extension needs more memory than my shared server has. I am not about to spend more on hosting either. I therefore turned to X-cart and was promptly disappointed. I was stuck in a loop trying to at least activate the free version to update the software. It kept prompting my to purchase a premium key, and I am not about to spend $500+ just to see how the program looks updated.

 

 

I have since installed Opencart, but I am seeing some issues here too. This platform seems nice, but I cannot find any way to input either shipping or payment info. I think that you can only do that with paid (?) extensions. Sigh, I have yet to find something that really works for me, but I am hopeful!

 

Waiting on others

Well, starting up a business is exciting, but frustrating when you are just stuck at points waiting for things to happen.  Namely, waiting for several packages to be delivered.  I have time to look at credit card processing, riveting!  Host Management Services looks nice because they have a different transaction pricing model and it seems less than other options.  Hopefully I can use Quantum Gateway with them as it is free (I believe) and I know X-cart supports Quantum Gateway.  It was vexing to find I needed a merchant account to even apply for a resale permit but I find the eastern ideas of moving with an inexorable tide of water to fit well with bureaucracy.

Update

Well, I lucked out on eBay today.  Less than an hour after I posted my old N64, it sold!  I like the quick sellers.  Now, I have more room, more money, and more incentive to continue with eBay!

Keeping things going

I got my application in for business checking at my credit union.  I was checking around at so many different banks and encountered “free” checking accounts with a lot of annoying fees and limited transactions.  My Credit Union, First Tech had business checking for $6/month with no other fees of any kind.  Plus the fee is waived if you constantly keep the balance over $1000.  Now I can work on my sites!

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Well, a few days after making the site, I’m already switching domains.  I just can’t take the long URL for www.matthewlombaerde.com.  I think that www.mrl1.com is short enough, but I really did want mrl.com.  There isn’t anything even at mrl.com!  1st world problems definitely :)