Managing An E-bay Store From Thailand.

[Smithson]

I don't trust wire transfer directly to my bank account because i have heard about a lot of scams that can be done simply with a fax and my sign (false) sent to my bank. A lot of firms have lost a lot of money worldwide and refunds in the most cases are not paid from banks (they should admit their mistakes).

This sounds very strange, I've never heard of this before. Can you please provide more info.

Have you shipped to Italy many times? I found air mail there to be terribly unreliable.

[bolognamare]

This sounds very strange, I've never heard of this before. Can you please provide more info.

Have you shipped to Italy many times? I found air mail there to be terribly unreliable.

If you want to realize a wire transfer is enough to send a fax to your bank with the beneficiary IBAN, the amount to wire and your sign.

If someone (for example an Ebay customer) has your IBAN and your sign (readable for ex. on your package receipt) and he tries to ask a wire transfer from your bank account to his one he can realize it very simply. Specially if your bank has a new employer or a "friend" of the scammer.

It's the reason to be careful to give IBAN on the web.

A lot of these scams are managed from Nigeria and from other african countries, i'm sure that you have received at least one of the boring nigerian email where an unlucky man need your bank account to wire you few million $ located somewhere, with the only result to see your bank account empty after few hours.

I've never shipped anything from Los to Italy. Actually i work from Italy to Italy (90%) and occasionally worldwide (10%). I'm simply evaluating to start another online business abroad, in Los. Postage are a bit cheaper.

Edited June 28, 2006 by bolognamare

[PattayaXpat]

This is an excellent thread. I'm curious about the legalitys of running an ebay store from here. Dose anyone know what is required as far as company formation, work permit..?

I'm geussing that most people don't bother with this, and if you don't grow too large you may be ok.

[pistonpilot]

Rubbish Rubbish Rubbish!

How does one get to dispense bad information so readily?

I have several PayPal accounts from the USA and one from Thailand in my wife's name. I regularly sign-in to my own accounts, and then to her account, and since I am using TOT Business Gold ADSL, my IP address changes all the time.

My accounts are not frozen, nor will they ever be frozen.

PayPal will freeze assets in an account when they suspect some sort of fraud. Signing in is not tantamount to fraud.

I don't care if you sign in from Cambodia or Thailand. Thailand is a recognized country. I have had telephone conversations with PayPal concerning my account and then my wife's on the same call. No one at PayPal as much as coughed.

Maybe it is because I have had a PayPal account for over 6 years, have pumped thousands of dollars through it and am considered trustworthy.

Enough with the scare tactics and old wive's tales.

Rubbish.

Hi

I am experienced in selling from thailand on ebay & be very careful. Postal costs are ok if you send by International Reg post. Takes about 5 to 7 days but very reliable however not insured!

A lot of sellers on ebay put in there details shipment take up to 14 days from cleared funds.

Main problem u will incounter will not be with ebay so much but paypal. Because u will be signing in from Thailand they will get the IP & suspend u as Thailand is not on there favoured countries lists. You can accept but can only withdraw to a US bank account, do not sign into Paypal from Thailand, call them & they will confirm this fact. Ebay will also suspend saying your account has been hijacked however will reinstate following live help comms. They will ask many security questions so make sure all your details etc are on paper. They may want to call u as well so insure u have a contact number at all times when signing in.

Be very careful as paypal had 13k of my money for 180 days just because they suspected i was a fraudster signing in from Thailand. They do have a facility called auto sweep which clears funds daily to your account, they do not advertise this but it exists simply call them.

Get your ebay & paypal set up at home first, do not list to much in the first three months. Dont list copy stuff, make sure u never change to many details at once, Once you start siging in from Thailand only use one IP address at all times & never sign into paypal from there.

I would also watch out from what country you are selling from as i hear ebay/paypal now submit details to certain bodies once your sales increase. Some sellers assume as you sell outside the UK that the VAT etc is not due, not true its the revenue from sales/income etc that make the Vat etc due. Get an offshore account but make sure Paypal reconise the offshore country u use.

Hope that makes some sence lol.

[pistonpilot]

The answer to bank info fraud is simple. Use one account only for receiving funds by wire - and regularly move the money from that account to an account that you never use for wire purposes.

This sounds very strange, I've never heard of this before. Can you please provide more info.

Have you shipped to Italy many times? I found air mail there to be terribly unreliable.

If you want to realize a wire transfer is enough to send a fax to your bank with the beneficiary IBAN, the amount to wire and your sign.

If someone (for example an Ebay customer) has your IBAN and your sign (readable for ex. on your package receipt) and he tries to ask a wire transfer from your bank account to his one he can realize it very simply. Specially if your bank has a new employer or a "friend" of the scammer.

It's the reason to be careful to give IBAN on the web.

A lot of these scams are managed from Nigeria and from other african countries, i'm sure that you have received at least one of the boring nigerian email where an unlucky man need your bank account to wire you few million $ located somewhere, with the only result to see your bank account empty after few hours.

I've never shipped anything from Los to Italy. Actually i work from Italy to Italy (90%) and occasionally worldwide (10%). I'm simply evaluating to start another online business abroad, in Los. Postage are a bit cheaper.

[bolognamare]

I'm geussing that most people don't bother with this, and if you don't grow too large you may be ok.

I think the same, small business managed privately are usually not seen and without interest for authorities.

Little items (collectibles like stamps, coins, books, cd, t-shirts, dry food, etc...) are ideal items to be sold (of course avoid forbidden items).

A little market research on ebay first to begin (looking middle prices and similar items) and you can start with a little investement (less than 50 USD).

I suggest a little ebay store than single auctions.

For me it's a good second income (unfortunately i cannot manage it from Los because DVD piracy is the standard in Los).

[PattayaXpat]

This is an excellent thread. I'm curious about the legalitys of running an ebay store from here. Dose anyone know what is required as far as company formation, work permit..?

I'm geussing that most people don't bother with this, and if you don't grow too large you may be ok.

I'll go ahead and answer my own question, "Do a search on this subject and all the info is here!"

I was blown away by all the info I found, unfortunately I'm on a dial up in Pattaya and it runs at a snails pace and it made for a long afternoon. I think this business is very doable, especially if you already have Ebay experience.

Thanks Guys!

[ChiangMaiThai]

pistonpilot is simply one of the lucky ones.

If you always sign in from the US and then go sign in from Thailand, it is very likely that they will close the account til you can prove that you are you.

If you always sign in to a US paypal account from overseas, eventually they will likely ask you to prove that your residence is in the US. They will want a utility bill with your name on it fist and foremost. If you don't have that, they will tell you to get a new paypal account in Thailand.

[cnxpat]

How can anyone say it is not worth it? It obviously depends on what you are selling. If its worth 200 baht, no it won't work. If its worth 10 times that, sure it will work.

Yes it will work! the clean income is 30-40%

Is there a serious guy who lives in Thailand interested to try a selling experiment?

Less than 10$ involved.

The item that i want to sell exists only in Thailand (and surroundings).

Post me by PM for details with few lines about you and your background.

By the way, how did your selling experiment go?

[bolognamare]

By the way, how did your selling experiment go?

I suspended it because i haven't found the ideal partner (it's a small business ideal for a lonely expat with little savings and a lot of time).

Anyway i share with you my idea.

Basically the products are natural food products, like little coconuts, dry fruit, tea leaves, flower seeds (just look at the local market to see other stuff) etc...

Cheap and quality products (reachable only in Los) were my target products.

Ebay and Yahoo Small Business (http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com) the ideal instruments (Yahoo is only for americans)

Good luck !!

Edited September 6, 2006 by bolognamare

[pistonpilot]

pistonpilot is simply one of the lucky ones.

If you always sign in from the US and then go sign in from Thailand, it is very likely that they will close the account til you can prove that you are you.

If you always sign in to a US paypal account from overseas, eventually they will likely ask you to prove that your residence is in the US. They will want a utility bill with your name on it fist and foremost. If you don't have that, they will tell you to get a new paypal account in Thailand.

Again, Rubbish. Show me where in the PayPal agreement it states that one must RESIDE in the USA to have a US PayPal account?

I'm not lucky, this is the way it works.

Show me, don't tell me. I want to see a reference to your allegations other than the "old wives tail" that you are perpetuating.

[pistonpilot]

If you concerned about your privacy and wish to appear as if you are logging in from America, sign up for a Secure-Tunnel Account and no one not even your Thai ISP will know what you are doing on the internet.

[Heng]

pistonpilot is simply one of the lucky ones.

If you always sign in from the US and then go sign in from Thailand, it is very likely that they will close the account til you can prove that you are you.

If you always sign in to a US paypal account from overseas, eventually they will likely ask you to prove that your residence is in the US. They will want a utility bill with your name on it fist and foremost. If you don't have that, they will tell you to get a new paypal account in Thailand.

Again, Rubbish. Show me where in the PayPal agreement it states that one must RESIDE in the USA to have a US PayPal account?

I'm not lucky, this is the way it works.

Show me, don't tell me. I want to see a reference to your allegations other than the "old wives tail" that you are perpetuating.

Both ChiangMaiThai and Pistonpilot are both right and wrong. In the old days, before Thailand was an allowed country, logging in from Thailand was a red flag.

"If you always sign in from the US and then go sign in from Thailand, it is very likely that they will close the account til you can prove that you are you." -ChiangMaiThai

^This was sometimes true in the old days, but not now. Logging in from Thailand is no longer a red flag.

"My accounts are not frozen, nor will they ever be frozen. "

"Maybe it is because I have had a PayPal account for over 6 years, have pumped thousands of dollars through it and am considered trustworthy."

PistonPilot

^Well, if Paypal ignored red flags in cases of enthusiastic statements/declarations of faith and confidence in the Paypal system, that'd be true. The truth remains that if you trip enough red flags, they will freeze your account. I don't know if he's still anwering his email directly (I'd assume he's swamped), but there's a Paypal rep that helped me with my frozen case (it was actually cleared up automatically.... but he explained the red flags system to me) years ago: [email protected] BTW, I've put hundreds of thousands through my Paypal account and have been with them since they were X.com. They don't overlook red flags for that. An example red flag at that time (maybe even now) was signing in from one country and then X minutes later signing in in another country. Another would be trying to link a bank account that had a different name than your Paypal account (whether accidentally or on purpose). Things like that.

But yes, I agree that there is a lot of scaremongering going on... I think mostly by folks who were burned in the past (and many of those folks may have been involved in fraud or just didn't follow the rules..... in my experience, many will admit to signing up with bogus information.... which comes back to bite them when Paypal requests for them to fax their info in to unfreeze accounts..... invariably, these folks start to whinge about unfairness and how much Paypal sucks; IMO som nam nar in those cases).

In summary, they are a passable service. But for serious merchants, it's much safer to get a traditional merchant account through a real world bank (with real time, live customer service.... not Paypal call centers in India and Ireland).

Edited September 7, 2006 by Heng

[cnxpat]

By the way, how did your selling experiment go?

I suspended it because i haven't found the ideal partner (it's a small business ideal for a lonely expat with little savings and a lot of time).

Anyway i share with you my idea.

Basically the products are natural food products, like little coconuts, dry fruit, tea leaves, flower seeds (just look at the local market to see other stuff) etc...

Cheap and quality products (reachable only in Los) were my target products.

Ebay and Yahoo Small Business (http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com) the ideal instruments (Yahoo is only for americans)

Good luck !!

I see, thanks for sharing, not a bad idea, but I guess one needs to take into account restrictions in various countries on import of food products, plants, fruits and vegetables. Did you look into that?

[jackr]

I have a UK Paypal account and simply emailed them (as they requested) to say I would be logging in from Thailand in the future. This is their reply:

Thank you for providing this information to us regarding your future

login's from Thailand . I have noted this information on your file .

Please note when you log in from Thailand for the first time you may be

requested to verify your identity . This process is to protect you and

your financials attached to your account .

Suggest just to email Customer Services before traveling to Thailand just to be sure.

[bolognamare]

I see, thanks for sharing, not a bad idea, but I guess one needs to take into account restrictions in various countries on import of food products, plants, fruits and vegetables. Did you look into that?

Restrictions are usually intended for a standard business not for a small business, anyway you can do little tests from Los sending an item to yourself or to your friend in your living country.

If you send a little coconut write on the declaration you are sending a "gadget gift" (it's not completely a lie) and write a fantasy name as the sender, and if you start having a lot of shippings change 2-3 post office or become friendly with the post office employed (a little present for his/her kindness every 50 shippings..) or choose a big post office where a lot of customers like you are involved.

Post office are full of lazy people that only wait to end their working day, if you don't make wrong steps you could manage your small business forever. Nobody will care of your little envelopes.

Edited September 7, 2006 by bolognamare

[cnxpat]

I see, thanks for sharing, not a bad idea, but I guess one needs to take into account restrictions in various countries on import of food products, plants, fruits and vegetables. Did you look into that?

Restrictions are usually intended for a standard business not for a small business, anyway you can do little tests from Los sending an item to yourself or to your friend in your living country.

If you send a little coconut write on the declaration you are sending a "gadget gift" (it's not completely a lie) and write a fantasy name as the sender, and if you start having a lot of shippings change 2-3 post office or become friendly with the post office employed (a little present for his/her kindness every 50 shippings..) or choose a big post office where a lot of customers like you are involved.

Post office are full of lazy people that only wait to end their working day, if you don't make wrong steps you could manage your small business forever. Nobody will care of your little envelopes.

Well, it could be a little bit more complicated. Of course you can make any declaration you want, or no declaration. No matter how you send it, Thailand Post is not any concern for daily shipping ("so I have been told") :-) That's the export side, easy. Buyers will actually be importing goods that may be restricted. Customs in UK, EU, USA, (and especially AUS) do like to sniff the incoming goods every now and then. As an eBay seller, I wouldn't want to study customs legislation of all potential countries I can ship to, nor do I want the hassle and negative fedback of unhappy buyers when goods don't arrive, arrive late, or they get fined for violating import legislation.

So to do this large scale or as a steady source of income, I don't know. Check out http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/food.html

[bolognamare]

Buyers will actually be importing goods that may be restricted. Customs in UK, EU, USA, (and especially AUS) do like to sniff the incoming goods every now and then. As an eBay seller, I wouldn't want to study customs legislation of all potential countries I can ship to, nor do I want the hassle and negative fedback of unhappy buyers when goods don't arrive, arrive late, or they get fined for violating import legislation.

So to do this large scale or as a steady source of income, I don't know. Check out http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/food.html

Start with your living country, do little tests, in the worst case you have lost few dollars and time.

Every business start with little risks, i cannot imagine big problems selling tea leaves (not narcotics).

If someone will test my idea, i will be glad to read the results there (or by PM)

Edited September 7, 2006 by bolognamare

[cnxpat]

Buyers will actually be importing goods that may be restricted. Customs in UK, EU, USA, (and especially AUS) do like to sniff the incoming goods every now and then. As an eBay seller, I wouldn't want to study customs legislation of all potential countries I can ship to, nor do I want the hassle and negative fedback of unhappy buyers when goods don't arrive, arrive late, or they get fined for violating import legislation.

So to do this large scale or as a steady source of income, I don't know. Check out http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/food.html

Start with your living country, do little tests, in the worst case you have lost few dollars and time.

Every business start with little risks, i cannot imagine big problems selling tea leaves (not narcotics).

If someone will test my idea, i will be glad to read the results there (or by PM)

Thailand is my living country, and No, I don't have any friends left in the former country :-)

It might be an idea for someone else. In general, I think, to do business on eBay from say, Thailand, small and low-weight items are the way to go, your product fits that description! Thailand Post is very reliable, fast and cheap!

[ChiangMaiThai]

pistonpilot is simply one of the lucky ones.

If you always sign in from the US and then go sign in from Thailand, it is very likely that they will close the account til you can prove that you are you.

If you always sign in to a US paypal account from overseas, eventually they will likely ask you to prove that your residence is in the US. They will want a utility bill with your name on it fist and foremost. If you don't have that, they will tell you to get a new paypal account in Thailand.

Again, Rubbish. Show me where in the PayPal agreement it states that one must RESIDE in the USA to have a US PayPal account?

I'm not lucky, this is the way it works.

Show me, don't tell me. I want to see a reference to your allegations other than the "old wives tail" that you are perpetuating.

Wow, you know everything. This is based on exactly what happened to myself and two of my business associates. We had been US paypal business members for 5 years +. The last 3 years were spent in Thailand exclusively. All PayPal debit card withdrawls fron Thailand and all log ins from Thailand. Finally, they froze the account and told all of us, "Please prove that your residence is in the US". They advised that they understand that people travel, but at a certain point it is not considered travelling and for their own legal reasons they have to make sure that a US PayPal account belongs to a US resident. They told me they would hold on to all my money for me for 6 months and I was free to open a Thai PayPal account. My business partners had US utility bills and their accounts were quickly reopened.

Perhaps there are a number of factors that trigger a flagging of your account, but this is absolutley how they operate. Furthermore, if you travel from the US to a high risk country and log in, don't be surprised if you get a temporary suspension. It has happened to many, many people.

Like I said, perhaps you are one of the lucky ones. If you don't believe me, try flying to Indonesia and sending a $1000 to someone and then do the same thing from a couple other countries in the next couple days. Watch what happens.

PayPal is notorious for freezing accounts and that's just a fact.

Edited September 7, 2006 by ChiangMaiThai

[ChiangMaiThai]

I have a UK Paypal account and simply emailed them (as they requested) to say I would be logging in from Thailand in the future. This is their reply:

Thank you for providing this information to us regarding your future

login's from Thailand . I have noted this information on your file .

Please note when you log in from Thailand for the first time you may be

requested to verify your identity . This process is to protect you and

your financials attached to your account .

Suggest just to email Customer Services before traveling to Thailand just to be sure.

Case and point. If they let all country changes in IP addresses go under the radar, fraud would increase dramatically. I don't know how many flags you have to trip to get signled out, but it happens all the time.

And in my case I used all my real info. I just happened to no longer have a utility bill in my name. That was after Thailand was an approved country. They just told me to open a Thai account if that's where I was living...

[Heng]

And in my case I used all my real info. I just happened to no longer have a utility bill in my name. That was after Thailand was an approved country. They just told me to open a Thai account if that's where I was living...

You continued to use information that was no longer accurate (which is no different for legal practicalities than completely making up an address and phone number: the end result is the same, should they need to contact you, you won't ever be there). In your case it seems to be fairly clear that Paypal rightfully froze your account.

Edited September 7, 2006 by Heng