IanCP - 4:56 pm on Nov 17, 2009 (gmt 0)

like what?

Well from time to time with the inevitable down turns in the internet I have also turned my mind back to selling product.

For me that would be "back to the future" because, I did precisely that as a "bricks and mortar" business for many years in the 1970's.

For me it would entail [in my genre]:

a) A massive $$$ investment in stock - I might even continue to earn more on a net basis simply by retaining my existing investments.

b) It is not unknown in the field of electronics that stock purchased 12 months ago or, even less, to now retail today for less than you paid for it. I also have to source product internationally. From memory, I paid in the 1970's a minimum fee of $200 for each customs clearance by my agent. I think I paid the bank a minimum of $100 for letters of credit.

c) There is no great market for one single product in my genre. There is however a market for 1,000's of different product but in small quantities.

d) I need [in Australia] to register as a business. There's more than a few hours a month filing "Business Activity Statement", collecting GST if sold in Australia and detailing offset credits.

e) I'm guaranteed to have a mass of paper work I'd rather not have at age 67.

f) I need to establish a means of processing transactions which is not as fool proof as some might imagine. - see some other WebmasterWorld forums devoted to that topic.

g) Of necessity I need to be able to ship internationally. Again not without problems.

All of which, at the end of the day if I were insane enough to do it, I'd do from home servicing only Australia by mail.

I'm already depressed at the thought of it. Mr. AdSense's taxi meter never looked so attractive.

As I said before: "Selling product is one option but can create a lot of other unwanted headaches".