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The Most Common Business Opportunity Scam

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Business Opportunities - TaughtToProfit

Today there are literally hundreds of business opportunities. Some are good, most are junk. The most common scam today is not something that is a total scam, it is just a business that is useless today. It may have been viable years ago, but the time for success in that business has long since faded away. This is when all the scammers start promoting these businesses.

If you have bought any business plan or opportunity over the years you probably notice that at the same time these people all start promoting the same “business opportunity.” This is when a course or book is being launched or relaunched and is aggressively paying higher commissions to these promoters. This is the first and only sign you need to FLEE from this “business opportunity.” When people that do not even operate in that field are promoting business courses and books based on it then you know it is a scam.

Why would a million dollar book seller be selling their Amazon FBA business secrets? Because there is more money to be made in the sale of the business idea than in operating the dying business itself. Why is a stock picking “superstar” selling training and picks for stocks? Because they do not make the money they claim and there is more money to be made in selling the information on how to do it than in actually trying to do it yourself. Why would a multi-million dollar seller being promoting a course they made on getting wholesale inventory and reselling it on Amazon and eBay if they are really successful? You know the answer.

People are not selling business opportunities for you to copy their businesses unless the business is no longer viable or NEVER was viable (most often the case). If the business they offer is still viable then why would they not just hire more people to scale up their own business? Why would they create more competition for themselves? My friends, flee from these scams. No successful business person is selling their viable business model in courses or books. It just is not happening.

You want a free and successful business model? One that will make you more than all these thousands of courses and eBooks combined? How about a business model that has been around for millennia? It is very simple, buy items in one market for a lower price than you can resell them for in another market. Buy low, sell higher. People centuries ago would purchase tea or lumber or spices from one country and then resell it in another country for a premium. Arbitrage is one of the oldest business models that will never cease to be successful. You do not need a course or eBook to figure that out and become successful from it. This little paragraph has more value in it than 99% of the “business opportunity” courses and eBooks out there today, and it cost you nothing.

Simple Investing With Acorns App

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Acorns App - TaughtToProfit

Many people have no investments at all. They have no savings, no bonds, no real estate, and no other investments. An extremely small way to force yourself to invest something is to use an app called Acorns. You give Acorns access to your bank transactions. For each transaction, Acorns rounds the transaction up to the next dollar and takes the difference and invests it. So if you spent $4.55 on a transaction, Acorns would take $.45 and invest it for you; $43.25, and it would invest $.75; and so on.

While this obviously will not make you a billionaire, it is a simple and passive way to be investing every time you make a purchase. I have been using this for a little while and it works well. I highly recommend it for another tool to make some small investing happen without any effort on your part. Sign up for free at Acorns App.

Safety First – Stop Using Standard Razor Utility Cutters

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WORX WX081L ZipSnip Cutting Tool

I was resizing a box this week, which involves using a box resizer to perforate the sides and then cut the corners so the box sides can fold down, thus making a larger box smaller and saving packing materials. During the cutting of the sides, the razor utility cutter fell apart and almost cut me. It was then I decided I needed a safer method to do this. The last thing I want is an employee to get hurt resizing a box.

The utility knife I was using was not a cheap one either. It was a commercial-grade product, but even commercial-grade products can fail. There are cardboard scissors that can cut, but I wanted to replace a currently more dangerous item with something with safety features. Scissors do not really fit that requirement.

What I found that was the best and the least expensive solution was electronic scissors that have a blade blocker that ensures accidentally cutting yourself would not be possible. It also is efficient and will alleviate my concern about team members potentially getting hurt when a razor malfunctions.

There are a number of expensive models, but the first one I tried worked very well and has no problem cutting through cardboard. It also makes the cuts to the box look nice and more professionally done. I highly recommend the WORX ZipSnip Cutting Tool if you are concerned with safety (which you should be if you are hiring anyone to help you, and a razor in use is just asking for a needless injury).

Why I Love The Best Offer Feature On Ebay

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Ebay Best Offer - TaughtToProfit

It seems that a few times a month someone on eBay uses the Best Offer feature in a unique way on our listings. They will offer MORE than the Buy It Now price. Yes, you read that right, they are making an offer for a higher price than we are selling the item for!

We don’t want them to be dissatisfied, so we gladly accept their offer to make a little extra profit. It is one of the benefits of using the Best Offer feature for your eBay listings. You may wonder why we did not just make a counteroffer to the buyer for the price we were originally asking? Amazingly we have done this before when someone offered more than the selling price and the buyer got angry that we did not accept their higher-priced offer! The only thing I can guess is that they either realize they offered too much, become embarrassed, and then take it out on the seller, or perhaps they take offense to their bartering being rejected. I do not pretend to understand what some buyers are thinking, and our new policy is to just accept fair best offers and move on.

Ebay’s Best Offer feature also has the side benefit of letting you test the market for an item. If you keep getting offers for around the same amount then you may be priced too high and the common offer price may be a more suitable price to sell at.

Sony, Nikon, and Microsoft Products Now Require Approval On Amazon?

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Sony And Nikon Restricted Gated On Amazon

The big news of the day today in the reseller community was that Amazon has now restricted sellers from selling Sony, Nikon, and Microsoft products without invoices proving the purchase of large quantities or authorization from Sony, Nikon, and/or Microsoft to be an authorized reseller. This does not seem to cover all products as some very old Sony products like PlayStation 1 games, for example, seem to still allow third-party merchants to sell them.

The news has had many people panicking and talking about how they are going to lose most of their business and other doomsday scenarios. In any trial, we should look for the opportunity. Instead of giving up, cursing Amazon, or whining about how “unfair” this change is, we should have already prepared for any such problems and have backup plans in place.

The most obvious backup plan in such a situation is eBay. Instead of spending time complaining about the new rule, take the time to list your Sony, Nikon, or Microsoft products on eBay. Many people have become so spoiled to the ease of listing and selling through Amazon’s FBA service that they completely overlook the eager buyers on eBay. This restriction on Amazon opens up great opportunities for wise sellers to both sell their items on eBay for a better profit AND to be able to find good deals on Sony, Nikon, and Microsoft products that panicky Amazon sellers are flooding onto eBay with little regard for creating a good title and well-worded listing.

In times of trouble the successful person just finds more success. Do not let unsuccessful and negative people drag you down into their failure. Find the opportunity this situation opens to you and move on it immediately! You will be the one doing even better next month while other sellers are still complaining about the change on Amazon or are quitting altogether.