Re: [spiers] Palm Pilot Develoers
Folks,
here is one of those "why don't they just..." moments. the problem here is
although imports and exports of goods are declared and tabulated, and availble
to consult by oone and all, in part at least to get a bead on what country is
the best supplier of a given item; or what country is the prime buyer of a given
item... there is no such corresponding list of int'l trade in services.
Law work, architectural designs, education, research, investigations, software
coding... all sorts of services are traded import and export, and all are
required to be declared, but almost none are.
I've contacted the various government agencies and they all tend to shrug their
shoulders and say "what can we do?" of course, there is not much they can do
without the budget to do so.
Now one common thread almost all of these transactions have is they do involve a
bank transaction, money going from buyer to seller.
So, if someone could convince the banks to sell the information on who is
exporting what services worldwide, that info could be collated and resold to
buyers of services.
When someone desperately ants Palm Pilot software written, one might be willing
to pay $500 to know that there are eight active providers of palm pilot software
applications in the Soviet union, charging and average of...etc...
The crucial parts of int'l trade, that is info and logistics and payment
mechanisms (letters of credit) are all in private hands, and developed by
private entities. Governments need not apply for this kind of work. The ICC in
Paris, essentially an association of banks, would be an excellent clearing house
source for the info..., and of course you could ask all sorts of trade
associations if they think it is a good idea and if it exists.
Of course, who is trading what services for what money where in the world is
being tracked, but as deep secret intelligence work as part of the "war on
terror," so we won't get access to that.
So if someone loves this kind of work, compiling data on trade in servcies
worldwide and selling it, I would be customer #1 for this service.
John
Saturday, June 14, 2003
Palm Pilot Developers
Palm Pilot Develoers
Thanks for your note, I posted the job on the Palmm developers web site, it
is open for bids, but so far no interest. Also have used the popular search
engines. Found a lot of information, but not a developer willing to take on
the job. I am asking everybody I can think of. Of course a recommendation
is always better than being totally unknown. If you have any further ideas
or know of any former students that have written Palm applications, please
let me know.
Thank You
Craig
Friday, June 13, 2003
Trade Leads
Re: [spiers] Trade Leads
John's recent email is the dead-on spot-accurate interpretation of my
statement "know your supplier." In addition, I'd like to expand a little on
John's
assertion about doing business with people you know. Not only can that drive a
business toward being resource (e.g., supplier) driven vs. customer driven,
it can also cause people to have a sense of security about a transaction that
otherwise would not be there. We may ignore details because we trust the other
party. We may not mention certain topics than might be considered crass
(money), inappropriate (production capability), or imply that we don't trust the
other party (asking for performance bond) or we don't [insert your favorite
verb] them. And this can happen in multimillion dollar deals as easily as in
smaller deals.
Case in point, when I was the "seller": 10+ years ago, as a member of
negotiating team, I went to far Northeast China (PRC), to a city that one
guidebook
referred to as "the end of the line." Despite it being in the middle of
nowhere, it was the richest city in China. The largest and most financially
successful corporation in China was headquartered there, and that corporation
AND the
city government were going to purchase my employer's systems for use by both
entities. It was a very big deal in $$, and in prestige, and in penetrating
the Chinese market, blah blah blah. The Vice President of Asian Operations for
my employer had a cousin who was in tight with the mayor of aforementioned
city. So we were "in." No competition at all. Met at the airport by an army
unit and police to escort our motorcade (I'm not making this up) through the
provincial capital and then on to "the end of the line." The police car in
front
would run its sirens and then an officer would announce on the car's
loudspeaker system (names changed for privacy): "Get out of the way, these are
very
important people. Get out of the way, these are guests of the great Mayor Chin
of City X"
We had banquet after banquet for lunch and dinner, with the corporation and
the government vying for who could give us a better time. A television crew
from the provincial capital came to film us; I was the first white woman to set
foot in the city. One weekend we were driven to the provincial capital where
we were entertained by the Governor of the province (who wanted to marry me,
but that's another story). The mayor took us a to a Communist Party retreat
where a chef that had cooked for Nixon prepared our meals. Negotiations were
held in the City Hall -- 7 of us facing a negotiating team of about 40. About a
week later, the TV crew came back to film the "contract signing ceremony." We
were not at that point yet in negotiations, but we made up little contract
binders, and the Government had a huge painting made to announce the purchase.
It
was hung behind the dais, at which the mayor and our VP suits signed the
binders and switched pens and smiled and shook hands. As soon as the crew left,
the Chinese tore the signed pages out of the contract binders before I could
blink my eyes. That was a subtle clue.
We were scheduled to be there for only 10 days. Negotiations went on for
about 18 (those 18 days were the longest year of my life - no English
newspapers,
the Chinese newspapers were weeks to months old, no TV, and the only
telephone line between the City and the provincial capital was down --
physically!),
and at about 4:00 a.m. on the day we were really going to leave, after
negotiating all night long, the customer said "We don't have the money to buy
your
products." They actually had money, but they did not have any appropriated for
this purchase.
How did we get so far for nothing? The VP of Asian Operations never asked
his cousin whether the purchase was approved (for a purchase this large,
Communist Party approval would have been required) or whether money was
available.
He did not want to embarrass his cousin by asking, and he assumed the cousin
wouldn't say "Come on down" if there wasn't a deal to be made.
Imagine the cost of 7 round trip business class tickets DC to Beijing,
in-country transportation, hotel rooms, meals, obligatory gifts (legal per the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act), AS WELL AS the cost of man-hours for preparing a
full blown proposal and accompanying presentations and the man-hours invested in
the trip itself. Imagine a Vice President of Asian Operations not getting a
bonus that year, or raise, or promotion, or bigger office, or larger
budget.....
Moral of Story: Listen to John.
Have a great weekend --
Celeste
PS. This and other wonderful stories will be set forth in International
Transactions to be published by MICPEL in Q1 2004.
Trade Leads
Re: [spiers] Trade Leads
Celeste,
It may be a legal studies text, but I for one look forward to reading it...
also, you may want to track down an out of print 1985 book on letters of credit
and int'l trade by Matti Kurkela ... he does some yeoman work getting the facts
and layiung out the reality of LC's in int'l trade, but then veers off to a very
strange solutiuon to the problem... nonetheless, I recommend it very much.
And other points:
***
The
biggest mistake most Americans make when entering an international transaction
is assuming that the American way of doing business is the only way, and the
right way, of doing business. In addition, Americans in general assume that
the foreign nationals will follow the American rules.
>>>Yes... I think we in USA enter into these discussions with the UCC around us
like a cloak, it is in our bones... to be sure USA dynamism is a tribute to our
legal structure, but that strength can be a weakness if we presume, especially
unconsciously, our way will work best.<<<
John's advice on knowing your customer is right on point. I'd like to add
that in order for you to be able to satisfy your custhttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=878781244953948813#omer, you have to know
your
supplier.
>>> As in, it is imperative to learn about, develop appreciation of, etc, ...
one might misconstrue what Celeste says to mean you ought trade with people you
know, that is to say, already know, friends and relatives overseas; I second
Celeste on "know your supplier" (sounds like a good chapter in your book,
Celeste!).
To remind y'all, my fear of working with friends and relatives overseas is the
error of organizing around resources (your contacts overseas) rather than
organizing around opportunity here in USA, the customer.
John
Trade Leads
Re: [spiers] Trade Leads
Hello All,
I am so glad that I continue to receive internation business info from our
group. This is so great!
In regard to the reade leads, I know a website hosted by US gov't. Probably some
of you know it, it is call NTDB. there, you can find lots of valuable info about
int'l bus and trade leads:
http://govpubs.lib.umn.edu/stat/tool_ntdb.phtml
good luck to you all!!!
william
Alex
Agreed ! fully and with no compromise!!!
John have a mistake,from my point of view,He count Soviet republic(ind.
countries now) complete business partners with same roles that have all
countries.And I 'm not with him on this point.Diff. mentality lead to diff.
kind of business relationship.
Khrusha.
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 5:51 PM
Subject: Re: [spiers] Trade Leads
> Per John's request, I have some experience with Trade Leads. In a former
> life I received the (alleged) monthly report from Commerce that set forth
trade
> leads originating in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
>
> With respect to that part of the world at least, John's analysis of such
> trade leads is right on. There are plenty of buyers over there because
the
> economy was not consumer driver for decades, and still isn't today despite
the fall
> of communism. But, there's this little SNAFU called "the buyers have no
> money." Every buyer wants you to provide financing for their purchase of
your
> products. Then they will pay you back when the products sell.
>
> You don't need to be a CPA or Ph.D. in Economics to see what's wrong with
> this picture. Even IF the buyers actually came up with funds to pay you
> eventually, they wouldn't want to pay you in hard currency. Then what are
you going
> to do? Go to court? Ha! There are no means to enforce payment of a
debt.
> Justice is generally wielded with AK-47s or food and drink spiked with
poison.
>
> 'Nuff said?
>
> Celeste
Trade Leads
Re: [spiers] Trade Leads
I agree with Alex/Krusha. I have negotiated deals on every continent but
Australia and Antarctica, and with more nationalities than I can count right now
(and I even have my shoes off). I am currently writing a chapter on
international negotiations for a legal textbook on international transactions.
Setting aside the differences in international laws, in general each
nationality has a set of unwritten rules for doing business, even though there
may be
only minor differences between the rules of adjacent countries (e.g.,
Scandinavian countries have similar, but not identical, approaches to business).
The
biggest mistake most Americans make when entering an international transaction
is assuming that the American way of doing business is the only way, and the
right way, of doing business. In addition, Americans in general assume that
the foreign nationals will follow the American rules. I have seen this on
numerous occasions, even when the negotiation itself is not taking place in the
US.
John's advice on knowing your customer is right on point. I'd like to add
that in order for you to be able to satisfy your customer, you have to know your
supplier.
Celeste
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Trade Leads
Re: [spiers] Trade Leads
Agreed ! fully and with no compromise!!!
John have a mistake,from my point of view,He count Soviet republic(ind.
countries now) complete business partners with same roles that have all
countries.And I 'm not with him on this point.Diff. mentality lead to diff.
kind of business relationship.
Khrusha.
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 5:51 PM
Subject: Re: [spiers] Trade Leads
> Per John's request, I have some experience with Trade Leads. In a former
> life I received the (alleged) monthly report from Commerce that set forth
trade
> leads originating in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
>
> With respect to that part of the world at least, John's analysis of such
> trade leads is right on. There are plenty of buyers over there because
the
> economy was not consumer driver for decades, and still isn't today despite
the fall
> of communism. But, there's this little SNAFU called "the buyers have no
> money." Every buyer wants you to provide financing for their purchase of
your
> products. Then they will pay you back when the products sell.
>
> You don't need to be a CPA or Ph.D. in Economics to see what's wrong with
> this picture. Even IF the buyers actually came up with funds to pay you
> eventually, they wouldn't want to pay you in hard currency. Then what are
you going
> to do? Go to court? Ha! There are no means to enforce payment of a
debt.
> Justice is generally wielded with AK-47s or food and drink spiked with
poison.
>
> 'Nuff said?
>
> Celeste
>
Trade Leads
Re: [spiers] Trade Leads
Per John's request, I have some experience with Trade Leads. In a former
life I received the (alleged) monthly report from Commerce that set forth trade
leads originating in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
With respect to that part of the world at least, John's analysis of such
trade leads is right on. There are plenty of buyers over there because the
economy was not consumer driver for decades, and still isn't today despite the
fall
of communism. But, there's this little SNAFU called "the buyers have no
money." Every buyer wants you to provide financing for their purchase of your
products. Then they will pay you back when the products sell.
You don't need to be a CPA or Ph.D. in Economics to see what's wrong with
this picture. Even IF the buyers actually came up with funds to pay you
eventually, they wouldn't want to pay you in hard currency. Then what are you
going
to do? Go to court? Ha! There are no means to enforce payment of a debt.
Justice is generally wielded with AK-47s or food and drink spiked with poison.
'Nuff said?
Celeste
Trade Leads
Re: [spiers] Trade Leads
Can you recommend any good places to find Import/ export trade leads
preferably for free
***
Well if by "trade leads" you mean potential buyers or sellers of goods or
services, then no such list exists. Yes, the US govt maintains at massive
expense long lists of purported trade leads; the World Trade Association
rehashes these lists, and there are other sources, but they are really just
buyers with no money talking to sellers of no resources.
It would be wonderful, wonderful if in the real world people put what they
wanted to buy up on a list and you simply answered and got a sale. ebay, but
bigger.
What makes ebay work is they provide guarantees to both parties. What makes
trade leads never work is there are no guarantees. what makes trade leads
popular is anyone can say anything.
Those buyers and sellers who are legitimate avoid the wasted time and effort of
trade lead lists. I lay out in my classes and book the means legitimate
businesses use, and I wouldn't recommend any other approach.
If anyone on this list has ever had a satisfactory experience with trade lead
lists, please share that with us!
John
Fulfillment
Re: [spiers] Fulfillment
Howdy Mary,
First let's define terms; a fulfillment house is the same as a public warehouse
or a pick and pack operation... all essentially private contractors who do the
specialized work of filling orders from your customers for your products.
Different industries use different names.
The primary reason for outsourcing the warehouse is efficiency, these people are
better at it than you will ever be, and they can make money arbitraging what it
costs them to do the work and what it would cost you.
Second, since they do this for many others, they can take the aggregate weight
of the outbound freight and negotiate spectacular discounts from the freight
companies... 50% off UPS rates, 65% off Viking Trucking rates. this can make a
difference as to whether a potential customer on the other coast decides to buy
from you or not, given with these discounts you can guarantee your customer will
not be hammered by freight charges.
Finally, under the UCC, the sale takes place where the merchandise is loaded on
the common carrier, so... at least on the west coast, it is advantageous to have
a public warehouse in Nevada, where there are no taxes on such business, as
opposed to Washington, where there is.
Now recall we get the catalogs and price lists of our competitors? One thing we
will see in those is terms and conditions of sale, and specifically "FOB
Sometown". this means the prices quoted are based on being put on the common
carrier at the mentioned town, and the customer will be paying the freight
thence forward. A dead giveaway of where YOU should warehouse is to see where
some if not all of your competitors warehouse. It is not uncommon for east
coast importers of asian wares to warehouse on the west coast. For some reason,
I recollect vaguely the name of Cherry Hill NJ as a common FOB point for east
coast gift importers. And I think Franfurt KY (near the FEDEX airport) is a
central USA one, although Ross Perot tried to make DFW the placed to be. His
hate for Geo. Bush and politics derailed that ambition. But I digress.
The costs are whatever the going rate is in the given area, so just survey the
going rates from the various warehouse companies, get references, the normal
drill.
You are likely to be quoted something like "5% of invoice value, plus packing
materials at cost" or "13 cents a square foot plus $20 per hour labor and
packing materials at cost."
Now, don't make the mistake of saying "$20 an hour!!! I can do that myself!!!"
because that would not be true... What the pros get done in an hour for $20
would take you 10 hours to do, and the pros would get it done right the first
time, whereas you would have failed to follow the routing guide from the
customer and get a chargeback.
"Man, these costs are high!" You might muse... but recall we do not compete on
price... we add up all of the costs, assuming worst case scenarios, fix the
price, and see if we can get enough orders against samples to cover the
supplier's minimum production run requirement profitably in a workable amount of
time.
Another thing, in these warehouses that see very many businesses come and go,
they know who is going to make it and who is not. Those who appear to be long
term get the best service. Work into your conversations with the warehouses,
indeed everyone, that "see if we can get enough orders against samples to cover
the supplier's minimum production run requirement profitably in a workable
amount of time" and those who know will put you in the "will succeed" category
of their mind. Everyone loves a winner.
John
John,
I am curious about fulfillment warehouses...how do I find a good one for a
small business and what are the average rates? I assume it should be local
(Miami for me)? I know in your book you said they take x% (I forget) of the
order
for fulfillment services, do they also charge for storage fees? What does this
% include? How does this all work?
Many Thanks!
Mary
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Fulfillment
Hi John,
I am curious about fulfillment warehouses...how do I find a good one for a
small business and what are the average rates? I assume it should be local
(Miami for me)? I know in your book you said they take x% (I forget) of the
order
for fulfillment services, do they also charge for storage fees? What does this
% include? How does this all work?
Many Thanks!
Mary
Mary Morrison
Tiananmen Trading, Inc.
Coral Gables, Florida
Tel: 786.552.1311
Em: tiananmentrading@aol.com
Website: www.tianantiques.com
Air Freight Costs and Sales Tax
Re: [spiers] Air Freight Costs and Sales Tax
In a message dated 6/10/03 4:21:28 PM, carolfreire@earthlink.net writes:
As I am just starting and testing the products I don't want to ship a whole
container by sea.
***there is no rule requiring that which is shipped surface must be done in
full containers. LCL (less than container load) is not too expensive, it is
merely more expensive. Big biz avoids LCL because they compete on price. We do
not compete on price. ***
I showed some pictures of my products to the retail stores and they liked it,
but I want to get some orders before bringing large quantities to US. My idea
is to get a small order and ship it by air to see how the market respond to
my products
***testing is good... tell us what they say about placing an order with you,
but there is a problem...this test would be invalid... a small order brought
in will show how the market responds to a small order. The small order cannot
support you, nor will it teach you anything about what is required for larger
order. You need to find out if there are enough orders aggregate to cover the
supplier's minimum production run profitably in a workable amount of time.
the only way to do that is to study the suppliers minimum and test to see if
you can make money with enough orders to cover the suppliers minimum... ***
and how well-prepared my suppliers are to attend the US market.
*** You have not determined in advance if the suppliers can support selling
to USA? there are countless million of products that are NOT sold in usa, and
each has a unique reason why not. It would be expensive to learn why any
one, let alone all cannot or will not sell here. Much much better to develop a
solution to a problem you personally experience, and import that from the best
place in the world to have it made. ***
Only after some orders and deliveries I would be comfortable to ship a large
container.
*** I don't think a container load is the issue... a minimum production run
is the issue... but the key is not logistical questions, the key is
customers.***
Does anyone have an idea of transportation costs by air from Brazil to US?
Does anyone recommend a specific air freight company?
***yes, customsbrokers who deal with imports from Brazil have an idea of
transportation costs by air from Brazil to US... and to find the best you can
determine that while researching the best place in the world to have your
product
made... specifically in the directory of US importers. ***
2) Should I consider the sales tax when pricing my products?
***Not the sales tax, that is the retailers problem.***
I know that sales taxes are added to the retail price when the customer pays
for the item. Does it work the same way for a wholesale company?
***No, you are taxed on your sales as it is income, this is something you
strategize with your CPA, in regards to your specific financial
circumstances.***
Should I mention anything about sales tax in my price listing?
***Not unless your competitors do in their "offer to sell", that is the terms
of sale in their catalogs and price lists. (I imagine they say nothing about
it, since it is usually irrelevant).***
John
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Air Freight Costs and Sales Tax
I am starting an import business of Brazilian handcrafts and I have two
questions:
1) In the Jonh Spiers course and handout it is said that the landed cost
(freight) is about 25% of the first cost for most consumer items. However, I
have been looking for air freight from Brazil to San Francisco and this cost
represents more than 25% of the original product cost. As I am just starting and
testing the products I don't want to ship a whole container by sea. I showed
some pictures of my products to the retail stores and they liked it, but I want
to get some orders before bringing large quantities to US. My idea is to get a
small order and ship it by air to see how the market respond to my products and
how well-prepared my suppliers are to attend the US market. Only after some
orders and deliveries I would be comfortable to ship a large container. Does
anyone have an idea of transportation costs by air from Brazil to US? Does
anyone recommend a specific air freight company?
2) Should I consider the sales tax when pricing my products? I know that sales
taxes are added to the retail price when the customer pays for the item. Does it
work the same way for a wholesale company? Should I mention anything about sales
tax in my price listing?
Thanks a lot,
Carol
GRI
Dear Noonoi,
I had no idea what "GRI" meant either, so I looked it up on www.google.com
(currently the best search engine generally available) using "GRI" (in quotes)
and "freight" as my search parameters. I mention this to help others who may
need to find a definition.
"GRI" in the freight industry is "General Rate Increase." It appears that it
may be determined by a trade group or a conference/consortium/cartel of
shippers or freight forwarders. Yet it seems that the inclusion of GRI in a
quote
is optional.
For example, one article I read said that in the past shippers only applied
"GRI" if they didn't feel serious competition for a job. This year, however,
has seen significant cost increases (gov't imposed fees, etc.) applied to
freight originating in Asia. This author/analyst posited that all shippers
would
apply GRI to all quotes for the rest of this calendar year for jobs originating
in Asia.
From the above I infer that GRI is "wiggle room," and as such is negotiable
for inclusion in whole or in part in a price quote.
Hope this helps,
Celeste Campbell
Monday, June 9, 2003
GRI
Hi
I work in export poultry. Recently, I try to find good freight rate for east
coast shipment. All carriers mention that the rate subject to GRI $1000 on July
1st. I just would like to know what is GRI?
I'll be appreciated your response.
noonoi