Preffered Payment Methods

[lukamar]

For selling in North America Paypal is a must. On the other venues that we use/used we sold about 95% paypal 5% MO. 100% of my European & Asian sales were via paypal. If you get a customer from Froogle the chances are that they will already be registered with Paypal. On a personal note if I can't pay with paypal or MO, I'm not about to register for another service.

BTW -

A PayPal surcharge is only allowed for UK to UK sales. Sellers are allowed to charge up to 3.4%+20p surcharge for accepting PayPal payments anything more is considered by Paypal excessive and they could take action if you are reported.

Paypal can and does freeze the accounts of people they feel are using their service to collect funds acquired by what paypal feels is illegal sales. These could include Adult items but most often it is in relation to counterfeit or trademark infringing items/sales.

[mypleasureisland]

These could include Adult items but most often it is in relation to counterfeit or trademark infringing items/sales.

These DO include Adult items - I know to my cost.

regards

Mogsta

[alotofsparklejewelry]

I only use Paypal for transactions.


Thats buying and selling. If a seller doesn't excapt paypal I move on.

[gazlannathai]

I only use Paypal for transactions.


Thats buying and selling. If a seller doesn't excapt paypal I move on.

So when people are selling things for 99p, you expect them to give 24p from every sale to PayPal?

Thanks for the warning, I'll add you to my blocked bidders list as you'll obviously never provide me with any profit.

Gaz

[lukamar]

Using Paypal, or any other payment gateway, is a normal cost of doing business. As such you have to take that into account when pricing your products. It's no different than plunking down your Gold card to pay for a meal or charging your gas (Petrol). The Merchant incurs a cost for accepting a Credit Card.

Khun gazlannathai Krupp - sometimes in business making a lower profit leads to increased sales and in return increased profits - you should possibly have more of a Mai Pen Rai attitude like your namesake, the Lanna Kingdom.

BTW, we have a home in Phayao.

[gazlannathai]

Using Paypal, or any other payment gateway, is a normal cost of doing business. As such you have to take that into account when pricing your products. It's no different than plunking down your Gold card to pay for a meal or charging your gas (Petrol). The Merchant incurs a cost for accepting a Credit Card

However in a bricks and mortar shop, you will see notices concerning a minimum charge per credit card transaction, or a surcharge for accepting one, either route being used to offset (or share) the fees for accepting plastic - and customers do accept such practices. Yet online, the customers kick and scream and cancel purchases if such action is attempted, despite the seller clearly stating their terms of sale - caveat emptor.

In Thailand, for example, shops routinely charge 5% surcharge for all credit and debit card purchases - and that's on top of the fee charged to the cardholder by the card issuer - they also do not display that they are doing so, and merely tell you they do it when you present your card as payment method.

Khun gazlannathai Krupp - sometimes in business making a lower profit leads to increased sales and in return increased profits - you should possibly have more of a Mai Pen Rai attitude like your namesake, the Lanna Kingdom.

BTW, we have a home in Phayao.

Krupp was a German maker of Naval Guns during the first half of the 20th Century.

The transliteration approved by Chulalongkorn was "khrap".

I assume therefore you are a Thai national by birth - otherwise you are not permitted (by law) to own property in Thailand.
There are only 3 exceptions to this -
A - Upto one rai of land may be inherited from a blood grandparent if the inheritee has taken foreign nationality
B - A foreigner investing 40 million Baht, for a minimum of five years, in a government approved investment, may ASK the Cabinet for permission to buy upto one rai of land (approval is not guaranteed and is subject to interview (read as "pay a bribe" to the panel)
C - A foreigner investing at least 40 million baht in a company with more than half of the PAID-UP shares owned by natural Thai citizens, AND more than half of all issued shares issued to natural Thai citizens, may apply as per B above.

Another alternative often used is to invest at least 3 million baht in a fully incorporated company with at least 7 shareholders and at least half of the shares issued to Thai natural citizens - the company may then buy land for residential use (subject to cabinet approval) and the foreigner may then lease the land for life, for a nominal annual rent - this is not strictly legal as it now falls under the "nominee landowner" legislation introduced three years ago.

If you're not Thai, and you've not used one of the above routes, then you don't OWN the land on which your house sits, and any claim that you do, may result in it being siezed by the government and reallocated under Ngor Sor Kor 5 rules to landless farmers. It may also be siezed under the same rules if you are the owner and not classed as resident in Thailand for five consecutive years - to be resident in any one year, you must spend more than half the year here in one consecutive block of time.
If the land is in your wife's name and you're a foreigner, then you don't own it - her parents do (that's a cultural point, not a legal one, but has been upheld in court before as it comes under temple practices, therefore there is legal precedent).

I used to teach this stuff in Chiangmai University Faculty of Business Admin (3 year tenure as course author as well as a lecturer).

I have also written and had published a book on LanNa history and am consulted by tour guides wishing to know the truth about their own history.

As for the Mai Pen Rai attitude about the usury of online payment systems and the narrow focus of online auction users - when the Thais become mai pen rai about losing large chunks of profit and don't pass on their costs for using the services, then I'll do the same.
Perhaps I should also advertise everything without a price and quote prices according to the nationality of the potential buyer?
Perhaps I should engage in the same dual and multi standards of official (government dictated) pricing that had HM Rama 9 castigate the PM in one of his birthday speeches?
Perhaps I should begin reciting the Thai litany? "Foreigners are rich, foreigners deserve to be robbed, foreigners must give me all their money, I am poor because I live in Thailand and they are rich because they live in the west, Oh my Buddha help me to take all the money from the foreigners so I can take care of all my family and my mia noys".

I don't know when you last lived in, as opposed to visited, Thailand - but it is a very different country under the Nationalists compared to what it was under the Democrats.

Ajarn Gaz

(edit) forgot to mention ownership of a condominium unit - as a foreigner you may own a non-ground floor unit in a condominium provided not more than 40% of the units in the development are owned by Foreigners (it used to be 49% but Thai Rak Thai have reduced the foreign share - if you own a condo you'll need to check the current percentage in your building).
These are not western-style "flying freeholds" - i.e. a freehold not in contact with the ground - they are lifetime leasehold and inheritable only by blood-related direct issuance children. They cannot be willed to anyone other than your own children.

Khow jai mai na khrap?

[lukamar]

Hi Gaz......

despite the seller clearly stating their terms of sale - caveat emptor.

In Thailand, for example, shops routinely charge 5% surcharge for all credit and debit card purchases

A lot of the time customers don't read the terms and conditions before they purchase an item. In Thailand we do not use our cards unless absolutely necessary, and yes gouging is rampant on "extra charges.

The transliteration approved by Chulalongkorn was "khrap".

I used krupp on purpose. I did not want some automatic filter banishing me for what could appear to software to be swearing..

If the land is in your wife's name and you're a foreigner, then you don't own it - her parents do.

The land is in my wife's name and I have always looked at it as Life insurance, rather than a house, for her and our son (Thai). I pay the mortgage that we have on the property it's not a problem with me. The house is not a castle it's a moderate house worth under a million. While we are in Canada the family uses the house and that is not a problem with us, a house should not be vacant. When there is a problem they fix it, but never ask for money. Pa even put in a western Toilet, for free, because I was complaining about my bad knees and the Thai toilet. We have one of the bedrooms that we use for our storage, the rest they use whenever they want. If I drop dead then my wife & son would inherit everything anyway both here and in Thailand. If I happen to outlive my wife I would still control all the income and the building, if not the land. When we move back to CM we will build another house and either let a relative live in the Phayao house or rent it.

Khow jai mai na khrap?

Yup, I do understand your points.

[gazlannathai]

Hi Lukamar (thread succesfully hijacked yet? )

Is the house in Amphoe Muang Phayao, or out in the sticks?
I've never yet managed to get through to Phayao City (always on the wrong road when going north or south) and wondered what it's like as the history of it in the 13th-15th century is quite interesting ..... especially the bit about Ngam Muang hanging Ramkhamhaeng in a cage on the city walls for sleeping with Ngam Muang's wife and seeking judgement from Mengrai .... and was wondering if there's any of the historic city still visible?

Keep in touch - I've been trying to get an offline eBay group organised for Thai based sellers without much joy, maybe it will one day be possible to get one going for eBid?

Gaz

btw - bathroom furnishings here are dirt cheap if you use the korat brand - they're made in Saraburi by a subsidiary of one of the big Thai cememnt companies - factory is massive and covers almost 400 acres. However jacuzzis are still subject to luxury taxation to keep them out of the hands of the masses -

[lukamar]

Hi Gaz.......

Hi Lukamar (thread succesfully hijacked yet? )

Almost I think..

Is the house in Amphoe Muang Phayao, or out in the sticks?
I've never yet managed to get through to Phayao City (always on the wrong road when going north or south) and wondered what it's like as the history of it in the 13th-15th century ..... .... and was wondering if there's any of the historic city still visible?

In Muang in a small moo ban across from the Military camp if you know where that is. I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what road you were on because there is only Hwy 1 N-S in Phayao province unless you mean 112 - CM to CR but that's on the wrong side of the mountains. There are bits of the old culture/city sitting around the entire area but nothing has been done to preserve any of it, unless something has been done that I don't know about, most people just remove the historical stuff it's actually sad. In the big city park there is a statue of Mengrai and the city has just redone the the waterfront walkway, all in tile, it's really attractive. From the first time I saw Phayao I figured it was going to be the next tourist area once CR gets built up a bit more, the property prices are already starting to rise.

eBay group organised for Thai based sellers without much joy, maybe it will one day be possible to get one going for eBid?

Getting anything to do with Thailand organized is almost doomed to failure. I'm the admin of a site AOFT.org http://www.aoft.org and have the same problem. Count me in, we are just developing a part of our company that will ship handcrafts direct from Chiang Rai. I'll try and contact you so you have my email.

btw - bathroom furnishings here are dirt cheap

It was just a nice thought. Pa is retired from the Military and he likes to keep busy.

I think we have managed to hijack the thread now. Sorry to those not interested.

Marty

[gazlannathai]

Pa is retired from the Military and he likes to keep busy.

Ah-ha ...... Gaz self-censors further discussion regarding Thai military and hill tribes' human rights - it's a self-preservation issue.