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Casual Articles - What You Must Know About Selling Online to Europe
As a solo-professional or small business owner, you have many responsibilities. Not only do you have to run your business and manage all the tasks associated with that, you also have to market that business.But just how should you divvy up your day?How much time should you spend on marketing?I believe you need to spend at least half of your time on marketing. In fact, as a business owner, I believe you really only have two main responsibilities:1) Spending your time on revenue-producing activities2) Marketing your businessYour time is valuable, so you shouldn't waste it on mundane tasks that someone else could easily do.You should be spending half your time generating income for your business. This might include things like servicing your clients and creating products.The other half of your
Items which by their nature can not be returned are also exempt. We make it clear in our shipping & returns panel for both of our businesses that we can not accept returns for body jewellery or earrings with Purdice Jewellery and bath products for Purdice Home.
Another exception vital for internet retailers is where goods are liable to deteriorate rapidly. Fresh food goes rotten very quickly and a right to return may be of little use to the retailer if the food arrives in a rotten condition. One must remember that the seven day refund applies to otherwise good items which the purchaser simply no longer wants. This exception is therefore vital for businesses to operate profitably. Understanding Sales Recruitment Services
Undoubtedly, employees are the backbone of any business! Regardless of the size and the renown of your company, the efficiency, profitability and longevity of your business are direct proportional with the professionalism, seriousness and implication of your employees. In order to achieve and maintain a solid and prosperous business, you have to make sure that you are surrounded by loyal, trusty, dedicated and hard-working employees. This rule is even more prominent in marketing, as every single action of your employees can trigger a pronounced increase or decrease in your profits! Thus, during the process of recruiting new members for your business, you should account for a wide range of personal traits and abilities in your future employees.Apart from a satisfactory professional training level, your employees should have good communicatio
The aim of this article is to guide you through the very simple steps required to comply with European law when selling goods online.
The law concerning these matters is widely similar throughout Europe but the advice given below relates specifically to English & Welsh law.
And if you think you don’t need to comply because you are outside Europe and nobody enforces one country’s laws in another country, you are wrong! International co-operation has never been stronger and jurisdiction laws may allow English consumers to sue you in the English courts – forcing you to incur considerable legal expenses defending a claim in a distant country.
Print this now and keep it by your to-do list so your next website update adapts the key principles outlined.
Let’s start with step one.
Step One
The aim of the law is to protect consumers and retailers and bolster confidence in online transactions. Put simply the law protects all, not just the purchaser. The relevant body of law is found in one document, the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling Regulations). These Regulations have been altered a little recently but this is not of great concern to this article.
Now we know where to find the law, lets look at what it does in step two.
Step Two
The law forces the seller, before the sum is debited from the purchaser, to:-
provide the purchaser with the identity and address of the supplier; and describe the characteristics of the goods to the purchaser; and show the price of the goods including taxes to the purchaser; and make shipping costs clear to the purchaser; and remind the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel the purchase.
Now this may seem quite a lot to take on board but the chances are you already have most of it covered anyway. Nearly everyone provides the first four details regardless of local legal requirements. It’s just good business practice.
It is the last point, reminding the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel, which is so important. We will look at this in step three
Step Three
However, the purchaser can notify you that he or she wants to cancel the purchase in a variety of ways – the most likely being my email, telephone call or fax.
In general the consumer must let you know they wish to cancel within seven working days. These seven working days start one day after the day on which the purchase was made. As long as the purchaser contacts you within this period they are entitled to cancel their purchase.
Even if the goods have arrived with the purchaser the right to cancel still exists. Now the law is not as short-sighted as you may expect. There will clearly be cases where common sense dictates certain items can not be returned or certain orders cancelled. These exceptions to the right to return/refund are discussed in step four.
Step Four
The most likely exception to be of use to e-commerce sellers is for goods which are made to specification or are clearly personalised.
One of our businesses is selling silver jewellery and if a customer orders an item which is engraved with his or her name then it would be useless if returned as we could not sell it on.
Items which by their nature can not be returned are also exempt. We make it clear in our shipping & returns panel for both of our businesses that we can not accept returns for body jewellery or earrings with Purdice Jewellery and bath products for Purdice Home.
Another exception vital for internet retailers is where goods are liable to deteriorate rapidly. Fresh food goes rotten very quickly and a right to return may be of little use to the retailer if the food arrives in a rotten condition. One must remember that the seven day refund applies to otherwise good items which the purchaser simply no longer wants. This exception is therefore vital for businesses to operate profitably. 3 Ways To Generate Profitable Business Ideas Anytime
All businesses are created first by ideas. Then once you're in
business you need ideas for marketing, advertising, solving
problems, product development etc. The difference between
success or failure could be one just one idea. That's all!
Below are three ways to generate profitable business ideas.1. Communicating regularly with other business people can
generate many ideas. There are many resources online and
offline to meet new business people lie; seminars, chat
rooms, discussion boards, trade shows etc. Sharing your
knowledge, asking questions, and taking in new information
will stimulate your mind. Your brain will begin to put all this
information together to create profitable business ideas.2. If you're not much of a communicator, try reading. Reading
can also stimulate your mind. Read business books, magasue you in the English courts – forcing you to incur considerable legal expenses defending a claim in a distant country.
Print this now and keep it by your to-do list so your next website update adapts the key principles outlined.
Let’s start with step one.
Step One
The aim of the law is to protect consumers and retailers and bolster confidence in online transactions. Put simply the law protects all, not just the purchaser. The relevant body of law is found in one document, the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling Regulations). These Regulations have been altered a little recently but this is not of great concern to this article.
Now we know where to find the law, lets look at what it does in step two.
Step Two
The law forces the seller, before the sum is debited from the purchaser, to:-
provide the purchaser with the identity and address of the supplier; and describe the characteristics of the goods to the purchaser; and show the price of the goods including taxes to the purchaser; and make shipping costs clear to the purchaser; and remind the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel the purchase.
Now this may seem quite a lot to take on board but the chances are you already have most of it covered anyway. Nearly everyone provides the first four details regardless of local legal requirements. It’s just good business practice.
It is the last point, reminding the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel, which is so important. We will look at this in step three
Step Three
However, the purchaser can notify you that he or she wants to cancel the purchase in a variety of ways – the most likely being my email, telephone call or fax.
In general the consumer must let you know they wish to cancel within seven working days. These seven working days start one day after the day on which the purchase was made. As long as the purchaser contacts you within this period they are entitled to cancel their purchase.
Even if the goods have arrived with the purchaser the right to cancel still exists. Now the law is not as short-sighted as you may expect. There will clearly be cases where common sense dictates certain items can not be returned or certain orders cancelled. These exceptions to the right to return/refund are discussed in step four.
Step Four
The most likely exception to be of use to e-commerce sellers is for goods which are made to specification or are clearly personalised.
One of our businesses is selling silver jewellery and if a customer orders an item which is engraved with his or her name then it would be useless if returned as we could not sell it on.
Items which by their nature can not be returned are also exempt. We make it clear in our shipping & returns panel for both of our businesses that we can not accept returns for body jewellery or earrings with Purdice Jewellery and bath products for Purdice Home.
Another exception vital for internet retailers is where goods are liable to deteriorate rapidly. Fresh food goes rotten very quickly and a right to return may be of little use to the retailer if the food arrives in a rotten condition. One must remember that the seven day refund applies to otherwise good items which the purchaser simply no longer wants. This exception is therefore vital for businesses to operate profitably. A DIY Guide for Designing and Printing Business Cards Online
A business card is a greeting card for your customers. The design is only limited by your imagination. Many people choose to design and print business cards themselves not for the reason of saving money. Instead they do it for customization and creativity.Many websites make the design and customization of business cards as easy as a few clicks. The design of a business card online starts with choosing a business card template, change the font size, color, layout, or add additional text if you need, then customize it to your business with title, description, phone number and URL of your website if you have and choose to show it on the business cards. These online sites also give you the option to add your company logo or a photo without having to use their designs. It is a fun and easy way to create your business cards online and can actualprovide the purchaser with the identity and address of the supplier; and
describe the characteristics of the goods to the purchaser; and
show the price of the goods including taxes to the purchaser; and
make shipping costs clear to the purchaser; and
remind the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel the purchase.
Now this may seem quite a lot to take on board but the chances are you already have most of it covered anyway. Nearly everyone provides the first four details regardless of local legal requirements. It’s just good business practice.
It is the last point, reminding the purchaser that he or she has a right to cancel, which is so important. We will look at this in step three
Step Three
However, the purchaser can notify you that he or she wants to cancel the purchase in a variety of ways – the most likely being my email, telephone call or fax.
In general the consumer must let you know they wish to cancel within seven working days. These seven working days start one day after the day on which the purchase was made. As long as the purchaser contacts you within this period they are entitled to cancel their purchase.
Even if the goods have arrived with the purchaser the right to cancel still exists. Now the law is not as short-sighted as you may expect. There will clearly be cases where common sense dictates certain items can not be returned or certain orders cancelled. These exceptions to the right to return/refund are discussed in step four.
Step Four
The most likely exception to be of use to e-commerce sellers is for goods which are made to specification or are clearly personalised.
One of our businesses is selling silver jewellery and if a customer orders an item which is engraved with his or her name then it would be useless if returned as we could not sell it on.
Items which by their nature can not be returned are also exempt. We make it clear in our shipping & returns panel for both of our businesses that we can not accept returns for body jewellery or earrings with Purdice Jewellery and bath products for Purdice Home.
Another exception vital for internet retailers is where goods are liable to deteriorate rapidly. Fresh food goes rotten very quickly and a right to return may be of little use to the retailer if the food arrives in a rotten condition. One must remember that the seven day refund applies to otherwise good items which the purchaser simply no longer wants. This exception is therefore vital for businesses to operate profitably. Are You Cascading Your Strategy, or Fragmenting It?
INTRODUCTIONThe typical approach executive teams use to cascade, or roll out, their strategic direction is to produce a clear set of goals, objectives, critical success factors or a scorecard and then get each departmental or functional manager to take this on board and customize it for their part of the organisation. The trouble then begins…A TYPICAL APPROACH: EACH DEPARTMENT ADOPTS OR ADAPTS A VERSION OF THE CORPORATE STRATEGYThe first phase of most organisational planning processes is that the organisation's executives design and express a strategic direction using a framework of some kind. Commonly this framework will be something like a collection of key result areas or critical success factors or balanced scorecard (1) perspectives or triple (or quadruple) bottom line, and so on. Strategic goals or objectives will be devkely being my email, telephone call or fax.
In general the consumer must let you know they wish to cancel within seven working days. These seven working days start one day after the day on which the purchase was made. As long as the purchaser contacts you within this period they are entitled to cancel their purchase.
Even if the goods have arrived with the purchaser the right to cancel still exists. Now the law is not as short-sighted as you may expect. There will clearly be cases where common sense dictates certain items can not be returned or certain orders cancelled. These exceptions to the right to return/refund are discussed in step four.
Step Four
The most likely exception to be of use to e-commerce sellers is for goods which are made to specification or are clearly personalised.
One of our businesses is selling silver jewellery and if a customer orders an item which is engraved with his or her name then it would be useless if returned as we could not sell it on.
Items which by their nature can not be returned are also exempt. We make it clear in our shipping & returns panel for both of our businesses that we can not accept returns for body jewellery or earrings with Purdice Jewellery and bath products for Purdice Home.
Another exception vital for internet retailers is where goods are liable to deteriorate rapidly. Fresh food goes rotten very quickly and a right to return may be of little use to the retailer if the food arrives in a rotten condition. One must remember that the seven day refund applies to otherwise good items which the purchaser simply no longer wants. This exception is therefore vital for businesses to operate profitably. Saving Santa - Last Minute Corporate Gift Ideas
Every smart manager or boss knows good company morale
is priceless. They know rewarding clients, customers
or employees for their continued patronage or hard work
makes good business sense.The holiday season is the perfect occasion where goodwill
can help build company spirit and continued patronage.
You should spare no expense in presenting a nice token
of your appreciation for all the hard work and loyalty
displayed throughout the year.However, playing Santa in the corporate world does come
with a few problems. Especially if you're a boss or employer
who procrastinates or puts everything off until the last
minute. You may find yourself scrambling at short notice
to come up with some appropriate gifts for the people in
your company.The holidays are especially hectic for those businesses in
the retailling silver jewellery and if a customer orders an item which is engraved with his or her name then it would be useless if returned as we could not sell it on.
Items which by their nature can not be returned are also exempt. We make it clear in our shipping & returns panel for both of our businesses that we can not accept returns for body jewellery or earrings with Purdice Jewellery and bath products for Purdice Home.
Another exception vital for internet retailers is where goods are liable to deteriorate rapidly. Fresh food goes rotten very quickly and a right to return may be of little use to the retailer if the food arrives in a rotten condition. One must remember that the seven day refund applies to otherwise good items which the purchaser simply no longer wants. This exception is therefore vital for businesses to operate profitably.
Music CDs, videos or DVDs which have been opened also can not be returned – this time for patently obvious reasons.
So what happens if goods are returned then? Let’s look at the final step, step five.
Step Five
So the purchaser wants to return the goods and there are no exceptions which restrict them being returned? The law, the prospect of future business and the desire to create a reputation for excellent service all compel you to make the refund as effortless as possible.
The first step as the e commerce retailer is to get the goods back. The law ensures that the purchaser has to finance the safe return of the goods. We strongly suggest you make this clear from the start in your shipping & returns panels – we do for both our information panels for our silver jewellery and home related businesses.
Furthermore, the goods must have been looked-after with a reasonable level of care and returned with care. If they are poorly packaged and damaged in transit or lost in transit you probably do not have to refund the purchaser. We always recommend items are fully insured when returned.
Assuming you receive the returned goods in a fit condition the final step is the refund.
The law requires you to refund the purchaser as soon as possible and no longer than 30 days after the notice of cancellation. Remember this is 30 days and not 30 working days.
You may, as the retailer, deduct the initial postage costs from the total returned.
In Summary
I know this can be quite hard to follow but I have broken it down into simple steps. In reality the law enforces the fairest position for everyone. It protects purchasers by allowing them to get a refund if they ask shortly after purchase. It protects retailers by providing exceptions from making a refund where items are not looked after, have gone-off or would be unsuitable for sale if returned.
It is vital to note that disputes may still arise where goods are faulty or where the seven day notice is given outside of the time limit by the purchaser. If this is the case legal action may follow so do not always think that as the retailer the seven day period protects you.
Either way only use this article as a guide. Always consult a lawyer before making changes to legal aspects of your website such as your terms and conditions and shipping and returns. As a guide you may view the terms and conditions for Purdice Home and for Purdice Jewellery. If you wish to replicate any part of them please contact me first.
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