Hi guys, check you. drop by the lab. everyone's dropping by lately. It's Frankie Everyone knows Frankie from 99-cent hobbies.

the eBay store this. yes, what are you doing in Sydney uh just having a holiday holiday. It's beautiful. Yeah, oh lucky you think I need a holiday I desperately need a holiday? So you so you're based in Hong Kong Yes we are.

and I is is that eBay store your full-time business? Oh, it's just a part-time It's this more part-time yeah thing that takes up feedback or something like that. Yeah yeah, I'm doing it for about what three years now, you know says steady growth. Yeah, it's a steady growth. It's not growing too much.

Beside, it's a still like a one-man thing, right? You know there's only so much I can do every yeah yeah tackle ship I can't really do it. You know at UH at a rate that that would really you know, make it explode. the Ryan Ryan I thought you know, stop Yeah. But yes, that's one thing I'm not too sure about cuz I don't I don't know I don't know about managing people.

We know that. Oh, and I tell me about it. What's the market difference between Hong Kong and China's They're practically like, well, Hong Kong is China yeah I won't get into the political. Is there any difference in doing business in Hong Kong as opposed to just over the? It's very different in hell.

Like the currency is one thing because right? Hong Kong has a free market that goes in and out freely. right? But in China you can't really, you know, move the money as freely as okay. Enjoy! Sink so like if you've making like big purchases from overseas I think there's right it's easier in China To know is easier I'm sorry in Hong Kong since you're in Hong Kong Did ya Alright so it's better to have a business based in Hong Kong than I think I Only think because also Hong Kong has a very low tax rate. Okay, yeah, it's a while you sort of right.

I think the maximum is only for for business. so even for individuals, well, the maximum is about 17 percent. 17 percent. That's not bad.

Businesses hire you right? Yeah, Okay, so to scale, that's right, you don't you? You fall into different brackets brackets depending on your income limits. Yeah, but I think for businesses are fixed soon. I gave them seven days notice. I mean yeah, after all the expenses and all that, right you you can.

You can deduct all your expenses so it's it's it's a very low tax rate government and I think in China is actually higher. Okay, yeah right. So is there any difference? Like a component access to stuff is it? Is it just as good in Hong Kong or isn't better if you most in Shenzhen Not really. It's a lot better if you're betting in Cinzia Well and it's only you know, 30 a minute? you know? Yeah, Ring right away So can you like, just go? Oh I Just hope Want to try and go over to stock up on stuff? Yes we can, but I've never done it.

It's so much easier to just do all the online showing. it's you know, very cheap. Yep with in China or even across the border on Kony skill right of the cheap. Okay and there's no issues with customs going between and welcome.

Charles Yeah yeah no, but they did. They do have like a border control right? So there are few things that we can't. you know, get easily. Yeah I mean there's certainly there's like control substance like you know, the top are cold.

of course there's all this. and then for electronics more things are okay. but I Can you know? Yeah, there are things that you can't You can't Really right? because China has economic zones - don't like free trade zones and yeah yeah, stuff like that. How complicated is easy in Hongkong right? It's just just beyond what how easy and cheap is shipping in Hong Kong like a shoe ship.

Oh yeah. so like for example, if you ship like a 200 gram package in Hong Kong it would be about what is it? Let me work it out. about $30 Hong Kong Which is what we just said. no Yankee dollars right? Is that - anywhere in the world - Anywhere Anywhere in the world? As says that limit.

So anything over 200 grand, Anything under 200 grand. No, it's actually they based it on ten gram in -. yeah. Okay so you you know as it get heavier, you pay a bit.

Yeah, well so it's actually cheaper to to ship. You know, light things are really cheap. Yeah, is it get heavier right? You pay more All right. But they're going to increase the price after the turn of the year.

Oh, just some of my pricing as well, right? Yeah. Okay, so do you ship my do ship? Buy a regular? Hong Kong yeah most of the time. yeah unless some customers you know specifically requested I should right? Okay, is that cheeping? Hong girls? Well for me it's not because I don't have my yeah, just walk in prices. Yeah yeah okay but sometimes I don't mind paying I'll do it if they want price.

yeah normally I ship through Hong Kong post yeah you also have like a Express service. go I can't eat those arms. oh yeah, go near them by EMS Yep yeah so I also do that too that I used to get probably five plus years ago. you know your auto something on ebay from Hong Kong I'd almost get it next day it was so quick.

yeah and now it's like a couple of weeks. Yeah, is that like I said. That's is that US government regulation? You know, sometimes it's sometimes happy Predate: I mean I have people in New Zealand Who gets my package in three days? Oh okay, yeah, but then there are also people in Australia that didn't get it after a month? Yeah right. I don't know what's going on.

so I used to buy tons of stuff your own Conchas it'd be so quick from Hong Kong as opposed to China it'd be like almost next day or two or three days tops. and then all of a sudden it would take weeks from Hong Kong and I just stopped by I mean most of the time based on my experience, yeah to Australia it's about a week right type of time I can't guarantee, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, so you think it's probably held up? Yeah, yeah, so what's your return rate on eBay or you lost right? Do you have to factor in not not very high, but it depends on the item some of the like more expensive items. if I lose one I basically lose the next you know, five ten sales but not maybe I probably factor in maybe 10% just to cover, You know, right? Yep, yeah, it's not that high. yeah, but because a lot of time.

what I lose is the more expensive items. They never get lost or no one bothers to commit because yeah, $100 more you may know what. What is the what is the best business? Is it better to sell lower volume, high-priced stuff? Or do you make a good I assume the profit margin on the lower on the cheaper stuff is much larger. like in terms of percentage in bars up to 10% Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be much larger, you know? Yeah.

I I Like to sell cheaper things, you know, higher volume? Rises You know they're easier to pack, easier to send out, right? Keep it safe and all that. Yeah. But then again, you know people aren't just looking for those things. You know they, they want to buy it.

They they what multimeters and they young and they and I like you know looking at those things as well. My exactly. You know if I find something good? yeah, and people like them, you know that that new. there's some satisfaction in doing that about it.

Multimeters and stuff like that is that? Is there a decent enough margin on those to be in that sort of market? Or are it like a you buy it from dealers or do you get directly from the men? Are you buying the stuff directly from manufacturers? Some of them yes, some I still have to go through like middleman. All right. Yeah, Yeah, yeah. But I I Do buy direct from manufacturers as well.

Yeah, but if you ask me in terms of profit is actually doesn't make a lot of sense I Carry some of them. Got it? Yeah, yeah, so you cuz you're a Bremen fanboy? Yeah, you're You're a fan of the Brahman as am I there are They Not hard. They're not easy to get so if you find that a lot of people are coming to you to get it because they can't Yeah I do have a few like local customers. good state.

they don't actually have like an official distributors in in Hong Kong Really? Yeah. so to buy Wan he's gonna buy direct from Taiwan Taiwanese? good Myself? I'm not. you know, an official reseller. I I still need to go through the agent in Taiwan right? My stock got it.

so there's a middleman in Dollar? Yeah, but they don't seem to mind that. So right, that's excellent. How easy is it to pack in, ship stuff, print labels, and things like that Customs paperwork. Is there any hassle in volume? Not not much For home health is fairly straightforward.

Okay, so do you have a like a label? because I didn't know from Hong Kong is like you know it looks like you know something like that. You know? Okay yeah you know, like a custom-made label. I Do have one of these or some packages for the ones that are actually tracked. Yeah, you know you can ship either without a tractor.

Always a Trekkie Yeah we're tracking. Home Compost has their own system that we're going to use and it prints out bigger labels. Okay see if we label machine that? Yeah, hand us all that and I have my own label. It's got four for the non track labels.

Got it? Do you prefer to send track because I know when I send stuff on eBay I Always send it tracking because then if somebody complains they didn't get it, you can prove that. Yeah. Worth it for a ten dollar I Know exactly cheaper items. Yeah, most people prefer to just send it in on track.

Yeah, but for like multimeters? Yes, if it makes more sense to me, right? So what? So will you insist on people paying for tracking for some nukes for some items in my eBay store? I Actually made that mandatory that you have to air fracking. It's smart. Yeah, yes, but the tracking doesn't always work that well for some countries. Australian Is it's great because they have like door-to-door tracking so you see exactly where your packages.

but for some country the tracking some of them the worst one only works until the package that leaves Hong Kong I Don't find it very useful I mean there's nothing I can do about that rifle like the US Australia for New Zealand for most of the english-speaking countries actually because they have certain I think agreement with these post offices right between them and Hong Kong post so they have very good tracking. They're adding some countries as well like Russia I think they've just added Norway Germany yep and a few others. That is gonna help that as well. Got it! Yeah, any countries you won't ship to, there are a few everywhere.

I Have recently added South Africa South Africa to Page Sri Lanka Right to my why is that they just wouldn't get there I don't know like for sure Lincoln I don't get a lot of orders from them I write probably only got a few yeah I love those few you know most of them actually said they didn't receive right and one actually did get returned to me just last week and it says insufficient address or something. but then I said I double check with the information I get and that's exactly the address date day. So I don't know what? that just didn't get me. and then South Africa is also another one of those right where they just have massive massive delay at time right? and I I've had one that got returned to me exactly one year after I feel 12 months? Yeah? So I mean I've had a few those and you know and you know them I like more expensive I too right? And then I have to wait funds and customs? Yeah, yeah, you know got to a point where it just doesn't make sense for me to to take orders from some country.

How bad is a Bay Now that what, you can't leave negative feedback for a buyer, it's been like that for years now. I Can I delete positive? No, yeah, no feedback at all and it's or it's a buyers. it's very very pretty bad. For sellers, he's you know? yeah.

I mean you're at Europe like I've got a proper store and you know you've got like 5,000 feedback so you're quite yeah. I'm good. I mean yeah because when I started it was pretty difficult as well because they tried. they set limits on new sellers.

Yeah, you you can sell maybe five or ten items per month. So I yes, and then you can only sell like a hundred dollars worth of stuff per month. Is that nice? Yeah, if your new seller, you have these limits right? I don't know. I Think they have limits, especially for sellers in our part of the world I know Hong Kong because there's so many of us there.

Yep. So they do have very strict rules for us and as you sell more to give you, you know. but the fees are still a killer out there. Yeah, the fees is, but you factor that in the price, right? You just do that in the imaginin.

Everything is built into the price even though it says the free shipping is not. Moody everybody does. Do you find that free shipping is like really entices, really sighs? I Don't think so. but I just think it's a bit easier for people to understand the two similar.

Don't have to think about that. Yeah, and for us it it is easy because non compos has like a you know standard shipping price for Ronnie for everyone. Well, but it's gonna get studied more complicated after the turn of the year because they're changing it to like a three-tiered system. So okay, surprise things going on a bit tricky, but I'll try to still keep it simple.

Yes, just so you know people can buy you know with confidence and they don't have to worry about you know, hitting the coast doesn't know that? Yeah, yeah, so you're gonna keep going. you're gonna keep adding more stuff to the store or if you're reached when you can handle it yourself as they'd like a volumes. Yeah, they're just enough at the moaning I'm eating editing stuff, yeah, but this? yeah, there's only a certain amount of things that I can do in one day on your own. And yeah, yeah, and you've got a day job -.

So yeah. So there you go, He's check out his store 99 cent hobbies or just Frankie Calm? Frankie Well why Frankie with a why not an IE Excellent, Yeah, Calm. Terrific. Thank you very much.

Thanks for joining us. Good to me and enjoy the rest of you thank you holidays. Alright, say that fight.