[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G79t-65CZiA”]

#AskBRP Episode 26

Selling Online

One of the questions I get asked frequently is where do I sell the merchandise that gets defaulted?  For those of you who haven’t been following along, Boca Raton Pawn aka BRP Luxury, specializes in giving collateral loans for high end items.  We can give you cash for your Rolex, money for your Chanel handbag, or help you between paychecks for your Van Cleef necklace.  As a lender, sometimes we have to recoup or money for a defaulted loan.  If you are a bank or traditional lender and a client defaults you are SOL.  But since we take collateral, we can sell those items if a loan defaults to make our money back.

As with any pawn shop Boca Raton we have a retail store.  In our store we have a beautiful showroom that would rival any high end jewelry store.  We stock it full of diamond and gold jewelry, luxury Swiss watches, and designer handbags.  Most of these items are from loans that defaulted.  We get people who come in looking to shop for a great deal. You can find some amazing bargains at your local pawn shop.

However, since our main focus is giving clients collateral loans, we don’t have the same foot traffic for sales as a jewelry store would.  Since a jewelry store’s main focus is selling jewelry, they get plenty of customers looking to shop.  In order to reach more clients we have turned to selling online.  We sell products in multiple locations including eBay, Tradesy, and even our own website.

Selling online brings billions of customers to you.  Anyone with an internet connection in the world can view our inventory online.  In fact, just this last month we sent two watches overseas, one to China and the other to Dubai.  Without selling on the internet those two sales wouldn’t have been made.  Selling online improves our bottom line.

However, with more consumers comes more problems.  The more items you sell, the more returns you may get.  Also, there are a lot of people on the internet looking to scam.  Unless you are familiar with the hazards that come with selling online you have to be very careful.

Overall, selling online is worth it in the long run.  The increase in sales outweighs the problems you get from acquiring new customers.  At the end of the day, the more product you can sell the better your company will perform.

I Hate PayPal

The biggest problem with selling online is getting paid.  The most common method for payments these days is through PayPal.  However, I hate them.  They act as a monopoly and implement rules without any warning.

This week PayPal limited my account until I provide further information regarding my business.  This means that I cannot withdraw money from my PayPal account into our own bank account.  And they told me it could take up to 2 months.  My business is predicated on being liquid and lending people money when they need it.  How can I lend them money if I don’t have it in the bank?  I asked PayPal this and the answer is the same, there’s nothing they can do.

Unfortunately I am at the mercy of PayPal and what they decide.  I can annoy them all I want but until they release the hold there is nothing I can do.  I hate PayPal.