Black Friday 2009 Shopping Tips and Deals

Black Friday is the time when people are already starting their Christmas shopping problem.  However, they find this day very stressful and rather frustrating even if their purpose is to share happiness with gifts.  This is because there are a number of people going to malls and gift shops and also getting things at a much expensive price regardless of the bargain sale.

Because of this, here are some Black Friday 2009 shopping tips that every consumer can use whether they will buy digital cameras, laptops and other gifts and find the best deals that will keep them from any shopping problems.

There may be a lot of on sale digital cameras and even Black Berry phones on this shopping day but they will also run out of supply once many people discovers them. If you are looking for gadgets like laptops and digital cameras, it is better if you will compare their prices in order to stumble on the most affordable one for your budget. This tip is not only a good financial saver but also a time saver because you know what to buy next.

4.Bring the ads you found.  These ads are very important as they will give you the chance to have a Black Friday coupon that you can use for getting discounts.  This will give you the best deals that you can find for any gadgets that you want.

This will keep you from spending on things that you do not need or those that are not included in your shopping list. Knowing these will prevent you from any frustrations caused by shopping. Searching online is the best way for you to check and know the gift trend this year. You will just end up frustrated once you learned that your gift to a person got broken immediately. And by searching multiple stores online, you will find out at least one of them giving out rebates on items that you need to buy.

By doing these tips, you will save yourself from a very stressful shopping experience and simultaneously save you money.  This will certainly give you an enjoyable gift buying experience while making your loved ones happy on the holidays.

About Author: Merry is an expert that contributes to http://www.onewayshopping.com/blog, a fashion and beauty blog. The shopping blog provides buying tips and top lists.

Whether you are a regular shopper or a seller, online Shopping Directory services are a great way to search for products to buy as well as to list products to sell. This article will help you to harness the true potential of an Online Shopping Directory, by knowing what benefits these services can provide. With the rapid growth of the Internet, one of most prominent services made available through the Internet is Online Shopping. Regular shoppers, who used to go to a physical store to search for products and compare prices, are now rushing to online shopping stores due to the inherent advantages they provide. For these online shoppers, the tool that helps them to perform an effective online shopping is Online Shopping Directory services. Some others identify these services as Price Comparison Services. Similar to any other directory service, Online Shopping Directory lists products which are available to be purchased online. These product listings represent different vendors, categories, brands, etc. The benefit of an Online Shopping Directory is twofold. While these services help shoppers to easily find the products they are looking for, they also help sellers to list their products. It is worthwhile to find out what benefits these services provide for shoppers and vendors.

Benefits for Online Shoppers: The online shopper, who can be a veteran or a newbie, will find an Online Shopping Directory a very useful service to search for the product that they are looking for and perfect to assist their home shopping. Before the final purchasing decision is made, an average shopper spends a considerable amount of time searching for the product having an affordable price, acceptable quality. Not only price and quality, many other factors like guarantee terms, return policy, warranty, and delivery time are also critical to make the final decision. Shopping directory will provide most of this information with varying degree to the shopper to make an informed decision. Since there are many different products available for the specification that the shopper is looking for, the shopper has a greater flexibility to cross compare these similar products using various aspects such as brand, quality, price, user ratings, warranty, etc. This will drastically reduce the effort and time to find the right product and also make online shopping a pleasurable experience. Any online shopper would like to find the best bargain available for the product they are looking for. Online Shopping Directories again become handy to find the best bargain since they provide the best online shopping deals available on the Internet. Make a note to find a directory which has regular updates so the deals you will get are up to date.

Benefits for Vendors: Vendors will also find that online shopping directories are an ideal place to list the products available from their online shop. One of the key benefits is the user base of these directories. By listing a product, vendors will instantly get access to this large user database which will definitely increase the traffic to vendor products. Since online shopping directories provide searches for shoppers to filter the products they are looking for, there is a higher possibility of getting your product information indexed to potential buyers. Another benefit of an Online Shopping Directory is the indirect exposure of your product listings through the affiliate services provided by the Online Shopping Directories. These affiliations will expose the products listings of the Shopping Directory through the affiliate web sites making a network of listings. This will again increase the chances of selling your products. To harness these benefits, vendor must make sure that the product details such as short, long descriptions, features, benefits which are provided to the online shopping directory are properly articulated. Also verify that the keywords which you think your product should be listed with are included in the descriptions. By having the right content as well as adhering to the online shopping directory submission guidelines, the traffic to your product listing can be increased. Can all these benefits be gained at an affordable price? The answer is yes. In fact most Online Shopping Directory services provide free listing of products and services. If you are owner of any number of online shops, it is worthwhile to consider these benefits and harness the true potential of an Online Shopping Directory to market your products. To conclude, Online Shopping Directory is a great way to list products as well as to search for products to buy. If you are a regular shopper or a seller, the best practice is to spend some time to find the best Online Shopping Directories out there on the Internet having a wide range of products, larger user base and up to date information. Some online shopping directories are targeted to specific shopping market segments such as online shopping UK, US online shopping, etc. By knowing what market segment a particular online directory focuses on will help you to find the product or to sell your product easily.

Shopping anywhere in British Columbia is an experience in itself and one of the more popular things to do, other than the many outdoor activities. In fact, shopping can be an outdoor activity in some towns, like Whistler Village, as it is mainly pedestrian only. This means that you can walk from shop to shop because cars are not allowed in these towns. Shopping is especially fun if you know where to shop. There are many shopping malls, retail shops, and plenty of opportunities to do some shopping at a discount. To find these great shopping centers and malls, all you have to do is go online or, if you are in British Columbia, look in some of the many towns for some store flyers.

British Columbia Retail Shops

If you love shopping, then look no further than the many BC retail shops. Some of the more popular cities that can be found in BC include Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, and Whistler. Kelowna is actually the major retail center in the interior of BC and Kelowna has just about every retail shop to suit everyone’s needs from great specialty shops all the way to national chains. Kelowna also has the largest shopping centre between Calgary and Vancouver called the Orchard Park Shopping Centre. This centre has over 150 stores and shops, many of which are represented locally. Kelowna is only one of the many towns you can find in BC that have just about every retail shop to fit your shopping desires.

Some of the retail shops that came be found in the coastal areas of British Columbia include Vancouver, Whistler, Richmond and Victoria that specifically cater to more of an eclectic mix of many Asian influenced shops; therefore, if you are in the mood to experience a world apart from yours, this is the place to shop at. If you are in the interior of BC and toward the Rocky Mountain ridgeline, visit some great local shopping centers with a “small town” attitude in cities such as Abbotsford and Kelowna.

BC Store Coupons

If you are one of those shoppers who loves all the savings that come with using coupons; well, you will find plenty of BC store coupons provided you know where to look. One place to find such coupons is through the internet where you can find almost any British Columbia store or shop that is offering coupon savings. This saves plenty of time if you are looking to save money at a specific store. Another way to find BC shop coupons is in the towns themselves. Many times local news papers and such will have store flyers and free coupons that are able to be cut out of the papers.

British Columbia Shopping Malls

Shopping Malls are a great thing, but, in British Columbia, some shopping malls are found in or are the same thing as shopping centers. There numerous shopping malls throughout BC, one of the largest being in Vancouver. There are a lot of Asian inspired shopping centers in Richmond, BC. Parker Place Shopping Centre is one of the largest Asian inspired malls in western Canada. You don’t necessarily need to visit the large shopping malls that provide a multiple level shopping experience, but, the smaller single floor shopping malls in smaller cities will satisfy your craving for great values at a fraction of the cost of what you find in larger shopping malls.

Most people these days have very hecktic lifes and the idea of town centre shopping brings images of the hustle and bustle of finding what they are looking for, waiting in Ques,  traffic jams  and all the pollution created by the traffic. Town centre shopping these days can be very exhausting for some, but for everybody  town centre shopping they will know that it is a very time consuming task.

The Ei42 shopping online interface brings city centre shopping directly to you, all you’re favourite High street stores  conveniently in one web browser on your computer at  at your house, work or from wherever you are. As we all experience when town centre shopping, most of the high street shops  will offer club points for all your goods made, this is where Ei42 are leading the way when it comes to shopping online.

Town Centre Shopping, loyalty systems Vs Ei42 Cash Back Shopping Online



Town Centre Shopping

With Town centre shopping most  of us will have or have heardin relation to the club / point’s cards and know which stores run these kind of schemes and how many points we will earn when we do our shopping. If you know this you will also know that the points do not combine  up to a splendid quantity and that we will have to spend 100’s upon 100’s of pounds before the points get to a phase where it is really worth spending them.

Ei42 Cash Back Shopping Online

When you make use of Ei42 to do your shopping online at these High Street outlets many of the same products you will see when you are in the urban centre shopping, will actually be less high-priced  online than they are in the shops, this will be down to the reality that the business you are buying from will have reduce overheads, this is for the reason that they will be shipping the produces to you direct from their warehouses.

As an alternative of points, with Ei42 shopping online at these high street shops you will quickly find cash back  into your central account hastily building up, shopping online with Ei42 you will find a lot of high street shops such for example Asda, Tesco’s, Dixons, Pc World, Toys R us, Curry’s,  Argos, Vodafone, Marks & Spencer’s, Comet, WhSmiths just to name a little.

Not forgetting you are able to earn cash back from booking your holiday online through Ei42, one of the online favourite’s being Virgin Holidays.

would you like a holiday in the UK here are some of Ei42’s top UK holiday business’s that you will have heard of. Haven Holidays, Park Holidays, Lego Land Holidays and the Holiday Inn.

Ei42 in actual fact  are leading the method  in making

Online Shopping easy and convenient, along with the added bonus of saving you cash on your goods as they will be less online and you will be receiving money  back not points directly into your account with Ei42. As a replacement for of doing town centre shopping it is easy to do your shopping online at the Online Shops with ei42

Shopping Carts Solutions an integrated shopping solution, a new way that lets your customers to make orders, purchase online, manage shipping…

Today every growing business tries to be customer centric and I am very sure that business entropy will increase if your customer retention rate goes low. In this article I will discuss all about shopping cart and shopping cart software solution. With plethora of internet, staying at the top of your field has become arduous and it takes a lot to remain or reach at the top position. Looking back at the decade of shopping, there were no online store and customers had to walk to the store, spend time there browsing through the catalogue, deciding products, and then the product was passed into the shopping cart (trolley), order was placed and finally checkout and payment processes were carried. Then everything was manual, all entries were made manually and pricing were calculated on hands. In present scenario – With online shopping cart you can shop from your home or your office; just need internet connection and all yours processing finalized in a minute. This online storefront with integrated shopping solution provides a platform for selecting and purchasing your favorite products.

Shopping Carts is selecting products online for purchasing. Ecommerce is complete online store for shopping where from placing orders, tracking orders and managing account all are maintained.

The interface of online stores are designed for users and it is really easy to browse, collect, place orders and make payment but behind the curtain the scene is sophisticated, it needs round the clock maintenance for smooth functioning of your ecommerce store. The current study says that abandonment rate of shopping cart ranges from 25% to 75%. Being a SEO executive and strategist I have analyzed lots of ecommerce websites, studied its web analytics funnel visualization report, it shows that most of the visitors exit at the initial step (after Login or Registration), these visitors drop out at proceeding steps, and very small percentage reach the final checkout. I would say that funnel conversion rate is very low for these ecommerce websites / shopping carts if the funnel steps are not properly set.

I would like to share what all I have inculcated through my experience, reasons for shopping cart abandonment are:

High Shipping Cost: This can be inversely managed by increasing product cost and reducing shipping cost.

Security and Privacy Problem: Providing very transparent privacy statement and high level security for payment gateway.

Lot of essentialities and billing formalities: Non essential information should be not be made mandatory, other formalities can be filled at the after checkout.

Poor Navigation: Your shopping store should respond quickly, check that your site does not take enough loading time. Search should be simple and checkout process should not be very lengthy. Clients should be notified after payment is done and visitors who wish can easily navigate back to make more shopping without time wastage.

Remember, your ecommerce website should be simple so that it entices your customers to come again for shopping. All the shopping cart segments should be integrated and should be streamlined for its smooth running. Elements of consideration are: a ecommerce shopping cart (storefront with shopping cart), a merchant account, a database server (this stores all information about customer and all your storefront products and services), a web server (hosts your website and provides all information about your product at the web browser’s request), a catalogue, legacy system, control inventory, reporting tool and secure payment gateway. Hosting of your online storefront or ecommerce website is of first consideration. Depending on your storefront hosting you choose shopping cart software, all depends on the software and your website hosting compatibility.

There are different shopping cart software available for your storefront from which you can choose. Either you can Buy a shopping cart software product, or join a service (template service build your store).

Choosing shopping cart software is the key business requirement for online shopping business solutions.

Every ecommerce site has its shopping cart and thus needs a merchant account and payment gateway. I believe these two are basic necessities of any online store for allowing credit card payment. Let be brief the main points that you should know before proceeding to shopping carts.

Merchant Account: This allows to process credit card information. Different types of merchant accounts are available to suit your business needs. Most popular merchant accounts include wireless, telecheck, mail order or phone, e-commerce. Ecommerce is the fastest growing transaction segment.

Payment Gateway: payment gateway processes this credit card and shipping information and real time information over a secure network connection.

A company that validates your credit card information in real time is electronic gateway or payment gateway. Few most widely accepted gateways are: Paypal (Globally), Verisign (Globally), 2Checkout (Globally), WorldPay (Gloablly), Authorize.Net (US), CyberSource (US), Moneris (CA), Protx (UK), EWay (AU); some others are Chronopay, Westpac, BluePay, viaKLIX, eMatters, plugnpay, eway, goemerchant.com, skipjack, MiraPay, netaxept, DirectOne, nab, NETBANX, Network Merchants, Nochex, DeltaPAY, eProcessing Network, protx, egateway, SECPay, paymate, Gotmerchant, ANZ, beanstream, Payjunction, TECHNOCASH, MiraPay, GoDaddy.

Payment gateway main motive is to provide secure channel for credit card information transfer. Basically the credit card information is encrypted and sent to respective bank for verification, these are of highest priority, no detail is stored in between.

You may be having now in mind how to create your merchant account and have your payment gateway??? Not mandatory to have one’s own, you may use merchant service providers’ shopping cart solutions for your ecommerce websites.

Type of Gateways:

Currently there are 3 main gateway interfaces available:

COM based gateway interface: Most of the COM based gateway company requires installing the DLL software on your hosting server, and also checks for your SSL certificate.

XML Transport gateway interface: XML Transport gateway companies do not require DLL installation but checks for you SLL certification instead uses Windows server installed facilities.

Form based gateway interface: This is most common gateway as does not require any software installation, very few companies ask for SSL certification.

The main advantage is that COM and XML gateways are integrated with your store and thus no redirection to external server but the drawback also lies that since the transfer is over the internet to payment gateway makes this less reliable.

Types of Shopping Cart

Merchant Service Shopping Carts

Have you set up a new business, do not have merchant account and payment gateway??? Still looking…. There are merchant services shopping carts available for new businesses with very less queries at the initial stage. Once you start your business at the initial stage there are very less orders that increases gradually, so merchant will get you licensed . It proceeds somewhat like this: it collects and stores your client’s information and takes you to its payment gateway and merchant account.

The main problem is the fee that gateway company charges. Apart from the set up fee, transaction cost is also high making the over all gateway an expensive one. Another major drawback is that client’s credit card statements will contain merchant service not your company name. There is admin login section for all sort of updation – add, delete, edit, and manage products and other information. The HTML code generated by the cart is inserted in the respected pages, once the visitor clicks on the link (button), visitor is redirected to merchant site where visitor needs to enter card detail and personal details.

Hosted Shopping Carts

Small and medium sized businesses need not worry!! Yes, they can have hosted shopping cart for those not having enough resource to go with integrated shopping cart solutions for their ecommerce websites. The hosted shopping cart solution has an administration area for entering product information. The generated HTML information code is inserted into the product page. The website visitor is redirected to another site to fill a form with information that is CC to the website. There are certain carts that provide configurable user interface so that it looks as corporate website.

The most important point to be noted is that in hosted shopping cart solutions the website owner uses ones own payment gateway and merchant account; this provides your client with credit card detail with your company title not the title of merchant service. For increasing sale this shopping cart service becomes cheaper, this may be fixed transaction charge for higher sales compared to per transaction.

Fully Integrated Shopping Carts

Fully integrated (Trunkey – a comprehensive shopping cart solution provided by one provider) shopping cart provides completely configurable user interface and other interesting features. This needs some programming knowledge so that you can better manage and handle its modules and use the extra features provided. Provider of On the ecommerce provider server the software data and web pages are hosted. Examples: Yahoo Store, Bigstep, Merchandizer, etc. these include form based built in payment gateway.

Which shopping cart to go with?? Points to ponder – Costing: The investment you put in, hosting

Shopping cart software is the common online storefront business solution. There are myriad e-commerce solutions available with varying features, design, security so that you can customize based on your requirements and specifications. With open source software solutions, osCommerce shopping cart solution there are slew of customizable shopping cart solutions available. The open source ecommerce software products are available that are very easy to setup, configure, administration. So before going with a particular solution Payment gateway or shopping cart just be clear about your requirements. There is another storefront solution, Watson shopping cart system (developed in Switzerland) is a new shopping cart or trolley that has unique database and uses audio advertising system of the internet for online shopping.

Secret shopping sounds mysterious and fun and well, shopping is great no matter what. Secret shopping in its basic form is shopping someone or someplace without the person or business knowing it. Shopping secretly seems to draw on this fantasy of part detective, part spy, and part shopaholic. In the best scenario you receive your “mission” and then go to the location and pretend to be a real customer all while noticing all the things going on around you. Some secret shopping companies will have the shopper actually purchase something so that the whole shopping encounter seems more realistic. If you search the words, “secret shopping” on the Internet you will get over 4 million hits on websites that have something to do with secret shopping.

There are all types of secret shopping businesses out there. There are businesses, corporations and large chains that have their own department or group of people that travel around and try to shop the stores. Sometimes this is part of the internal security team that helps reduce shrinkage or loss prevention specialists. Then there are the companies and stores that will choose to hire a secret shopping company who specializes in secret shopping that specific industry.

Some of the things that in person secret shops might uncover are:

How many customers in the store when entering?

Did anyone greet you when entering the store or how long did it take for someone to greet you after walking in the door?

Was the store neat and clean?

Did anyone offer to help you find an item or offer to help you?

Was the associate dressed appropriately?

Was the bathroom clean?

Was the associate using their time wisely?

Did an associate offer to get you a shopping bag, shopping cart, or basket or to start a dressing room for you?

Did the associate let you know of any specials or promotions going on in the store

Was it easy to navigate through the store?

How long did you have to wait to check out?

Was the cashier friendly?

Were your items rang in correctly?

Did the associate offer to open a store credit account?

Did the cashier thank you for coming in?

These are just a few questions that a secret shopper might have to fill out when doing a report on how the shop went. Of course depending on the company, different key areas would be listed and other items of interest that would be specific to that company. Besides a person going into a store and shopping them, some companies are having their shoppers wired for sound and or video. While a person can go to a place and shop and come up with their opinions, sound and video are hard to ignore. Often sound and video are used in extreme circumstances where sound and video would implicate a person or business of a wrongdoing.

There is a show on television right now that shows all kinds of hidden video of stealing, people acting stupid, intoxicated, fighting, driving recklessly, and more. It just goes to show you what people will watch on television. But is proves a powerful tool for incrimination or reprimanding employees.

What kind of business would use a secret shopping service? Lots of businesses use a secret shopping service whether it is an internal monitoring or hired out by a company that specializes in secret shopping. Corporate businesses would use a secret shopping service to make sure that the individual franchise or store is keeping up with the company’s rules and regulations. While some franchises are individually owned they still have to sign a contract with the home office that they will uphold the standards, appearances, and make sure that all the stores are virtually the same. Smaller businesses might use a secret shopping service for a number of things like monitoring, training, compliance, or incentive based information. Monitoring is just that, a basic service that gives the manager or owner a simple description of the secret shop. On going training is essential to any business so companies can use secret shopping to help with continued training. Compliance goes a little further with specific areas of sales, customer service, safety, and rules being covered. Incentive based secret shopping is when the person or business being shopped and that said person or business doing a great job would get a reward. The reward could be monetary, time off, bonus, lunch, or other items that the owner or manager will choose.

Some companies choose to do telephone secret shopping instead of or in addition to the in person secret shop. Telephone secret shopping uses the same principles as above except the whole interaction is done over the telephone. Modern software and telephone equipment have made this type of secret shopping easier and more secretive. But with technology comes the backlash of trying to be secretive, the arch nemesis of the telephone secret shopping world, caller id. There are ways around caller id and they will not be shared in this essay, but if you need to bypass a caller id there are systems that can do it, just check out the Internet. So the basic telephone secret shops goes like this:

Store-”Hi, thanks for calling XYZ business, this is Bob, how can I help you today?”

Shopper- “Hello Bob, I was wondering if you could give me some information about your….”

Store- “Sure, I can help you with that. You see here at XYZ business we have…”

You can see where this is going.

The telephone secret shop is typically recorded to an audio system or to the Internet where the call can be retrieved at a later date. Different software systems allow the secret shopping calls to be listened to online in real time or saved and sent via email when the audio format is in MP3. This software also allows its user to edit the call. Trimming the call in the beginning before the rings start and after both parties have hung up allow the call to remain in a manageable length. Some companies record the call and then send it to their clients on a CD. The CD allows the manager or owner to listen and share the call with the employee.

Are you looking for a secret shopping job? There are many established secret shopping companies out there that are looking for shoppers, but how do you know which ones to trust. First of all, like the old saying goes, “if it sounds to good to be true, then it probably is” so don’t fall for all the Internet hype about secret shopping. Could you in reality find a reputable secret shopping company and make some money, yes, if you do your homework. This is such a serious issue that the Federal Trade Commission has advice on how to avoid being scammed by fake secret shopping companies. Here is some advice on how to avoid bogus secret shopping companies:

Do your homework; check out the company BEFORE you give them any personal information

Beware of catchy banners and click me sites that offer to hire secret shoppers off of the Internet. This is a “sounds too good to be true” situation.

Check with the Better Business Bureau about background information on the company before you jump in with both feet.

Many fake secret shopping sites want you to complete “offers” before you are assigned any jobs. These offers are actually ways for that site to gather information about you like your name and email. Offers like; try these magazines or a free trial offer for who knows what, and all you have to give them is your information and sometimes a credit card number. These sites are known to sell or use your email to spam sites that will then riddle your inbox with tons of junk email.

If you know someone who is a secret shopper ask them how they got into the business and I bet they will have some advice of their own to share.

It’s not as easy as it seems, there is often some travel involved and reports have to be written in detail, called in, typed or emailed for you to be able to get paid per job.

So if you are looking for a secret shopping company or a secret shopping job, the bottom line is check the company out before doing business with them. Ask for business references (and call them, just giving a sheet a references won’t do you any good if you don’t call them), check with the better business bureau and ask around. The time you spend doing your homework before you hire or look for a secret shopping job will pay off in the end. There are some great secret shopping companies out there that offer secret shopping services and your business will prosper from the knowledge and training that a reputable secret shopping business can provide for you.

Getting the best value available should be your main objective when searching for a Jan Marini skincare sale on the net.  For savvy shoppers, it is the recommended method to get the most for your money.

Retail department stores and specialty shops are an excellent way to view beauty products, however the internet offers a greater variety at prices that are way cheaper than you will find locally.

I strongly suggest that you search on the web & find out what is being offered before you make a final purchasing decision.

Compare Prices

Web surfing allows you an opportunity to easily check prices at many different shops quickly.

You can be pretty much confident that you are getting the best value for your money when you make use of the comparison shopping feature that the internet provides.

It is often said that the opportunity to save as much money as possible for the goods we desire is the true joy of shopping.

Getting All The Facts

Highly rated online outlets offer a great amount of details regarding skincare, such as detailed product reviews & allowing for customers to leave comments and feedback about their purchase.

Because of these features, you can have access to much more details about the item than you could expect to get by speaking with the sales staff at a conventional retail store.

Convent For Shoppers

Regular shops are often times inconvenient as they are open during set operating times.  However, net shops are always open, so you can make purchases when you want to.

So, there are no concerns about your schedule as you can research and discover goods at an hour that is best for your lifestyle.

Discovering Bargains

Shopping on the web has many advantages, including being able to discover rare or hard to find skincare products that is not available in your town or is no longer for sale.

When I am trying to find deals and specials, checking out the eBay website and viewing what is for sale is a high priority for me.

I enjoy visiting their site as I can normally find the exact items I am looking for at cheap prices.

In addition to the great prices, you can even locate values for items that are free of shipping & handling charges.

Secure Transactions

Shopping safety & security is the main priority on their website.  So, there is no need to worry when using your credit card to make a purchase.  They have taken all of the necessary steps to protect your personal details.

Overall Savings

Depending upon the item, the average prices will be somewhere between $17 and $57 for Jan Marini products that are sold locally in department stores & specialty boutiques.

Saving up to 54% off of the listed retail price is common when shopping for values online.

One of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, Bangkok is also the most fabulous shopping destination in Asia. In fact, shopping in Bangkok is truly fun as well as a great experience, with an array of shopping locations, ranging from glitzy modern shopping malls to traditional bustling street markets selling antiquities and designer and traditional jewelry.

In short, Bangkok is a mecca for shopping enthusiasts, and everything including electronic items, computer software and hardware, art and craft items, Chinese specialties, textiles, jewelry, and much more can be shopped here.

Perhaps most popular among the shopping highlights in Bangkok is the Siam Square, which is strategically positioned at Central Station on the BTS Sky Train route. This area is dotted with hundreds of high-end shopping malls, among which one of the most sought after is Siam Center and Siam Discovery Center, within which one can find a number of shops selling branded items.

There is also an elegant cinema complex on the top floor of Siam Discovery Center, with comfortable seats. This is a great place to relax after a day of tired shopping. Located just ten minutes walk from the Siam Square is another much famed shopping spot in Bangkok, namely, Mahboonkrong Shopping Center, dotted with a large number of shops selling quality clothing and electronic items at knock-down prices.

One can also find a couple of shopping malls and department stores, close to the Chit Lom BTS Sky Train station. Among which, perhaps the most significant is the eight-storied World Trade Center, attached with a number of duty free shops. Found on the top floor of the World Trade Center is an ice skating rink. The Central Group’s flagship store, Central Chit Lom Department Store, is also located here. Such shopping centers as Gaysorn Plaza, Maneya Centre, Sogo, and Narayana Phand, a great spot to shop handicraft items, are also situated in this area.

For those who want to shop computer-related items and peripherals at cheap prices, a great way would be to head to Pantip Plaza on the Phetburi Road. This is a paradise for shopping computer items. Every floor within the plaza has a number of shops selling both original and pirated software and hardware items. One could buy copy of VCD movies for a price as low as 100 baht.

A good number of small as well as large shopping malls can also be found along the Ploenchit Road and Sukhumvit Road, such as, Robinson, Ploenchit Plaza, Times Square, Emporium, and Landmark.

Popular shopping areas in Bangkok also include Silom Road, located to the south of the Siam Square. Just few among the shopping malls in this area are Silom Center, Central department stores, Silom Plaza, Thaniya Plaza, Silom Village, and Holiday Inn Crown Plaza.

Shopping at Bangkok would not be complete without taking a tour to Chatuchak market, which becomes alive in the city every weekend. Located near the Mo Chit BTS Sky Train station, Chatuchak market is an incredible outdoor market, from where everything from handicraft items and livestock items could be shopped and that too at bargain prices. Further, you can also find a large number of food stalls in the market, selling delicious Thai food items such as fried noodles, noodle curry, and barbequed satays.

Other popular shopping areas in the city are Bangrak Market, a bustling area which is famed for its flower stalls, engage in selling enormous variety of cut flowers, jasmines, and orchids; China Town, with alleys packed with outlets dealing in almost all types of goods; Pratunam Market, which is a great place to relish hygiene as well as delicious food items; Woeng Nakhon Kasem – a popular spot to shop items such as brassware, old fashioned furniture, industrial items, antiques, and Chinese porcelains.

Above all, for a unique shopping experience, take a tour to some of the most fabulous night markets in the area. Most prominent among the night markets in the city are the Suan Luam Night Bazaar, whose specialty is stalls that sell products brought from every corner of the country.

Pratunam Market Complex, which is a great spot to shop fashion accessories such as handbags, purses, trendy apparels, and designer accessories; Patpong Night Market, which is not only popular for stalls selling designer good at cheap prices but also for night clubs and other establishments conducting sex shows; Buanglamphu Market, a descent place to shop clothing and food items; and the Memorial Bridge Night Market.

So you think you want to buy a body shop? A body shop can be a great investment if you have the skills necessary to make it work, and are willing to do the business actions necessary to bring in the business and keep the business profitable. I would like to help you work out if you really want to buy a body shop and, if you do, what kind of shop would be best for you.

Do you have the skills to buy a body Shop?

Most successful body shop owners come from inside the industry. They are occasionally body and/or paint men who worked in the production area as a teenager or as a young adult. This education is extremely valuable and, if you are buying a shop doing less than $1,000,000 in sales per year, is an absolute necessity.

Some owners learned the business as an estimator, working for a body shop or as an insurance adjuster out in the field for an insurance company. Another group of buyers have had no body shop experience but they grew up around cars and love them. This buyer should only buy a shop where he has a family member with experience, in the business that will be working with him or where the seller agrees to stay for 1 year and teach the buyer every part of the business.

Towing company owners sometimes want to expand into a body shop. This type of buyer has a lot of understanding about the business but needs a shop where experienced staff is staying with the company. The last group is composed of business people who figure they can run any kind of business. This type of buyer can make if he has at least one family member with experience and the buyer is a very good sales person.

Are you willing to do the business actions necessary to do the business?

In this section I would like to discuss which actions are absolutely necessary to be successful in running a body shop and if not done will guarantee failure.

The single most important action that must be taken by any new body shop owner is to bring in new business. This is twofold. 1. Everyone wants more volume and you bought the shop based on your belief you can do more volume than the last owner. 2. You must replace the volume that will be lost by the transfer to you the new owner.

You get this new volume from several sources:

1. One of them is not DRP Contracts. DO NOT BUY A SHOP BASED ON THE BELIEF THAT YOU WILL GET DRP CONTRACTS IN THE SHOP UNLESS YOU HAVE AN AGREEMENT BEFORE THE PURCHASE TO GIVE YOU SUCH BUSINESS.

2. Rental car companies. This business is relatively easy to get but you do not want to rely on this business over the long term. It is not profitable enough to cover all your fixed costs, even though it will contribute to covering the rent.

3. New Car Dealerships. This is full retail price business but the dealership will expect you to buy their business by giving them a few thousands of dollars a month or some other compensation. Remember if you can steal the business from someone else, then someone else can steal the business from you.

4. Used car dealers and auction cars. This is a good source of business with most of the money being made on buying and selling cars. This tends to be stable business if you like this kind of work.

5. Referral business. These are national body shop groups that make national deals and for 10-15% of the income will send you car work. This is a very expensive way to get business and in the end is not profitable.

6. Corporation Accounts/Fleet Accounts. This is one of the two best ways to get business. Some companies do self-insurance. Others have insurance. Regardless, a salesman can get them to send you all their business by offering good service or other remuneration (Compensation.) Corporation accounts are quite often at full price or some reasonable discount. Some people offer to drop the deductible or give some other kind of a discount.

7. Off the street. This is the best business is the whole world if you can get them in the door and keep them in the door. This is where location plays an important part in getting the business. Visiting all the businesses in the neighborhood and offering discounts to their employees or other employee benefit for coming to you can get this business. This type of business is what a good salesperson dreams of. Most established businesses tell me they did this originally but stopped going out and selling when they got busy. Funny isn’t it? The action that made you busy cannot be done any more because you are too busy. This is how you build a shop’s volume without DRP contracts. This is a profitable business for the man who doesn’t mind selling and making friends with people.

Do I really want to buy a body shop?

If you are an adjustor and feel that your employer insurance company will give you a DRP contract in a specific area, you might have a high motivation to buy a shop in that area, even if its current volume is low. If you are expecting the existing clients to stay with you, after the sale, you have to do some research on this. If the clients are from corporate accounts, car rental companies, or just off the street, you are probably correct. If the clients come from personal relationships of the seller then forget it. People of like nationality have a greater chance of turning over personal relationships.

If you are buying a shop with DRP contracts currently, do not assume that you can keep them. In fact, you must assume you will loose them the day escrow closes. Do not buy a shop that has DRP contracts unless you already have a relationship with those same insurance companies at another shop you currently own. If you are reading my article, I can safely assume you are not a multiple shop owner currently. There are a few ways to buy a DRP shop and not loose the contracts but I cannot publish this information, in as much as the insurance companies will prevent my approach from working in the future.

If you do not want to do the marketing, then do not buy a body shop. PERIOD!

What kind of shop would works best for you?

Of course you want to decide based on the estimated volume that you expect to do, what size shop you need. If you expect the volume to remain the same then you figure the rent and profit based on that number. If you know you can bring in corporate accounts, dealerships and other business then you can use a bigger shop. If you expect to only have new business that you yourself bring in then a smaller shop may work perfectly.

If you get too big a shop the rent will kill you. If you get too small you will limit your possible volume unless you put in a second shift and keep an eye on that 2nd shift. There are larger capacity shops doing small volume that can be bought very cheap or reasonably.

There are smaller, very inexpensive shops available to use as a first time shop. Then after you learn the business and prove you can bring in volume, you can buy a bigger shop and sell off the smaller one. The best guarantee of success is to start small and grow bigger.

What you do not want is to buy a large shop that you cannot fill, thereby working for the landlord.

Conclusion

Keeping all of the above in mind and to not take on more than you can chew. Buy a shop that fits your personality and ability and then move up to the bigger shop when you have proven to yourself that you have done it and can do it again. If I can be of any assistance, I am here to help.