Tuesday, March 18, 2008 

Should You Invest in a HYIP?: Answers To 4 Of The Most Commonly Asked Questions

The occurrence of HYIPs is somewhat new, but have gained popularity at a rapid rate. They have become one of the biggest opportunities to make a lot of money fast, but also one of the internet's biggest scams in recent years. They have made a lot of people rich, but have also made a lot of people lose their money. Should you get in on this phenomenon? This article is a reference to aid you in the decision.

What is a HYIP?: HYIP stands for High Yield Investment Program. HYIPs are investment programs normally offered on the internet. They typically accept investments of $100 or less while promising high returns. Interest rates of up to 100% a month is not uncommon. In general the interest rates are ranging anywhere between 5 250% a month. Most only accept payments through e-currency programs such as e-gold because this allows them to accept numerous donations from anywhere in the world.

Where does the money come from?: There are hundreds of different investment strategies used by HYIPs. Some invest in stocks, others in property. There are even HYIPs investing in other HYIPs. Scam HYIPs are Ponzi schemes, in which new investors provide the money to pay a profit to existing investors, which they could then withdraw leaving nothing to pay the new investor. This approach allows the scam to continue as long as new investors are found and/or old investors leave their money in the scheme.

Is it legal?: Some might consider investing in a HYIP gambling. Gambling online is of questionable legal status in the U.S. and other countries, however, the odds of winning cannot be determined, as one cannot know whether one is playing early enough to win money. Thus, it is unlike other forms of gambling, where a player has an equal chance of winning no matter when a ticket is bought, or where the odds of the game are known. In addition, the promise to pay out a percentage of deposits is not a legally binding contract or regulated by a government agency.

Is it worth the risk?: This is a tough question. It really depends. These programs are extremely high risk. There are more scams out there than serious long term programs. Over the years large amounts of people have lost their money as a result of being involved in High Yield Investment Programs. However, if you are aware of the risks, really research the program, and never invest more money than you are willing to lose the payoff could be huge.

Copyright 2006 Timothy Rohrer

Timothy Rohrer is an established author and home business owner. To learn more about a profitable home business, visit http://www.profitmasterworld.com

 

Drop Shipping As A Business!

Elaine has been a fan of eBay for a long time and has recently cleaned out her home thanks to them. She sold many of the things that she no longer needed (or wanted) and made a decent amount of money off of it. The process was simple and she enjoyed doing it. It just worked for her. Now, she has nothing more to sell. She has thought about starting to look at garage sales and selling things for friends, but she knows that if she wants to make good money, she'll need to find products to really sell.

This is where dropping shipping or wholesale purchasing come into play. For many individuals this is the ideal way to sell products. All you need to do is to purchase products that people want at low prices and then to sell them at a higher mark up. Sounds easy right? It really can be that easy, in fact.

For many individuals, selling on eBay is what draws them to drop shipping. This online auction site features hundreds of people looking to buy virtually anything you can imagine. This makes it the ideal place to go to find a deal too. Yet, for those that are looking to sell, it can be a way to make a solid income. While eBay is in itself an entirely different article, just know that many individuals that get into drop shipping do so to sell products through eBay.

Other avenues can be used to sell products to. For example, many individuals develop websites, promote them and drive traffic (customers) to them to sell their products. In fact, you can even use drop shipping to help you to sell products through mail order as well. All of this can be done right from your home. Nice and neatly too.

So, what is drop shipping or wholesaling? If you were to start a home based business today selling pens you would need to stock lots of pens to sell right? Not necessarily. In drop shipping, you can actually sell the product without having the product in front of you. This is done by simply working with a manufacturer who will put aside a lot of the product you wish to sell. They will take care of sending the product to the customer, once it is ordered while you handle the money. You will charge them more than you were charged which is what gives you the profit.

This is not always the case though. In some cases, individuals will actually purchase the products they plan to sell and stock them to send out as they are needed. In either case, the goal is to purchase and sell products at a higher cost than you bought it for.

The Pros And Cons

In order for you to make any money at wholesaling, you'll need to purchase and sell products that people want. To do this, you will need to do some basic research to help you. This is not that hard to do especially if you are using a program such as eBay. Next, you will need to track down distributors that will allow you to advertise and sell their product. This can be more challenging. One mistake that people make it to purchase lists of drop shippers from others. This can be a vital mistake. It is often wiser to do your research and find a more reliable way to go such as getting feedback from others.

If you find a product that is selling well, you can make a good amount of money off of it. You'll find that most people that work at promoting their products will do well at selling them. It really pays to take the time to research the right products out there. Of course, you can always make and sell your own product. This can actually be a great way to make even more money through selling products.

Keith Lee is a motivational speaker, a life coach and a fitness instructor for the past 10 yeras. He study and did research on the Internet Marketing Industry for years. Go to his webiste http://www.MyInternetMarketingSuccess.com for some superb tips.

 

Five Money Saving Tips When Selling Your Home

Your home is undoubtedly the most valuable asset for the vast majority of us and selling it will cost thousands. Using the money saving tips in this article should reduce the cost of moving home.

Estate Agent fees vary, so shopping around and dont forget to haggle and pay one off against the other. You should aim for 1% commission, also push then to limit the tie-in period to no more than 6 weeks, this gives then enough time to sell the house, but if they cant you can move to another agent without going multi-agent which will increase the fee to about 3%+, a big no-no! Ensure you get a fair valuation, never tell an estate agent what other agencies have valued your house at. They will use this to manipulate its offer, often resulting in wide distortions.

It is false economy to go for the cheapest solicitors, so get recommendations from all the estate agents you speak to and remember to ask for the name of specific people, rather than just the legal firms. Give them a call and ask what their charges are, also note whether they are they friendly, helpful, and most important efficient? Fees are negotiable so haggle! Play off each one against the other to get yourself the best service at the best price.

Selling you house privately can save thousands. One in twenty vendors are now taking the DIY route which could save you thousands. That is a massive money saving tip, but there are a couple of downsides, basically time and effort. You could consider newspaper advertising, flyers and signs. Newspapers usually charge per line or per word so try to keep your advert as brief as possible without making it uninteresting. The simplest way would to sell your house yourself is to use one of the many online house selling service.

Obviously it is best to sell your house when the market is strong and demand is high, so keep an eye on the local property market. Generally, the market tends to be stronger in early and late summer than the rest of the year, so aim to sell your house then. Also avoid completing with your neighbours so if there are already a few For Sale signs on your street, it might be better to wait a bit.

Research has shown that a poor presented house can take longer to sell and may reduce the price by thousands. So get your paint brushes out, give your home a lick of paint and finish all of those DIY jobs which are outstanding. Also talk to the estate agent about adding value to your property it maybe worth spending a bit of cash to make some more. However, be careful not to over spend, you might not get your money back, so talk all planned improvements through with your estate agent.

If you are determined to save money when selling your home, do some more research, as they say knowledge is power. Websites such as Moneysavingexpert.com specialise in offering money saving tips, a brief browse around such sites will allow you to get all the information you need to save you a ton of money.

Julian Smith works for http://www.maxxsave.co.uk, a website which provides free impartial advice, reviews, buying guides, and http://www.maxxsave.co.uk on personal finance, household bills, insurance and electronic products.