Expert: Marvinator - 10/15/2006

Question
Hi,
I've got lots of cool Egyptian items (papyrus,statues,handmade stuff) that id like oto put on ebay since from what i saw.. some powersellers r selling the same product for 3 times the real price and that is excluding shippin prices and claiming that these prices r wholesale prices..
I made an account on Ebay... they asked me for my credit card to activate my seller's account, and since i didnt have one, i took my first step and went to the bank to make one but it will take 2 weeks till i recieve it....
my 2nd step was to register in PayPal but unfortunately Egypt is not listed there....
Is there anyway i could get my money from sales?? i have no bank account yet...and was thinking of using western union for "direct wire transfers" ( i guess thts what they call it)...
i registered on Bidpay.com.... but that needs a bank account to transfer ur money to which i dont have yet...
and another problem ill face is that i have Zero Feedback.. will anyone trust a seller with Zero feedback?
what can i do to start (except for buying items from other people)....

thanx =)

Answer
You are in a bad position where many international Ebay users find themselves at the is time.  On the one hand, you want to start making money - but on the other hand, you don't want to do the work to get the business started.  

TAke the time to get a bank account opened and started right before you start with Ebay.  Get a good account with a bank that understands you'll be making many deposits and one which will not charge you for every deposit (some do).
As a side note, do NOT expect any buyer to do a direct bank transfer to pay for an item. DO NOT.  The same can be said for Western Union.  DO NOT.  (As a side note, Ebay tells every member to be wary  of paying for items using Western Union.  Even Western Union will tell users not to use Wire Transfer to pay for merchandise.  Using this service will, in effect, chanse people away from your sales and give You the reputation of being an unscrupulous dealer.)

If you really want to sell items from Egypt, then you've already checked out the shipping rates from you to the bulk of your buyers, right?  Shipping rates excessivly high can also chase buyers away, so be ready for that.

Lastly, Paypal..  Sorry ,but there is little I can do for you since Paypal does not work in your area. Bidpay is good, so get the bank account and sign up with them.   What I can also recommend is that you get a Credit Card Account with a local bank so that you can take credit cards over the internet. This would limit you to Master CArd and Visa, but these two are better than none.  A few phone calls ahead of time may find your the perfect bank for your business account and Credit Card account in one locaiton. Take the time to talk to the bank about what you plan to do and ask them for all their help in making SECURE transactions.  

I hope this helps.