I was reading a post over at TUK today where he was talking about a recent failure he had. I decided to post my making money online failure too so you see that I too am trying and sometime fail and to keep you from making my same mistake.
When I started out with my blog, I was really hell bent on helping people make money online. Notably single mothers and fathers and people trying to make it through college on their own working crap jobs to pay the bills.
At that time I had never heard of John Chow, Problogger or Shoemoney… Actually my first MMO read was JohnCow.com and I thought I could do better than they did for teaching people how to make money.
Onto my failure… I seen this infomercial on tv one night about buying and selling wholesale. A company called SMC . I figured I could teach people how to sell the stuff on eBay and it would be a good venture for those needing the extra income.
I signed up for the silver package which was $24.95 plus $15 S&H and another $39.95 a month for 11 months.
When I got the box of sales material and catalogs… I was totally petrified. For every 1 product that was worth selling, there were 100 that were total crap, the stuff you would find on a dollar store shelf.
So I made a list of the good products and got descriptions and pictures… I posted them on eBay and quickly found that there were 30 of the exact same product in each category. The low profit margin was making all of us SMC sellers slash prices by just pennies to make a sale.
With the eBay and Paypal fees and the low profit margins from selling online… I made a total of $68.52 in profit after about 2 weeks of work.
So not only was this a complete failure of concept, it’s also costing me $39.95 for the next 8 months for the membership. Their refund policy states I cannot get a refund because I already started selling and using the material included in the kit and I cannot stop paying because they report on your credit report. This is what they told me over the phone.
I am looking into how I can get my membership cancelled or at least try and figure out how to move the product and recover what I have spend on it.
Maybe this would be good starter content for a site I can flip. A ready to go shopping cart site and all the buyer has to have is an SMC membership to get the products. I won’t go so low as to try and sell the buyer a membership through an affiliate link as I don’t believe the system they are offering is worth the money.
If I decide to flip a smc store, I will let you know how it goes here on my blog.
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Ouch. Tough lesson to learn. I will be sure to avoid SMC in my future.
Sell Porn Make Moneys last blog post: Naughty America Billing Issues Resolved
Definitely ouch
Actually I fumbled around on the net myself at first searching and trying this and that. I should of just stuck with one thing and made it work but like most I made the mistake of trying to promote everything without success.
Now I’m on the right path
Bruno Augers last blog post: Five Essentials of Customer Support
I was coming to drop an EntreCard and your post caught my eye. I found it totally honest and refreshing. I often see articles and postings about how great somebody did with this program or that. I am sure you know what I am talking about. The funny thing is is that you may run across somebody pitching the program you lost money in and they don’t want to hear it. You can try to forewarn people or tell them your past experience with a program, however, most will continue on with their plans. I too have participated in programs that were disappointments and have learned quite a few lessons; have lost a few dollars myself. However, each positive and negative experience shapes our outlook for the future, and you will move forward and eventually prosper. It may take some time but it will come about for you.
Exactly, as I stated before, I started this blog to really help others make money. My brother and friend of mine are both single fathers and one of them is trying to make it though college and work full-time to support his 2 children. His wife died of cancer and he is just trying to make it out there and it is very rough.
My dream for this blog was to actually provide real working techniques on making money online. I refuse to support or push programs that do not work. It is something I do not see very often with the big time making money online blogs out there.
I will report my failures just as I would report my successes. It is in the best interest of all my readers. Not just me.
I am glad you stayed to read the post. I hope can gain something out of my future posts and look forward to hearing about your successes.
That’s what could be called : “Learning the hard way”. At the end, experience is the sum of failures. Thanks for sharing, and spreading the word about this program. I am certain that this kind of programs isn’t sustainable. When you provide your customers with a bad experience and your only concern is the money, then expect to fail sooner than you think.
O. Messaouds last blog post: I want to buy ECs, sell me yours
I promise you I’ve had my fair share of crap-tastic moments. I’ve thought about actually joining SMC in the past and decided against it — glad I did.
Here’s a word of advice from my own experience: As far as I know they cannot report you to a credit agency if they do not have your Social Security #. Did they ask for that when you signed up?
Might want to look into that.
Scots last blog post: Paypal is Ridiculous
Hmm.. I cannot remember if they did or not. I usually try and never give that out when signing up for stuff like this. I might have to check into it.
Ooh! A real load of crap you ran into hear! I now consider SMC a spam business! But that is how they make money! Selling you crap that looks good. Eewww!
I don’t know if I am totally jaded or just overly cautious. I refuse to dish any morey at all on programs. The money that I am starting to earn has been slow, but it is starting to increase.
Good luck with your blog and thanks for sharing your MMO story.
Wow, that was a nifty contract which they drafted. But I don’t think the business will last that long if they are not giving customers value for money.
jeflins last blog post: To Sell Or Hold Blue Chips In A Bear Market?
They have been around for over 20 years. I remember my uncle selling for them back in the early 90’s. They mostly promote you selling their stuff in your own store, at flea-markets and to other businesses.
The internet just isn’t the place to sale their stuff because of the quality and low prices of other things available.
No one buys cheap crap for high prices on the internet, they only buy it from the foreigner run corner gas stations and liquor stores. :)