Mileage Credit Card – Strategies For Using Your Miles

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Feb 282022
 

A mileage credit card is practically identical to a frequent flyer credit card. Mileage cards gained popularity when the airlines companies, to gain customer loyalty and patronage, introduced mileage points on every flight that a customer would travel. Once a certain level of points is reached, they can be


redeemed for free travel to various destinations. Many airlines collaborated with credit card companies to offer these benefits on the mileage card Programs.


Partnerships between credit card companies and mileage cards allowed the credit card holder to convert their reward points into air miles, typically, at the rate of one mile for every dollar charged on the card. This encouraged customers to use the credit card frequently so that more miles could be


accumulated. The mileage cards in turn allowed customers to redeem points apart from air tickets for free hotel accommodations, car rentals and a host of other services.


Miles are equivalent to currency. Most of the times, customers accumulate many miles only to realize that it will not take them to the place they most wanted to go. A mileage credit card is very similar to a traditional credit card, but prudent use of mileage credit cards can maximize benefits. Consider the following pointers to decide on the use of those valuable accrued miles.


1) Flights – The best way to use your miles is for free flights. Using some extra miles, you can upgrade your tickets to get a business or first class luxury flight. To get maximum benefits use the miles for longer trips, not short ones.


2) Flight and Seat Upgrades – It is always better to exchange miles for upgrades on long distance international flights where comfort is a good value added perk due to the length of the journey. It is not a good idea to spend miles for upgrades on shorter flights (less than 4 hours). Sometimes, customers buy economy tickets and upgrade them by


spending miles.


3) Travel Itinerary – Certain mileage cards allow passengers to book open-jaw flights (fly into one city, return from another city or fly from destination A to B, depart from B to reach destination C). In an international routing, certain airlines might permit a stopover.


4) Hotel Accommodation – Airlines partner with hotels and provide accommodation benefits to members by exchanging miles. You can convert your miles for hotel stays and other services in the hotel.


5) Car Rentals – Car rental companies exchange miles to rent cars. It is recommended to research all of the partner services thoroughly in order to use miles most effectively.


6) Dining – Certain airline specific mileage cards allow members to exchange miles for restaurant vouchers or dining certificates. However, in order to properly evaluate the benefit of the redemption value, cardholders need to determine if the miles converted are really worth the credit received.


7) Cruises – Cruise trips can be booked by exchanging miles, though there could be minimum a miles requirement for this type of reward redemption.


8) Shopping – There are web sites that allow purchase items to be bought by exchanging miles. Customers can bid on these items. The choices may be limited and the value may be low. It is recommended to first calculate the value of the miles to determine if it is worth buying the item with miles.


9) Miscellaneous – Cardholders can often times buy magazine subscriptions and a host of other items with their earned miles as well. It is advisable, however, to use these options as a last resort, either when the miles are about to expire or there are very few miles left before the expiration date.


10) Bonus Mile Offers – If you need a few more miles to earn that much-awaited free trip, numerous sites list up-to-date bonus mile and purchase miles offers. Many of these offers do not require you to fly, but can still get you those extra miles to get your dream trip.


If all these methods fail, some mileage cards allow conversion of miles to points and then back to miles with a financially better carrier. However, there might be a charge for the conversion.


When using your mileage credit card, there are several factors to consider in order to earn that free or reduced trip. The timing of your travel booking (booking 6 months earlier has more chances of winning free seats), being flexible with your travel dates, including off season travel as well as weekday travel can get you the travel deal that you desire. However, it is recommended that cardholders research the reward programs in advance. More specifically, be aware of the eligibility of your accumulated miles on the mileage card. With certain airlines or websites, it may not be possible to use accumulated miles or earn any miles on special discounted fares or routes. Mileage cards offer great benefits to frequent as well as non-frequent travelers. However, if you want to get maximum benefits, it is essential to read the fine print and terms and conditions before actually signing up for one.

Gearing up for the World Cup, Ji-Sung Park fan site launches its online forum

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Feb 272022
 

The largest fan site of the famous South Korean footballer, Ji-Sung
Park, has launched an online forum to deal with its many thousand of daily
visitors- with the excitement of the World Cup building all the time-
at an alarming space. The South Korean football world is growing close
to a frenzy and their hopes rely on Ji-Sung Park even more
Already a hugely popular fan site (the no.1 site in Google, Yahoo and
MSN for any Park-related enquiry one could imagine)- with over 3,000
visitors per day, http://www.ji-sungpark.com has had to think of ways to
cater to the large percentage of its visitors who are from South Korea.
Apart from integrating an online South Korean translator, site owner
Robert Brookes is constantly thinking of new ways to keep his site
visitors. Recent additions and events have included: an online quiz for a
Ji-Sung Park t-shirt, a comprehensive article inventory and a preview of
the World Cup in Germany, focusing on South Korea, some uniquely design
Ji-Sung Park wallpapers available for free download, live video feeds
and perhaps most exciting of all- a charitable auction for a hand-signed
Ji-Sung Park no.13 Manchester United shirt.
But where could the site communicate and interact with its huge
following- being the only true and comprehensive presence of Ji-Sung Park
online? Simple: start up a forum. And that is exactly what site owner and
lifelong Man Utd. fan, Robert Brookes has done:
http://www.ji-sungpark.com/forum/
As Brookes says: ‘I want our South Korean guests to feel welcome and
comfortable and not be inhibited by English that isn’t perfect. Mine
isn’t either!! The point is to chat about Park and his remarkable
achievements- not just in a footballing sense- but also in his attitude and life
story, one of courage, determination and single-mindedness against the
odds.”
Ji-Sung Park himself is already talking up South Korea’s chances at the
imminent World Cup in Germany this coming June. Quoted in the Korean
press recently, he said:
“I am certain we can go even beyond the round of 16. We’re all
determined to prove to the world that what happened in 2002 was not the product
of luck and home advantage.”
The new forum at http://www.ji-sungpark.com/forum/ is taking bets….
But what of the player himself? So famous that he has had a road named
after him in his native town of Suwon and now playing for the most
famous club in the world….
Park bench? This was the nickname that was mooted for Ji-Sung Park when
he went to England and Manchester United last summer. Fans of the more
cynical persuasion — and football fans are not known for lacking that
trait — felt that the signing of the Korean was as much due to his
ability to sell shirts than what he could do on the field.
United’s season is now nearly over and with the team on a great run,
finally putting some pressure on Chelsea, it seems a good time to look at
how the “new engine,” as he has been named in the Korean media, is
doing in the northwest of England.

The verdict has to be pretty good. The 24-year-old should be satisfied
with his performance since the season started last August. A look at
the amount of playing time that the player has enjoyed suggests that Park
is a valuable part of the squad, but not yet an automatic starter.

Reporters talk of “first names that the coach writes on the team sheet”
and while Park isn’t one of those at United- yet, that title doesn’t
belong to many of his teammates either. Perhaps only goalkeeper Van Der
Sar, defenders Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand and striker Wayne Rooney
can be secure in the knowledge that unless they are being rested for a
forthcoming game, they will be starting on the pitch. Even the prolific
Ruud Van Nistelrooy discovered to his apparent amazement that he cannot
assume first team selection every match.

Park lies in between that select group and the backup players. He
always plays some part in the game but is never quite sure of how many
minutes he will spend sitting on the bench (one that is heated at United!)
or on the other, more active, side of the white line.

Out of the Red Devils first 34 games this season, the Korean star has
been available for selection for all but two, due to a knee injury. He
has seen action in 29 matches, a surprising statistic for those,
including Guus Hiddink, who said that his former protege would be wasting his
time at Old Trafford.

“Park will be a waste of time at Manchester,” said the PSV coach when
“Ji,” as he his known by his new teammates, signed for the two-time
European champions.

“He will spend most of his time on the bench; it was not a wise
decision for him to go. The Brazilian midfielder Kleberson is a good example
for Park, he went to United and was a failure. Park should have stayed
with PSV for another year.”

Those comments are beginning to sound less and less like the wisdom
Koreans expect to come from the Dutchman’s mouth and more like sour grapes
as the season has progressed.

Although Park is not yet an automatic starter for the club, for those
who have followed his career there is an expectation of better to come.
After a slow start at PSV, his progression was almost meteoric. It is
now the United players whose can be heard singing the praises of their
hard-working teammate. And this most of all after his winning goal
against Arsenal recently!

Despite the language barrier, Park has demonstrated a wicked sense of
humour:

“I may not be as handsome as Beckham but I feel I could be just as good
as he is,” he said last month. “I understand the pressure of coming to
Manchester United and the expectation of the fans over here. I want to
show my value to United in terms of my ability, not for some marketing
strategy in Asia.”

He has already shown that he has more to offer than providing an “in”
to the Asian market. It remains to be seen if he can take the next step;
making himself an indispensable part of the Manchester United team and
rise again to such dizzy heights in this year’s World Cup in Germany.

Perhaps this partly explains the unfathomable success of
http://www.ji-sungpark.com and it’s new forum
http://www.ji-sungpark.com/forum/ ……

Get finance of your terms by availing Bad Credit Secured Loans

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Feb 262022
 

Your bad credit will not be a big hurdle in taking a loan if you are ready to place your property with lender as security. Bad credit secured loans are, therefore, available easily to borrowers having adverse credit history. But bad credit secured loans should be availed carefully as otherwise the loan may result in another bad credit.

Bad credit secured loans can be put to many usages such as meeting financial requirements, going to a holiday trip, home improvements, buying a car etc. Since larger amount can be ensured, borrowers can even pay off those many bad debts by taking the loan.

Borrowers are required to take bad credit secured loans against any of their property like home. The property placed as collateral with the lenders works as security of the loan. So, lenders have no problem in offering loan to borrowers with adverse credit report. In case of payment default, the lender is free to sell the collateral to recover the loaned amount.

Bad credit means the borrowers have at least one or two cases of repayment defaults or County Court Judgments against them. Since the loan is secured, bad credit is not a big concern to lenders.

One can avail bad credit secured loans in the range of £3000 to £75,000.To offer larger amount of loan the lender will evaluate equity in the collateral. If the loan asked is still lower than the equity, the loan will easily be provided. Therefore, to avail larger loan, the borrower should offer the lender a property like home, which always has higher equity, as collateral.

There is larger repayment duration of 5 to 25 years available to borrowers going through bad credit phase and taking the loan against property. One should, however, take the loan for shorter possible duration to avoid carrying debt burden for long.

Biggest advantage to bad credit history people in taking bad credit secured loans is lower interest rate. Being a secured loan, lenders readily lower the interest rate in order to have the customer in his fold. Despite adverse credit reputation, the borrower manages to extract 2-3 percent lower interest rate than any unsecured loan.

One effective way to further lower interest rate is to apply for the loan online. You will be flooded with loan offers from numerous lenders who have showcased their bad credit secured loans on internet. Due to growing competition in the loan sector, lenders cut interest rate to attract borrowers.

Make efforts to improve that yours very credit report by paying off easy debts and then getting the report updated by a reputed agency. On the basis of the report, lender gives credit score to judge the risk involved in the loan offer. Credit score of 620 and above is considered safe.

Your adverse credit history will not come in the way of availing the bad credit secured loans, but interest rate and loan amount should be given a thought before finalizing loan deal.

Choosing Your Baby’s Bedding

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Feb 252022
 

Your expecting a baby soon and have begun designing your baby’s nursery. You want everything to be perfect but there are so many decisions to make. What type of theme are you trying to achieve? What colors scheme are you going to use? What Baby bedding design will you choose? While picking out your Baby Bedding there are some things that should be considered before making your purchase.
It is important to make sure that your baby bedding materials are flame resistant. It is also a good idea to find out what the thread count of your baby bedding is. The higher thread count in your baby bedding the higher the quality of the fabric and the softer it will feel to your baby. You would not want a scratchy fabric rubbing against your babies delicate skin. Your Crib Bedding should be as comfortable as it is interesting for your baby to look at. After all they will be spending quite a bit of time in their crib.
When you purchase your baby bedding you may notice it has a stiff feel to it. This is normal. Most Designer Baby Bedding manufacturers use products on the bedding to make it stays wrinkle-free and looking new. You may want to wash your new crib bedding set before using it for the first time. This will help soften it up and make your baby more comfortable.

Once you decide on your crib bedding design, you may want to shop around. Shopping around can save you a great deal of money as many online retailers offer discounts and bonus items with your baby bedding purchase. Many also offer free shipping with your purchase. It is also important to find a retailer that carries coordinating accessories for your baby bedding. You may also want to ask if the retailer offers any discount on their accessories with a crib bedding purchase.

You may only use your Baby Bedding for what seems like a short period of time but it is a very special time for both you and your baby. Years from now when your kids are grown and you take it out of that old cedar chest you will say, this was their first baby blanket and those fond memories of watching your baby laying their content, just staring at their Crib Bedding patterns or their musical mobile will surely bring you joy and maybe a tear or two.

Nurture Your Future Through Commercial Secured Loans Online

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Feb 242022
 

Business is uncertain. Imagine that you are in the middle of a big project and something unexpected happens. Your clients did not clear your payments, so you are unable to go ahead with the project in hand. Now you need money at the eleventh hour. But who could give you such a huge amount at the earliest? Applying for commercial secured loans online will solve your problem.

An entrepreneur can avail Commercial secured loans by placing collateral. Commercial property, equipments, invoices or order books can be used to secure against the loan. The borrower can draw amount ranging from 50,000 to £50,000,000 and can repay between 12 months-25 years.

Different lenders dealing in commercial secured loans exist in the market. Local banks and financial institutions are the common ones. Approaching these lenders is quite chaotic. You need to go through a number of formalities. Imagine that you are standing in a long queue just to submit the loan application form. It is really tiring and stressful.

With the advent of internet opting for commercial secured loans has been made simpler and easier. You can apply from the computer sitting in any corner of the world. Various loan providing organizations appear on different websites. A little search through the internet will make you access infinite lenders online. The entrepreneur can also collect quotes from different lenders and compare them on the basis of loan amount, loan term, and rate of interest. This will help him choose the best deal.

Increasing competition in the commercial market has made online lenders provide commercial secured loans at lower rates. This however also depends upon your credit score, value of the collateral place and the repayment capacity.

Applying for commercial secured loans online is a simple process. You just need to fill up the online loan application form which takes hardly few minutes. It includes details like name, address, employment history, current income, length of residency at the present address etc. This information given by the entrepreneur remains confidential as it passed to the lender through a secure server. Online lenders have put an end to enormous paper work and keep you away from all hurdles. The provision of online loan calculator will help you calculate the interest rate and monthly installments payable on the loan. The entrepreneur can also seek advice from an online loan advisor.

Commercial secured loans online provide an array of benefits-:

o Simple and hassle free loan procedure
o Readily available
o Speedy loan approval
o Reduced paper work
o Saves time
o Keeps you updated on your transactions
o Details of the entrepreneur remains confidential

Commercial secured loans online are also available for people who have incurred bad credit. If they place a collateral, online lenders can provide them loans at an affordable rate of interest.

Fill up the financial gaps with the click of the mouse. Avail commercial secured loans online and access the top leading lenders in the commercial market.

How can I get free gift cards?

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Feb 222022
 

Merchants want to know what appeals to users and consumers and what does not. But often it is quite difficult for merchants to figure out such information from you, the consumer. So, some merchants decide to approach prospective customers or users to give a candid opinion about their product or service. But like every thing in this universe, nothing comes free! Thus, many merchants offer ‘free gift cards’ in exchange for you, the customer providing them with your opinions. If approached correctly, this can be a fun and easy way to save some quick cash.

Other times, the merchants simply want to attract new customers and/or leads. One of the easiest ways to do this is to offer a special deal, coupon or discount in the form of a free gift card. This puts the consumer in the driver’s seat, as various companies compete with each other to offer more attractive deals.

Now the question about how and where one can get such free gift cards. The best way to get hold of them is online. Companies like Wal-Mart, Burger King, JC Penney, Kmart, Sears, Speedway, Subway and the like frequently give away these gift cards to people for sharing some personal information or signing up for a free trial, subscription or limited offer..

If you search online, you can find websites such as quizpoints.com and yourgiftcards.com which provide visitors access to several questionnaires and offers from reliable merchants. Generally the respondents have to answer some simple (and some times complex) questions presented in a questionnaire or quiz format. Once the respondent has successfully answered the given set of questions, he or she is awarded some points. The respondent can thereafter answer some more quizzes like this and keep on accumulating points in his or her account. Once the points cross a certain threshold, they can exchange it for a free gift card from the list provided by the website. Quizpoints.com for instance offers the respondents ‘free gift card’ of $10 denomination in lieu of 500 accumulated points and $50 denomination for 2300 points.

Sites like these act as online direct marketers who aggregate advertisers in order to target consumers online. They are reimbursed for their services by being given a percentage of the merchant’s sales or other such set criteria. Therefore all three parties benefit from this transaction. The respondent gets his reward ‘free gift card’, the website gets its commission and the marketer or the trader gets his information and/or lead.

For the first time ‘free gift card’ hunter, there are however some words advice. Never undervalue the power of ‘research’. This can save the free gift card seeker a great deal of time and frustration. Also one needs to be aware of the fine print in the free gift offer terms. And last but not the least – always apply for free gift cards from reputable websites that you are familiar with.

See Your Dreams Come True With Bad Credit Loans UK

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Feb 212022
 

People in UK hesitate to apply for loans as they believe that there past bad credit record would come in the way of approval of their loan. Bad credit loans UK can be the right resource of funds you are looking for.

Everybody have dreams, desires for various things like home, cars, traveling around the world, or even to give there child a better education. All these dreams and desires require large financial investment which may not be possible for every person to afford.

The tag of bad credit is attached to you when you make defaults in payments of your debts in the past. It may include late-payments, non-payments, arrears, bankruptcy, your unpaid credit card bills etc. so to get rid of bad credit you can take the help of credit counseling agencies. They will suggest you the ways to improve your credit score. They will also help you out in the applying for a bad credit loans UK.

It is said that the number of lenders who offer loans to people with bad credit is very less. This is not the truth as there are still lenders willing to offer there money to people with bad credit. You just have to present your property or any valuable asset as collateral to the lenders. And you can get the approval for a secured bad credit loan.

However if you don’t have any collateral to offer, you can still apply for an unsecured bad credit loan. This loan carries a slightly higher level of interest as the risk for the lender is more. But an unsecured bad credit loan gives you the freedom from the constant worry about loosing your property.

If you are a UK resident, for getting the best deal in a bad credit loan you can search for various websites offering you free quotes regarding the amount of loan, term for repayment and terms and conditions of the loan package they are offering. This saves you from going to offices of different lenders as everything can be done through click of a mouse.

Remember, a bad credit situation can happen to anyone. One way to obtain a loan with poor credit is bad credit loan UK. Bad credit Loans UK can be considered as the financial support you look for fulfillment of your dreams.

Planning a business??? Finance it with secured business loans…

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Feb 202022
 

Business these days are the most widely used source of income for a large number of people. Management of business is highly dependent on the flow of capital. If you want to know about the importance of capital in a business… you can get the best answer from a businessman. Your plans, your ideas, your management all are ineffectual unless you have enough funds for there application. You need funds at every stage of business for its smooth functioning. Secured Business loans cater to your capital or financial requirements in your business.

A Secured business loans can be easily availed, if you are ready to offer your house as a collateral or security. You can also offer any other property or valuable asset of yours as collateral. As the loans amount is secured by the collateral you can easily get the loans approved. These loans carry a low rate of interest.

While going for a secured business loans you have to decide and mention the purpose of taking loan, amount of loan required. You have to consider your ability to repay the loan amount.

The loan amount which you can apply for under secured business loans ranges from ₤50000 to ₤1000000 can also go up to 2 million. The repayment period lies between 3 – 25 years.

The loan amount can be used for various purposes, such as expanding of business or starting a business, purchasing office space, buying stationary, purchasing equipments like computers etc for the office, buying furniture and numerous other requirements.

There are certain advantages attached to these loans which make them popular. The repayment options are quite flexible and the installments are small according to your suitability. Ownership of your company is retained. The interest rate on these loans is tax- free. Can also be used as a tool for consolidation of your existing debts in business.

While you are applying for a secured business loans, you have to carry certain essential documents with you for the approval of the loan. If you are applying for loan for your existing business, then business profile, nature and length of business ownership should be mentioned. In case of a new business you have to discuss your business venture and how the business would be successful enough to repay the loan.

Secured business loans will give you the financial support when you need it. So don’t hesitate to go for these loans as they will prove to be the best deal for your business.

Reduce Your Debts, Improve Your Credit Score – Bad Credit Consolidation Loans

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Feb 192022
 

Taken too many debts… not able to make payments on time? Also the tension of bad credit history you are carrying with you. Bad credit is a matter of concern for most of the people these days. Bad credit consolidation loans will help you to recover from your bad credit history.

A bad credit history can deny you from talking a loan, as it matters a lot to the lender offering his money to you as loan amount. There are many causes for occurring of a bad credit record. Non-payments of debts in the past, late-payments of installments, your unpaid credit card bills, the number of debts you have taken, all these things adds to your bad credit score.

A bad credit score is a three digit score calculated by financial agencies. Any score below 500 is considered as a poor score. This score largely affects the loan amount you are applying for. This score get improved with time as when your debts are cleared, payments are made on time.

Bad credit Consolidation loan can help you out in improving your bad credit score by consolidation or combining all your debts into a single debt. Paying too many debts simultaneously may lead you to pay more interest as the interest rate varies for different debts. You can pay all your existing debts by the loan amount. So that there remains only a single debt of bad credit consolidation loan, which you can pay at a low interest rate.

You can apply for these loans by offering your security as a collateral, however it is not obligatory. Applying for a loan by offering collateral or security will get you a lower interest rate. The title of possession of asset will be transferred to the lender till the loan amount is fully paid. This loan will be termed as secured bad credit consolidation loan.

You can also apply for an unsecured bad credit debt consolidation loans if you don’t want to put your asset at a stake. As the risk involved for the lender is more the interest rate will be slightly higher. But it will give you the freedom from the fear of possession of your valuable asset.

Online websites gives you the opportunity to compare different lenders on the basis of the loan packages they are offering. Most of the websites provides you the free quotes from different lenders. You can choose the one with low interest rates, the amount of loan and the term of repayment, which suits you, the most. You can fill a simple online form to get the online services of the lenders. You can also make a phone call to the lender if facing any difficulty.

Bad credit consolidation loans will help you out in getting out of you bad credit score as well as keeping your finances in an arranged manner. So you don’t have to worry much about your finances anymore. Bad credit consolidation loans will provide you the best deal to get rid of your existing debts.

The beginners guide to safely join and use eBay

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Feb 182022
 

I don’t think it matters where you are these days, if you mention the name ‘ eBay ‘, there is someone there who has either bought an item on it, or who has sold something on it, eBay has become a household name around the world. I started buying and selling on ebay around 7 years ago. There are thousands of people living in the U.S. that make full time living’s selling item’s on eBay, and thousands more that buy items on it daily.

eBay was started by one man named ‘ Pierre Omidyar ‘. When Pierre was 28 years old he started writing the programming code that was to become the internet site eBay. The site was launched online on Sep 4, 1995, ‘ Labor Day ‘ here in the U.S. At first it wasn’t called eBay, but was named ‘ Auction Web ‘. Later it was changed to ‘ ebay ‘ , which was a short version of a consulting firm Pierre owned named ‘ Echo Bay ‘. eBay was free at the start, then it started charging fees to help cover it’s internet costs for hosting and other charges. At the time, Pierre was dating a woman that collected PEZ toys, she used the new eBay site in its earliest incarnation to buy and sell rare dispensers. In 1996 Jeffrey Skoll, a Stanford MBA, joined the company and by 1998 eBay had gone public in the stock market, making Omidyar a billionaire. In 2005, Omidyar’s 214 million eBay shares were worth around $8 billion. In March 1998, Meg Whitman was brought in as President and CEO of eBay where she serves still today

Let’s start by going to the eBay site and joining. Just visit: www.ebay.com and you will be taken to the main page of the website. Once there look towards the top area of the screen and you will see text that says: ‘ Hello! Sign in or register. ‘, using the mouse button, click on ‘ register ‘. After clicking on ‘ register ‘ you will be taken to a screen with a form on it, enter the information about yourself, such as your name, address, telephone number and email address. Next you will be taken to another screen where you must choose a password and ebay user name, the eBay user-name is the ID or Name you will be known by to other ebay bidders and shoppers.

The password should be something that is not common, for instance do not use your first or last name, or some common word such as ‘ pencil ‘, or ‘ computer ‘, take your time and choose something difficult and a little long, make sure you write this password down and keep it near your computer in case you forget it. I recommend writing your ebay password on a yellow post-it note and hanging it someplace near your computer.

When your done with the username and password screen, you just have to check your email for the confirmation link that eBay sends you, just click on the link as shown in the email to activate your eBay account, now you have joined eBay, and you can start bidding and buying right away, but before you do let me tell you about the different features of eBay and how some things work.

eBay is not just an auction site, I mean you do not have to bid and wait for an auction to end, in order to purchase every item on eBay. In fact many items can be purchased for a set fee, and bought instantly, these are called ‘ Buy Now ‘ listings. For an example of how listings differ from each other, let’s look at some ebay items. Let’s say you and I are looking for a ‘ singing fish ‘, the fish that look like their mounted and displayed on a piece of wood, when someone gets near it, it will start singing and move it’s mouth and tail, they are often called ‘ big mouth billy bass ‘.

To see if eBay has any of the ‘ singing fish ‘, we just go to the main ebay page (www.ebay.com) and in the ‘SEARCH’ area, type in: singing fish, and the screen shows there are currently 60 different items or listings found. I scroll down and select one of the listings, it currently shows the current bid price is $7.00 and it has had 4 bids, with 1 day and 13 hours remaining before the listing or auction ends. If I really wanted this item, and was willing to pay up to $15.00 for it, I would just click on ‘ Place Bid ‘, and enter my ebay username and password, if requested to do so. It tells me that I have to enter a bid of at least $7.50, remember I am willing to spend $15.00, so I would now enter $15.00 as my bid price. The item description page would then show that I am the current high bidder, and the amount needed to outpid me would be $8.00 or so, eBay keeps my maximum bid price ($15.00) secret, and automatically bids in increments for me as other folks bid, until reaching my $15.00 limit. If someone bids more than my $15.00 limit, there is no way I can win the item, unless I bid again and set another higher limit, if the item listing time ends with my $15.00 bid as the highest one, I am the winner.

The ‘ maximum bid ‘ option is a very neat feature, if you will be away from the computer and can not watch an auction closely while the time remaining is ending, eBay will automatically bid for you until you have reached your maximum bid limit.

Besides bidding, some items have others ways of purchasing them. Now lets go back to the screen that showed the 60 different listings for the ‘ singing fish ‘, I scroll down and notice that besides the current price of one fish, it says ‘ Buy It Now ‘ and shows a price of $8.99 near it. Clicking on this listing, I see the fish can be purchased instantly for $8.99, by clicking on the ‘ Buy It Now ‘ button. If I clicked on the ‘ Buy It Now ‘, button I would be taken to another screen where I would confirm that I want to buy it by clicking on the ‘ Commit to Buy ‘ button, or I could simply click ‘back’ on my web browser, or just go to another page to cancel my decision to buy the item. If I did click on the ‘ Commit to Buy ‘ button, it would show me other screens, and tell me where to send the payment, etc, all which are explained in simple and easy to understand terms.

There are three things to always check on before buying or bidding on an eBay item, the first is the sellers location. As you use ebay, you will see that some of the sellers live in Canada, or even the U.K. If you are like me and live here in the U.S. you may wish to just buy or bid on items that are here in the same country, to avoid a long delivery time, and large shipping fees. Each ebay item description page, tells the users address, for instance it will say ‘ Item location: Chatsworth, CA United States ‘, etc, near the top and middle area of the screen. Another thing to check is what the shipping costs will be. Some folks offer very high shipping, for instance someone may sell a shirt for only $2.00 but have a set shipping fee of $15, so always search the item description page before bidding and buying to find the shipping information. Some item description pages have a box, with a button on them called ‘ Calculate ‘, once you click on this button, just enter your zip code, and it will tell you what the exact shipping fees will be. One more thing to always check on is what methods the seller accepts as payment. Some folks only accept PayPal, others only accept Money Orders, or Checks, while some accept all methods. Look for this information on the item description screens also, it’s listed usually under the item’s description section, in an area called: ‘ Payment methods accepted ‘, all three of these things I have told you about, are easy to find and view on any item’s description screen.

As you search and look at different items listed on eBay, you will see that a lot of people only accept PayPal as their form of payment. If you are not familiar with ‘ PayPal ‘ visit, www.paypal.com. Signing up and joining PayPal is simple and free, and it has great benefits especially for using eBay. PayPal payments are secure, and the money is sent instantly to the seller, it makes eBay a lot more fun to use, when buying items on eBay I use both PayPal payments and money orders.

Now let me just explain a little about ‘ feedback ‘ and how it’s very important when it comes to buying and selling on ebay. Let’s go back to the ebay webpage that shows the listings for the ‘ singing fish ‘. As I pick a listing at random, I look under the ‘ Seller Information ‘ area of that page, I see the sellers eBay name, and the Feedback Score. The feedback score tells you how many buy/sell transactions a user has made in the past on eBay, and the percentage of the transactions that were positive. This info is a great way to protect yourself from a seller or buyer that may not be very reputable. For example if you were interested in bidding or buying an item, and you noticed the person listing the item had a feedback number of 6 and a positive percentage of 20%, stay away from this person, but if the person had a feedback number of 6 and a positive percentage of 99% or so, they would be a lot safer to deal with.

Now before finishing this article I want to give you two more pointers or bits of information to use to make your eBay experiences good ones. Once you become familiar and can find your way around the different areas, go to your account screen, and find the option to change your password. My eBay password is over 14 characters long and contains letters and numbers in random order. I change my password every month or two, and I recommend you do this also.

The main reason I recommend you change your eBay password every month or two, is because there are a lot of nasty computer viruses and trojan horses floating around on the internet and arriving through email, and the purpose of some of these viruses is to scan your hard drive and seek out your passwords, ebay’s included, and to email this info to hackers and other websites, giving folks you don’t know access to your eBay account information.

In all of my years using eBay, I have never had one problem, and you should not either if you read and follow my advice and tips in this article, and just use some common sense or internet savy. There is no way I or anyone can guarantee you will never have trouble using ebay or any internet site, but neither can someone guarantee you won’t become involved in a wreck while driving a vehicle.

There is a great FREE eBook that describes in detail how to ‘ How To Join eBay and PayPal – and Safely Use Each ‘, The eBook contains NO AdWare or SpyWare and is available for immediate download from this website address:

http://www.rb59.com/jepasut

By Robert W. Benjamin

Copyright © 2006

You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.

Credit Reports: Managing your credit history

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Feb 172022
 

Credit reports are used by financial companies to evaluate their customers for loans, mortgages, and other borrowings. They are also used by landlords, employers, and other interested parties to evaluate their clients. It is important to be aware of what is on your credit report so as not to face surprises in the future.

Government Free Credit Reports are mandatory to all consumers. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has made it clear that it requires that U.S. consumers should have the right to get free credit report every year. The government has set its goal straight that consumers have the right to be informed, stand up against identity theft and should get a fair deal.

A credit report contains a history of your credit life: amounts borrowed, credit card dues, loans, payments, dates, periods, late payments, defaults, public records, and so on. This information can be used by a prospective lender or creditor to find out if you have defaulted on your loan payments, or credit card payments, and how regular you have been in paying back your dues.

A credit report also comes with a credit score – FICO score – that can range between 300 to 850. This comparative score shows in a nutshell where a consumer stands with respect to others in the overall soundness of his or her credit history.

The credit score, like the credit report, can be used by a prospective creditor or finance company to instantly judge and sanction a service. A high score may get you a low interest rate and save valuable money, whereas a very low score may even result in a denial of service.

There are three major credit bureaus that collect information from other companies about consumer credit history and provide a return feedback on any prospective client.

It is important to know whether your credit report contains any mistakes, errors, and adverse comments against your financial activities. Everyone is entitle to obtain a free credit report from any of the major credit bureaus, and one should go for the same.

For more information visit: free credit report

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