Busy-ness

Phew~ I'm starting to think that 24 hours a day is not enough for me these days. There are so many things to do but so little time... or maybe I'm just a damn good procrastinator after all. :D Anyway, I'm not going to go about on what I did everyday; I'm not writing a daily activity report here.

Do you play MMORPG? Have you played one before? I used to spend quite some time on a number of them since they were free to play. I still remember vividly that I was a Level 25 Rogue in MapleStory when I paid my first visit to the Free Market to get my Stinger. Woah, the amount of stalls being set up by players were overwhelmingly a lot! While browsing in and out of each stalls looking for my desired item, I finally found a Stinger that was way cheaper than the other stalls and immediately seize it. It didn't take me long to figure out that there are always sellers that tagged their items very much lower than market price and from that moment on, I logged into MapleStory just to hunt for bargain items and trade, not to level up. Ahh... the thrills of taking risk in buying an item that may or may not get sold is so succulently sweet but nothing really defeats the satisfaction when you managed to sell items at higher price with the buyers still under the impression that they've scored a big-discounted purchase. Win-win!

Of course, good things don't last forever. Once I realize that all the profit I gained in the game can't be used in the real world, I gave up on MapleStory a few months later.

-sigh-

If you've guessed it, congratulations and yes, in this entry I'll be writing about - for the lack of better term - trading but rest assured that I'm not trying to advertise my products or service here. This is not your Facebook, is it?

I'm pretty sure that it's not just me but these days, I've been tagged here and there by my Facebook friends for all kind of products that range from babies attire to some sexy see through nightgowns WTF?! All these advertisements by my very own friends really got me thinking.

Is this something to be expected when you reach late 20s when out of sudden, all your friends become business-minded enthusiasts?

Or does this has something to do with the fact that the Internet penetration in our country has reached the level where online business is fast picking up as a new business trend?

What about you? If you have yet to start one, what is the factor that is holding you back? Not enough time - like me? Insufficient capital to begin with? Too troublesome and meddlesome? Do allow me to prove you wrong for the Internet is truly an enabler with many potentials as long as you're looking at the right direction.

Gone are the days where you need to look for a suitable shop lot, apply for license, complete the renovation, spend 12 hours daily cooped up inside your little shop - even during days when business is slow - and last but not least, pay taxes. Is this reason good enough to convince you otherwise? Maybe not since the descriptions above are meant for full-time business but I hope that you do realize the differences doing an online business can be compared to this old business model.

Take me for example. I'm currently doing a very small service business helping students or those without credit card to buy their favourite computer games online. In case you don't know, computer games no longer come in CD / DVD form only these days. You can also buy them from digital distribution portals - such as Steam and many others - and once registered to your account, you can download these games on the spot into as many computers as you want as long as you fulfill the EULA. Most of these portals also come along with the gift function, which is extremely (ab)useful to people like me.

So where's the opportunity, you ask? It's easy, I charge my customers RM5 per transaction. Due to the fact that these portals only deal in USD and the bank exchange rate is constantly fluctuating, I have to include a multiplier that is slightly higher than the highest exchange rate for the past few weeks. For example, Mr. A would like to purchase a copy of Plants vs. Zombies ($9.99) and Left 4 Dead 2 ($29.99) each. At the time of writing, the bank exchange rate is 3.23 and I've fixed my service exchange rate at 3.35.

Price to charge Mr. A = [(9.99 + 29.99) * 3.35) + 5 = RM139
My credit card charge = (9.99 + 29.99) * 3.23 = RM129.14
Profit = RM139 - RM129.14 = RM9.86

Even though I only render this service out as a hobby and with the complete awareness that this is not something I can do full-time, keep in mind that I need neither shop lot nor license to start this business. I also don't get taxed for the profit earned and in fact, the risk is very minimal since I don't need to stock up on these games at all. Someone need the games? I just click, click, click in front of my computer and once customers confirmed receipt of requested games, KA CHING! Customers are happy, I am happy, another win-win scenario achieved!

Another online business example that I can give is selling PayPal funds. To make it easier to understand, just imagine PayPal as a virtual debit card that is widely accepted in most websites. Let's take Mr. B as someone who doesn't own a credit card but he would like to buy something that cost him $500 from a US website. Pause here! Rewind back to 6 months ago when the exchange rate was 3.07 and you credited your PayPal account with $500 from your credit card. Back to our current time with bank exchange rate of 3.23, you agreed to sell the $500 PayPal funds to Mr. B.

Price to charge Mr. B = 500 * 3.23 = RM1615
My credit card 6 months ago = 500 * 3.07 = RM1535
Profit = RM1615 - RM1535 = RM80

Again, this is another scenario of you sitting in front of your computer without the need for shop lot, license and tax. This example definitely pose a certain higher level of risk compared to the first since it's almost equivalent to speculating currency rates but hey, it's still something that can bring in extra cash if done right.

Both examples above are not something new but they serve as good mediums to get my message across to you. Whether you're doing it as a hobby - like me - or to pocket yourselves side-income, I think that this will make a good experience and who knows, perhaps it might become a stepping stone to something much bigger in the near future?!

My only request is that you don't spam my Facebook walls with weird advertisements like tiger costumes or pole dancing classes please.

Now in case my customers are reading this entry of mine, I need to write something to dispel the notion that I'm serving them mainly for profit. As narrated above, I got acquainted with trading in a MMORPG and fell in love with the ability to please both my customers and myself in each transaction. It's akin to being an alchemist; armed with passion, I get to transmute a pebble into gold for you. As such, if you find the need to do so, you may compare myself to the other resellers and decide if they'll be able to value you as a customer better than I do. :)

Why am I writing this? Well, good things are meant to be shared, no? :) Moreover, it's not like I'm the one that came up with all these business models in the first place. I'm just a copycat after all.

Come to think of it, maybe it's time I start looking for vacancies for buyer. :D