DE-CLUTTERBUG

De-Clutterbug has been trading within De-Clutterbug’s Online Web Store Shop for a year. This report covers the first year of trading.

1.       Introduction {Page 1}

2.       Description {Page  2}

3.       History {Page 2}

4.       Ebay  {Page 2 & 3}

5.       De-Clutterbug’s Web Store Online Shop {Page 3}

6.       Technical Issues {Page 3 & 4}

7.       Losses and Gains {Page 4}

8.       Clients {Page 4 & 5}

9.       UK Producers {Page 5}

10.   Buyers/Customers {Page 5 & 6}

11.   Feedback {Page 6}

12.   Payment Methods Accepted {Page 7}

13.   Postage and Packaging {Page 7}

14.   Advertising {Page 7 & 8}

15.   Website Assistants {Page 8}

16.   Blogs and Forum {Page 9}

17.   Visitors Guestbook {Page 9}

18.   Members {Page 9}

19.   Friends and Links to Friends Advertising {Page 9}

20.   Outlay {Page 9 & 10}

21.   BT Tradespace {Page 10}

22.   Time {Page 10}

23.   Future Forecast Plan {Page 10}

24.   Summary {Page 10}

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1.       Introduction

De-Clutterbug has taken the unprecedented decision to ‘lay open’ this Business Report to all parties who have shown an interest, been involved (whether actively or not), Clients (past, present and future), Customers and Visitors to the site.  Thus giving an overview and insight into the World of an Online independent Web Store; the workings, the similarities, comparisons to High Street Shops and other stores, albeit trading online or not. The advantages associated with purchasing online (without stating the obvious!). Safeguards in place when purchasing from De-Clutterbug.

Supporting UK manufacturers, locally produced cottage industry inclusive of recognised jewellers and artists. Providing an outlet to Clients to sell online without auction format at a Buy It Now price. Buyers have the advantage of knowing that they are making purchases from a UK based World Wide recognised business.  

De-Clutterbug presents a shop suitable for all the family to visit, without pressure selling, with the freedom to browse at any time of the day.

Gifts for everyone, antiques bearing recognised names, designer clothing labels, known shop products, can all be found at De-Clutterbug http://www.de-clutterbug.com/ at a fraction of the cost as to be found elsewhere.

If the Buyer or Client has a complaint or issue and is not satisfied with the service provided by De-Clutterbug then there are plenty of ways in which to communicate these problems and get them resolved.

Understanding of online selling and buying is still not always understood by the Client or the Buyer but De-Clutterbug hopes that within reading this Report it goes some way in allaying predetermined misconceptions. 

 2.       Description

De-Clutterbug’s Web Store is a shop solely based online, catering primarily for those who have access to the necessary technology to be able to shop online. However, if the customer does not have the ability to go online to shop De-Clutterbug can provide a catalogue and will help as much as possible to aid the customer.

De-Clutterbug recognises that the shop can not compete with super stores, chain stores, high street stores, other company catalogues (Littlewoods for example) or other known shops. De-Clutterbug can and does work alongside small high street shops to sell their items reaching a larger World Wide customer base online.  De-Clutterbug does offer individualism and is proud to offer quality items on sale. The vast array of products (which are ever-growing  in number) as listings presented for sale, described within and, if required, readily giving further information on items listed on request by prospective Customers.

De-Clutterbug iterates the fact that the shop is UK based and supports UK industry as previously stated but this does not prohibit the sale of foreign goods which may also be found for sale in the shop.

3.       History

De-Clutterbug, formerly known and recognised as De-clutter Bug, the format of the name change acted upon because systems do not always recognise spaces within characters. The hyphen was and is accepted so remains.

Within a couple of areas online De-Clutterbug is known as IBde-clutterbug such as in Facebook wherein the name has previously been taken-up by other users.

The logo was developed to be simple and easily recognised to correspond with De-Clutterbug – a cheerful, helpful, active personality. This remains the same and is used regularly so that Clients and Customers know  the character and that it relates to De-Clutterbug’s business.

4.       Ebay

De-Clutterbug initially began selling online under this name as a business through Ebay.  The Clients presented items for sale via De-Clutterbug who proceded to photograph, document, describe and pay Ebay listing fees for each individual item. The charges through Ebay depended on the length of time the item was listed and the starting price.

Initially all items were to be listed by De-Clutterbug at a starting price of 0.99 pence within the Ebay auction site. If and when the item(s) sold either at 0.99 pence or occasionally when bidding presented a higher value, a percentage of the final purchase price was deducted at source by Ebay and the Paypal[1] charges of 2% were also imposed on the sale price. Hence, the 25% De-Clutterbug fee was greatly reduced. At no time did the losses reflect within the cheques issued to the Client for the sale of their item(s).

It soon became evident that Clients were not receiving the true value of their items, if and when sold, and De-Clutterbug was upset at this outcome. £1.00 for an oak, hand-made bell tower was a bargain too far.

Those items not sold were re-listed by De-Clutterbug, again at cost to De-Clutterbug, until sold.  It soon became apparent that De-Clutterbug was paying out of the income received from outside employment and to sustain the losses began selling own possessions!   

De-Clutterbug at this juncture, felt, having looked at the advantages of doing so, of opening an Ebay shop. Where items, so as was led to believe, for sale could be listed with a one time payment for a longer term without having to perpetually relist at cost. Thus giving Customers a better opportunity to complete and consider the purchases and the Clients could now dictate a Buy It Now price so that they did, at last, get the true value of their items and it also meant that they did not lose from the sale of their items.

It was not made visibly clear that the £14.00 charge per month contract for the shop did not include the individual listing charges, additional for Buy It Now items for sale, or the final fee deducted on the sale of the item and the re-listing fees for inserting into the shop which still evidently had a short time of leverage, items which still did not sell needed to be actioned or relisted. It soon became evident that the only winners were Ebay and Paypal. De-Clutterbug was paying anything from £70.00 upwards per month to Ebay and Paypal.

It is clear to see from reading the above that the De-Clutterbug business was not going to work at anything other than a loss NOT to the Client or the Buyer; Paypal or Ebay but to De-Clutterbug.

De-Clutterbug did present the case to Ebay explaining the business format; but, as a recognised business, there was and could not be any movement financially to assist placing De-Clutterbug, other than in the same bracket, as high street shops that sell through Ebay.

The answer from Ebay dictated the decision to ‘go-it-alone’ and build a Web Store to hopefully meet and fulfil everyone’s requirements and necessities so http://www.de-clutterbug.com/ came into being. Initially alongside selling through Ebay so to keep movement of items still circulating, and whilst introducing and developing de-clutterbug.com; hopefully to meet a niche market responding to everyone’s needs.

5.       De-Clutterbug’s Web Store Online Shop

Recommendation pointed me in the direction of Webs.com formally known as Freewebs who provided the necessary starting block for De-Clutterbug to build a Website with Web Store. A free provider meant that no initial outlay or costs needed to be incurred to De-Clutterbug. Until De-Clutterbug believed and could guarantee that the site was fit for purpose, continued, at the same time incurring further expense to list items within Ebay, having closed the Ebay shop but still able to sell individual items (De-Clutterbug has left Ebay open, to sell through, should circumstances change or if the Client request their products be placed in the Auction or for sale).

The Webs.com e-commerce provided shop was easily traversed and in no time items were being listed, presented for sale, and published. But on listing 15 items a window opened, Webs.com generated, informing the necessity to upgrade to premium status to facilitate further features and to list more items for sale. Which, with hundreds of items needing to be listed, De-Clutterbug purchased for an annual fee that, though it still worked out cheaper than Ebay charges, needed to be paid.

6.       Technical Issues

Throughout this first year there have been the occasional problems to resolve, which have arisen necessitating the communication of their Webs.com technical staff’s help. Most were resolved quite easily but two problems necessitated greater investigation and generally fell on De-Clutterbug’s shoulders to resolve.  

First: December 2009, De-Clutterbug had hoped to change the many recorded visitors to the Web Store into paying Customers but the site was ‘freezing’, inaccessible, disabled and causing Customers and visitors to the site general frustration as they could not traverse the site. This also caused De-Clutterbug a great deal of consternation, especially leading up to Christmas, who quickly reverted to selling again through Ebay. On occasion not quite meeting the Christmas deadline so with a few disappointed Customers and Clients to contend with all of whom were very understanding even though obviously disappointed.

Christmas 2009 came and went preceded by the problems with the site being corrected but unfortunately too late and without compensation for loss of trade.

Secondly: Latterly, it has been brought to my notice that Google checkout, provided by Webs.com to facilitate a further online safe payment method was showing an error message to Customers saying that there was a problem with the site and requesting that the customer refer back to De-Clutterbug. This has now been an ongoing ‘seesaw’ problem that De-Clutterbug hopes will be rectified soon.

Throughout both occasions it has been left to De-Clutterbug to do the ‘leg work’ in trying to get things sorted; countless page screenshots, email and online chats have been processed by De-Clutterbug and sent as verification to the technical team. 

7.       Losses and Gains

De-Clutterbug has learnt a great deal through the year not least on how to build an online shop but the costs incurred in doing so as well.

De-Clutterbug has naturally completed the necessary for HM Inland Revenue which has been proven to have made a £600.00 loss in the first year of trading, even taking into account monies earnt alongside other employment, and bolstered, where necessary, in part by earnings previously earnt.  This is not a happy situation as the loss would have been even greater if the last earnings received from employment had not been taken into the yearly equation for consideration.

De-Clutterbug was also swept into a few unfavourable costly decision making ventures in an endeavour to boost business recognition which also had a direct financial bearing on the losses as given.

The gains to De-Clutterbug personally, not least, in the meeting and associations gained with new contacts but also being kept gainfully employed (although unpaid!).  Further experience has been gained within development, production and customer services. Prior knowledge of computer literacy gave an understanding required to start the business along with years of computer knowledge and shopping online.   De-Clutterbug is still learning whilst keeping up with technology but also research which is inevitably involved with the valuations given for the Client’s benefit prior to fixing a price for the sale of their item(s).

8.       Clients

The Clients are the backbone to De-Clutterbug’s business.

De-Clutterbug primarily runs the business as an intermediary selling items provided by and on behalf of Clients, without fee or charge for the service provided by De-Clutterbug from the Client of any kind. 

The benefits to the Client being the fact that they do not need to;

a) front the shop, face the customer, commit background work or pay associated shop overheads and general upkeep,

 b) submit their items to an Auction House or Site encruing fees from the establishment as well as to the buyer on the sale of their items; nor forgetting possible storage and/or collection fees,

c) negating the time spent with building their own web store and site,

d) charges accrued when paying for a market, fair, stall or site from which to sell the goods, (in all weathers or destinations),

e) not having to correspond, answer queries either by phone or email, associate with the Buyer thus freeing up their time. (Especially in the case of those wishing to be productive in their industry),

f) guaranteed that the item when sold the Client gets the agreed value price.  

Because there are no additional costs or overheads imposed on the Clients the Buyers reap the benefits within the purchase price.

De-Clutterbug is proud to list quality items that Clients have been good enough to submit for sale within De-Clutterbug’s Web Store Online Shop. To name them all, is a long list, but for example: Antiques (Beswick, Edwardian Chairs, Georgian Silver, Mirrors, Crockery, Tantalus, Smokers Cabinet &c.)  Bears (Collectable, Steiff, Soft Toys), Books (Antiquarian, Cookery, Encyclopaedia), Clothing (Fashion, Designer Labels) Coins (Foreign, Collectables) Dog Accessories (Leads, Coats), Gifts for all the Family, Lighting (Wall Mounted, Ceiling), Ornaments, Photographic Equipment (Cameras, Digital) Scientific Equipment (Microscopes), Reproduction Furniture, Shoes, Toys (for all ages), and so much more. All items are guaranteed genuinely listed as honestly stated and any further information required on any item De-Clutterbug will be glad to give help.

Clients, on occasion, during the past year, have requested the return of their items to sell elsewhere. At all times De-Clutterbug has iterated and reiterated that the items submitted to the Web Store are the belongings and under ownership of the Clients until purchase has been made by the Buyer. Some have returned their items to De-Clutterbug on realising that the costs or time spent in selling ‘can be freed up’ by giving them back to De-Clutterbug; where items can be listed in the shop for infinitum as no cost incurred in doing so.  It has, on occasion, also been realised that sales are not guaranteed in any media or chosen avenue but De-Clutterbug is a free gateway to the World Wide Web. The Client may also request that items for sale are still listed with De-Clutterbug until the sale is made elsewhere thus still leaving the area open for purchasing at no additional cost to the Client.

Advantage, also to the Client, is the set agreed price for the sale of their item(s) so they receive the sum requested as soon as payment is cleared via method chosen by the Buyer. The Buyer remains anonymous to the Client at all times. Payment once processed and cleared is paid to the Client. Monies are not held up unnecessarily or wilfully by De-Clutterbug. 

Items turned down for sale are those that are soiled, torn, ripped, worn, dirty, broken, chipped beyond saleable value, dangerous (unless specified), livestock, living creatures, perishable goods. Otherwise De-Clutterbug is happy to give an honest opinion to the condition of the submitted item for sale, on behalf of the Client.

9.       UK Producers

The service provided by De-Clutterbug to the Client is a pleasure. As always De-Clutterbug supports local industry, providing an online outlet for selling home-made UK produce. This has been well received by Customers and Clients alike and ‘the more the merrier’ so please consider De-Clutterbug for selling your items and join our growing list of artists, jewellers etc who have chosen De-Clutterbug as their online outlet.

Local artists using different mediums have produced a varied stock of paintings and pictures. Jewellers from different parts of the country working in their own materials from wood to sterling silver. Walking sticks, chicken houses and so the list goes on.

So many talented people with such variance in artistic capabilities, wood workers and picture framers included. The ability to sell through De-Clutterbug means another avenue of selling without spending time or money on setting up individual websites.

De-Clutterbug hopes to build on this area of UK locally produced items, even more in the next year, developing a site that has new and used, recycled, antiques, fashion, designer and custom made items, making for more interest and opening to a wider market place.

10.   Buyers/Customers

The Buyer is in the fortunate position, at all stages from initial visit to receiving their purchase, of being able to leave feedback on their experience and encouraged to do so. Any comment received by the Buyer or the Client which may help in building a store considered more fitting to meet everyones’ needs is welcome. 

De-Clutterbug, as previously stated, provides a service not only for the Client but as shopkeeper to the Buyer. The Customer comes first. Providing primarily a safe, comfortable, enjoyable environment for shopping purposes without fear of having your purse snatched! 

Items are sent packaged and posted as De-Clutterbug would approve of receiving them. Once paid for; the items are sent as soon as possible within the next two working days. Shipment abroad is covered by additional postage costs but for UK inland postage it is FREE.

Should the Buyer be specifically searching for an item De-Clutterbug  is happy to help to try and locate the item on their behalf.

Primarily the welfare and enjoyment of the shopping experience for the Buyer is of major consideration. De-Clutterbug draws on own experience to make shopping easy at http://www.de-clutterbug.com/ Web Store Online Shop.

11.   Feedback

De-Clutterbug has welcomed throughout the year feedback from Buyers and now hopes to encourage Clients also to put their points of view and give their experience within their dealings of De-Clutterbug.

Feedback is an online open source way of letting others know how Customers have got on with the company they have dealt with. A complaints forum as well as a commendation area so letting others know of your experience giving them the opportunity to decide for themselves whether the online area can be trusted and followed or not. This is essential for De-Clutterbug in the search for recognition and acceptance online by Clients and Buyers alike.

Feedback is a good way to provide prosepective Buyers an insight, service and acknowledgement of the treatment received on purchasing items from De-Clutterbug.

On occasion of feedback being received from Buyers it has been overwhelming in praise, if not humbling and very encouraging. Making all efforts made by De-Clutterbug worthwhile.

Of course there are exceptions to the rule and warily De-Clutterbug records the facts but there is a lesson to Sellers that not all Customers are wonderful even if De-Clutterbug thinks they are most of the time! On two instances in the past year De-Clutterbug has come across the following:

A)     A purchase made by one customer of a soft toy fit for a baby. This was in pristine unused new condition. On payment De-Clutterbug carefully wrapped and packaged, posted the item to the Buyer. An email arrived from the Buyer stating that the item was soiled with sick deposits.

The item was not requested for return as obviously De-Clutterbug did not want a newly soiled item returned. All monies were refunded to the Buyer for the purchase. The buyer changed their feedback on receipt of the refund.

De-Clutterbug had nearly purchased the item to give to new grandchild (there must be a warning to Sellers – a lesson learnt that this is one of the pitfalls of selling online).  Payment to the Client was in full as agreed.

B)      Through selling on Ebay; one buyer committed themselves to purchase an item of clothing but decided that the postal charges exceeded the value of the item = 0.99p hence, being too expensive for the item so did not pay. To prove that De-Clutterbug was justified in the postal and packaging charges placed on top of the starting auction price of 0.99p that had been promised by the Buyer – De-Clutterbug took the unnecessary decision to post the item regardless to the Buyer. After all De-Clutterbug did not want to chase the Buyer for 0.99p plus postage and packaging or have to re-list the item for yet another time.

No feedback was received but this example is worth mention because it is another example of a hurdle that was unexpectedly placed in the way of a sale which could have harmed De-Clutterbug’s standing.

The Client still received 0.75p for the item as, yet again, they were not at fault for this decision by either the Buyer or De-Clutterbug.

Other than these two examples of customer dissatisfaction ALL feedback received has been as previously stated.

12.   Payment Methods Accepted

De-Clutterbug’s Web Store Online Shop accepts any form of payment for items bought: Paypal and Google Checkout which safely and securely processes debit, credit and other cash cards. Also De-Clutterbug accepts postal orders, cheques and cash (useful for those concerned about giving their card details over online).

Refunds, if necessary, for return of items include; additional postage incurred for returning items (at no loss of the agreed sale price to the Client).

13.   Postage and Packaging

FREE shipping, postage and packaging is offered to mainland UK Customers.

Shipping abroad is charged at the same rate regardless of destination or size and weight. All additional items to be posted abroad are charged 0.40p per item for overseas postage only.

De-Clutterbug has retained free postage and packaging even though most competitors charge for this service. Noticeably some companies charge postage, carrier, but will only ship to mainland UK.

Items are shipped as soon as payment has been confirmed. Delaying the items to be sent as little as possible so that receipt is made as soon as possible by the Buyer. It is suggested that the Buyer allows 4 working days for receipt of items before contacting De-Clutterbug as to their purchases whereabouts. Overseas postage takes longer so Buyers are requested to please allow for further time for receipt.

All costs relevant to postage, courier service and packaging is sourced by De-Cluttebug, alleviating this worry from the Client.

Collection in person is placed on some items; of either great value, breakable, or very large (for example the Staddle Stones, Post Box, Exercise Machine).  Collection may be made in person after payment has been cleared and with prior arrangement with De-Clutterbug. 

14.   Advertising

De-Clutterbug has constantly been assessing the advantages and disadvantages of advertising.

Throughout the year De-Clutterbug has mainly used free advertising at every opportunity trying to gain recognition as well as authenticity: Free advertising, for example yell.com but little evidence of revinue or visitors gained directly received from this method or company. Latterly yell.com have offered featured advertising promoting De-Clutterbug’s Web Store placing in top spot but as there has been no evidence of Customers, prospective or not, visiting through advertising with yell.com De-Clutterbug is unlikely, after serious consideration, to pay for featured advertising.  De-Clutterbug has also used other free advertising companies such as Vivastreet (and still does), though yet again no definite signs of movement within De-Clutterbug’s Web Site but ‘ever hopeful’.

Leaflet drops as well as posted to previous and new Customers generated interested parties: De-Clutterbug produced in-house pamphlets and A4 posters for local advertising. These produced a great deal of recognition and interest from Clients and Buyers alike; though costly and time consuming to produce.   

‘Word and Mouth’ Clients very kindly recommended De-Clutterbug’s services to Friends, Relations and Acquaintances with success. Friends, acquaintances and family have been pressed to tell others about De-Clutterbug’s online Web Store Shop. This is a recognised form of free advertising and goes on recommendation. If every one person tells ten people gaining their interest and they in turn tell ten more people so escalating and generating interest and business.  

Email Broadcasts an endeavour to keep awareness of De-Clutterbug alive: Email broadcasts have been successful as a reminder that De-Clutterbug is still in business, selling online, and bringing further interested parties into the fold as Clients, UK Local Producers of arts and crafts and jogging previous Customers memories. Re-visiting and on occasion purchasing from De-Clutterbug’s Web Store Online Shop.

Social Networking eg Facebook, My Space, Brownbook, Twitter:  Social networking has added further numbers visiting. De-Clutterbug keeps this alive even if only to give Warwickshire weather, quotes, jokes and titbits of information. Otherwise advertising new products listed to gain interest in visiting http://www.de-clutterbug.com/  De-Clutterbug or IBde-clutterbug can be followed by all regularly via Twitter, Facebook, My Space, Brownbook.  Also a good way in which to check the progress of De-Clutterbug. De-Clutterbug has enjoyed using social networking and will continue to do so.

Pay Per Click Advertising: De-Clutterbug has also advertised using an online method of ‘pay per click’ advertising which involves a specified size and word quota to set up the initial advertisement from which people, prospective Customers, who are interested click on the advertisement that links to http://www.de-clutterbug.com/ thus gaining the company eg Google the ability to charge for that click at a predefined cost to De-Clutterbug. This method soon proved to be expensive so cancelled for the time being. Google advertising and Facebook advertising charged ‘pay per click’ whereby De-Clutterbug paid per generated click on the advertisement. Again no guarantee of buyer or visitor.

Promotions and some local magazines paid by De-Clutterbug advertising media: Promotions and offers are few as items are already cheaper bought from De-Clutterbug than elsewhere online. Gift E-vouchers are now being given out with purchases and as gifts (they can also be bought online direct from De-Clutterbug’s Web Store) to be used at the value given against further purchases from De-Clutterbug’s Web Store. There is no guarantee that the Gift E-vouchers will always be given out with items bought owing to the obvious outcome financially.

Paid for advertising would be an obvious route for De-Clutterbug to follow but with no dispersible income this has had to be put on hold until business ‘picks up’. Some outlay was initially paid by De-Clutterbug for advertising purposes but the expense was too much to sustain.

I-Promote another company that state in their paperwork that they, for a minimal fee; direct, promote and project your website and drive traffic to your site as visitors. De-Clutterbug found that numbers of visitors did indeed rise but none from this company bought from the shop or participated in any other areas available. De-Clutterbug surmised that I-Promote could be working with a computer generated programme that produced virtual visitors to De-Clutterbug’s Web Store Online Shop. The contract after a few months of trial was cancelled especially as they were charging a large sum of money per month for their services. Money which was not generated through any sales because of the projected visitors, which though amounted to a great number, at first pleasing to see, until it was noted that they were not buying.

15.   Website Assistants

De-Clutterbug has placed on trial different Website Assistants. The means to hear a friendly voice welcoming  the visitor to the site or a form of instant virtual help. Making the site more accessible for visitors such as ‘voicemail’.  De-Clutterbug is open to the public so for any enquiries needing prompt response is important. Some of these virtual assistants are expense and some do not work adequately, or are not compatible, for the site. Live Chat is of interest to De-Clutterbug who may add it to the site at a later stage but this will be at cost.

De-Clutterbug felt that background music would be difficult to a) choose listening that everyone would approve, b) the music may need permission from the source for copyright and legal reasons. Hence, De-Clutterbug has reverted to a quiet shopping environment at the same time appreciating that most can listen to their own choice whilst visiting De-Clutterbug’s web site. Should anybody have any ideas in this area please contact De-Clutterbug.

Videos may be used at a later date to show better visuals of items for sale but this may not occur for a few months and after experimentation.    

16.    Blogs and Forum

To attract further visitors and present an interest, focal point, to the site De-Clutterbug has pages of Blogs and a Forum area wherein visitors can join discussion groups. Some subject matters may be considered risque or provocative. The idea is to incite discussion whether topical or otherwise and to generate interest in De-Clutterbug’s website, hopefully to make shopping more varied and interesting.

Not a lot of responses have been received but evidence whereby subjects and content matter have been acted upon within other forms of media, journalistic aspects etc. Proof that interest has been generated.  

This area De-Clutterbug hopes to periodically add to and should others have items of interest that they would like to register just notify De-Clutterbug via email giving details.

17.   Visitors Guestbook

De-Clutterbug has attempted to generate public interest in the Visitors Guestbook whereby visitors can pass comments on to others of their experience when traversing De-Clutterbug’s Website, purchasing from the Web Store etc but the percentage of contributions in this area have mainly been using this facility to promote their own websites, some of which De-Clutterbug has deemed to contain inappropriate material for family viewing. De-Clutterbug has blocked this page from being viewed on a couple of instances but still persists as a reasonable access point for honest visitors to the site to pass comment for viewers to read, to establish an understanding of the Website and Web Store within. 

18.   Members

Members have joined De-Clutterbug’s website with the certain knowledge that as members they can access most areas of the site, participate in building a friendly knowledge base for the community and contribute with ideas and information etc. De-Clutterbug has stated that members will not be ‘pestered’ or contacted from the site and this has been held true throughout the Year.

It would be nice to think that all Members and Visitors added De-Clutterbug to their ‘favorites’ list for easy access. 

19.   Friends and Links to Friends Advertising

Friends and Links page was altered to Friends Advertising because not all companies, businesses large and small, are online or have websites to link to.

De-Clutterbug has been surprised that more people have not taken up the offer of FREE advertising for their businesses in this area. All businesses are checked for authenticity  before advertising on this page in De-Clutterbug’s website. De-Clutterbug requests that businesses notify De-Clutterbug giving details and contact information via email for inclusion and validation purposes.

20.   Outlay

De-Clutterbug has tried to keep additional expenditure to a minimum but necessary office equipment and software has had to be replaced either through wear and tear or the need to keep up-to-date, in the forefront of technology, wherever possible.

Stationery including ink cartridges is an ongoing expense.

De-Clutterbug is aware that the digital photographs could be improved upon with the purchase of a better camera and hopes that during the next year income will be sufficient to make a purchase.

Webs.com require yearly payments because of upgrading to a Premium Web Store.

As paid advertising and promoting has been halted no expenditure in this area.

De-Clutterbug needs to sell £2,000 worth of items per month to gain a living salary.

21.   BT Tradespace

De-Clutterbug or IBde-clutterbug has registered and linked with BT Tradespace at the same time building a shop within. This may be the way forward to continue trading through BT Tradespace but trials are not yet completed to guarantee the shop’s future in this area.

De-Clutterbug is back to listing items twice once in http://www.de-clutterbug.com/ and BT Tradespace (whereas before it was Ebay) recognition is further improved amongst other traders as well as prospective Customers.

22.   Time

A quick mention should be made of the time given to developing, building, managing De-Clutterbug’s online Web Store Shop on behalf of Clients and Customers: Cataloguing, photographing, measuring, logging information, responding to enquiries via email or phone. Developing, researching and recording all relevant information is only part of the job specification and takes time to complete. De-Clutterbug’s Web Store is open 365 days of the year, 24 hours a day, so time is given accordingly.

23.   Future Forecast Plan

De-Clutterbug is hoping that Online Shopping will gain in popularity and that De-Clutterbug can fill a niche market making family shopping an enjoyable experience. As well as supporting UK Producers, recycling quality items, an outlet online for selling produce at affordable prices.

24.   Summary

De-Clutterbug can not compete with High Street Chain Stores or Auction Sites such as Ebay and Amazon but De-Clutterbug hopes to continue growing with the continued support of Clients and Customers,  to spread the word and recommend to others. Continue building the UK based Web Store selling quality, new and used items for all the family.

De-Clutterbug is running a ‘tight ship’ with no financial backing so please support and be patient as De-Clutterbug grows with experience and knowledge.   

Signed

Alison

Alison De-Clutterbug

Managing Director

http://www.de-clutterbug.com/

DECLUTTERBUG@de-clutterbug.com

[1] Paypal is a recognised method of paying online without revealing private bank information.

http://video.uk.msn.com/watch/video/top-10-cleverest-animals/vcfwfvj1?ocid=today Well worth a quick look! Enjoy

De-Clutterbug has said cheerio to the Milkman. This is of no choice of De-Clutterbug's other than the decision not to tolerate being coerced into a situation which De-Clutterbug does not want to be in:

Recklessly! De-Clutterbug decided to go online and make an additional order through the Dairy for some compost, to be delivered with the milk on the Saturday. This was duly achieved and the plants are grateful for the larger pots that they now live.

Unfortunately, this was the start of receiving no milk on the following two delivery days!

Initially the emotions went through, accident, holiday, new milkman, but after a telephone conversation with the dairy none of this applied. In actual fact my shopping online had caused the system to require a standing order or direct debit to be initiated by myself to reinstate my milk order.  Pardon me! Did I hear this correctly?

For over 30 years De-Clutterbug has supported the local dairy wherever the homestead. OK we have had milk that has been delivered containing shards of glass and sometimes the weather has caused it to be sour, before it should have been. Complaineth not - but this ‘takes the biscuit’. We have always paid on time by cheque and wished to continue doing so infinitum.

Yes, we know time has moved on and for the companies such as telephone, electricity, gas, one would expect to pay by direct debit, not necessarily by choice. But when the local milkman and dairy suddenly insist that through a purchase made online; cash or cheque payment is no longer accepted.

De-Clutterbug, is given the direction, to go back online and set up payment by direct debit, standing order.

Sorry, this is too much to expect. What if I was an OAP and my daughter had made a purchase online on my behalf, because I have yet, as a 90 year old, come to terms with new technology would I then find myself not getting a milk delivery because the transaction made by my daughter stopped milk from being delivered because I was not longer on the system!

De-Clutterbug supports, wherever possible, local businesses, including farmers, dairy produce etc but do not try and feel that you can attempt to alter the ways of some who are content with things as they were! Especially when it comes to payment of services and goods.

De-Clutterbug is now in the unfortunate position of having to purchase organic home produced milk from the Supermarket not through choice.

Blog De-Clutterbug and have your say.

If you read De-Clutterbug's Blog written and broadcast last week, it will come as no surprise that in the Daily Mail Monday 17 May 2010 is the above article:

"Doctors are raking in nearly £15million a year from bereaved families by filling out simple forms that give permission for their loved ones to be cremated.

The payments, cynically dubbed ‘ash cash’ by medics, are seen as a perk of the job, it has been claimed.

Junior NHS doctors have spoken of how they hope patients will die on their shift before competing to sign the cremation forms – which earn them £73.50 each – to try to boost their salary, in some cases by up to a pay grade.

One claimed the ‘infamous’ fee is ‘known as the house officer’s privilege.... the fund for Thursday night drinks all over the country’.

Under current rules, a patient who has died cannot be cremated until two doctors – normally their GP and one other – check their medical history.

The doctors sign off the cause of death and check the deceased did not have a pacemaker, which could explode if placed in a furnace, before the body is officially released. Despite the ten-minute task often being completed within their working hours, each doctor pockets £73.50 because the paperwork – unlike death certificates – is not considered part of their NHS duties.

The combined £147 cost of the paperwork is usually charged to the funeral director, who passes it on to the family as part of their overall bill, though it often goes unnoticed.  

Figures released this year show that doctors in England received £14.7million for filling out cremation forms in 2009. Two hospitals trusts – Heart of England, in the West Midlands, and University Hospital of Leicester – shared almost £700,000 of the so-called ‘ash cash’, Freedom of Information statistics have revealled.

In Scotland the figure for 2008-09 was about £1.5million. The data exposes the lucrative practice, which was written about by Rohin Francis, a junior doctor formaterly at St George’s University of London in 2006.

He wrote about doctors’ attitudes to the payment in the university magazine: ‘The £62 (now £73.50) a doctor pockets every time a patient they have certified pops their clogs and is burnt to a crisp is nothing short of infamous.

‘If a terminal patient is known to several doctors, we also hope they survive just until we’re on call and then we’ll be the one called to confirm, see the body after death and head down to patient affairs before anyone else beats us to that cheque.’

Lib Dem MP and the former health spokesman Norman Lamb said taking money off grieving relatives when this involves nothing beyond most doctors’ working hours was hardly justifiable.

A British Medical Association spokesman siad: ‘Given that this fee is applicable to all deaths, the BMA feels that local authorities should pay the fee rather than the bereaved, with the cost being recouped through general taxation.’"

De-Clutterbug says: “It is immoral to charge for the act of signing a death certificate. Being paid additional for this act is only breeding avarice like vultures waiting to get ‘their penny worth’. Doctors should, as part of their job description, be expected to confirm the reason for the ‘patients’ death and to authorise that cremation or burial may commence but not to be paid for this act.  No additional taxation should be applied as suggested by the BMA. The time spent in this procedure should surely guarantee that all patients are given the necessary treatment to keep them alive and comfortable for as long as possible. This should be considered part of the service, not additional.”

Blog De-Clutterbug and have your say. 

This very morning De-Clutterbug was delighted to see two visiting Pine Buntings. Birds that have not been noted in the garden before so very excited to see them in the flesh/feather!

TRIAL PERIOD AGREEMENT

 BETWEEN:                   [EMPLOYEE NAME] (the "Employee"), an individual with his main address at:

                                    [COMPLETE ADDRESS]

 AND:                            ELM (the "Company"), an entity organized and existing under the laws of the US with its head office located at:

2959  Michelson Drive, Irvine, CA, 92612, United States

 Recitals

In consideration of the covenants and agreements herein contained and the moneys to be paid hereunder, the Company hereby employs the Employee and the Employee hereby agrees to perform services as an employee of the Company, on an “at will” basis, upon the following terms and conditions:

 1. Subject of the Agreement

1.1.       According to the present Agreement the Company hereby engages the Employee and the Employee is obliged to perform the services set forth herein. The Employee hereby accepts such engagement and undersigns to act to the interests of the Company while the present Agreement is in force and to receive compensation for his services.

1.2.       The services provided to the Company in sense of the present Agreement are understood as professional activity of the Employee consisting of a complex of transactions set out in the Exhibit A, attached to this Core Agreement. Exhibit A represents the integral part of the Agreement and contains the principles and values governing the relationship between the Company and the Employee. The Employee takes the responsibility to provide the Company with the estimate, which is later attached as Exhibit A of the present Agreement. The Exhibit A shall define the Employee’s duties, term of engagement, compensation and provisions for payment thereof.

 2. General provisions

2.1.       The provisions of the Agreement may be negotiated and amended in writing from time to time, or supplemented with subsequent estimates for services to be rendered by the Employee and agreed to by the Company. No modification or amendment to this Agreement shall be valid unless made in writing and signed by duly authorized representatives of both Parties All changes, supplements and appendices to the present Agreement are the integral part of the present Agreement.

2.2.       The Employee provides services in strict conformity with Exhibit A with the purpose of receiving the greatest possible profit.  The Exhibit A is adjusted and signed by the Parties along with signing of the present Agreement. 

2.3.       Section headings do not completely and accurately reflect the content of the present Agreement and therefore shall not be considered a part of this Agreement. 

2.4.       This Agreement and the Prior Agreement contains the entire understanding of the Parties with respect to the matters contained herein and supersedes all previous negotiations, agreements and commitments related thereto. There are no promises, covenants or undertakings between the Parties other than those expressly set forth herein and in the Prior Agreement. In the event of any conflicts between this Agreement and the Prior Agreement, this Agreement shall prevail.

2.5.       Neither Party shall be liable for any delay or nonperformance of any provision of this Agreement. If any provision of this Agreement, or any portion thereof, is held to be invalid and unenforceable, then the remainder of this Agreement shall nevertheless remain non-cancelable in full force and effect.

3. Expenses and dues

3.1.       All expenses or dues, which the Employee has paid (or should pay in the future) at execution of the obligations under the present Agreement, are subject to compensation at the expense of the Company, at a rate of actual expenses.

3.2.       The Company undertakes to reimburse all reasonable and approved out-of-pocket expenses which are incurred in connection with the performance of the duties hereunder during the term of this Agreement except for the expenses for the time spent by the Employee in traveling to and from Company facilities.

3.3.       The above-stated expenses and the dues shall be reflected in Exhibit A.

 4. Employee's reports

4.1.       The accountability of the Employee consists of monthly project plans, progress reports and a final results report, provided to the Company. On request from the Company the Employee shall be ready to present to the Company reports summarizing all activities conduced by Employee to date.  A comprehensive final results report shall be due at the conclusion of the project and shall be submitted to the Company in a confidential written report at such time.

4.2.       The results report shall be presented in such form and contain such information and data as is reasonably requested by the Company. In case the Company has not signed the results report and also has not presented the motived refusal, the report is deemed accepted by the Company.

 5. Privacy statement

5.1.       Any information transferred from one Party to another in the framework of the present Agreement, is confidential and is not subject to disclosure to the third parties without the written agreement of the Parties, except for cases stipulated hereto.

5.2.       The Employee, by signing this Agreement, expressly grants to the Company for all copyrightable material, any and all inventions, discoveries, developments and innovations conceived by the Employee during this engagement relative to the duties under this Agreement shall be the exclusive property of the Company.

5.3.       Any and all inventions, discoveries, developments and innovations conceived by the Employee prior to the term of this Agreement and utilized by him in rendering duties to the Company are hereby licensed to the Company for use in its operations and for an infinite duration.  This license is non-exclusive, and may be assigned without the Employee’s prior written approval by the Company to a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

5.4.       The Employee limits a circle of the employees admitted to the Company information, to the number of the employees necessary for present Agreement execution.

5.5.       The Employee undertakes not to disclose the information about operations, accounts and essential elements of the Company for the third parties, except for the cases, when the disclosure of such information is directly authorized by the Company or follows the necessity of execution of the present Agreement.

5.6.       The Employee is cognizant, that the system of the accounts utilized by the Employee is extremely internal system. No record which has been designated as confidential, or is the subject of a pending application of confidentiality, shall be disclosed by the Employee.

5.7.       The Company and the Employee shall identify preexisting confidential or proprietary items to be delivered under this Agreement as follows. The Employee and the Company agree that during this Agreement, it is possible that the Employee may develop additional data or information that the Employee considers to be protectable as confidential information. The Employee acknowledges that during the engagement he will have access to and become acquainted with various trade secrets, inventions, innovations, processes, information, records and specifications owned or licensed by the Company and/or used by the Company in connection with the operation of its business including, without limitation, the Company’s business and product processes, methods, customer lists, accounts and procedures.

5.8.       All files, records, documents, blueprints, specifications, information, letters, notes, media lists, original artwork/creative, notebooks, and similar items relating to the business of the Company, whether prepared by the Employee  or otherwise coming into his possession, shall remain the exclusive property of the Company.

5.9.       The Employee shall not retain any copies of the foregoing without the Company’s prior written permission.  Upon the expiration or earlier termination of this Agreement, or whenever requested by the Company, the Employee shall immediately deliver to the Company all such files, records, documents, specifications, information, and other items in his possession or under his control.

5.10.     The Employee undertakes to do not distribute the information, which becomes known to him in connection with the present Agreement.

5.11.     The Employee undertakes not to disclose the text of the present Agreement, including all changes, supplements and appendices to the third parties.

5. 12.    No contract shall be entered into without these rights being assured to the Company from the Employee.

 6. Rights and Responsibilities of the Parties

6.1.       The Parties bear the responsibility for non-execution and inadequate execution of the obligations under the present Agreement stipulated hereto.

6.2.       The Parties bear responsibility for disclosure of the confidential information related to their mutual actions within the framework of the present Agreement.

6.3.       Employee works under this Agreement for exercising the degree of skill and care required by customarily accepted good professional practices and procedures. During the term of this agreement, the Employee shall devote as much of his productive time, energy and abilities to the performance of his duties hereunder as is necessary to perform the required duties in a timely and productive manner. 

6.4.       The Employee represents that he is free to enter into this Agreement, and that this engagement does not violate the terms of any agreement between the Employee and any third party. The Employee is expressly free to perform services for other parties while performing services for the Company.

6.5.       For a period of six months following any termination, the Employee shall not, directly or indirectly hire, solicit, or encourage to leave the Company’s employment, any employee, consultant, or Employee of the Company or hire any such employee, consultant, or Employee who has left the Company’s employment or contractual engagement within one year of such employment or engagement.

 7. Right to Injunction; Liability insurance

7.1.       The Employee is cognizant that the services to be rendered to the Company under this Agreement are of a special, unique, unusual, and extraordinary character which gives them a peculiar value. The loss of the rights and privileges granted to the Company under the Agreement cannot be reasonably or adequately compensated by any action at law, and the breach by the Employee of any of the provisions of this Agreement will cause the Company irreparable injury and damage.

7.2.       The Employee expressly agrees that the Company shall be entitled to injunctive and other equitable relief in the event of, or to prevent, a breach of any provision of this Agreement by the Employee.  Resort to such relief shall not be construed to be a waiver of any other rights or remedies that the Company may have for damages or otherwise.  The various rights and remedies of the Company under this Agreement or otherwise shall be construed to be cumulative, and no one of them shall be exclusive of any other or of any right or remedy allowed by law.

7.3.       Any costs for failure to meet these standards, or otherwise defective services, which require reperformance, as directed by Company or its designee, shall be borne in total by the Employee and not the Company.  The liability insurance (including malpractice insurance, if warranted) relative to any service in the framework of the Agreement shall be carried by the Employee.

8. The duration and rescission of the Agreement

8.1.       The present Agreement becomes effective from the moment of its signing by the Parties for 1 month.

8.2.       The present Agreement can be terminated on mutual agreement of the Parties, and also on the bases stipulated by governing law.

8.3.       Merger or consolidation of the Company into or with any other entity shall not be the reason for termination of the present Agreement.

8.4.       The present Agreement can be terminated preschedully under the initiative of the Company. In this case the Company is obliged to notify another Party in writing about Agreement rescission not later than 10 (ten) business days prior to reputed date of avoidance.

8.5.       The Company retains the right to terminate, at once, upon the default of the Employee and to proceed with the work required under the Agreement in any manner the Company deems proper.

8.6.       If the Employee is convicted of any crime or offense, fails or refuses to comply with the written policies or reasonable directive of the Company, is guilty of serious misconduct in connection with performance hereunder, or materially breaches provisions of this Agreement, the Company at any time may terminate the engagement of the Employee immediately and without prior written notice to the Employee. Employee specifically acknowledges that the unilateral termination of the Agreement by the Company under the terms set forth below is an essential term of the Agreement.

 9. Benefits package, professional advantages and taxation

9.1.       The Employee, being the independent Party, independently bears responsibility for  execution of services in the context of the present Agreement. Therefore the Employee agrees that the Company shall not render the latter an employee, partner, agent, or joint venturer with the Company for any purpose.

9.2.      No claim against the Company hereunder or otherwise for vacation pay, sick leave, retirement benefits, social security, worker’s compensation, health or disability benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, or employee benefits of any kind from the part of the Employee are appropriate.

9.3.       You will receive a monthly invoice stating your total income. All applicable taxes are covered by the company..

9.4.       The parties have agreed to consider any messages sent each other by means of facsimile communication be legal.  

 10. Successors and Assigns

10.1.     This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors or assigns of the Parties hereto and, to the extent any successor or assign is not bound by operation of law, each Party shall cause such successor or assign to expressly agree in writing to be bound by this Agreement.

10.2.     Neither Party may assign or delegate any of [his or her]  rights or obligations arising under this Agreement, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, without the express written consent of the other Party, and any such purported assignment or delegation shall be void and without effect.

 11. Applicable right and resolution of disputes

11.1.     The present Agreement is adjusted to the legislation of the United States and United Kingdom.

11.2.     All dissents, disputes and contraventions, which can arise between the Parties in relation to the conclusion, execution and avoidance of the present Agreement, are subject to the admittance by negotiation.

11.3.     In a case the Parties have not achieved consent during negotiation the dispute is subject to consideration in the order stipulated by the rules of the London Court of International Arbitration, and the awards judgments may be brought to any authorized court.

 12. Waiver

12.1.     The release of the obliged Party from the liability for nonperformance,  inadequate execution any of the unrealizable obligation under the present Agreement, does not entail the release of this Party from the liability for nonperformance of its other obligations which have been not recognized by the Parties unrealizable on the Agreement. Failure or delay by either Party to enforce compliance with any term or condition of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such term or condition.

 13. Notices

13.1.     All notices required or authorized hereunder shall be in writing and shall be delivered by any reasonable means, including by personal delivery, registered or certified mail, or facsimile to the address of the Party to which that notice is to be given, if deposited in the Royal Mail, certified or registered, postage prepaid, return receipt requested. 

 14. The essential elements and signatures of the Parties

 IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have executed this Agreement as of the day and year first written above. 

 The present Agreement, as well as all supplements, changes and the appendices to the present Agreement signed by the means of facsimile communication, stand good in law.

 EMPLOYEE                                                                  COMPANY

Authorized Signature                                                     Authorized Signature

                                                                                    Joseph M. Gabriel, Director                  

Print Name and Title                                                      Print Name and Title

EXHIBIT A (Administrative Assistant)

Duties, Term of the Agreement and Compensation

 1. DUTIES:

The primary goal of the Administrative Assistant / Sales Support Representative is to provide local customer support to our clients within United Kingdom. This includes providing convenient payment options and informing them of shipping and the terms of sale.

 You will be assisting our clients within United Kingdom, the assistance to be provided will include: payment collections and customer service via email.  

Your duties will include:

 - Collecting Local Payments

When a buyer in the UK decides to purchase an item through an online auction from our sellers he has the following payment options: pay pal, international wire transfer, international check, local certified check or local wire transfer. The quickest option of these is local wire transferring. Local wire transfers and certified checks are the options that the sales support representative will provide to the clients.

 - Managing Data

Along with the payments received from buyers you will be receiving details for these sales. These details will include items sold, price, and buyer's information. You are to file and maintain these purchasing records and transactions.

 - Forwarding of the Payments

Once you receive each payment you will be keeping 5% as commission and forwarding the rest to the seller or representative, whose information will be provided prior each transaction. It is crucial to complete forwarding of the payments in a time efficient manner.

 - Correspondence

You will be submitting brief reports, weekly reports, and monthly reports. Weekly and monthly reports are to be done in Excel format and are to summarize all transactions completed within the week, or month.

 Here is an example of a brief report:

Date: May 8, '07

Buyer: Mona Evans

Item: Movado Watch

Price: 1,921.27 GBP

Commission 5%: 96 GBP

Fees: 75 GBP

Total Forwarded: 1750.27 GBP/2857.9 USD

Forwarded to: Diana Paulco, Stockholm, Sweden

Reference Numbers: 2438749827

 - Fees, and Transferring Procedures

All fees are covered by the company. The fees for transferring are simply deducted from the payments received. No client will contact you during initial stage of the trial period. After three weeks of the trial period you will begin to have contact with the buyers via email in regards to collection of the payments. For the first three weeks you will simply receive all of the transferring details, and payments, along with step by step guidance from your supervisor. You will be forwarding the received payments through western union, money gram transferring agents, or by international wire transferring. 

 2. TERM OF THE AGREEMENT:

2.1.       The present Agreement becomes effective from the moment of its signing by the Parties.

3. COMPENSATION:

3.1.       During the trial period, you will be paid 1,800GBP per month while working on average 3 hours per day, Monday-Friday, plus 5% commission from every payment received and forwarded.  The salary will be sent in the form of wire transfer directly to your account. After the trial period your base pay salary will go up to 2,900GBP per month, plus 5% commission.

3.2.       The Company shall have the right to decrease the Employee’s commission in case the payment processing terms were violated by the Employee. In this case the Employee’s commission will be decreased at a rate of 1% per day.

3.3.       In case of refusal from the part of the Employee to resend the money, accepted to his bank account, or delay of payment for the period exceeding 3 days without any explicit reason, the Company shall have the right to apply to the arbitration and claim for the reimburse of the amount transferred to his account or for compensation for other damage if any, evicted due to the delay.

 4. EMPLOYEE INFORMATION FORM

Complete the Following Form

 First and Last Name:_____________________________________________________________

 Residential Phone Number:________________________________________________________

 Mobile:________________________________________________________________________

 Additional Phone Number: ________________________________________________________

 Address:_______________________________________________________________________

  Payments

 In order to receive payments from clients and your salary please provide with account information:

 Account Holder's Name:__________________________________________________________

 Name of the bank:_______________________________________________________________

 Branch:________________________________________________________________________

 Branch’s Address:_______________________________________________________________

 Account number:________________________________________________________________

 Sort code:______________________________________________________________________

 IBAN Code:____________________________________________________________________

 Swift(optional):_________________________________________________________________

 The Company will not reveal your details; and will only remit agreed funds to the account at the times and dates specified prior each transaction. The Employee will not attempt to use any of the Company funds - other than those that are deposited in relation to the employment as agreed remuneration, and commissions.

 5. HOURS

 Choose Preferred Working Hours (please write or type in X for the time you prefer). You should be able to check your email for instructions and should be ready complete instructions at chosen Time Shift every business day.

 Part-Time:

 SHIFT A: 9:00am-12:00pm

 SHIFT B: 10:00am-1:00pm

 SHIFT C: 11:00am-2:00pm

 Full-Time:

SHIFT A: 9:00am-3:00pm

 SHIFT B: 11:00am-5:00pm

 6. signatures of the Parties:

 EMPLOYEE                                                                  COMPANY

 Authorised Signature                                                     Authorized Signature

                                                                                     Joseph M. Gabriel, Director                  

Print Name and Title                                                      Print Name and Title

 
I really felt that this was the job for me! Three hours a day taking down buyers details and sales notices for £1800 per month plus commission. A night dreaming of the extra money, to pay off debts and have in the pocket. The contract seems so feasible but, fortunately, I decided to 'sound' Elm out - after all it is a good idea to have a background history of a company before joining! Well the dream was short-lived and has ended at least I did not give over any financial details or committed myself to a non-existant company. Thank you all for putting me straight. Visit www.de-clutterbug.com for online shopping...

I have taken it upon myself to contact everybody to place them on alert/readiness in case a phone call is received!

Today 13 April 2010 at 13.13 hours we received a call via home landline; from 'Jessica Watson' (her accent was not as one would expect a Jessica Watson to sound like). She claimed to be calling from a Computer Maintenance Services company on behalf of Microsoft.

Evidently, my computer, which 'can not talk to me' has been sending error messages back to Microsoft and is running slower than it should be.

The above may be true, and I suspect, may relate to most computers.

'Jessica Watson' was insistent that I take the telephone, or pick up a receiver close to the computer, and switch the computer on at her instigation. There was noticeably, no politeness nor willingness to explain her position. Her technical 'know how' was not evident nor any professionalism.

When I requested that she gave over some proof of her identity and/or some way of contacting her company to confirm authenticity she put down the receiver/cut the call off.

All the above screams to me of some scam. Remember it does not take much to be able to access your computer desk top and therein download information of possible value. My warning comes that though this telephone call may be solicited and legal, I suspect not, and therefore, should you receive a similar call, regardless of how sincere or cosher it may appear be on caution and act accordingly.

I hope that this comes as a timely warning.

In response to an online survey a question posed by eBay:  PLEASE SHARE WITH US THE PRIMARY REASON OF YOUR DISSATISFACTION? Received the following response -

I find the real problems associated with the help centre through eBay is that I anything causing dissatisfaction that I De-Clutterbug wants to get 'sorted' are not within the drop down list and it is hard to traverse and get someone to help. The treatment I have had, of late, has been unhelpful and unsatisfactory but when you are using a site which has no competitors in the market place, what can you expect. The monopoly is such that, as a small 'fry', I have not got a hope against the larger traders and there is no room for manoeuvre. I am trying to provide a service to Clients, selling on behalf of, and giving Buyers bargains to buy which they would not otherwise have. Without support from ebay I am working at such a great loss. But, then again, who cares at a time of recession!

Just a quick warning from De-Clutterbug.

Yesterday De-Clutterbug received an email from 'paypal' to inform me that as my account had not been used lately a halt on the account had been therefore issued:

'I have just received an email stating to be from paypal saying that there will be limited use on my account through lack of use. Requesting that I complete all my password and security details within the email to verify and to maintain the accounts.
Can you please confirm that this is spam and let other paypal users know
that this is going on. Kind regards Alison De-Clutterbug' 

I received the following response from paypal:

Thank you for contacting PayPal.

I can confirm that the email you received was not sent by PayPal. I have
cheeked your account and it is in a good standing. PayPal will not limit an
account due to inactivity and you can also check the Resolution Centre if
there is any open case.

Here are some tips to help you recognise fraudulent emails and protect your
PayPal account from phishing or spoof.

• Check the greeting. We always address you by your first and last name,
or the business name on your PayPal account
• See if the email asks for personal information. A PayPal email will
never ask you for any of the following:
• Bank account numbers
• Debit and credit card numbers
• Driver's license number
• Email addresses
• Your full name
• Your password, or answers to your PayPal account security questions

Check for attachments. We will never send an attachment or software updates
to install on your computer.

Preventing spoof and phishing:

Spoof and phishing are illegal methods to collect personal and financial
information by using fake emails, websites, and phone calls. With stolen
information, criminals could commit credit card fraud and engage in other
illegal activities.

Phishing emails attempt to steal your identity by tricking you into
revealing your password or other personal or financial information. These
emails often link to websites that try to get you to enter credit card
numbers, social security numbers, or account passwords.
If you think you've received a fraudulent email, forward the email to
spoof@paypal.com and then delete it from your mailbox.



Thank you for your time.
 

  

Initially the promotion of De-Clutterbug’s website, not least the web store, seemed imperative. So the services iPromote offered in driving visitors to the website could only seem an ideal way of advertising, promoting and getting recognition.

Though, the promise of driving prospective customers, improving recognition was to be upwards of 60% on the already attained visitation numbers; averaging 20 per day. It did prove, in using iPromote, that ‘Yes’ De-Clutterbug was 60% up but it became evident that though, even sometimes 80% more traffic was gained, no activity within the site was being instigated. The site offering membership, blogs, forums and importantly primarily a web store with extremely good offers, hard to be matched elsewhere, value for money but no movement or sales in this direction.

For the services of iPromote, an email received daily to review the amount of visitors and the costs incurred by iPromote, for their services, to De-Clutterbug to promote and drive visitors to the website mounted up. 

What initially seemed a great idea suddenly had a bad taste. Though two months later is not a good time lapse for reality to set in, but realisation of the probability that the iPromote service could be directed out of an individual computer based office environment. Where the computer system is in place to make hits on specified websites at specific times and for different periods of time to give the impression that visitors are actually perusing the website as a prospective customer.

I think that I have been very much duped. An American based company it is hard to confirm authenticity of iPromote.

This company, because of the initial agreement, was hard to halt in its’ tracks, cancelling my card did help  but not before they have taken a substantial amount of money from De-Clutterbug. They still require $99 – I have asked if I can pay by cheque but they are insistant that I submit a new card number. (This in itself is worrying!) Perhaps they do not want to give too many details out such as address, payee etc?

Either way I am prepared to pay – though it will have to come out of the house-keeping! Do not fret I needed to go on a diet and lose some weight.

Hopefully the above will make others aware and please tread carefully. I have a genuine legal and above board business that I am trying to promote but no longer want the services of iPromote. 

Nineteen translations so that you can now visit De-Clutterbug and translate to a language that you can understand!

It has been brought to my attention that 'UK Cottage Industry' can be misinterpreted, so a name change has been brought about: UK Locally Produced Goods. De-Clutterbug apologises to everyone involved who may have found the content offensive and if it upset any sensitivities.

ARTISTS * CRAFTSMEN * COTTAGE INDUSTRY WORKERS

v     Are you a Painter working in oils, watercolour or another medium?

v     Are you a Potter, Modeller or Sculptor?

v     Do you knit, sew, embroider or crochet?

v     Are you a Carpenter, Cabinet Maker, Wood Carver?

v     Do you make jewellery?

v     HAVE YOU HOMEMADE PRODUCE TO SELL?

Do you need an outlet to sell your products?

Do you make ornaments or similar; for example:

baskets, bird boxes, bookmarks, bracelets, cards for all occasions, clothes pegs, coasters, cushions, doyleys, drawstring shoe bags, framed or unframed paintings, lampshades, mugs and plates, peg bags, potato sacks, scarves and gloves, silk flowers, spills, walking sticks....................?

Consider De-clutterbug as an outlet to sell your produce worldwide {home and abroad} with an established customer base.

INTERESTED? Contact De-clutterbug – telephone 0844 504 3523

email de-clutterbug@live.com

Visit: http://www.de-clutterbug.com

DE-CLUTTERBUG DOES    N  O T   SELL FOOD, PERISHABLES, PETS OR LIVESTOCK.......

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SPECIALIST! Topic or useful information to impart, sharing your knowledge with others. A tip that you would like to share with the World?  Then contact De-clutterbug telephone 0844 504 3523 or email de-clutterbug@live.com for inclusion within ‘Tips & Advice’ – building a friendly, helpful, informative environment.

For Buy It Now items which means that the price dictated is acceptable for both the Client and the Buyer; without the Auction process that may or may not meet the true value of the item for sale.

1) 40 pence per item listed for 30 days - 1 photograph is free subsequent photographs are charged for by eBay.

2) 10% of the sold value of the item goes to eBay.

3) Paypal take their 2%.

For Auction Items at a low value starting price 0.99 (eBay charges esculate dependant on starting price) this is the lowest feesible starting price.  

1) 20 pence per item listed for 10 days - 1 photograph is free subsequent photographs are charged for by eBay.

2) 10% of the sold value of the item goes to eBay.

3) Paypal take their 2%.   

The costs above are negated by De-Clutterbug at

www.de-clutterbug.com

De-Clutterbug also contributes to My Space, Twitter and Facebook. So find out the news as it is being made by De-Clutterbug.

Week Day instalments keep readers, buyers, customers, clients, contributors up-to-date with listings...