eBAY INTERNENT WEBSITES: A TURN OFF OR TURNKEY

Released on = August 24, 2004, 10:13 am

Press Release Author = Edgar Mthembo, CEO-Trade-Centre.Net

Press Release Summary = Trade-Centre.Net delivers leading on-demand service
procurement solutions that address the complete source to settlement process. The
Online Marketplace suite of solutions allow for a remarkable degree of flexibility
to meet the escalating demands of finding, controlling, sustaining and expanding
savings in the service supply chain. These solutions have helped businesses reduce
costs by more than 15%, compress cycle time by up to 75% and significantly enhance
the buyer-service provider relationship.

The Online Marketplace is an independent buyer and service provider’s network which
improves the way companies buy and manage services. Trade-Centre.Net is a growing
provider of premier software solutions that accelerate the return on investment
(ROI) by expanding the functionality of existing services purchasing and procurement
systems for Small, Micro, and Medium Enterprises as well as larger firms.

Press Release Body = What used to be thought as the Internet safest place for
trading is now turning into a big monster aiding scavengers to squeeze and defraud
innocent buyers of their hard earned cash. Buying a business termed “turnkey
website business” on eBay auction, you better think twice before you even start
considering whether to bid or not. You are not safe from the person you are dealing
with as they are innocent with the sale which normally in the demos look to be real.

Most of these websites are a waste of money and they do not deliver what they say in
the auction ads. The way they calculate the anticipated monthly and annual income in
most cases is mind blowing convincing the bidder to part away with large sums of
moneys.

“People must be aware of these crooks. They live by conning buyers to spend loads of
money to acquire something that doesn’t work. But because everybody wants to earn a
buck, people just buy while they are not supposed to do so,” says Edgar Mthembo, CEO of Trade-Centre.Net. ”Unfortunately most of the people who buy these turnkey
businesses do not even have a clue about programming hence they look at the demos
set up as real stuff.”

Among the many people who have been conned was someone who purchased a program for
under $100 and turned out to be an upgrade for a better web site and sell more of
their drop shipping junk. The total cost paid was over $1800 for a complete turnkey
website. The only sale made was his own buying. The Merchant account cost $35 a
month and the person held on to the site for 5 months before cancelling the merchant
account which they charged early cancellation fees amounting to US$350.

“We at Trade-Centre.Net believe and advise that if individuals or small firms would
like a website to run their business, then let them come and post their requirements
in the open marketplace where independent service providers (freelancers or small
consulting firms) with a track record and verified credibility, contact details and
account details; should bid to do your website or project service needs.” Edgar
Mthembo narrates.

“The buyer has a choice of who does the job for them. You are free to vouch their
resume and do random checks to enable you come up with right choice. You are free to
negotiate the deliverables and service level agreements (SLAs) in a secure selling
area whilst maintaining privacy. This is an aspect which you won’t get on eBay when
bidding on a website,” he added.

A recent survey of Internet mall customers revealed how unhappy Internet mall
customers are with their Web sites. One company paid more than US$5,000 for their
site and still has not received any results.

The guarantee of personal information on eBay is also a major concern to customers.
The CEO of Trade-Centre.Net has had twice his ID hijacked by crooks that even used
to list their items on eBay creating unknown listing charges on the account. The
crooks even changed the email address on his account and could not log in later on.

Police say complaints from people ripped off by crooks who have hijacked eBay
account information are on the rise.

This is just one of the thousand of thousands of cases. Last year, consumers reported some 20,000 fraud complaints concerning online auctions to the Federal Trade Commission, second only to complaints about identity theft. Some complaints involved sellers who simply never sent the goods they auctioned.

Security experts from Knoll, hi-tech investigations firm, who work with eBay
recognise that they have a real problem. Lee Curtis, managing director said,” If
they lose the confidence of their customer base, they're out of business."

Web Site = http://www.trade-centre.net

Contact Details = Edgar Mthembo
Trade-Centre.Net
UNITED KINGDOM
TEL: +44 (0) 7903888378
Fax: +44 (0) 8701327139
Email: sales@trade-centre.net
URL: www.trade-centre.net