Mr Beach Bum.com

I’ve recently come across an interesting website called Fixya.com. And lest you be concerned, I am not affiliated with them in anyway other than the account I created specifically for the purpose of this review.

Fixya.com is a community where people who need help with just about anything can float a question and “experts” on various subjects, who are also members, can answer them. It’s the mother of all forums in a lot of ways, but there is a nice little “make money” hook to it all which is what makes it so compelling.

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Last week I received my Text Link Ads commission check and promptly deposited it into my business account. I haven’t been with them too long and have only really experimented with their service so far but still managed to earn over $100 for my first check and without having to do much at all to be honest.

Unfortunately I received a notice from my bank on Saturday which informed me that the check bounced. All kinds of thoughts run through my head when something like this happens. There really is nothing worse than having money you’ve earned yanked back from you, but I did have to give them the benefit of the doubt. We all make mistakes, after all.

So I sent an email to customer service and got the following response back:

“I apologize for this inconvenience.  Our internet service provider has been down the past few days, and this is causing issues with publishers who have tried to cash their checks during this time.  We are working on a resolution, and I will contact you as soon as this is resolved.  Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience and we appreciate your patience in this matter.”

I have never heard of an Internet Service Provider outage causing checks to bounce. I must say that is a first. But what can you do? I have no choice but to wait for them to reissue a check or string me along.

Has anyone else out there run into this problem with Text Link Ads? Is this happening to everyone right now or is this just a fluke?

As soon as I find out more I will update this post.

UPDATE (from Text Link Ads):

“We apologize for the inconvenience that you have experienced with your June TLA check.  Our internet service provider was down towards the end of last week, an issue that affected a large part of the New York area, and was completely out of our hands.  The way this affected the cashing of checks, is when a bank receives a check from TLA, they contact us and request a positive pay file.  These files are sent in automated emails,
and because of the internet outage were never sent, resulting in the checks to bounce.  All checks that bounced are going to be re-sent by Wednesday of this week.  If your bank charged you some sort of processing fee, please let me know the amount and we will reimburse you for the fee on your next TLA check (If you previously mentioned the
amount it has been noted and there is no need to reply).  Once again, we apologize for this inconvenience and if you have any questions, please let me know.”

7/5/08 Update:

I was just recently given a new check and so far that has not bounced. Still curious if anyone else ran into this problem in the past month so feel free to comment.

Amazon has always been a great model to follow when it comes to online retail. If you’ve shopped there often enough you’ve probably noticed that they’ve opened things up a lot to the online entrepreneur by offering such services as their Associates program, for those who want to simply sell Amazon products from their own website, as well as an “auction-like” system where you can sell your new and used items to compete with Amazon’s listings.

Well there is an even more-powerful service being offered now that you may be interested in if you’ve given up on your dream of selling online because of the somewhat overwhelming notion that entrepreneurs are faced with in this arena - inventory tracking, payment processing and web development. Does that sound familiar to you?

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Now that you’ve had a chance to absorb the previous tips, all of which will make a huge difference in your car buying process, here are the final tips to help you put it all together. You’ve waited long enough already, so here they are:

6)  ALWAYS do your preliminary shopping online to see what rebates the dealerships and the manufacturer are offering.  Many places will let you shop online and you can get an idea of what they’re charging but be prepared that the car you like may be sold when you get there as the site isn’t always updated right away. 

7)  Do your test driving on a Saturday when tons of people are there or on bad weather days.  You’ll have a better chance of getting away and be able to cross ones off that don’t feel right.  Take that opportunity to collect business cards of sales people.  When you lie to them about having gone out all day and been beaten up by other sales people, you tell them the deal you want and say “another guy was able to offer me that.”  Be prepared, they may ask you who and they’ll be surprised when you have a name they can (and will) verify.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS shop on the LAST DAY OF THE MONTH!!!  They are desperate to make a sale to meet their quota for the month.  Shop the last hour and you’ll get it so cheap THEY’LL be the ones needing the Vaseline.

I hope that you’ve found this series helpful. I highly recommend that you follow them closely and be sure to tell friends and family because everyone should save some money.

The biggest thing to remember about these tips is that you are not screwing the dealer over here. You are giving them just enough profit to still make it worth their while but not at your expense. They may not like to sell all of their cars like this but ultimately they still make money and will make even more on your trade-in, etc. So there is no reason to feel bad for them. This is more of a win-win situation because you are getting the payment you want (and deserve) and they are getting a sale.

Good luck and be sure to tell me how these tips worked for you on your next car purchase!

The last tip was to be willing to walk away. These next two tips play into that nicely because they will give you the insight you need to make your deal and to make it clear to the salesperson that you are not kidding around with your offer. The more serious you are about it, the more likely you are to be successful. I have purchased several cars this way and it works every time.

4)  ALWAYS give them ONE chance to meet your price.  You tell them you’ve gone to dealers all over the city, you’re in a bad mood, the last thing you feel like doing is being here and you tell them you’re not doing the back and forth shit.  They have ONE chance to meet your price and if they don’t, you’re leaving.  They’ll always come back higher.  That’s when you say “thanks but I wasn’t lying when I said you had one shot” and start walking out.  They’ll either tell you “no, no don’t leave” at which point you stand by the door and say “my price or I’m outta here” and they’ll say yes and talk about how you’re screwing them out of a car or they’ll say “sorry, we can’t do a deal for you” and you leave.  At which point you know if they’re letting you walk out, they really can’t do the deal.  But how do you know what to offer them to get a good deal?

5)  ALWAYS offer 85 percent of the sticker price.  This is a fair price for you and they’ll still be making a profit.  It’s a figure that has worked since the dawn of man. Trust me. This has worked EVERY TIME for me and there is NO REASON why it won’t for you if you stick to your guns!

See you tomorrow for the FINAL TIPS!

Let’s say you got your pre-approval and found the exact car you want. You have done your research and know exactly what you must have for your trade-in, etc. You are ready for the next tip:

3) ALWAYS be willing to walk away.  Give the dealer the absolute deal on the table. For example, say “My car as a trade-in and $14K out the door. If you can do it, we’ve got a deal. If you can’t, that’s fine but I will leave”. If they’re not meeting your price and you don’t have 2-3 hours to sit around like a dipshit while they go back and forth with “their manager” (aka going to the bathroom, eating lunch, shooting paper wads in a trashcan with fellow salesmen, etc) then get the heck up and leave.  (Oh yeah, always have an extra key on you that you give them when they look over your trade in like the valet key.  Some dealers will actually try to hold you hostage and you just whip out your other one and drive off).

See you tomorrow for yet another great tip!

Welcome to the next post in the series. We’ll get right to it today. Here is tip #2:

2) NEVER let on how much you like a car.  People are so stupid when it comes to this.  You have to act like you’re settling b/c if they think you’re in love with the car, they know they can hand you a jar of Vaseline and screw you until the place closes without so much as a thank you.

One tool you have in your arsenal with regards to this tip is the fact that most dealerships now offer their inventory online. You don’t even have to go to the dealer lot now to know what they’ve got. This is a must because if you really want a black car with sunroof, etc then make sure you know that they’ve got one on the lot already. If they do not, they may offer to get you one but then all bets are off. You simply WILL NOT get the deal you want, if you let them know that they are getting you the car you really want. This does not mean that you cannot get exactly what you want, you just have to be “stealthy” about it, ya know?

See you tomorrow for tip #3!