Most
everyone familiar with mail order would be introduced to or involved in
the
promotion of commission circulars. You've seen them before. You place an
order
for them and place your name in the "Order From" box. When orders
come
to
you, you keep 50% of the money for your efforts and forward the order plus
the
remaining 50% of the money onto the "Prime Source," who will, in
turn,
dropship
the order to the customer.
These
work great if everyone does what they should. However, some people have
found
it necessary to even "cheat" with these. They will see a commission
circular
they want to promote. But instead of sending their order to the
prime
source to obtain a legitimate camera-ready copy _ they simply place
their
name and address in the "Order From" box and begin advertising it.
What
happens if you order from an individual or company who has done this?
You
probably won't get your order and the guy or gal will pocket your hard-
earned
money! What a waste!
Because
the "cheater" normally will not know who the prime source is and who
to
forward any orders to (since they didn't respond in the proper manner),
your
order is tossed in the trash. This is bad business for you as well as
the
prime source who often times, does not even know this is happening.
Fortunately,
we personally receive a copy of almost everything that is being
promoted
and can usually identify this fraudulent behavior with our own
commission
circulars. However, we are fortunate to be able to keep "on top"
of
this activity. But there are prime source dealers who are being ripped-off
everyday!
Let's put a stop to it! How?
One
way to combat this problem is to look the circular over for any major
changes
in the "type." If the circular appears to be tampered with (and
there
is no special membership number assigned) you should question it
before
sending in your money. You might even consider requesting the name
of
the prime source without the address to prove the validity of the circular
if
you want to spend the time.
Another
way of combating commission circular fraud is by writing a letter to
the
advertiser requesting "more information" about the product before you
place
an order. Some people don't want to spend the time doing this because
they
might be "out of the mood" to place an order by the time they receive
an
answer. If you feel this way about a product _ why even order it in the
first
place? You should never be placing an order just to spend money.
Instead
_ it should always be for something you want and need. Besides,
you
only have to write a letter to people with products you REALLY want to
purchase.
After you have been in the business for awhile, and made a few
contacts
_ you will normally know "what" and "who" to do business
with.
It
never ceases to amaze me what some people will do to cheat others out of
$2
or $3. Can't someone use more of their brains and think up their own offer
without
stealing others? It's sad!
A
professional con-artist would NEVER think of doing such a thing. A profes-
sional
(and unfortunately smart) con-artist would play it safe on the small
orders
and wait to build their business up. Then _ when they were generating
$1,000's
of dollars _ they would go in for the big kill. Anybody that risks
their
business on $2 or $3 is a penny-ante dealer with nothing going for
them
but continual struggle and unnecessary problems they could have avoided.
Now
please don't misunderstand me. I am in NO WAY trying to exalt a
professional
con-artist and tell you to be like him or her. These people
create
their own downfall in the end also. All con-games are short-lived
and
play havoc on your professional, personal and spiritual life. You may be
laughing
all the way to the bank now _ but one day when you need someone to
bring
you a drink of water because you are ill, no one will be there for you. Your
money will be gone _ along with your "so-call
ed"
friends!
Commission
circulars in mail order are a viable part of keeping the
industry
functioning. They provide a good money-making avenue for new
businesses
because they are promoting established products and services
that
sell well already. A prime source should support their dealers who
participate
in their commission circular programs. One way to support them
is
NOT to be their competition. Instead of running your ads _ run their ads
instead.
Regardless of "who" gets the order, the prime source still gets a
portion
of the profits _ right? And if you help your people sell your
products
and make a little money, you'll get more people signed up to sell
for
you!
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