PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others

[YesThatsMe]

Where did the money go? What business did they run? Sorry, not familiar with the situation!!

STAY AWAY FROM E-COMMERCE, THE MARGINS ARE JUST NOT THERE!!!!

[LoLo]

I had a guy call me a couple days ago if i want to swipe his card and give him cash, he doesn't know me, no clue where he got my number from, but this just shows how easy people allow others to use their cards and potentially scam them with tens of thousands of $$$$.

[tzifanya54]

This story is so sad. Just plain uneducated "businessmen".

They don't have a bad bone in their bodies, they just couldn't run numbers.

Not sure if this post is meant to be sarcastic or not.... but if I understood the story correctly they never asked to borrow money from their victims.

[tzifanya54]

Wrong. They bought a failing business and sunk lots of cash into it. And they were being advised by very competent "accountants" in our community.

How is he wrong? That is exactly the scam he was referring to! Did he tell people I have a failing business please give me cash that you may never see again???

[YesThatsMe]

Not sure if this post is meant to be sarcastic or not.... but if I understood the story correctly they never asked to borrow money from their victims.

Not sarcastic at all. They had investors, and basically they came knocking, so in order to keep the place running, they borrowed on peoples cards.

Business School should be mandatory for every single guy who wants to go into "געשעפטן", as much as Yeshivah is.

[YesThatsMe]

How is he wrong? That is exactly the scam he was referring to! Did he tell people I have a failing business please give me cash that you may never see again???

Wow you obviously know 0 here.

He told people to swipe for points. He told people he was having cash issues.

Go away.

[YesThatsMe]

As far as I heard it was not just cc swipes, it was cash too

Correct. So?

He meant to make money, and he didn't.

[tzifanya54]

Not sarcastic at all. They had investors, and basically they came knocking, so in order to keep the place running, they borrowed on peoples cards.

Business School should be mandatory for every single guy who wants to go into "געשעפטן", as much as Yeshivah is.

AKA a Ponzi Scheme.

[tzifanya54]

Wow you obviously know 0 here.

He told people to swipe for points. He told people he was having cash issues.

Go away.

Lol. Of course I know nothing about this, this is the first I am hearing of it. You are aparantley familiar with the details of the case as well as the fraudsters (No bad bones not withstanding). I get all that, I just have no clue why you are defending them??

[nobiggy]

STAY AWAY FROM E-COMMERCE, THE MARGINS ARE JUST NOT THERE!!!!

That's 101% false.

[Z56]

STAY AWAY FROM E-COMMERCE, THE MARGINS ARE JUST NOT THERE!!!!

You are so wrong...

[ludmila]

You are so wrong...

Depends on the products and volume. From 2001 till 2012 when prepaid calling cards were a booming business, a few of our clients who sold the cards online were averaging $500,000 to $1 million in online sales a month at a margin of 28%. This business died a few years ago, and all web sites shut down and some of these guys moved to new products which did not work for them. Having a specialized unique product in demand by the masses is the key.

[Menachem613]

Not sarcastic at all. They had investors, and basically they came knocking, so in order to keep the place running, they borrowed on peoples cards.

Business School should be mandatory for every single guy who wants to go into "געשעפטן", as much as Yeshivah is.

Who needs secular education.

[YesThatsMe]

Lol. Of course I know nothing about this, this is the first I am hearing of it. You are aparantley familiar with the details of the case as well as the fraudsters (No bad bones not withstanding). I get all that, I just have no clue why you are defending them??

I once worked for them. I saw this coming and warned them, when they didn't heed, I left.


But they are great people, really.


They never took much for themselves, every cent was reinvested in the "vision".

[YesThatsMe]

You are so wrong...

Name me 10 guys who have made it in e-commerce, non PL, without owing the whole world money.


I did tax returns for Amazon guys. $10MM in sales with 1% margins is considered good.

[YesThatsMe]

Who needs secular education.

The whole goddamn Lakewood Monsey BP to start with.

[Z56]

Name me 10 guys who have made it in e-commerce, non PL, without owing the whole world money.


I did tax returns for Amazon guys. $10MM in sales with 1% margins is considered good.

I dunno who you know. But I know many more than 10 ppl

[YesThatsMe]

I dunno who you know. But I know many more than 10 ppl

Good for you. Maybe I'm naïve, but I've seen enough.

Even with 5% margins, and I'm referring to NI margins, (Chareidim just don't seem to get the difference between Gross Margin and Net Income), and 25% Inventory stocking, and an investor for 10%, you're -19.5% cash flow before you open shop.

But people live in LaLa land.

[YesThatsMe]

AKA a Ponzi Scheme.

No, they saw cards as an alternate funding source.

Simply couldn't do basic accounting.

[churnbabychurn]

STAY AWAY FROM E-COMMERCE, THE MARGINS ARE JUST NOT THERE!!!!

Name me 10 guys who have made it in e-commerce, non PL, without owing the whole world money.


I did tax returns for Amazon guys. $10MM in sales with 1% margins is considered good.

Good for you. Maybe I'm naïve, but I've seen enough.

Even with 5% margins, and I'm referring to NI margins, (Chareidim just don't seem to get the difference between Gross Margin and Net Income), and 25% Inventory stocking, and an investor for 10%, you're -19.5% cash flow before you open shop.

But people live in LaLa land.

Duh. There are dozens of people that I know making massive profits in PL. Some just make a living, some make millions.
So eccomerce is more alive then ever.

it's fine to say "stay away from retail arbitrage".
Or even better, generally don't sell retail with not enough gross margins to cover basic overhead or even direct costs.. but only morons do that anyway... I agree there are way too many morons with asinine business plans. It frustrates me to no end..

But I would not steer people away from eccom. It is an industry that litterally finances and supports huge segments of our community. It has a very low bar for entry, doesn't require formal training, and can scale up rapidly. Many succeed.