Re: [tlug] ecommerce, payment gateway, merchant account

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

>>>>> "Brett" == Brett Robson <b-robson@example.com> writes:

    Brett> On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 12:07:52 +0900
    Brett> "Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com> wrote:

    >> A small business is not worth doing unless you think you're
    >> going to make enough money to be able to afford Rakuten.  If
    >> you're really that into money, feel free to work the extra time
    >> to avoid their fees, but it will be a substantial burden.

    Brett> Most online sales are not high margin and online customers
    Brett> are very price sensitive. Low fees are very important.

Did I say otherwise?

The point is that it's a Red Queen's race---all the running you can do
is barely enough to keep you in the same place.  As I pointed out to
Patrick, Japan has the highest rate of business closure in the OECD,
and a relatively large proportion of small businesses are run by
people who are willing to let them drain their net worth (or don't
keep good enough accounts to know that's happening).

Running a small business on Walmart margins is like drinking and
driving---friends don't let friends do it.


-- 
Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences     http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp
University of Tsukuba                    Tennodai 1-1-1 Tsukuba 305-8573 JAPAN
               Ask not how you can "do" free software business;
              ask what your business can "do for" free software.