Need help getting started on my own business

Question

ok i asked a question earlier about how to start a paypal but i now relize i need way more help than that

I'm 15 and i have products i want to sell

(i'm not going to keep the money for me its for my organization i'm going to donate it to animal shelters and charities)

I dont have a bank account

all i have is my product and a myspace

My parents say i can do what i'm doing as long as what ever i d they dont ask for credit card stuff or bank account stuff

so how would i go about selling the things

if i already have orders i need to fill

and how much do i need to charge for shipping and handling ?

And does anyone know where i can get a good deal on transfer paper?

everything ive seen its like $70.00 for 50 sheets

thanks in advance

Answer 1

Payments: you can use post order or western union payments, or similar systems (check Western Union website or your nearest Post Office).

You can also deliver via a courier accepting to collect payments COD (cash on delivery) and keeping an account open for you (check the websites of main couriers like DHL, Fedex, UPS)

In Europe you can do it using the Post Office services too, but I don't know if it is possible in the USA too. It works like this: you go to the post office and mail your packet to destination. The receiver , in order to collect the package, needs to pay the mail man or the post office. Once the local post office receives payment and delivers, will transfer the amount to your post office, where you can collect it.

For the delivery costs it depends from the delivery way you use (standard mail, courier, airway) : you should ask a price list to the closest forwarder or post office.

Handling fee depends from dimensions and type of packing requested; theoretically you should already have considered both fixed/overhead costs and variable costs in your price. Otherwise, if you have no special costs (i.e. you don't need to rent a structure, make a lot of commercial expenses and so on), as a fair thumb rule you may charge  cost of packaging  materials plus your time spent in packing (at a standard hourly rate for non  specialized labour )