Opening up a US bank account from outside of the USA is actually quite difficult but after several failed attempts I did successfully get a US bank account number to use and the funds are accessible by a Debit Mastercard that I can use either as a credit card or to withdraw money from an ATM here in Australia in Australian Dollars.

Why Did I Need a US Bank Account?

I get paid by cheque in US Dollars from a number of US based companies including Amazon. I run a website at www.importusa.com.au which shows Australians how to buy from Amazon and ship items here to Australia.  Getting cheques from the US and trying to bank them into an Australian bank is extremely frustrating.

It can take weeks for the cheque to arrive, then it can take as long as 30 days for the that cheque to clear and they can charge $10 to $20 to process the cheque. When the cheque is only for $100 those fees can certainly eat into your money.

Attempt 1 – Open US Bank Account eBooks

I jumped onto Google and I found a stack of websites that promised to offer me the secrets of opening a US bank account in the form of an ebook for a small fee. I also found lots of people complaining of being ripped off by buying these same said ebooks.

The rules have changed since 911 and many of these ebooks still being sold today are no longer valid. US banks want a US address, a Social Security Number (SSN) and they want you to visit the branch.

Result – Fail

Attempt 2 – Contact US Banks with Offices in Australia

Ok, so the ebooks solution did not work so I thought I would contact Australian offices of US based banks like Citibank and Bank of America.

The first level customer support had no idea about what I was asking for and after being transferred around it was clear that this was not going to be possible.

Result – Fail

Attempt 3 – Payoneer Virtual US Bank Account

I did find a solution though using Payoneer.

Payoneer is a Debit Mastercard system whereby companies can pay their affiliates and associates through a debit card.  Till recently you had to earn money from only select companies who use the Payoneer system but recently they have added a new features, one of which is access to a US bank account number….

They give you a Debit Mastercard which they post to you here in Australia. This is very easy and does not require much more than a basic name and address form. This stage took me about 5 mins.

A debit card is where you use your own money and is the opposite of a Credit Card.  Once you get the card there are a couple of ways to load money on to it, none of which I was really worried about but may come in handy one way.

I wanted a Payoneer Card for the access to the US Bank Account Number.  When you get the card you then apply for their premium addon US Payment Service. This requires ID checks and is a little more complicated but still nothing too onerous and everything can be done online.

Once you have done that you are given a US bank account routing information that will load the funds onto your debit card. Technically you don’t have a bank account as such, but you have a bank account number that allows any funds deposited into that bank account number to be accessible through your debit mastercard.

This means you can withdraw your money out in Australian Dollars out of a local atm or use it as a credit card online or in person at an Australian store..

There is a catch.  Only certain companies can send you money. Its a long list but if the company you need is not on there you will need to ask for them to be added to the list.  This means that they will not receive money from just anybody through he US Payment Service. You can get your Granny in the US to send you money on the card through one of the other load methods but not by bank transfer through the US Payment Service.

I guess this is to stop people using it to launder money out of the USA. Payoneer know that each of the companies on the list legitimately pay people around the world.

So technically you dont get a US bank account, but you do get a US bank account number and the ability to withdraw the funds here in Australia as long as the company that is paying you is on their whitelist.

Would I recommend Payoneer for a US Bank Account Number?

Yes. The process has been very smooth.  I get access to my money much quicker by withdrawing it in cash from an atm within hours of being sent the money from Amazon.

As long as the company that is going to pay you is on Payoneers List of approved companies this solution of a US Bank Account number is probably going to suit you perfectly.

Companies that Can Send Money to Your US Bank Account Number

US Payment Service members may receive payments from the following corporations:

2Checkout.com Inc.
AirBNB
Airpush Inc
Alamy Inc
Amazon.com Inc. (and its subsidiaries, including CreateSpace, a DBA of On-Demand Publishing, LLC.)
AmeriDoc
Amway Corporation
AOL
Apollo Group, Inc
Apple Inc.
AT&T
Author Solutions Inc. dba BookTango
Avant Marketing
AvantLink.com
Barnes & Noble
BHIP Global Inc
BMI Foundation Inc
Bright Market LLC
BuySellsAds.com Inc
Digital River Inc. (and its subsidiaries, including SWReg)
DotNetNuke Corp
Dzone
eBay Inc
Elance Inc.
E-Trade Financial Corporation
Etsy, Inc
Facebook Inc.
Getty Images Inc.
GoDaddy.com
Google Inc.(and its subsidiaries, including AdMob)
Guru.com
Half.com Inc.
Helium
Impact Radius
Indiegogo
Intel Corporation
Jola Interactive, LLC
Keynetics Inc. (Click Bank)
Kontera
Lifestreet
Lightning Source/ Ingram Content Group Inc
Lingualinx Language Solutions, Inc
LinkedIn Corporation
LinkShare Corporation
Lionbridge Technologies, Inc
LSI Corporation
Microsoft Corporation
Millennial Media
Mochi Media Inc
Neofill
Nokia Corporation
Odesk
One Source
Overstock.com
PayPal Inc. (Important Note: Transfers from PayPal to Payoneer are allowed, but transfers from the US Payment Service to PayPal are automatically declined)
Penson Financial Services Inc
Pepperjam Inc
Plimus Inc
Quotient Integrated solutions
Research in Motion Limited (BlackBerry \ RIM)
ShareASale.com Inc.
Skrill (MoneyBookers USA)
Spreadshirt ,Inc
Square Inc
Stripe Inc
TD Ameritrade
The Pep Boys
TSYS
Unity Technologies
ValueClick Inc. (Commission Junction)
Velti/Mobclix.com
Voodoo.com Inc
Workforce Language Services LLC
Yahoo! Inc.
Zecco Holdings, Inc

This process often frustrates people into assuming incorrectly that Amazon will not ship any items or items in a specific category to Australia.

3 Shipping Levels  - Amazon Shipping to Australia

If you want to ship items from Amazon in the US to Australia you need to understand three important levels of shipping  on Amazon.

1. All of the items on the Amazon website can be shipped inside the USA
2. Many of the items stocked on Amazon can be shipped overseas to one country or more
3. Most but not all of the items that can be shipped by Amazon outside of the USA can be shipped to Australia.

Essentially when shopping online at Amazon you need a way to view all items on at least level 2 from above.

Amazon can ship dvd’s, books, clothing, health, tools. watches, jewelry, shoes, electronics, handbags, toys and more to most countries outside the USA including Australia.

How to View All Items Amazon Will Ship Outside of the USA

Option 1 — www.ImportUSA.com.au

The easiest and simplest way is to shop on ImportUSA which is populated automatically with all items part of the AmazonGlobal program.  Once you have selected your items you will be transferred to Amazon to complete the purchase. Importusa is an Amazon Associate. Every now and again you are still going to find items that can be shipped to other countries just not Australia.

Option 2 — AmazonGlobal

You can browse AmazonGlobal yourself and if you follow the following steps you can even have Amazon tell you when  you are viewing an item that ships internationally but NOT to Australia.  Amazon will clearly indicate in red writing when an item you are viewing cannot be shipped to your address here in Australia .

Follow these 5 steps to help you ship items from Amazon to Australia:

Step 1 — Start at AmazonGlobal

Visit the official AmazonGlobal page — This is not the main Amazon homepage so make sure you record the address so you can come back to this page whenever you want.

This is very similar to using the ImportUSA Store.  Its not quite perfect yet but already much better than using the normal Amazon website as we have removed millions of items that Amazon will never be able to ship outside the USA.   Follow the next 4 steps to have Amazon identify items that they cant ship to you.

Step 2 — Login at Amazon

Login to an Amazon Account before you start shopping. If you dont yet have an account create one.

Step 3 — Make Your Australian Address the Default Address

Go into your account settings, click on Manage Addresses and setup your address in Australia  and then set it as the 1-Click default address. Your address has to be setup before you start shopping as it queries this address to see if the item can be shipped to you.

Without this step you will never be notified if Amazon can ship to your Australian address until you checkout.

Step 4 — Buy Stuff

Go Shopping — as you look at every item it will check to see if it can be shipped to your Australian address. If it can’t it will indicate so in red writing.

Step 5 —  View Items Sold By Amazon Only

I highly recommend this step. International shipping rates by many merchants can be excessive so it is best to only buy from Amazon who have low shipping rates. In the left hand column click Amazon in the seller box to make sure you are only seeing items sold and shipped by Amazon

 This procedure works equally as well with Amazon Shipping to New Zealand, Canada, the UK or any other country. The procedure is the same.

So does Amazon ship to Australia?…  Sure do!

Originally posted at the : Importusa Blog

Google Maps is so much more than a digital version of a paper map. I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t use Google Maps in some form.

I use Google Maps on my mobile for navigation, using Streetview to give me a quick kerbside view of the home as I take an appraisal call, plotting available listings on the Satellite view, sending driving instructions to a buyer or checking traffic for the drive home. Google Maps is an essential tool in any real estate agents arsenal and with the addition of 45degree aerial views it’s only getting better.

45 Degree aerial photography differs from the top down imagery we are all use to seeing on Google Maps. So not only do you have photo of directly above a subject property you now have imagery from for sides, north , south, east and west looking down at 45 degrees.

To date Google only has Canberra and Adelaide covered but you can expect other major cities around the country to roll out soon.

Bing on the other hand has many cities in Australia already covered with their “Bird’s Eye View” which is what they call their 45 degree aerial views. Bing maps are not as popular as Google but if you operate in a major city other than Adelaide and Canberra at the moment they might be worth checking out.

Bird’s Eye View on Bing Maps don’t seem to cover Adelaide so we have to go to Canberra to compare the two side by side.

9 Terrigal Crescent, O’Malley, ACT 2606 is Currently For Sale in Canberra and offers a good comparison between the two..

Realestate.com.au http://www.realestate.com.au/109990996 
Bing Birds Eye View http://binged.it/LuDpkC
Google 45 Degree View http://goo.gl/maps/b0Aq
Google StreetView http://goo.gl/maps/XpN5

Google has a much better zoom in on the images as can be seen here.

For the purposes of the comparison I have zoomed out the Google images so theyare better compared and Google is still slightly bigger.

View Looking to the North

Bing

Google

View Looking to the East

Bing

]]> http://glennbatten.com/45-degree-aerial-views-by-google-and-bing/feed/ 0 http://glennbatten.com/45-degree-aerial-views-by-google-and-bing/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GlennBatten/~3/RE2_lvXqLDI/ http://glennbatten.com/do-the-state-real-estate-institutes-have-a-future-in-a-national-property-industry/#comments Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:12:55 +0000 Glenn http://glennbatten.com/do-the-state-real-estate-institutes-have-a-future-in-a-national-property-industry/

Over the next 5 to 10 years the real estate industry across the country is going to undergo massive changes as we shift from a collection of state based industry’s to a true national real estate industry. As we prepare to evolve into true national industry it makes sense that we ask ourselves just what role state based real estate institutes can play in that future.

So the million dollar question is how can the REIQ, REINSW, REIV, REISA, REIT, REINT, REIACT and REIWA survive with nationalisation of the property industry?

The first nationalisation initiative in place will be National Licensing for real estate agents and a little further down the track will be the much larger Real Property Law Reform.

National Licensing

The National Occupation Licensing Authority (NOLA) allows for the national licensing of real estate agents which is due to come into effect on 1 July 2012.

The stated aim of national licensing is to remove inconsistencies between the states and enhancing consumer protection. Under the new licensing regime, real estate agents will complete standardised training to achieve a national real estate license or registration certificate. This will allow far easier mobility in our industry with real estate agents more easily able to work in other states.

National licensing is going to arrive far quicker than most people in the industry realise but the change has been coming since 2009 when the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) signed an Intergovernmental Agreement to establish a national occupational licensing system for specified occupations which includes real estate agents.

Real Property Law Reform

Harminisation of various laws across the states has gained significant traction recently and a lot of attention from the Federal Government. One of the areas receiving significant attention is property laws.

National property laws are the goal of the Property Law Reform Alliance (PLRA). The PLRA is a coalition of legal and industry associations committed to bring about uniformity and the reform of property law and procedures in Australia.

The PLRA Alliance was formed in 2003 following discussions between the Property Council of Australia and the Australian Property Law Group of the Law Council of Australia about the need for uniform real property legislation.

The membership of the PLRA is quite large but includes the Law Society from each of the states and the Real Estate Institute of Australia.

The Alliance is working for the introduction of nationally consistent property law, practices, procedures and compliance requirements throughout Australia. In doing so, it is expected that cross-border property transactions will be simpler, more efficient, and more cost-effective.

As most land in Australia is now held under Torrens Title, it is a logical area to commence the harmonisation of property law as the application of Torrens Title varies so much from state to state. The PLRA has created a draft Uniform Torrens Title Act (UTTA) which they are seeking comments for until 28th of February 2012. Real Property Law Reform is going to be a slow process but the outcome seems inevitable. It is expected that the adoption of a UTTA would also provide a basis for further national reforms, in areas such as mortgage and lease legislation.

Property Law is highly complex and a national reform is not going to happen overnight but I think national property reform is a fait accompli and the only question will be the time it takes to get in place.

Do State REI’s have a place in a Nationalised Industry?

In line with the nationalisation of our industry it makes sense to consider combining all state based institutes into one national body under the REIA banner. Under this sort of merger the current state institutes would become the state operation centres for the REIA.

In my mind the one main primary aim of each state based real estate institute is political advocacy and over the years they ave worked with the state governments on the state based legislation that effects their membership.  The different state landscapes provided the justification for their existence. But as nationalisation increases and state based differentials disappear the viability of our state institutes seem to me to  disappear along with it.

I therefore believe that to remain relevant to our industry that the state institutes need to combine under the REIA banner to create one large institute. A single powerful industry body would bring with it a consistent and more powerful advocacy for the national laws.

It’s true that the REIA in its current form already provides advocacy on national stage but it does so with minimal funding from the state institutes and whilst property laws differ from state to state the role is very minor at the moment.  A shift to harmonisation of property laws across the country will dramatically increase the this role.

Other major roles conducted by our state institutes would all seem to benefit from a larger national body and the economies of scale it would bring such as property research, training, advice, member to member and consumer to member dispute resolution.

As an example each institute would run their own training departments and CPD programs. Combining them all under one banner would provide greater economies of scale. All the major cost centres that are currently duplicated in each institute around Australia would provide significant savings in such a merger allowing for a greater return back to members. But it’s more than just cost savings.

A powerful REIA would also be able to provide real direction for our industry that we desperatley need. In the past the fractured representation of members has allowed commercial entitites to have much more power in our industry than I believe they should.  I believe that the REIA should provide leadership and direction in a similar vein to what I see NAR does in the USA>

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) in the USA provides a great model of a powerful national trade association. They provide a real difference in member recognition with its Realtor program where it has trademarked the name “Realtor”. If you engage a realtor to sell your property you know they are member of NAR.

NAR conducts political advocacy on behalf of its members and is able to do so on a very massive scale as a national body. It is allegedly the third biggest contributor to political campaigns in the country. In addition to their normal membership the NAR also conducts a range of further accreditation for additional certifications after members conduct additional study.

NAR runs the Centre of Realtor Technology (CRT) which provides a range of member and industry services in the technology space that our state based real estate institutes could only dream of. Unlike our own state institutes it does not just write about technology in monthly journals but takes an active role in the technology space for its members.

The CRT creates a range of software for the exclusive use of members and maintains technology standards and protocols  for all industry participants. It plays a leadership role in Technology throughout the industry providing training, surveys and white papers for members on technology issues.

A more efficient REIA could use some of the savings generated to provide additional member services like those above that  NAR provides it’s members.

The Australian state institutes cop some flack from members and much of it centres around the online space. Claims vary but essentially they focus on the institutes failure to counter the dominance of large industry players like Realestate.com.au and Domain.com.au.   What they have done in the online space has been too little, too late and most importantly too fractured across the states which all results in a  dramatic waste of members funds.

It is interesting to note that despite many more commercial players in the space than here in Australia, NAR runs the most popular real estate website for consumers at realtor.com which is completley seperate to their website for members at realtor.org. This is a free to list website for members with a range of premium add ons but it has none of the ads tat we see fill to overflowing our subscription portals here in Australia.

What are the Obstacles?

Initially I thought the major obstacles will come from within the institutes themselves but now I am not so sure. It’s hard for people to agree to merge and essentially make their organisation and their own position redundant.  I posed this scenario to the head of one of the state institutes recently and was honestly shocked with the response which recognised the challenges involved but in essensce agreed pretty much with the concept.

I sincerely believe that the executive and board members from each of the institutes are genuine in their desire to advance the industry. Whilst they may differ in approach and they certainly cant satisfy every member’s expectations I think that they will probably be less of an obstacle that many will predict.

I think the biggest hurdle will be the mass of smaller issues that will need to be dealt with when you merge 9 separate organisations into one. That probably means the sooner the state institutes decide that this is their future and they create a working committee to identify the challenges and work through the solutions the better.

What Do You Think?

It’s time to tell us what you think in the comments section below…

Is a merger of the Real Estate State Institutes on the cards?

Will it be good for the industry as a whole?

What timeframe do you think it is going to be applicable?

Will losing the state identity of our institutes be a good or bad thing?

Originally posted at the : Business2 Blog. Please visit Business2 to read all comments to the original article.

When will it become morally wrong for an agent to promote print to a vendor?

A state manager for the REA Group recently posed this question to  all of his business contacts on Linkedin recently.

As real estate agents we are constantly called upon to recommend and then implement advertising on properties for sale (and rentals for that matter)  that we represent. In many cases  this is done with the owners funds with VPA (Vendor Paid Advertising).

Unless you have been operating in a bubble there has been a dramatic shift towards online advertising in recent years and now real estate portals like realestate.com.au and domain.com.au dominate the landscape for property enquiries for virtually all offices through the country.

But is print dead?  Hardly.  Certainly over the past 10 years the once dominant print media has lost its gloss as what was once a one horse race had another player enter the game. Print is probably not even a close second at the moment. Print  is obviously on the way out, but its still got a long way to go and for many agents as it still delivers enquiries whether it be from colour magazines, newspapers or printed flyers.

What may keep print alive longer is the increasing costs of the top two portals and especially realestate.com.au who now has a $2000+ per month product in their bag of tricks.  This price level is similar to print advertising costs. Go back 5 or 6 years in time and find me anybody who would have predicted that online advertising for a property could have cost that much. With realestate.com.au’s reputation for price gouging the industry every year with huge price rises what will they be asking for this this top shelf product in a few years.

So should agents be asking when is it time to stop using print for vpa?  Of course… we do that every time we propose marketing to an owner.   Industry detractors will always suggest that advertising is done to promote the business not the property but I have never met an agent who will throw away good money, whether it be their money or the owners, when they knew they would get no enquiry from it.  That is totally counter productive of what we do.

So should REA State Managers be questioning the morals of their customers?  The comments made by Tom Ainsworth, the Victoria and Tasmania State Manager for the REA Group to over 500 connections on linkedin are probably not an official company position. Despite this many would argue that his personal comments would align perfectly with that of his employer.

What puts an interesting spin on it though is that according to his Linkedin profile before he started at REA he came from the News Ltd stable of papers including the Geelong Advertiser Group and Leader Newspapers.

Just a guess but I reckon when he was the Group Real Estate Manager at Leader Newspapers his opinion on agents investing VPA in newspaper advertising was a little different at that time. No doubt Tom would argue that his opinion has matured over time and as has experiences have improved… but I would suggest his opinion in both cases is tainted by the corporation who pays his wage!

Whilst Tom’s employer would probably agree with him, I doubt realestate.com.au’s master,  News Ltd would find his comments on the money!

I personally think Tom has a huge conflict of interest in questioning the morals of real estate agents if they select something that he does not sell.  That does not mean he has no right to ask it as after all it is an interesting question that we ask ourselves all the time.  I just don’t think he will like the answer that comes back!

The value proposition of the subscription portals is falling, partially because the subscription costs are rising well beyond sane levels but also because they have seemed to hit critical mass.  For many years we were use to realestate.com.au growing massively month on month… but that growth has stopped dead in its tracks. Even realestate.com.au’s monthly reports have stopped adding zero’s on to all of the numbers like they use to.

A couple of years ago I thought the death of print advertising in the very near future was a fait accompli. Now I am not so sure.  No doubt it will happen one day, but that is more than likely because newspapers themselves will become a digital experience rather than agents stop advertising in their pages.  Agents will then probably still advertise in that digital newspaper version.

There is and and always will be exceptions to the rule as around Australia some agents are already forced into an online only strategy with either low levels of VPA or agent funded advertising. For most of the agents around Australia total print advertising expenditure has dropped but is still a viable option delivering value enquiries.

Print will continue to decline and online continue to improve and one day what Tom describes will come to pass…. I just dont think that day is coming for the industry at large in the next year few years.

Despite what Tom would have you believe, agents will advertise where ever they think will deliver them the most number of quality enquiries.  The biggest “bang” for the “buck”. It is just not good business to waste money on ads that dont produce a result.

So… What do you think?

Are Tom Ainsworth’s comments the arrogant ramblings of an REA employee trying to toe the company line or is he on the money?

Considering he is an industry  service provider with an obvious bias towards his employer  should he even be questionings agents, his clients  morality or not?

Should agents be spreading their advertising across all types of media, old and new… or should we be only investing in online?

And at the end of the day it boils down to one point.. Is print totally dead or is there still life in the old girl yet?

Agents… We would love you to comment on the print experience for you and your office, but please share the type of market you operate in to give it some persepctive…   suburban outer Melbourne, small town South East Queensland or Sydney CBD etc etc.

]]> http://glennbatten.com/is-it-immoral-for-real-estate-agents-to-suggest-print-vpa/feed/ 0 http://glennbatten.com/is-it-immoral-for-real-estate-agents-to-suggest-print-vpa/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GlennBatten/~3/oyxs122mOdw/ http://glennbatten.com/real-estate-group-blocks-syndication-to-national-property-portals/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:45:48 +0000 Glenn http://glennbatten.com/real-estate-group-blocks-syndication-to-national-property-portals/ Could you cancel your realestate.com.au and domain.com.au subscriptions in 2012?

You would be forgiven for thinking real estate is all online these days  it dominates the landscape that much and online the search engines are the first port of call for property related traffic.  Just after leaving Simon Baker confirmed that even realestate.com.au received massive traffic, somewhere over 30% from Google which is just one search engine.

Portals and particularly the top two paid portals absolutely saturate the search engine results by investing heavilly in SEO teams. They take the listings data of real estate agents and combine it with questionable tactics to create millions and millions of pages across multiple domains. This tactic effectively blocks real estate agent websites from search engine results thus starving us from direct enquiry.

These tactics by the portals is highly questionable and is evidence of the power they have developed in our industry. We are charged to display our listings on the portals and in return we are restricted to what we can display. We are not allowed to link back to our own website on each listing. We cant put contact details or phone numbers in the body text of the ad. Breach the rules and they will remove the property, do it too many times and they threaten to kick you off.  Any links they do give you and the portals insert ‘no-follow tags’ on the links back to the agent websites which tells the search engines to ignore our websites and that they have no value.

They justify that enquiry by charging higher and higher monthly fees but the problem in this relationships are more than the monthly subscription charges. also a death of thousand cuts it goes further than that with the portals undertaking lead generation schemes whereby they intercept sellers on the site and sell those leads back to agents at inflated rates. The traffic that agents have helped create is being used to promote private listings on Domain and now even realestate.com.au.

I believe that Realestate.com.au would generate more traffic than all the large national real estate groups combined. Agents have effectively given control of their listing enquiries to the portals and now seller leads to two large media companies who have taken every opportunity and they will not give up that control easily.

Real estate groups are also suffering as agents around the country have rather cut their ties with head office rather than their realestate.com.au and/or domain.com.au subscriptions. Joining a large real estate franchise or marketing group once respresented a great differentiator from other agencies in your area. If you listen to the portal sales team the only way to differentiate your agency now is to pay more and more for feature properties, feature all, brochure all and all the other add on products. Real Estate groups are seen to be providing an ever diminishing value to their franchisees and members.

As real estate agents we have given them our listing data and our money willingly for years but the level of antipathy from agents seems to rise year on year at pace equal to the price rise.

With the 2012 realestate.com.au price rise just about to be released rumours are rife that its going to be the biggest one yet. So more and more real estate agents are going to be asking themselves the magical question more than ever — Can I survive without a realestate.com.au subscription?

Cutting the umbilical cord to the subscription based portals is always going to be difficult especially since we have essentially been starved of enquiry on our own websites by the SEO teams at the portals. Cutting that link would be extremely difficult and disasterous without an extremely effective e-marketing strategy in place covering SEO, PPC, Social Media and Email Marketing.

Australian real estate agents are not alone in asking if they can survive without syndicating their content to a national portal. In the USA agents have been cutting that cord from syndicating to their national portals. Edina Realty and Shorewest Realty in Wisconsin were among the first but the one group that has recently got the USA market buzzing is ARG. Abbott Realty Group (ARG) recently announced that they will no longer syndicate listings to third-party aggregators like Trulia, Zillow and Realtor.com.

Watch this video from ARG as they justify their decision to cut the umbilical cord. I think they do a great job in explaining their decision.

]]> http://glennbatten.com/real-estate-group-blocks-syndication-to-national-property-portals/feed/ 0 http://glennbatten.com/real-estate-group-blocks-syndication-to-national-property-portals/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GlennBatten/~3/OF-oTUW3FVs/ http://glennbatten.com/the-hottest-toys-for-christmas-2011/#comments Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:22:12 +0000 Glenn http://glennbatten.com/the-hottest-toys-for-christmas-2011/ With Christmas 2011 fast approaching parents around Australia are looking for the hottest toys this year to fill the stockings.

By purchasing your toys online from the USA you can often save 40%, 50%, 60%  and  sometimes even more by importing your toys from the USA.  This means you can get your kids TWICE as many toys for xmas this year…

Here are some of the hottest  toys for the year including how much you can save by importing from the USA.

]]> http://glennbatten.com/the-hottest-toys-for-christmas-2011/feed/ 0 http://glennbatten.com/the-hottest-toys-for-christmas-2011/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GlennBatten/~3/KwpmRi8TGu0/ http://glennbatten.com/save-big-on-christmas-toy-shopping-online-for-xmas-2011/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:04:01 +0000 Glenn http://glennbatten.com/save-big-on-christmas-toy-shopping-online-for-xmas-2011/ It’s time to start doing your christmas shopping for toys again but with a little planning you can save massively by not just shopping online but shopping online overseas.

Australian online toy stores still have to pay huge wholesale costs like their bricks and mortar competitors and thus their savings are not as good as they could be.  In contrast when shopping at overseas toy stores you can often import toys for a fraction of the price of buying it locally.

Using Importusa.com.au you can shop for toys at Amazon.com that can be shipped here to Australia from the worlds largest online store.

So How Much Can You Save Buying Toys Online

Here is a collection of the different toys purchased over recent weeks through this site complete with the price paid in US Dollars at that time. In many cases the toys have been purchased by multiple people at the same price.

Even though many of these items cannot be bought here in Australia many of them can be.  On a handful of toys across different price ranges I have grabbed the best price (click to visit links) I could find in an Australian online toy store to give you a good comparison and an idea of just how much you can save.

Just remember that many bricks and mortars stores here in Australia will be even higher.

• G155-Gaming and Entertainment Mobile System (Xbox 360/ PS3 Not included) @ $USD299
• Plan Toy Chalet Doll House with Furniture @ $USD185.01 — $349 in Australia
• Sharkoon X-Tatic True 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound Gaming Headset @ $USD139.96
• Thrustmaster RGT Force Feedback Racing Wheel @ $USD128.56 — $219.95 in Australia 
• LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer Learning Tablet (Pink) @ $USD99.00 — $199 in Australia
• John Deere — Big Wooden Barn @ $USD94.99 — $271 in Australia
• WEDGiTS eXplorer Pak 125 — 125 Piece Set @ $USD87.94 — $175 in Australia
• Schylling Metal Speedster-Fire Truck @ $USD87.11
• Disney Princess WOOD TODDLER BED @ $USD85.65
• Ear Force X31 Digital RF Wireless Game Audio + Xbox Live Chat @ $USD79.99 — $156.95 in Australia
• Spy Gear Spy Video TRAKR @ $USD77.71
• Snap Circuits Extreme SC-750 @ $USD70.86
• Call of Duty 6: Modern Warfare 2 Elite Keyboard @ $USD62.79
• LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Learning Game System (Pink) @ $USD59.99 — $159.99 in Australia
• NHL 12 @ $USD59.95
• Geomag Kids Color — 216 pieces @ $USD57.74
• Fisher-Price Learn Through Music TouchPad @ $USD53.99
• Geomag Kids Color — 216 pieces @ $USD51.89
• Corolle Miss Corolle Classic 14″ Doll (Vanilla Brunette) @ $USD50.43
• Madden NFL 12 @ $USD49.99
• Battlefield 3 @ $USD49.98
• Mortal Kombat @ $USD48.78
• Geomag Kids Color — 216 pieces @ $USD47.33
• Bossa Nova Penbo Interactive Waddling Penguin with Bebe @ $USD44.54
• Call of Duty: Black Ops @ $USD43.82
• Baby Alive Baby Alive My Baby Alive — Blonde @ $USD39.99
• Delta EnterpriseFairies Desk Chair @ $USD39.88
• Mortal Kombat @ $USD38.96
• Wobble Deck @ $USD37.77 — $109.00 in Australia
• Geomag Kids Color — 110 pieces (Colors May Vary) @ $USD36.46
• Revell Star Wars -Millennium Falcon @ $USD35.57
• Madame Alexander, 18″ Playfully Pretty, Favorite Friends Collection @ $USD34.62
• Pokemon — Black Version @ $USD32.99
• Pokemon — White Version @ $USD32.54
• Geomag Kids Panels — 114 pieces @ $USD31.39
• Fisher-Price TRIO DC Super Friends Batcave @ $USD31.29
• Monster High Draculaura And Clawd Wolf Doll Giftset @ $USD29.99 — $59.99 in Australia
• Disney Tangled Featuring Rapunzel Braiding Friends Hair Braider @ $USD29.8
• Tall Stacker Pegs Building Set @ $USD29.76
• Plan Toy Water Blocks @ $USD29.26
• Educational Insights Design and Drill Activity Center @ $USD28.73
• MindWare Imaginets @ $USD27.87
• Melissa & Doug Deluxe Magic Set @ $USD27.74 — $76.99 in Australia
• WEDGiTS Deluxe Set — 30 Piece Set @ $USD27.4
• Geomag Kids Panels — 114 pieces @ $USD25.63
• MGA Lalaloopsy Doll Ace Fender Bender @ $USD24.99
• MGA Lalaloopsy Doll Patch Treasurechest @ $USD24.99
• LeapFrog My Own Leaptop @ $USD24.22 — $49.00 in Australia
• LeapFrog Explorer Learning Game: LeapSchool Reading (works with LeapPad & Leapster Explorer) @ $USD23.99
• Barbie Puppy Water Park Playset @ $USD23.47 — $49.99 in Australia
• LeapFrog Explorer Learning Game: Mr. Pencil Saves Doodleburg (works with LeapPad & Leapster Explorer) @ $USD23.42
• MGA Lalaloopsy Doll Sunny Side Up @ $USD22
• Badger Basket Doll High Chair With Plate Bib And Spoon — Pink/White @ $USD21.7
• Nerf N-Force Warlock Axe @ $USD21.7 — $40.62 in Australia
• Monster High Draculaura Jewelry Box Coffin @ $USD20.99
• Baby Spring Float Sun Canopy, Colors May Vary @ $USD20.67
• LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Learning Game: Mr. Pencil @ $USD20.14 — $38.93 in Australia
• Nerf Super Soaker Tornado Strike @ $USD20.09
• Angry Birds: Knock On Wood Game @ $USD19.99 — $39.95 in Australia
• Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Puppy with Bonus CD @ $USD19.99
• LeapFrog Count And Draw @ $USD19.99
• NERF DART TAG Official Competition Jersey — Blue (Small/Medium) @ $USD19.99
• NERF┬« DART TAG™ Official Competition Jersey (Small Orange) @ $USD19.99
• Nerf N-Strike Double: Blast Bundle @ $USD19.7
• LeapFrog Scribble and Write @ $USD19.54
• Matchbox Mega Rig Jurassic Copter Building System @ $USD19.2
• LeapFrog Explorer Learning Game: Globe: Earth Adventures (works with LeapPad & Leapster Explorer) @ $USD19.09
• Geomag Kids Panels — 74 pieces @ $USD19.04
• LeapFrog┬« Leapster┬« Learning Game: Ratatouille @ $USD18.97
• WWE Rumblers Blast and Bash Battle Ring @ $USD18.9
• LeapFrog Explorer Learning Game: Disney?Pixar Cars 2 (works with LeapPad & Leapster Explorer) @ $USD18.77
• Special Agent OSO — Whirly Bird @ $USD18.72
• LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Learning Game: Tangled @ $USD18.4
• LeapFrog Leapster Learning Game Cars Supercharged @ $USD18.34
• LeapFrog┬« Leapster Explorer? Learning Game: Toy Story 3 @ $USD18.26
• LeapFrog Explorer Learning Game: The Penguins of Madagascar: Operation Plushy Rescue (works with LeapPad & Leapster Explorer) @ $USD18.25
• LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Learning Game: Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure @ $USD18.25
• LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Learning Game: Ni Hao, Kai-lan: Super Happy Day! @ $USD18
• Monster High Lagoona Blue Doll — 2011 @ $USD17.99
• Washington State Lighthouse @ $USD17.99
• Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 @ $USD17.99
• LeapFrog Explorer Learning Game: Ben 10 (works with LeapPad & Leapster Explorer) @ $USD17.98
• Nyko X360 Intercoolr Device @ $USD17.6
• Tron Sam’s Deluxe Identity Disc @ $USD17.56
• Plan Toy Doll House Doll Family @ $USD17.16
• Monster High Frankie Stein Doll — 2011 @ $USD17.14
• Jenga @ $USD16.99
• Quercetti Tubation @ $USD16.84
• LeapFrog Learn & Groove Color Play Drum @ $USD16.54
• Fisher-Price TRIO DC Super Friends Joker-Bot @ $USD16.13
• Crayola Pop Art Pixies Wind Chime @ $USD15.99
• Le Toy Van Wooden Ice Cream Sundae in a Blue Dish Play Food @ $USD15.99
• LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer Carrying Case @ $USD15.99
• Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Magnetic Pattern Blocks Set @ $USD15.99
• WWE Rumblers Rey Mysterio Figure with Deluxe Steel Cage Accessory @ $USD15.99
• What A Beach @ $USD15.99
• Perplexus Rookie @ $USD15.96
• White Mountain Puzzles Friends in Summer @ $USD15.41
• Hufflepuff House Scarf @ $USD15.17
• Wasgij Destiny: High St. Hustle — 1000 Pieces Puzzle @ $USD15.1
• Wasgij Mystery: Stop The Clock — 1000 Pieces Puzzle @ $USD15.1
• Harry Potter Gryffindor House Scarf (Purple & Gold) @ $USD14.99
• Crayola 58-8750 Crayola Telescoping Pip-Squeaks Marker Tower, Assorted Colors, 50/Set @ $USD14.97
• Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Singin’ Soccer Ball @ $USD14.97
• Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden @ $USD14.87
• Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden @ $USD14.87
• LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Case @ $USD14.54
• Melissa & Doug Shape, Model and Mold @ $USD14.51
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars @ $USD14.46
• Barbie A Fairy Secret Fairy and Pony — Pink @ $USD14.4
• Melissa & Doug Pirate Puppet @ $USD14.17
• Vampire Diaries Board Game @ $USD14.13
• Pok├⌐mon Trading Card Game 2010 Holiday Tin — Suicune @ $USD14.11
• Crayola 52-0029 Crayola 150-Count Telescoping Crayon Tower, Storage Case, Sharpener @ $USD14.07
• Alex Toys Friends 4 Ever Bracelet Making Kit @ $USD14.05
• Gaffney Bear @ $USD14.03
• Stomp Rocket Super High Performance Stomp Rocket @ $USD13.81
• String-Along Lacing Kit and Pattern Cards @ $USD13.56
• Melissa & Doug Tops and Tights Magnetic Dress-Up @ $USD13.54
• Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable @ $USD13.22
• Kidoozie Press N Go Inchworm @ $USD13.16
• Ultra Stomp Rocket @ $USD13.1
• Leapfrog Counting Candles Birthday Cake @ $USD13
• Fisher-Price View-Master Disney/Pixar Toy Story 10th Anniversary 3D Collection @ $USD12.99
• Cardinal Games Glee Board Game @ $USD12.9
• White Mountain Puzzles Regatta @ $USD12.78
• Quercetti Super Saxoflute @ $USD12.57
• Aurora Plush Tiggy Tiger Puppet — 10″ @ $USD12.47
• Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Hug ‘n Giggle Baby @ $USD12.41
• Pok├⌐mon Trading Card Game 2010 Holiday Tin — Raikou @ $USD12.38
• Wasgij Destiny: Picnic Time — 1000 Pieces Puzzle @ $USD12.34
• Cobble Hill Lighthouse Hill @ $USD12.33
• LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Leaplet Download Card @ $USD12.19
• Ultra Stomp Rocket @ $USD12.18
• Nerf Super Soaker Scatter Blast @ $USD12.12
• Cobble Hill Fragrant Rose Drying Clothes @ $USD12.08
• LeapFrog Leapster Pink Carrying Case @ $USD12
• American Girl Owls Sew and Stuff Kit @ $USD11.97
• Wasgij Mystery: Drama At The Opera — 1000 Pieces Puzzle @ $USD11.97
• Fisher-Price Activity Sounds Choo Choo @ $USD11.88
• Big Bang Mini @ $USD11.59
• White Mountain Puzzles To The Lighthouse @ $USD11.46
• Nerf Super Soaker Scatter Blast @ $USD11.28
• Nerf Super Soaker Scatter Blast @ $USD11.28
• Aurora Plush 12″ Petey Puppet @ $USD11.09
• Aurora Plush Murphy Fancy Pals @ $USD11.05
• Nerf Vortex Tech Kit @ $USD10.99
• Toy Story Buzz and Zurg In Battle Figure 3-Pack @ $USD10.99
• Yahtzee Alice In Wonderland (Can) @ $USD10.95
• Melissa & Doug Children of the World Floor 48-Piece Floor Puzzle @ $USD10.79
• Playskool Mr. Potato Head Toy Story 3 Movie — Spud Lightyear @ $USD10.73
• Thomas And Friends Wooden Railway — Isabella @ $USD10.67
• Alex Tub Tunes Water Flutes @ $USD10.6
• Stomp Rocket Jr. Glow Kit @ $USD10.5
• Ty Beanie Buddy Patrick Star @ $USD10.44
• Cars Lightyear Launchers Lightning McQueen @ $USD10.26
• Multi Voice Changer by Toysmith: Change your voice with 10 different voice modifiers — Kids Toy (Colors May Vary) @ $USD10.07
• Melissa & Doug Deluxe 27-Piece Nina Ballerina Magnetic Dress-Up @ $USD10.03
• Aurora Plush Oki Puppet — 10″ @ $USD9.99
• Prof. Noggin’s Human Body @ $USD9.99
• Prof. Noggin’s Wonders of the World @ $USD9.99
• Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Nursery Rhyme Keys @ $USD9.91
• Prof. Noggin’s Outer Space @ $USD9.86
• Toysmith Volcano Making Kit @ $USD9.76
• Crayola 64 Ct Short Colored Pencils Kids Choice Colors @ $USD9.67
• Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Rock-a-Stack @ $USD9.62
• Prof. Noggin’s Explorers @ $USD9.58
• Aurora Plush 10″ Jolie Puppet @ $USD9.14
• Prof. Noggin’s First Peoples of N.A. @ $USD9.07
• Prof. Noggin’s Famous Inventions @ $USD9.03
• Prof. Noggin’s Medieval Times @ $USD9.03
• Crayola Outdoor Giant Sidewalk Chalk 5ct @ $USD8.91
• Accoutrements Mr.Bacon Vs. Monsieur Tofu Action Figures @ $USD8.73
• University Games 39 Clues 200 Piece Puzzle 39 Clues @ $USD8.72
• NERF┬« DART TAG? VISION GEAR? (Orange) @ $USD8.51
• Melissa & Doug Deluxe 10-Piece Magnetic Fishing Game @ $USD8.11
• Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby’s First Blocks @ $USD7.8
• Toy Story 3 Lenticular Puzzle (Pack of 2) @ $USD7.65
• Marky Sparky 3-Piece Replacement Foamies for Blast Pad Products @ $USD7.51
• Pressman Scooby Doo Pop ‘N’ Race @ $USD7.51
• Prof Noggins Reptiles & Amphibians Game @ $USD7.49
• Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Happy Handle Stamp Set @ $USD7.23
• TY Beanie Baby SpongeBob Smartypants @ $USD7.17
• Ty Beanie Babies 2.0 Pops Father’s Day Gorilla @ $USD7.11
• Nerf N Force Klaw Hatchet @ $USD6.94
• Ty Beanie Babies Mr. Krabs — Spongebob Squarepants @ $USD6
• TY Beanie Baby Gary the Snail, SpongeBob SquarePants @ $USD5.85
• American Girl Forest Animals Stacked Stickers @ $USD5.27
• Nintendo Official Screen Protectors for 3DS @ $USD4.99
• Crayola 64 Ct Crayons @ $USD4.5

Originally posted at the : Importusa Blog

A BarCamp is a user-generated conferences that is full of open participatory workshop-events, the content of which is provided by participants.  A REBarCamp is a barcamp for real estate agents.

One of the most often words to describe a barcamp is an unconference.

A typical real estate conference has a lineup of paid speakers and a strict agenda to follow whereas with an unconference there are no scheduled presentations or paid speakers. The day’s agenda is actually decided during the morning registration period by attendees submitting possible sessions that they’d like to participate in or lead.

The sessions are divided up into different groups, and organized by skill level, relevance and potential popularity. Typical subjects for a REBarCamp might include Blogging, WordPress Plugins, Video Blogging, iPad Presentations, SEO, Cloud Computing, Social Media 101 for Agents and making the most of your Smartphone.

Organising the days agenda

Just as the “social” experience has taken over much of what we do on the internet an unconference is a conference with big injection of social into it.  The attendees not only create the conference and participate it.

I love a quote from Mike Meuller in the states on the REBarCamp concept when he said:-

“In purist terms, a REBarCamp experience should be the single biggest learning event you attend all year (assuming you attend only one).  Yes, there are exceptions to the rule and every REBC is different, but if you attend a REBC and think it wasn’t worth every minute of your time there’s only one person to blame.”

The first BarCamp was created and organized in one week in 2005 in the US and the first REBarCamp was held in San Fransisco just 3 years ago. Since then over 300 events have been held throughout the US and this year the concept moved to Australia. Sydney was the first Australian REBarCamp, followed recently by Perth and on November 30th  the first Queensland event at Brisbane will be held at the Pineapple Hotel.

REBarCamp Sydney held earlier this year

I am one of the organisers for REBarCamp Brisbane so if you are going to be in BrisVegas at the end of November we would love you to join in on the discussion but you better be quick and register.  You can read more information about the Brisbane event on its’s Facebook Page and Peter Brewer’s recent blog post.

Other REBarcamps are in the planning stages so if you did not make it to Sydney or Perth and cant get to Brisbane keep an eye out for the next event in your area at www.rebarcamp.com.au

Did you attend REBarCamp Sydney or REBarCamp Perth??  Let us know your experience!

Originally posted at the : Business2 Blog. Please visit Business2 to read all comments to the original article.

Importusa.com.au is an Australian website that shows you only items that Amazon has included as part of the Amazon Global Programme and should be able to be shipped to Australia.

But there are millions of other products that cant be shipped to Australia so what do you do if you want to ship to Australia one of these products or something from another store?

The way around this is to have your own USA Shipping Address  complete with Package and Parcel Forwarding from USA to Australia.

Getting a USA Address is actually quite easy using services like Shipito which charge casual rates of $8.50 per parcel and even cheaper for bulk users.

How Does USA Parcel Forwarding Actually Work?

INDIVIDUAL PACKAGE – $8.50 FEE PER PACKAGE – NO MONTHLY FEE

Shop online and have the package(s) sent to our address. We will forward individual packages to you. Each package is sent to you exactly as they come. 

• You pay for each individual package they receive and forward to you. The cost is $8.50 per package plus postage.
• You can select the shipping method for each package. Actual postage will be recalculated instantly.
• Your account will show you the actual amount of your deposit. This is where you can also fill out the customs declaration for each package (value, description of goods, etc.).
• Whenever they get a new package, you will get an email notification.
• Whenever they send you a package you will get an email with notification and tracking number.
• Extra surcharge for heavy packages over 30 pounds is $10, over 70 pounds – $20, over 100 pounds (freight manipulation fee) – $30 and over 150 pounds – $50. Overweight fee is charged even if the package is trashed.
• You need have enough deposit on your account so they can forward a package within 7 days after we receive it in our warehouse. Otherwise we charge storage fee $1-$5 (depending on the package weight) every day.

Parcel Forwarding Consolidation

If you are going to be shipping multiple parcels to Australia then Shipito have other plans providing more features such as consolidation of packages to save on shipping charges.   This allows you to combine multiple packages from the same or different stores

Here is some live examples of just how consolidation savings works.

So what USA Stores Can Your Purchase From?

Here is the top 5 shops Australians use through Shipito

Are there other Parcel Forwarders?

Another service E would recommend is MyUS.com