IRS

This is something i forgot from the last post.  While i was setting up the my checking account at CitiBank, the lady asked me for a EIN number.  I had never heard of it and she told me that if you have employees or are doing a partnership to file for one.  It was easy and gives the EIN number instantly.  Here's a link to acquiring one.  This is also a good checklist provided by the IRS to see what all you have and what you need to start a business. 

PayPal vs. Merchant Account

Yesterday i went to CitiBank to set up a business checking account. If you're like me, you had no idea there was a difference between a regular checking account and a business checking account. I got set up with a flexible checking account that allows 200 transactions a month for 15 dollars a month. Luckily I knew the lady's son from high school and she waved the 15 dollars a month for a year. It's all about who you know.

Before i could get this set up however i had to go get a DBA (doing business as) at the county clerks office. This took like five minutes to do and cost only 15 dollars. The only problem i had was finding a notary who worked there because most of them were out to lunch. Ah i am now legal to start selling shirts.

NOW brings me to PayPal vs. a Merchant Account. I've always heard that unless your selling alot of items, like a whole lot, to use paypal. This is because a merchant account will reduce its rates the more you sell. PayPal takes 2.9% from every transaction plus 30 cents on top of that. Pretty busted if you asked me. So while i was at Citibank I asked the lady about the rates they charge for a Merchant Account. Since I had been with Citibank for awhile they gave me the deal of 2.4% and 19 cents per transaction. I don't know what the rates would of been had i not been a customer there for so long. The only catch was, there is a 199 dollar gateway fee and i think it was a 99 dollar set up fee. These were all one time fees, and the gateway fee could be used for any website i set up from now on.

I obviously chose to use a merchant account instead of the PayPal account. Primarily because I'm in it for the long haul and this will save me a lot more money over time. If you're setting up your own website however check with your bank to see what kind of deals you can get, before you decide on getting a merchant account. And always always always ask them to waive fees. There are a million banks opening up everyday and they are trying hard to keep your business. It's like paying sticker price for a car... DONT DO IT. Hope this helps anyone trying to decide. As always feel free to leave questions or comments.

LOGOS!!!!

I got my first set of logos in... Here they are

Not to bad, but not exactly what i was looking for. Luckily TheLogoLoft offers unlimited revisions. So i told them i liked logo six, but the color scheme from logo number 2. Not only that but i wanted to add a symbol i made a while back of a black sheep.

We'll see how it comes out and i'll post the results as soon as i get them.

Oh yah all the t-shirts are printed and are ready to pick up. I wont be able to pick them up until wednesday of next week though. Everything is finally coming together.

Progress

This past week has been slow.  I've designed a couple of shirts, but i'm waiting on the website to be made and the t-shirts to be printed.  

The next step is to start figuring out how to keep books and do taxes, all the boring stuff i'd rather outsource to someone.  Don't worry though, i'll let you guys know everything i learn about it and what i end up doing.

Website / T Shirt Shopping Cart

Well it's been awhile since my last post, but I've got big news for the T-shirt company.  We just had our first 12 t shirts printed at a local screen printer.  And yesterday we called a company TheLogoLoft.com to start setting up the website.  

This will probably raise alot of questions so i'll go ahead and start knocking them out.

1.) How much did the t-shirt cost to print?

-Well the minimum order for each shirt was 24, and the price of each shirt cost between 8-10 dollars.  So yah big investment here.

2.) How much did the website cost?

-TheLogoLoft offers an Ecommerce package for $1500. This includes a professional logo, business card and stationery design, a five page website layout, and an awesome shopping cart called Magento. 

This leads me to what this blog is really about.  What shopping cart to you use.  I've read about a  hundred forum entries over at T-shirtforums.com about shopping carts, and people recommend different shopping carts.  As far as i've read Magento offers everything they want and then some.  It may sound like I work for Magento, but I don't.  Magento is an open source program so it's free.  

If you want to check it out more google it or check out this bit on TheLogoLoft website.

Alright more on this later when i get more familiar with it.