Letter of credit basics

Letter of Credit Basics

Are you doing business overseas and your supplier has asked you for a letter of credit? Do you own a distributor, wholesaler or re-seller and have a large purchase order where you need a letter of credit to pay your suppliers?

As the number of national and international transactions grows, so does the number of suppliers that are asking to be paid with a letter of credit. A letter of credit is a financial instrument that serves two purposes. It ensures that your suppliers get paid (that’s why they ask for them). It also ensures that you get the goods you bargained for — otherwise the suppliers will not get paid. It protects both of you.

Letters of credit come in many flavors. The most common are:

Revocable Letter of Credit: A revocable letter of credit allows the issuer to modify it, amend it or even cancel it. Since a RLC can be modified, most suppliers don’t like it because it increases their risk.

Irrevocable Letter of Credit: An irrevocable letter of credit does not allow for amendments, modifications or cancellation unless there is agreement by the parties. Since it is a form of guaranteed payment, many suppliers prefer this type of payment option.

Standby Letter of Credit: A standby letter of credit is a payment guarantee — rather than a payment mechanism. Under the terms of the agreement, the supplier can draw on the letter of credit if the client does not pay.

Transferable Letter of Credit : A transferable letter of credit can be revocable or irrevocable. This type of LOC allows the recipient to transfer part or all of the benefits to another party.

Qualifying for a letter of credit is not always easy. It requires one of two things. First, the business owner can deposit the actual amount of cash needed for the transaction with the bank or financial institution that issues the letter. This, of course, is very expensive. A second option is to have a bank give you a line of credit, and issue the letter of credit using the line of credit as collateral. Although this is the most common method of financing a LOC, it is also the hardest because your business must qualify for bank financing.

There is another trade finance option though. It is called purchase order financing. Purchase order financing is ideal for companies that have exhausted their bank resources. The purchase order funding company provides you with the necessary letters of credit to pay your suppliers using your purchase order as collateral. The transaction is settled once your client pays. Purchase order funding is the ideal tool to grow your business to the next level.

How to save money on your printer inks

How To Save Money On Your Printer Inks

The ink that’s inside the cartridge in your printer is called printers ink and it is one of the most expensive liquids in the world. When the little lights blink on your printer and tell you it’s time to change your inkjet cartridge(s) you have several options. You can buy a cartridge made by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) — the folks that made your printer — or you could purchase a comparable ink cartridge that is made by a third party.

These days the typical printer manufacturer will often sell their printers at the lowest prices possible. Some even lose money on the sale. There are a number of printers on the market that can now be bought for fifty dollars ¬’ or less

Why would a company intentionally lose money of the products they sell? Because they know that everyone who buys one of their printers will have to buy replacement printer ink cartridges from them over and over again.

Replacement cartridges for that fifty dollar printer could cost ten to twenty dollars or more each. Nowadays most printers have four or more cartridges in them so if you’ve replaced your cartridges twice you’ve already spent more on printers ink then you have on the printer itself.

Over the years third party manufacturers have started selling printer inks cartridges that cost substantially less than the OEM cartridges. You can often save fifty percent or more when you buy a comparable printer ink cartridge instead of an OEM cartridge from one of these vendors.

Where Can You Buy Comparable Printer Inks Cartridges?

A lot of people who go to office supply stores to buy replacement cartridges for their printers often find that the cartridges they need are not in stock. That’s why most people today buy their replacement cartridges on the Internet.

If you type in «printer inks» into your search engine you’ll come up with a ton of companies that will ship your cartridges directly to your home. You’ll want to compare the prices as well as the reputations of these companies because prices can vary widely and some companies are much more trustworthy and reliable than others.

Consider it a plus if you see on the website that the company sells to schools or other large organizations. Some of these companies also offer free first class shipping, and tax in their prices.

Generally you may want to consider buying from a company that has many years experience in the market. These are the companies that not only offer the cheapest prices, they’re also the ones that can dispatch your order the same day that you place it. When you’re running out of ink and you need a job printed can you afford to wait weeks for your delivery?

A little time spent on research can save you a lot of money on your printer inks.

How uk businesses can beat the recession by capitalising on the growth of chinese tourism

How UK Businesses Can Beat the Recession by Capitalising on the Growth of Chinese Tourism

With Chinese New Year celebrations in full swing, the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visiting London and the unprecedented growth in Chinese inbound tourism to the UK, you would mistakenly believe that the UK is well practiced in welcoming Chinese visitors. Yet many hotels, retailers and tourist venues are unfortunately ill-equipped to serve what will become the most important UK inbound tourist demographic.

China’s tremendous economic growth is generating the largest new tourist market which will require tourism sector providers the world over to adapt their services, products, food and language to suit outbound Chinese travellers who will growth from 40 million in 2007 to 100 million by 2020 (The World Tourism Organisation).

The UK is already benefiting from the rise in number of Chinese tourists. Visit London, predicts inbound tourism from China will rise by approximately 425% by 2012. Coupled with the recent relaxing of visa restrictions, a strengthening Chinese yuan, and Visit Britain’s strong marketing campaign in China, the UK is in a particularly strong position to benefit from China’s outbound tourism.

However Yaxley Consulting, which assists UK tourist destinations, hoteliers and retailers in adapting their services to suit Chinese tourists, found in a recent market assessment that many UK providers are still relatively ill prepared for the growth in Chinese visitors.

Speaking recently to members of the Historic Homes Association, Managing Director Jocelyn McConnachie said, “a limited number of Chinese speak English. Tourist venues should be making small adjustments such as providing short Chinese brochures, or a few pages translated into Chinese on the organisation’s website to help Chinese visitors make the most of their trip. Far more than other nationalities, Chinese tourists take time to research their holidays online, yet few UK tourist designations have Chinese translated pages. Those venues that do have translated pages are experiencing strong new growth and gaining ground against their competitors, which is critical in this difficult economic climate.”

She also added that more retailers and hoteliers should be looking to Chinese tourists as part of their business survival plans during 2009. “Chinese tourists will spend up to 80% of their travel monies on shopping. They appreciate value-for-money and simple online marketing activity which includes dual language special offer vouchers can encourage shoppers and allow retailers to measure results. Hotels can exceed Chinese guests’ expectations with small, cost effective adjustments to their existing services.”

McConnachie is adamant that staff should be trained to anticipate Chinese travellers’ needs and speak a few simple phrases. “The business will see a return on its training investment not just from the visitor’s experience but also word of mouth advertising. Chinese tourists rely on recommendation more than many other travellers.”

Yaxley Consulting www.yaxleyconsulting.co.uk consults to leading industry bodies on trends in outbound Chinese tourism and works with businesses in targeting Chinese tourists. Its sister website www.ukwang.com (launching mid 2009) will be a key source of information for Chinese visitors to the UK. Both are part of the Yaxley Group www.yaxley.com.

How can i investigate people on the internet free

How Can I Investigate People On The Internet Free

There are numerous ways to acquire out ways to research individuals. I personally have been using the Net for performing investigations. I am a professional investigator and have been doing this for a while. It’s to inform the individuals who choose to know the ways to search out how do I check out people that a handful of unreliable resources exist on the Net; therefore one has to be especially careful while selecting any plate form while executing its research on the Web.

A best way to obtain out a website to research people is to use the reverse address research services; these services allow you’ll tracing any person against an address. Even if a person have an old address of one next people may look for its current address. By performing a reverse address check out service, somebody would definitely not no more than try out the new address, name and contact details of this person yet , will also be able to see out about the past with the person. The reverse address research services even would tell the public whether the person is dwelling in its own home or have got a house on rent.

By taking any online course to know find out how to investigate individuals online, your wants would be able to know the inexpensive ways to research about individuals on the World wide web. Moreover, these on-line courses would additionally let the individual know find out how to perform a quick investigation when everyone do definitely not have much time. By knowing the techniques to know about people, one would additionally be able to know the secrets of this people around him either they may be friend or the enemies. So, if an individual intend to lead a successful life later it would be obligatory for the individual to keep an eye on the people around an individual and you could do it by learning ways to search out about individuals on the Internet.

By learning how can i research people over the internet, your wants would be able to check out about virtually anyone at any time that is required to do it. The individual may really need to do it for solving the problems and issues in your own life. This info would also be obliging for we for becoming a professional investigator. Via the internet investigation is a vast and growing field and I would suggest to everyone who’s interested in investigation and desire to become a investigator that she or he should take a couple of courses to learn ways to perform an accurate investigation.

Learn the basics of uk annuity rates to obtain maximum benefit

Learn The Basics Of UK Annuity Rates To Obtain Maximum Benefit

Annuity rates are the rates that you will be receiving from your pension annuities. Such annuity rates are normally based on index-linked gilts and securities that provide a regular index-linked income, apart from offering you a fixed redemption value at a particular time in future. Normally, the annuity rates will decline with time due to lower inflation levels and expectancy of longer life. Further, the inflation will also erode the actual value of the money and the exact buying of power of the annuities being held by you from your pension benefit would invariably be lesser.

However, the effects of inflation could be countered by adding open market options that contain escalation features. This would help the holder of the pension annuities to obtain best annuity rates and increase the income over time. Still, the initial income in opting for such a scheme will be significantly lower than the conventional annuity schemes. Similarly, the annuity rates will be adversely affected by the inclusion of other benefits, such as adding the income of the spouse or a specific guaranteed payment period to protect against the risk of early death of the annuity holder.

An individual can buy an annuity through a personal or a company money purchase fund. To obtain the highest pension annuity rates, the open market option is the ideal one. The additional features mentioned above can be added at the time of purchase but they cannot be added later. Moreover, to obtain the best annuity rates, you should compare the annuity rates offered by different pension annuity providers by asking for quotes from several such providers. You should select only the pension annuity scheme that offers guaranteed annuity rates and accurate income forecasts.

Annuity rates are paid every month as gross income before tax deduction. Level annuity rates will fetch you the same income every month as long as you are alive. Level annuity rates and 50% spouse rate schemes will pay the stipulated income every month throughout your life and after your death, your spouse will be eligible for 50% of the stipulated income until the death of the spouse. In the United Kingdom, annuity rates are applicable to single males and females between the ages of 50 and 74. The pension annuity rates do not include any medical benefits or enhancements. All the annuity rates assume that the female will survive for a longer period than a male and hence, the monthly annuity payments will be higher for a female than for a male.

The income payable to a person who had retired in September 2008 and opted for a pension annuity scheme had been significantly higher than the income assured to a person retiring in September 2009 and purchasing an annuity. The decrease in the income was in the range between 6% and 9.4% for single males and single females between the ages of 50 and 74. This clearly reveals that the economic downturn had an appreciable impact in the pension annuity rates offered by the pension annuity service providers in the UK.