An American buyer's opinion:


1. It seems very simple, but first you must sell a product that someone wants. Preferably you will sell a product that everyone needs, because when the economy gets tight, the wants may be put aside.


2. Be believable. Be honest. Get an English-speaker to proof-read your ads. Don't put pictures of a huge factory in your profile unless your company actually runs the factory. When I see 15 suppliers with an identical product, and each claim to be the manufacturer, I know that either 14 or 15 suppliers are trying to mislead me.


3. Make your product presentation organized and to the point. Don't try to make it look like you have a huge product line by taking 100 different pictures of the same product and putting different labels on them.


4. On the product detail page, put as much detail about the product as you can. Include complete specifications, dimensions, carton quantities, cartons dimensions and weights.


5. Make sure that you have a way to get samples to prospective customers. Include pricing details for samples, and list quantities that produce price breaks on large orders.


6. Be flexible with payment methods. Small buyers do not have the resources to visit your company and have no reason to trust TT or money orders... especially if they've been scammed. If you're willing ot accept Paypal or Escrow.com, your customer knows that you're honest. Most buyers will pay the extra costs.


 I know the Aussie likes to be called "dear" by someone who posted the picture of a pretty girl, but I don't think most of us agree. I want honesty. If I want to talk to you using a web cam, I don't want you to avoid it because you don't want me to know you're not a girl. I'm more impressed by efficiency than beauty. I'm more impressed with professionalism than flattery.


I do not know if these are good practices in the local market, but they are things that I think most American buyers would appreciate.