There are pros and cons for both physical books and digital books, but one con for physical books that is a big pro for digital books is the issue with customs when sending books overseas.
Our techy guy, Andi, who is currently living in Portugal, is having a few issues with the Portuguese customs regarding a book that is sent to people as a part of an online mentoring program.
The book is classed as a gift and is non-commercial. He hasn’t bought the book nor is he planning on selling it.
It’s just a book probably worth less than £10.
The customs people want to see an invoice or other relevant paperwork for the book which Andi does not have as he didn’t actually buy the book.
He cannot even take a screenshot of the book for sale on the company’s website because it is not for sale on the company’s website.
The book was sent from Australia and apparently it is not the only book that has got stuck at customs. There are other countries that are refusing to let it through without additional paperwork.
What is weird is that Andi has already had something through from customs from the same company a couple of months previously without issue.
He paid the clearance fees and taxes and the item was delivered to his apartment with no issues.
For some strange reason they just won’t let this through without more paperwork.
To make matters worse, he cannot talk to anyone at customs to discuss it.
The emails are coming from the Portuguese post office (CTT) and the portal that he uses to check the progress is the CTT website, yet he cannot talk to anyone as he cannot get past the AI controlled questions.
He has managed to find the CTT WhatsApp number and chatted to a CTT representative, but they just keep telling him that customs says that they need additional paperwork.
He knows that, and so he asked if they could talk to someone in customs as they are the CTT and it is all being done through them, but, apparently not.
Andi is happy to pay the customs fees and taxes, if someone will just take a look at the book and let it through.
But as always, the bureaucracy of borders gets in the way.
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The tax departments of each country must have their paperwork. God-forbid should the government miss out on a couple of shekels!
It’s not as if it was a container full of books that he was planning to sell on the black market and avoid paying tax… it was just one book.
Andi was happy to simply pay whatever it cost to get the book through customs.
He would have paid more than what would probably have been required, but instead, there is no paperwork and so the book is now on a plane heading back to Australia.
The Australian company are now trying something new and have sent another book out to him in Portugal. It’s become a lot of hassle, and it is just one book.
That is the hassle that comes with supplying physical books to a global audience.
It has taken several weeks and he still doesn’t have the book.
With digital books, you can download them straight to your smartphone, tablet, and laptop as soon as the payment has been processed.
You can read those books within seconds of making the purchase.
Or in Andi’s case, as soon as it was uploaded the member’s area online he would be able to access it and download it without any issues.
There are no customs and territorial borders to deal with.
Digital books are a great way to make money today because you can sell to a global audience from multiple platforms and your products can be bought 24 hours of the day, 365 days of the year… and it is mostly all automated.
Other than directing people to your digital books, the whole sales process and product delivery is done for you automatically.
You don’t need to do anything other than tell people about your products.
- No packing.
- No posting.
- No printing off delivery or custom clearance slips.
Having a real physical book is nice, it is good to hold one while reading or to work with if it is a work journal, but they are also big weighty clunky things that take up space and need storing on a shelf.
Digital books take up little space on your smartphones and tablets meaning that you can have a whole library in your pocket.
Digital books can be read on multiple devices and they can be taken and accessed from anywhere.
People love digital books.
And what is even better is that anyone can create and sell digital books.
Even you!
To learn more, go to:
The 30 Day To £30K Challenge
Kind regards
John Harrison.
PS. It can take 30 days or less to create a digital book that could make you up to £30,000.
I am not saying that you will make £30,000 fast, that could be over several years, but that can be from one digital book.
Now imagine how many digital books you could have online if they take less than 30 days to create?
That includes the sales page and delivery page!
Here’s that link again:
The 30 Day To £30K Challenge
