By Paul Lang, Editor, Sell It!
August 1st, 1998

See Also   Terrence Sherry and 1 World Sarongs   Andrew Bridgeman and eART-originals   Mark Annett and Scruplestore.com   David Sabot and Cheaphumidors.com   William Waite and Nemmelgeb Murr   Mary Lu Wason and LampLink   Michael Campbell and Cellwest   Bob Rankin and Flowers Fast   Louis Jay and Health4Her.com   Jeff Swearingen and TheGift.com   Bill Broadbent the T-Shirt King   Jim Goodbody and PlanetLearn   Todd Mogren and coastaltool.com   John D. Einhorn and CapShack.com   Beverley Wood and the Gift Ship   Sgt. David Hack and US Wings   Brenda Do and MindFood Media.com   Rory O'Connor and Shopirish.com

When U.S. Wings first opened the doors of their Web Store way back in April '95, they were one of the first sites to tackle e-commerce on the 'Net.

Three years later the store is going from strength to strength, selling its range of top-quality flying jackets. So successful in fact, that it will shortly be featured in a new book from McGraw - "StrikingItRich.com: Profiles of 23 Incredibly Successful Websites...That You've Probably Never Heard Of."

This week we talk to U.S. Wings' Founder and CEO, Sgt. David Hack to understand the secrets behind his store's success.

Lang: U.S. Wings opened its doors in April '95. How did you get involved with the Internet so early?

Sgt. Hack: My Brother is a CPA and is Ret. USMC and due to the fact that he is a very savvy person, he gave me a heads up on the Internet when only the Military knew a lot about it! I knew that the future of our business must be on the Internet. And so, www.uswings.com was one of the first Web stores to be opened and was the first in Ohio for sure.

Lang: How much did the store cost to build? To promote and maintain?

Sgt. Hack: I have spent over $45,000 in stages to change and up date our www.uswings.com site. How much to maintain and promote? Paul I feel that I have spent too much to maintain our site and also way too much to promote it.

I for the life of me can not understand why it costs so much for what is essentially type setting!

Lang: What were the major problems encountered? And what lessons have you learnt?

Sgt. Hack: We had no previous experience in building a Web site and have paid dearly to learn the hard way.

When we like a lot of other business people first went on the Internet We had no idea of what the cost would be and, to get right down to it, had no idea of what the "fair value" for services really was.

After being on the Internet in business for three years I feel there should be laws on the books against firms over charging for their service. I have paid more for type setting then I have paid for my doctor!

In hindsight, we should have had a in-house person do our total site. And have saved a lot of money!

The other major ongoing problem we face is with credit card fraud.

Lang: What techniques have you developed for coping with fraud?

Sgt Hack: Paul, our policy on returns and the wording through out our site tell people quite clearly that we will go after them if they try to defraud us. Flat out works.

Credit card fraud is a very major deal on the Internet. The banks do not like to talk about it much, but we know for a fact that it is around 5% and a heck of a lot of it originates from out with the US.

There are also some countries that we do not ship to until all the banks involved have cleared the credit card. This can take up to two months, but the customer can choose to send a bank money order if they want their goods sooner.

However, it's important not to get too paranoid. I had a customer call me once and order 100 Bomber Jackets to be sent out to his friends as a Xmas gift. When I first answered the phone, I thought it was a joke because He had a Very Famous Name. But the order turned out to be genuine, so you never know who is on the other end of the 'phone.

Lang: You appear to have had a few bad experiences on the 'Net. Do you regret opening your store?

Sgt. Hack: I think the Internet is great but I still caution people that want to do business on the 'Net to be careful. People on the Internet are not all bandits, but all the bandits are on the Internet! The Internet in the business world is like the old Wild West, a robber around every corner and a con artist standing right beside him!

Do I think it has been worth while ? Yes, but I would love to have all the money back that I spent that should not have been spent!

Lang: What plans do you have for developing your store?

Sgt. Hack: We have plans to do most store updates in-house from now on. We're also going to Develop our Pilot Shop program, where we will pay 8.1/3% sales commission to sites that send us customers.

We're also going to be introducing a shopping cart in the next few weeks. Our ISP has advised us that we could double our sales with a shopping cart. This will also help us cope with the extra visitors we are expecting when McGraw Hill publish a new book in which we are featured - "StrikingItRich.com: Profiles of 23 Incredibly Successful Websites...That You've Probably Never Heard Of."