posted on October 3, 2000 02:47:42 AM new
Aloha all, I was going to relist me items tonight but I think I will wait for your feedback. I was thinking of just having credit cards as a form of payment for my auctions. I process them (securely) through Authorize.net and can ship the items out that day instead of waiting for buyers to pay by checks or money orders. I pay for this service and hardly use it now days. Is this good idea or should I try a different aproach to make buyers use their credit cards? Thanks for your time and hope to hear from you soon,
Ernest
posted on October 3, 2000 04:00:13 AM new
You'll be shutting out 50% or more of your prospective customers.
1) There is a great paranoia about giving out your credit card info over the net. My dad swears he'll never buy anything online because he's afraid someone will get his card number. (I've tried to tell him that he runs no greater risk then when he eats out and the waitress takes the credit card to process it. Paranoid people won't listen.)
2) A lot of people will want to send you a check or money order anyway, no matter what your auction ad says.
3) If you're going to take credit cards for auctions, people might not trust you with their credit card info, but they will trust Billpoint or Paypal. So, consider offering those two services if nothing else.
I scrapped my merchant account and secure server order form because nobody would use it. Everybody likes Paypal better. Less fees too. (even with the business account fees)
posted on October 3, 2000 04:01:32 AM new
There are a LOT of people that don't or won't have credit cards. Some got in over their heads and look at them like an alcoholic regards a gift bottle, and some have spouses they can't control. Some have terrible credit records but still can be a good sale. Some are under some sort of order not to use them after bankruptsey
or debt consolidation. Some divoriced a person with bad credit and have none of their own or have had their idenity stolen or other misfortune to their record. You may be throwing away a major chunk of your business.
posted on October 3, 2000 05:51:58 AM new
I would prefer that more of my customers use cards, but I believe it is running only about half. I would have thought that debit cards would have filled in the gap for non-CC users, but it hasn't happened.
If you can provide a viable incentive, you might get more CC purchases, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
posted on October 3, 2000 06:01:11 AM new
I recently purchased from a seller who tried to force me to use Paypal. I refuse to use Paypal as a matter of personal principle, so I kept requesting their address in order to send payment. Finally, about 5 days after auction close, I got their address, with request to send money order. Mind you, the original auction ad says they accept credit card check or money order. I sent a check, along with a copy of the auction with payment terms highlighted. If I didn't believe in completing my deals, I'd tell this seller to go pound salt! Why do some people make it so difficult?
rca001
posted on October 3, 2000 01:06:13 PM new
Thank to all who replied. I will keep all forms of payments on my auctions. take care and see you on the auction floor.
Ernest
