posted on December 16, 2000 07:07:00 AM
Hi everyone!
I need to boost my sales on eBay.
At this point in time I accept...Cash, MO, Personal Check, Cashiers Check, but would also like to include Visa, Mastercard, AMEX to the payment options.
I am looking for your input on this specific service (Billpoint), so please give me your insight (Sellers), convince me either way!
posted on December 16, 2000 07:15:07 AM
I try to accept all kinds of payment options (within limits). Billpoint is one of them. Bidders use it only occasionally. It's really good for international bidders. So what if they take a small chunk of the payment, it's fast and I can ship immediately, which I really like. So far, no problems.
posted on December 16, 2000 07:15:07 AM
I've used Billpoint once as a buyer (and will probably continue to do so, since I'm so PO'ed at PayPal's new "Send Money" format). I found it very easy to use. I've been offering it for close to a month now on my auctions, and have had no takers. Buyers still prefer to use PayPal. I've had no problems receiving money through PayPal; however, their track record grows increasingly dismal so I can't recommend that anyone open an account with them, particularly if that person sells in categories fraught with CC fraud, such as Electronics or Computers. If you do open a PayPal account, verify using a bank account in which you keep a minimal balance, sweep your PayPal receipts into that bank account on a regular basis and then remove the funds immediately. They've just become too flaky about accessing verifying bank accounts and freezing PP accounts at the drop of a hat.
posted on December 16, 2000 07:23:32 AM
Credit Card based payments are currently running about 9 to 1 in PayPal's favor over Billpoint. One thing I ran into which I didn't much care for was a "quality review" with Billpoint. I'm assuming this is random and I've never had it happen before. The problem was that it was a fairly low dollar amount the buyer was sending. This charge slipped into the review category and didn't come back out for 9 hours.
I would never have known the buyer had paid me in that interim period had he not directly emailed me. I then wondered why I hadn't received notification and found that. I found a reference on the Billpoint site regarding occassional account reviews to determine monthly spending allownaces which, "for security reasons" can't be revealed. Somehow I don't think a $30 charge triggered this kind of a review when several $500 charges were not reviewed.
This is the only thing I wasn't too fond of with Billpoint.
[ edited by avaloncourt on Dec 16, 2000 07:25 AM ]
posted on December 16, 2000 07:24:11 AM
We added BillPoint to our auctions for the holiday season to go along with the Buy it Now and have had a lot of people use it. The service seems to be fine so far, however, the way their site is layed out it is very difficult finding the net deposit amount (after fees) for each transaction. Part of the site uses different transaction numbers than the other.
When an invoice is submitted, they reference the Ebay auction number. Once it is paid it is assigned a transaction ID. When the funds are deposited, the previous numbers are removed on the summary page and a new "deposit" number is assigned and the amount is changed from the invoice amount to the net deposit amount after fees.
In order to match the deposits to the auctions, you have to keep opening each item to verify them. This is a real pain with the 25 payments we received, I cannot imagine what it must be like for those with 100 or more.
Yesterday it took an hour to figure out how much was deposited and which transactions we are still waiting for.
After Christmas, we will be removing it from our auctions as an option.
(a copy of this post was emailed to Billpoint. I will post their reply when I receive one)
posted on December 16, 2000 08:00:48 AM
phbroz....A few months back I was in the same position that you are now....Needed to add CC payment as an option, but couldn't decide which one....After reading, & reading, & posting & reading here, I finally choose Billpoint...
It has done very well for me, probably about 1/3 of my sales in the last month or so...
Those who asked "do you take Paypal?", were told "No, but I do take Billpoint" and since Billpoint does not require an account to be set up for the buyers, they were just as happy to use Billpoint....
I find the Invoicing feature to be benificial to me, in that I generate the invoice & therefore I know who is paying via Billpoint....&...receive notifications from Billpoint when paid. Note: I did have one instance where the Billpoint invoices were not received by the buyers, & I simply resent & the problem was eliminated.
I also had a "Quality Review" hold slapped on one of the payments...I didn't understand why & questioned it here, at Billpoint & at eBay Billpoint Board...Hold was released within 3 hours, although they do explain that it is random & can take up to 24 hours for release.
All in all I am very satisfied with the Billpoint service.....I beleive it has increased my sales.....Although it sometimes makes shipping hectic, as you are expected (according to Billpoint) to ship within 48 hours of receiving payment....
Good Luck to ya whichever road you choose
~ Rancher
posted on December 16, 2000 08:13:48 AM
Billpoint is the fastest payment service to deposit funds in my account. I receive payments in 1 day, 4 days with Paypal, a week or more with Amazon.
posted on December 16, 2000 08:54:38 AM
I like Billpoint so far... I don't know if I got screwed though with the Visa free proccessing offer... What is the likely hood that out of 9 transactions not a single one paid with Visa? I was charged the fee on all of them.
I use the Buy It Now and Instant purchase, along with online checks, so it is a pain to use with AW since they don't support those and I have to go in and revise my auction - which is no small feat since eBay doesn't like me revising auctions (either I click the button and nothing happens, or a get an error saying the website is having difficulties) - After clicking over and over it finally takes - I will be so happy when AW supports those features at eBay.
My only other problem is that I never get a notification that I received a payment or that a deposit was made - I have to login to see it. I have no idea why... my email is valid...
And another thing I don't get, is that while I'm happy to take a money order, I don't understand why more people don't do the online check - saves them the cost of a money order, postage, and time to mail. Of course it could be because they have no intention of paying - out of about 6 transactions that said they would pay by money order, only one actually has - it's been over 15 days on one, 10 on the others. I'm tempted to just take Money Orders out of my payments since it's becoming so hard to collect.
posted on December 16, 2000 09:10:28 AM
I've used Billpoint for about 7 months now.
The only problem that I've had was with an Interntional transaction, and, really, I knew I was taking an chance by accepting international payment and I had the choice not to.
Anyway, as far as bidders are concerned, I have found that most bidders who want to pay online are VERY flexible. Most don't really care if it's Billpoint or Paypal or whatever. They just want to take care of it online. (There are few exceptions.)
Anway, I know this because I've done a little experimentation. Before I upgraded my Paypal account, I always stated clearly in my EOA notice that our preferred method of payment was Paypal. Most people used Paypal.
When I started having to pay fees and Billpoint did the "free with Visa" promotion, our preferred payment was Billpoint. Most people paid with Billpoint.
Now, our preferred payment is Yahoo Paydirect (it's smooth and free). While I can't say that the majority of our buyers use Paydirect yet, I do receive more payments via Paydirect than Billpoint now.
Keep in mind, though, that sice Billpoint is integrated into Ebay, there are several advantages to offering it -- icons next to your listing, instant payment from the auction page, integration with Buy it Now, etc.
posted on December 16, 2000 09:11:49 AM
I have had several customers use BillPoint.
I like it, it's fast and easy.
I always get notices when someone has paid with billpoint. I usually have the money in my checking account in 3 days at most.
I still accept PayPal, I doubt if it will be much longer.. I'm switching to billpoint only in the near future. My reason for this is because I don't hear much complaining about billpoint!
I too wish AW would revise thier AMPro to include billpoint electronic checks and the instant purchase, it would make everything so much easier.
AUCTIONWATCH... ARE YOU LISTENING???
dthmj - Do you use IE to revise your auctions?? I can't use IE, however I have found that I can revise with Netscape without a problem.
Sue
posted on December 16, 2000 09:16:19 AM
Sue, Yes, I do use MSIE to revise... I'll try Netscape the next time and see if that makes a difference... Thanks for the tip.
posted on December 16, 2000 09:28:44 AM
I've been signed up with BillPoint for a long time -- well before eBay took over -- and although I didn't use them all that much until they were incorporated into the auctions, I've never had any problems with them (knock on wood!).
I stopped taking PayPal about 3-4 weeks ago, and I've had a LOT of people use BillPoint instead. It really surprised me! They were happy to get the dollar off, and it ended up being less expensive for me with their Visa promotion (versus PayPal's fees).
posted on December 16, 2000 11:25:42 AM
I finally capitulated to using Billpoint when Paypal upped its fees, and actually MORE of my customers are now paying this way than thru Paypal. Curious!
I sell vintage/antique jewelry and have also been experimenting with Buy It Now. It is so nice to log on and see an auction OVER and PAID for immediately. I suspect that the "instant gratification" angle appeals to many prospective buyers, although it can be difficult to measure which auctions succeed because of that -- but my international sales have increased as well and that IS easier to measure. (I also offer Billpoint on my website.) It's also nice not to have to make so many trips to the bank since the funds are electronically deposited into my account.
posted on December 16, 2000 11:28:02 AM
I'm a buyer. I like Billpoint a lot. I would definitely choose a Billpoint auction over one without if that was the only difference.
I think I'm also more likely to bid on an auction featuring BP than I would be if it were not available. Just as a credit card
in the real world makes impulse buys more likely, the option on eBay has the same effect.
I've used it about 20 times and have experienced only one problem: The seller entered the wrong price on the invoice and didn't know how to correct it. I ended
up sending a check. Caveat to buyers: Check the invoice amount against the total cost.
posted on December 16, 2000 11:54:16 AM
I only bid on auctions that except PayPal or Billpoint and I never bid on Items where the seller accepts cash. I will accept cash from winning bidders but never advertise that fact. That may be hurting you.
posted on December 16, 2000 12:05:35 PM
I've been using Billpoint since they had the free listing days if you offered Billpoint in your auctions. At first not many used Billpoint at all - but now that I no longer accept Paypal I get Billpoint payments every day. Billpoint is easy, safe, and they deposit to my account very quickly! I quit using AuctionWatch to list my auctions because they don't offer the Billpoint options. I now use AuctionPoster and it's wonderful and easy!
elvis:
I never bid on Items where the seller accepts cash
Why is this? Do you mean you won't bid if that's the ONLY payment they accept? I accept about 10 different forms of payment - and I state in my auctions that cash is accepted but it's not recommended.
I'm having a problem with Billpoint right now where my buyer has disputed her credit card charge on a doll that she bought from me 5 months ago. IMO, you're better off with your current payment options.
posted on December 17, 2000 05:50:48 PM
I use Billpoint and i'm very satisfied with it. I also use Paypal but intend to drop them the first of the year. I don't trust them with their daily rule changes and fee increases.
I put the following in my EOA and it has done wonders for me:
BILLPOINT IS MY PREFERRED WAY OF RECEIVING YOUR PAYMENT!!!
If you pay with a Visa through Billpoint you get $1.00 off for purchases of $5.00 or more.
Sign up for Billpoint here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/buyerguide/bp-overview.html
I also have the following in my EOA but without links to Paypal:
I also accept Money Orders, Cashiers Checks, Personal Checks & Paypal.
Billpoint has done so well for me during the past two weeks that I got the following from them today;
Billpoint Warning
Dear xxxxx,
This is a notice that the dollar volume of your transactions on
Billpoint
is currently approaching your monthly maximum. The total amount
of your
sales and your currently outstanding invoices is nearing the
dollar limit
allowed in your account.
In order to ensure that you can continue to process Billpoint
orders
without interruption, please contact Billpoint Customer Care at
http://www.billpoint.com/customercare.
Thank You,
Billpoint
The eBay Way to Pay
Needless to say I'm thrilled to be able to ask for an increase in my Billpoint limit. Sales have been great!!!!!
