posted on January 9, 2001 05:18:21 AM new
...as a bidder, and it actually made my most-expensive-auction-purchase-ever painless. Point, click, go. I had no idea.
I haven't had any online payment service since I jettisoned Paypal. I'd started to sign up for Billpoint, then realized oh jeez, they direct deposit to your bank account and did I want to deal with trying to figure out what payments when through when? and said fergit it, since I didn't see any change in the high bids I was getting with or without Paypal.
Having seen BP from a bidder's perspective, I want to use it as a seller if at all possible, simply as a convenience to my customers. Not getting much help from BP FAQs, so I'll ask here - do the payments just dribble in to your account at their own pace? Are you notified? Can you do "batches"? How long does it take from the time a BP payment is actually made to the time it appears in your account? Any pitfalls you can help me avoid? Isn't there some "pay" button you can put on your auctions - and is that better than actually having the bidder ask you to issue an invoice, or more of a headache? Aside from the chargeback issue, any nightmares to relate?
posted on January 9, 2001 05:28:43 AM new
Well, HCQ, we're both up bright and early this morning!
Glad to hear you had a positive experience with BP. I certainly can't answer any of your questions, as either a buyer or seller, (although I remember reading somewhere that the accounts are electronically "swept" every night....which is part of the seller's charges).
However, having listened to all the debate, I've already decided that when and if the time comes (and it is inevitable), I will utilize the BP payment method.
Tad expensive to the seller, even after their rate reduction, and we can probably expect it to creep back up as the competition thins...but...
posted on January 9, 2001 05:29:32 AM new
HCQ: I have used BP as a seller since December and it is smooth as silk. Once a buyer asks for an invoice, you send it then BP sends two notices--one that the buyer has placed an order and the second when the invoice is paid. After that, you check on your deposits. My experience is that the deposit is usually sent within 1-2 days then it shows up in my account 2 days after that. (I check my account online). I keep a spreadsheet for tracking BP payments. The only hassle with bookkeeping is that sometimes several sales are deposited together at the same time and you have to sort them out. BP has speeded up my transactions considerably, especially the smaller ones and they only charge 35 cents for sales under $15. My experience with bidders is that they pay same day the invoice is sent (with one notable exception), the item is shipped next day and the whole transaction turns around quickly. About 50% of my buyers have been using this method since December--I think it's great. Hope this helps.
posted on January 9, 2001 05:34:54 AM new
HCQ...I used it during the holiday shopping along with the BIN. It worked out well. Things would sell AND be paid for before I even knew the auction ended. If you set the auction up correctly, with the shipping and tax info programmed into Billpoint, they add the tax (if needed) and shipping and create an instant invoice if the bidder wished to use it.
Once the order is shipped, you can enter the tracking number on Billpoint and they will send an email to the customer. We had several sales that were completed and shipped within 24 hrs, and we never sent or received a single email from the bidder. Positive feedback was left from both sides. The transaction was very unpersonal, but super fast and everyone was happy. (we dont need more penpals anyway)
Each deposit is made individually and requires no action from the seller. You cannot batch the deposits, as each is executed as soon as the funds are available. If you have a lot of transactions, it can be a pain in the butt to track because different transaction numbers are assigned to each process (ie: auction #, invoice #, payment #, deposit #) and the deposit amounts are different due to the commission charged.
It takes about 3 to 4 days for the funds to appear in your account.
You get an email from Billpoint when a customer requests an invoice, or makes a payment, or when their check clears if they used the e-check option.
When you list an auction (using the site or MrLister) there is a section for setting up Billpoint for "Instant Payment" and adding a button to your auction. I do not know if the 3rd party auction sites (like AW) support this.
The only pitfalls that I see are the matching up payment problem I listed above, and the usual problems with letting other people screen your customers for fraud rather than doing it yourself. They do send you the customer's address info, which helps.
posted on January 9, 2001 05:35:13 AM new
Having been one of the original sign-ons as a seller, I can fill you in on a couple of points. Yes, the payments "dribble" in, but it's easy to follow them from their tracking numbers. As I bank "online" as well with a major institution, I can track daily and mark the matching auctions as paid. It can take up to 5 business days from the date you are notified a payment has been made, to the funds being noted in your account. It still beats waiting for the "check is in the mail" routine. I still offer check/money order, but find that the majority of bidders are using the BIN and BP option together-it does mean I have to be prepared to ship the item within 48 hours. It's all part of the instant gratification mode. I haven't had any trouble getting paid. A bulk feature would be nice for power sellers, but right now, the system works well.
posted on January 9, 2001 05:38:55 AM new
HCQ: As a Canadian seller I find Billpoint terrific. Payments are usually deposited to your account within 3 banking days. You can view the status of the payment on your Billpoint account page. It tells you if then invoice has been paid yet (which you know anyway from your confirmation email) and then it tells you when the payment has been deposited. A bonus for Canadian sellers is that is does the conversion for you at the going rate and the equivalent funds are deposited into your account in CDN$ It's really a very slick and convenient system.
Edited to add that for Canadians, I think you have to send the customer an invoice as the instant purchase only works for US sellers. An added bonus is that you have a nice invoice to print for your records with all the information laid out in a convenient format.
I've used Billpoint for several months now and I really like it.
Billpoint payments are deposited to your checking account daily. You have no choice in this. Billpoint adds a .50% fee to each sale to cover the auto-sweep feature. So, even though the "merchant" level rates are advertised as 1.75% + 35 cents per transaction, they're really 2.25% + 35 cents per transaction. E-checks are FREE.
I forget the criteria for "merchant" status. But I asked Billpoint for the lower rates and got them. I told them I was looking for a payment service to replace PayPal.
I did a quick scan of recent deposits --
12/28 deposit arrived in my account 12/29
1/2 deposit arrived in my account 1/3
1/3 deposit arrived in my account 1/4
You are not protected from chargebacks. But Billpoint does not freeze every darn penny you've earned... just the transaction. And if you lose the chargeback, there's an investigation fee. For my account it's $10.00, but may be higher for the higher rate account.
That's cheaper than my real merchant account.
You can use an "Instant Purchase" button in your auctions. It will even calculate local sales tax for you. Shipping must be a fixed amount.
posted on January 9, 2001 05:40:34 AM new
I've used it both to buy and sell and have had only positive experiences with it. I never used paypal after reading the comments from people who did.
posted on January 9, 2001 07:09:45 AM new
One good thing about the way they deposit your payments is that all the payments you receive in one day become one deposit. And, even though they lump it into a single deposit for that day (which I like as sometimes I get several billpoint pmts in a day) you can still see the details of the individual sales on your bp acct.
The costs can add up! I had around $300 in billpoint sales on Sunday and there were around $11 in charges associated with that total deposit!
oops
[ edited by sharkbaby on Jan 9, 2001 07:12 AM ]
posted on January 9, 2001 11:53:34 AM new
birdwatcher: No, you dont have to enter tracking info on the Billpoint site if you don't want to. For me it is easier. I click on the link and use a laser wand to scan the barcode and click submit. Billpoint emails them with the info and automatically creates a clickable link to UPS, Fedex, or USPS tracking info for the package. (kinda neat)
posted on January 9, 2001 12:05:49 PM new
Their customer service is excellent, too.
Twice, they've respsonded to my concerns with a phone call, and then followed up the phone call with email to be sure the issue was resolved. All within 24 hours.
I've seen posts about deposits taking anywhere from 1-4 days. Mine only take 1 day, but I've been with them since they were in the test phase. That deposit time could possibly be related to how long you've been established with them...not sure.
posted on January 9, 2001 12:31:32 PM new
Regardless of what online payment method you use, it helps to have your bank account accessible online. I can now see when credits and debits are in effect or in process. For anyone doing auctions as a buyer or seller, this is really useful.
posted on January 9, 2001 01:45:46 PM new
I bit the bullet and signed up for BP in December. Maybe a week or two after I signed up, I got a notice that they were lowering my fees because of my volume. I found it wierd because at that time, I had only processed 2 transactions through them.
It has been great! I put the instant purchase buttons in all my auctions and between that and the BIN, I'm getting a lot of payments before I even realize the auction has closed.
Because of that instant purchase button, I have only had to send one invoice and that was for someone who won 2 auctions.
My funds get to the checking account super fast. Maybe that's because I bank with Wells Fargo.
But, now the funny thing is that most of my payments now are coming through BillPoint and only a few strays through PayPal.
Their customer service is excellent. And what I really like aout it is that it works very much like a real merchant account, which is what I'm used to. With each Payment service having their own way of operating, it's nice to have something that you are already familiar with. I don't have to teach my SO how to log in and withdraw money, etc.
posted on January 9, 2001 05:52:49 PM new
I love Billpoint as a seller and a buyer.
Let me tell you my statistics. I signed up for Billpoint in June. Within 30 days more than 50% of my payments by customers were by Billpoint. Now my direct deposits from Billpoint are about 75% of all my deposits.
This is reality. If you make your auctions easier for customers to bid, your auctions will get more bids. My customers like to bid on multiple auctions with me or have the freedom to bid high to win an auction with a rare item.
My customers like the use of Billpoint, the ability to pay by credit and have the paper trail all integrated in with the auctions they won.
HCQ asked some questions about matching up deposits with customers and auctions. If you go to My eBay, go to Accounts, there is an area there for you to click into Billpoint. Go in and click around in your account and see what kind of information you have. If you click on the Deposit, up will pop the detail. I print that detail out. That is like the carbon to your manual deposit. It is the paper trail for your business records. It is easy to match that deposit printout with your copy of the customer packing slips, assuming you generate packing slips that contain your name/address, customer name/address, date of auction, auction number/title, price, shipping and total.
I have no doubt that the use of Billpoint enhanced my sales.
I love the paper trail Billpoint provides.
In my opinion Billpoint fees are just a cost of doing business. The fees are more than offset by the generation of more bids and higher revenues because I gave my bidders greater flexibility in their payment options.
posted on January 9, 2001 06:21:19 PM new
I just want to add in my thoughts too on billpoint...I love it!!!! It makes it so easy and so much better for me. And I have gotten repeat customers too.
posted on January 9, 2001 06:34:21 PM new
I should say why I like Billpoint as a customer.
I buy some little things on eBay, like books for my husband by Graham Greene and other authors.
I do a search, up pop all of the books by that author. I get a whole bunch of choices. I bid on the auction with the seller who uses Billpoint. It saves me a lot of time, because with just a few clicks I can pay for the auction when it has ended, get an invoice from Billpoint that I can print out for my paper trail, go online to My eBay to look at my Billpoint account ....
As a buyer, when there are multiple sellers selling the same item, part of my screening process to choose which auction on which to bid is to select a seller who uses Billpoint.
posted on January 9, 2001 06:34:34 PM new
I am not with Billpoint (yet) but I have had a couple of buyers pay me via their Billpoint account and I must say that I am impressed.
The Billpoint notices appear in my email and show that a payment to me is in processing and then usually within an hour another email that the payment has been processed and is being mailed. The payments have arrived within 2 days of the email notices.
Very fast service it seems, and a sound processing system.
I will be looking into it from a buyers perspective before my next big listing binge.
posted on January 10, 2001 05:54:23 AM new
I've been trying to find out information on Billpoint & in looking at the fees I see there is a deposit fee. Is this a fee to transfer payments into my bank account? It seems like this fee would add up fast.
Also, can anyone recommend an online bank account?
thanks,
Karen
posted on January 10, 2001 08:39:19 AM new
Billpoint is SO much better than PayPal ... there is no comparison. First of all, I TRUST Billpoint (NOBODY trusts PayPal!). They make a deposit into your account every couple of days and give you a very good, easy to read accounting of all your transactions.
I give customers a choice of PayPal or Billpoint and the balance is beginning to tip in favor of Billpoint. It's especially used by all the newbies that eBay's advertising is bringing in. They just assume that Billpoint is part of eBay.
Further, Billpoint responds quickly if you have a question ... unlike PayPal. So, while Billpoint is more expensive than PayPal ... the old expression "you get what you pay for" is clearly operative here.
HCQ ... BTW, my bidding has picked up this week. Maybe it WAS our product, after all. We pretty much had been down to the bottom of the barrel on inventory for the last couple of weeks and we've begun to get in new things from an interesting estate we're cleaning out. They're actually starting to bid on the high end stuff! Thanks for consoling me last week!
posted on January 10, 2001 12:33:47 PM new
I have to agree too.
As a seller, a lot of buyers ask me to use Paypal but I just have to refuse. 99% of the time, they will agree to use Billpoint. In my view, Paypal just can't be trusted, especially as a financial business model.
As a buyer, I often prefer auctions that use Billpoint. It's easy, fast and convenient. I hate to send money orders because it costs extra! As a buyer, there's no added cost of buying a money order or postage when using Billpoint.
I would encourage sellers to use Billpoint.
my 2 cents
[ edited by kurzon on Jan 10, 2001 12:36 PM ]
