posted on July 23, 2001 07:41:58 AM
I just got this email from half.com:
We have noticed that you are having a great month selling on Half.com! Your sales are nearing the monthly dollar amount limit allowed in your account. In an effort to ensure the continued safety of both our buyers and sellers on Half.com, we require our successful sellers to provide us with additional information. This additional information will help to ensure that you continue to process Half.com orders without interruption and also increase the sales dollar limit in your account.
To raise your monthly sales limit, please provide us with your bank account information. After submitting this information you can also elect to use direct deposit as your preferred method of receiving payment for your Half.com sales. Click on the link below to submit your information.
To begin with, I have one of the lowest sales levels in the past year, so the rationale that I am reaching some sort of limit is nonsense. I have gotten checks from the for $1,000 at a time, have a great feedback record, and treat their customers better than they do.
There was no announcement or explanation prior to receiving this demand. The bullflop about it protecting me is just plain stupid - how do they protect me with more of my personal information in yet another location?
As to protecting the customer, they already hold back payments 15 to 30 days so, as they state in the tos, they can make corrections for returns etc. So now they plan to take it out of my account after I shipped?
In any case, I followed their link to give them the bank account, only to discover that the direct deposit is MANDATORY, not optional as they stated in their email.
I would be less disgusted with them if they simply had said, "we now require all sellers to provide us with their bank account information since we are not mailing checks any longer and want to convert you to direct deposit.
Good god, what does it take to get ebay and its subsidiaries to simply state the truth to its buyers and sellers? They undermine their credibility and image by playing short-sighted games like this.
posted on July 23, 2001 08:13:31 AM
I just considered using half.com for the first time this weekend and they appear to be a huge ripoff. Their policy about postage reimbursement should be against the law. How can they possibly justify taking any (not to mention a huge cut) from these funds? They contribute nothing to the s+h process then expect sellers to operate at a loss in this area. As far as the problem you are having, I agree with you totally. The problem with just about every company operating on the net is the lack of credibility due to lack of honesty/forthcomingness.
It chases away so many potential customers because every step of the way smacks of a scam-probably because it is.
posted on July 23, 2001 11:08:06 AM
Yes the notice did come from Half.com. I received one several weeks ago. I do a fairly large amount of business on Half.com so I didn’t really think too much about it but was very disappointed when I was forced to sign up for their direct deposit. There is just something about getting a nice big check in the mail. No advantage I just like it. Although to tell you the truth I have found direct deposit has its advantages. I get my payments quicker than when they were sending me checks plus it is safer than having a check sitting in a mail box where someone can steal it.
I whole heartily agree with litlux who said “I would be less disgusted with them if they simply had said, "we now require all sellers to provide us with their bank account information since we are not mailing checks any longer and want to convert you to direct deposit.” That would have been fine with me and totally understandable.
As for bluepaloma’s comment that Half.com is a rip off well that’s your opinion and observation. It belongs to you and what is really great about commerce in this country. You always have the power to do something about a company you don’t like or don’t agree with the way they do business. You have the choice to either do business with them or not and thus the power. By not doing business with a company you cast your vote against the way they operate. If others agree with your opinion and follow you, then eventually the company has to change or go bankrupt and shut down. That is the power you posses. As long as people are willing to pay Half.com’s shipping and handling fees they will continue to charge them. If the buying public agreed with you Half.com wouldn’t continue to be one of the few successful .Com sites on the Internet. Supply & demand dictates one’s success or failure. Evidently with the low prices one can get a book for on Half.com out weigh the postage charges and thus is not an issue with most people. Plus what many people fail to remember is there is a great deal of cost that goes into running a .com site. So taking a share of the sale from the seller and shipping from the buyer is what keeps them going day after day allowing people like me the opportunity to make a very comfortable living. I don’t mind paying them the 15% they charge me. I can list for “free” at least until my book sells. My books stay listed until I either remove them or they get sold. I get paid on time as promised and I make a very comfortable living selling my books there.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a walking advertisement for Half.com. There is a lot wrong with them and many things in my opinion that could be better. But I’m not the boss, a manger, supervisor or employee of their company so if I don’t like what they are doing I always have the option not to do business with them as does everyone else who doesn’t agree with their policies or procedure’s.
posted on July 23, 2001 03:44:31 PM
we got the same message a few or two ago. When I emailed them asking what our limit was & when it went into effect I got no response. It usually takes a while to get a response from Half. & often it does not address the problem stated, but they are usually good about getting out the "We received your email & will address it" auto response.
posted on July 23, 2001 04:54:39 PM
To sell on Amazon.com, you have to accept their Amazon Payments credit card payment plan (I believe) and that requires that you sign up with bank account information as this is the only way they disburse these funds.
posted on July 23, 2001 05:34:21 PM
Amazon is $1 = 15%, so that rules out low priced items. Half is only 15% - One annoying thing about Amazon is that they make you relist after 30 days, what a pain! Do they have a way to do a quick relist instead of doing each one at a time?
posted on July 23, 2001 05:48:43 PM
Sign up with 'em as a merchant -- its $40 a month for up to 40,000 listings. When you list in the Marketplace (the 15% commission area) there's no listing fee. When you list auctions or z-shop listings, there's no listing fee (only final value fees comparable to eBay).
Marketplace listings don't expire if you are a subscriber (the $40 thing); when listing auction and z-shops you can select "Do not relist", "Relist until it sells" or "Relist even if it sells" so you never have to relist again if you don't wanna.
posted on July 23, 2001 05:52:32 PM
half: "You can either get paid via Direct Deposit or paper check. Payments via Direct Deposit will be paid twice monthly. Payment periods will end on the 15th and last day of each month. Your seller balance at the end of each period will be deposited in your personal checking account within 7 business days from the end of the period. Payments via check will be made up to twice a month, depending on how much you sell."
posted on July 23, 2001 06:25:26 PM
Since I am very leary of giving anyone, especialy on the internet, access to my checking account, I will stick with half.com. And if I got a note like that, I would cut back on my sales rather than give them anymore informtion.
posted on July 24, 2001 03:06:20 AMWhen I emailed them asking what our limit was & when it went into effect I got no response
I hate when companies ignore questions like that. Since they can't respond saying "Uh, our own email is really deceptive actually..." they just ignore you and hope you'll forget you emailed.
What I do is I keep emailing, patiently and politely, pointing out the lack of response and repeating the question. After awhile they will answer (without addressing your question). Then I email pointing out that the question was not answered and repeat the question.
Eventually, yes, you will get an answer confirming, without admitting directly, that the company is full of crap. It might not seem worth it, but to me it is the principle of the point...
posted on July 24, 2001 06:54:18 AM
capotasto
posted on July 23, 2001 05:52:32 PM
half: "You can either get paid via Direct Deposit or paper check. Payments via Direct Deposit will be paid twice monthly."
My point exactly, capotasto. Seems that this is no longer an option there was no way to give them the information they demanded without opting for the Direct Deposit.
And notice that other than the corporatespeak in the email there is no reference to the policy anywhere else.
posted on July 24, 2001 10:10:11 AM
You wanna see a crock in the form of a response to a customer request? I asked why they were retaining 35% of the shipping and handling charges, since they do absolutely nothing in the way of s&h. Here is their response --
Hi Randall,
I am sorry for any inconvenience or confusion caused by our shipping
reimbursement. Half.com uses the overhead from shipping and handling
fees to cover administrative expenses related to our Buyer Protection
Policy. We appreciate your patience and understanding regarding this
matter.
Rachel F. - The Half.com Customer Service Team
Amazing!!! They keep the money because they can't meet their overhead any other way. Who are these people? Doctors? Congress?
posted on July 24, 2001 07:44:57 PM
Another thing about half.com I dont like is it seems most buyers pick media mail out of default, as I mail the stuff out the next day when I confirm it, some even the same day, yet I keep getting 3.5 or 2.0 feedback (that is equal to neutral or negative) because "item took forever to get ehre", or "slow shipper"!!
With them taking away 35% out of shipping reinbursment, and some of these books weight a ton, plus everyone chooses media mail, which results in complaints after complaints, plus sometimes half.com has the wrong picture or description in the item page, which can result in more complaints!
posted on July 24, 2001 08:00:30 PM
ironking, thanks for the info. I was considering half ... but having to ship within 24 hrs is a no no. (I go to the PO 2x week, I live 10 miles round trip and at 10 mpg with ford F250 getting 10 mpg at $1.60/gal is all I do, not much left for postage on one book!)
I ship all my ebay books by media, get no complaints, maybe more intelligent or more patient buyers there.
But I thought half took only (only?) 15% of shipping... 35%??!! Wha... howzatt?
posted on July 24, 2001 08:32:17 PM
The only way to get any speed out of media mail is to use zip+4 and a barcode. Most of my packages arrive in about 7 days.
