posted on October 18, 2001 10:15:54 AM
Hi all - my policy is to NOT delay shipment on personal checks.I've never had one bounce so it's not worth it to me to have packages sitting around for 10 days or whatever.
It occured to me that I am treating echecks differently. I wait until I get a message from PayPal that the check cleared. Are echecks any more likely to bounce than regular checks? What is your experience? I am now thinking that as a courtesy I would go ahead and ship and trust that the check would come through in good time.
posted on October 18, 2001 10:45:23 AM
Out of probably 100 or so e-checks I have taken, I had one that took two weeks to clear, and one that bounced. I understand from Paypal that if the e-check is no good the first time they send it through, they will try again, and then try to take it from the person's credit card. If they can't get the money any of those three times, then it bounces. So if you get any back, you know the person is really broke...
posted on October 18, 2001 10:58:07 AM
I do not ship until the echeck clears.
To me, it's a bit different than hoping a customer's check doesn't bounce. Maybe that's not exactly rational, but I feel as you do that it's not worth the hassle waiting for the paper checks to clear. If I have it in hand, I deposit it at my convenience, but I still consider the item paid for, unless I find out otherwise later.
However, with the echeck, I'm depending on PayPal or Billpoint to deposit the money in my account, so it's a bit more of an issue to me than simply waiting for the echeck to clear. I did have a buyer's echeck bounce once. And one time there was an unusually long delay in getting it to clear. Had I shipped the item, I probably wouldn't have noticed it hadn't cleared and possibly it might have remained in limbo forever. I had to prompt an investigation to get the echeck deposited in my account. Incidentally, both of these were Billpoint echecks.
BTW, I also don't ship until I actually receive BidPay money orders either. I don't care how much they assure me the funds are on their way. If it gets lost in the mail, then who has the hassle of trying to get their money after I've already shipped the product? Me. No thanks.
posted on October 18, 2001 11:07:45 AM
I was under the impression that an e-check can be recalled at will, until it clears. Am I wrong? I alwasy wait til Paypal tells me it's ok.
posted on October 18, 2001 11:21:00 AM
eChecks are a bit more sensitive to the movement of funds from one account to another, so I wait until they are cleared by Billpoint or eBay. I really don't like the delay and it doesn't help the transaction cycle time, but the technology isn't quite as smooth to assure a funds transfer. It may be a technical bloop and not the bidder's account trustworthiness. If you can afford to lose the item's cost, maybe this won't be an issue, but I wouldn't risk it
posted on October 18, 2001 11:45:05 AM
A winner can cancel a e-check payment anytime until it clears. I personally, do not ship until it clears. I have had 2 came back after 4-5 days as uncleared. I have had one winner cancel there echeck 2 days after they made it. It was still in uncleared status. They never did pay. The other two decided to pay a different way after it was returned as uncleared.
So, I do NOT ship until cleared.
And on c2it.com - I claim the money immediately because the sender can cancel it up to the point of the payment being claimed. I have had 2 that showed I had payment but it would not allow me to claim it. I do not ship for c2it payments until I claim the payment.
posted on October 20, 2001 08:21:48 PM
I always hold echecks. In addition to the reasons stated above, I have one other. In most jurisdictions, a bounced check constitutes a crime. I don't believe that applies to echecks -- or at least, I don't want to try convincing the police that it does.
