posted on October 25, 2001 06:24:20 AM
I haven't used it yet so I don't know.
Does it make your auction closings seem more professional with a ready made invoice? Does it save time in emailing back and forth and obtaining needed information? What are its good and bad points?
Pros:
1. It's simplified for the customer
2. It guides them toward paying online (faster payment for me, faster shipping time for them)
3. It can appear slightly more professional
4. It could eliminate EMs back & forth between customer & seller (some may choose to put this in the Cons section)
Cons:
1. If they don't want to pay on-line, it could generate confusion
2. If the seller wants PP rather than BP, it could generate confusion & cause more EM time for them both
3. I've heard (don't know this for a fact, so don't jump on me w/both feet), that the buyer can edit the shipping amounts. If that is true, this is a a MAJOR drawback.
FOR THOSE WHO DON'T WISH TO OFFER CHECKOUT
I don't see any Pros at this moment.
Cons:
1. Additional work explaining to excited customer why you don't offer checkout.
2. Additional confusion & work if a customer uses checkout & the seller has to ask for more shipping/handling.
FOR THOSE NOT YET READY TO SET UP CHECKOUT
This is for those (like me) who might use it for certain items but our automated auction software isn't yet set up to handle it)
Cons:
1. More emails back & forth to either input the information in the checkout for the customer (already happened for me yesterday)
2. More emails explaining why you aren't yet ready to take checkout
For sellers who take BP, have a simple fixed shipping rate & WANT to use checkout, I can see where the feature is nice. For those who don't want to take it or don't take BP, it's going to mean more work (atleast in the short run until we all adapt to the new structure or ebay finally allows some kind of "opt-out" option).
Right now, it's too buggy & too new to know what all the pros & cons will be in the long run.
edited for ubb because all the coffee hasn't kicked in yet.
[ edited by Eventer on Oct 25, 2001 08:47 AM ]
posted on October 25, 2001 08:56:06 AM
Was just perusing the Checkout Question of the Day on the ebay boards & noticed jerry said the buyer DOES have the ability to edit the amounts on checkout.
Now THIS bothers me. If I choose to offer Checkout as a seller, I don't want anyone but ME to be able to edit the amounts.
There was another area where it was mentioned the seller can give the buyer the "option" of making edits but there's nothing in ANY of the FAQs for buyer or seller which directly speaks to this.
Can anyone enlighten us on this? Is it an "option" the seller can allow or is does the buyer have the ability to edit at will?
If the buyer has the ability to edit at will, then ebay has just created a potential nightmare situation for everyone!
posted on October 25, 2001 10:17:36 AM
I believe the seller has to have selected that checkbox in order for the buyer to edit the total. They are trying to use this as a workaround for multiple shipping options, international sales and multiple purchases. Say you entered $4.00 as shipping USA but your buyer is from Canada. If you allow them to edit the total, they could enter in a pre-determined shipping amount, but this looks like it would require emails back and forth. The seller can also edit the shipping information, but the buyer has to be agreeable to changes. Very confusing!
My biggest complaint is that it is not mandatory for the buyer to use it, so sellers won't know if they need to wait for the buyer to fill out Checkout or go ahead with their regular seller EOA email.
Also, some buyers are taking the $0.00 entered in the shipping to mean no shipping costs. There's a thread right now on ebay about shipping pianos with $0.00 shipping which was in the auction (in error). Now everyone is buying because they think they are getting free shipping.
I think we'll see even more of these errors as auctions that were started this week end next week. I predict that Halloween night will be rather spooky! LOL
