Payment method for an individuals hobby?
Discussion
Looking for the collective PH wisdom on this.
I've recently managed to get a previously unobtainable car part remade, and have bought enough for my own needs as well as a decent stock for other people who also need it.
I'm not really interested in making a profit out of it - even though there was reasonable effort in getting it remade. I don't want to lose money, but making money isn't a priority. My dilemma is how do I get people to pay for it - purchases would be between £500 and £750 - enough that I imagine people will be cautious about bank transfer and away we go?
My initial thoughts were -
There seem to be a few other alternatives to paypal, but all in around the same ballpark fees wise.
Does this approach sound sensible? What alternatives should I consider?
Thanks
I've recently managed to get a previously unobtainable car part remade, and have bought enough for my own needs as well as a decent stock for other people who also need it.
I'm not really interested in making a profit out of it - even though there was reasonable effort in getting it remade. I don't want to lose money, but making money isn't a priority. My dilemma is how do I get people to pay for it - purchases would be between £500 and £750 - enough that I imagine people will be cautious about bank transfer and away we go?
My initial thoughts were -
- For people buying in person, cash or bank transfer - they'll have had the opportunity to see it and make sure they are happy with it
- For people buying unseen, paypal goods and services and they pay a bit extra to cover the fees - giving both them and me a bit of protection.
There seem to be a few other alternatives to paypal, but all in around the same ballpark fees wise.
Does this approach sound sensible? What alternatives should I consider?
Thanks
I'd agree that bank transfer might be unappetising to some as it's a lot of money to be sending to a stranger.
I'd hope that your buyers would be straighforward people and not professional complainers.
At that level I think it would be worth looking into taking credit/debit cards, as that helps people feel safe.
If there should be a punch-up, I'd rather debate it properly with a UK company than a customer-biased computer in America called Paypal.
I'd hope that your buyers would be straighforward people and not professional complainers.
At that level I think it would be worth looking into taking credit/debit cards, as that helps people feel safe.
If there should be a punch-up, I'd rather debate it properly with a UK company than a customer-biased computer in America called Paypal.
If the product is unique and targeting a specialist or specific market focus then Bank Transfer would be acceptable to most, especially as you build feedback and confidence.
I launched a specialist Hifi webshop this time last year and although not unique in product range we have done well sell on all platforms and payment types. I have had 3 fraudulent purchase attempts, but all picked up by the site platform i use and they didnt progress. I manually (just a site button click) collect payments, the site pre-authorises them so to the customer it looks like they've made a full payment.
I launched a specialist Hifi webshop this time last year and although not unique in product range we have done well sell on all platforms and payment types. I have had 3 fraudulent purchase attempts, but all picked up by the site platform i use and they didnt progress. I manually (just a site button click) collect payments, the site pre-authorises them so to the customer it looks like they've made a full payment.
https://www.shopify.co.uk/buy-button
Put up a blog / explanation page with this button on to pay. Professional, simple, clean - 1 hour dev time if that or diy.
Put up a blog / explanation page with this button on to pay. Professional, simple, clean - 1 hour dev time if that or diy.
Have you considered buddying up with an established retailer - a company that already sells similar specialist parts and who have reputation in the market place and all the payment and shipping systems in place.
As the part is rare, I would have thought that the retail value will be a lot higher than what you paid. But as profit is not your motivation, offer them to a retailer at cost on a sale or return basis. But as they're not incurring any cost, it's something that they'd likely carry until they're gone.
I would have thought that they'd find this quite an attractive proposition and makes your life immeasurably easier and risk-free.
As the part is rare, I would have thought that the retail value will be a lot higher than what you paid. But as profit is not your motivation, offer them to a retailer at cost on a sale or return basis. But as they're not incurring any cost, it's something that they'd likely carry until they're gone.
I would have thought that they'd find this quite an attractive proposition and makes your life immeasurably easier and risk-free.
StevieBee said:
Have you considered buddying up with an established retailer - a company that already sells similar specialist parts and who have reputation in the market place and all the payment and shipping systems in place.
As the part is rare, I would have thought that the retail value will be a lot higher than what you paid. But as profit is not your motivation, offer them to a retailer at cost on a sale or return basis. But as they're not incurring any cost, it's something that they'd likely carry until they're gone.
I would have thought that they'd find this quite an attractive proposition and makes your life immeasurably easier and risk-free.
Hi, thanks for all the replies.As the part is rare, I would have thought that the retail value will be a lot higher than what you paid. But as profit is not your motivation, offer them to a retailer at cost on a sale or return basis. But as they're not incurring any cost, it's something that they'd likely carry until they're gone.
I would have thought that they'd find this quite an attractive proposition and makes your life immeasurably easier and risk-free.
I am leaning towards bank transfer and just shipping via suitably insured / tracked methods to cover lost in transit scenarios.
The suggestion of buddying up with a retailer is one I plan to do - essentially, I'll sell it at my price initially to the early interested people, then sell any remainder to a retailer and let them charge what they want for it.
Why not do it at day one? couple of reasons.. firstly the retailer is a small outfit and may not have the cash on hand to buy it off me - sale or return as you suggested is a good idea. Secondly, markup... I want it to be available at a reasonable price, and I suspect that markup will be quite a bit.
DSLiverpool said:
https://www.shopify.co.uk/buy-button
Put up a blog / explanation page with this button on to pay. Professional, simple, clean - 1 hour dev time if that or diy.
mmm. this looks quite appealing actually.. not been on the tools daily as a web developer for a few years now (moved to architecture) but reckon I could still do that...Put up a blog / explanation page with this button on to pay. Professional, simple, clean - 1 hour dev time if that or diy.
shouldbworking said:
*For people buying unseen, paypal goods and services and they pay a bit extra to cover the fees - giving both them and me a bit of protection.
Note that the last time I checked, PayPal prohibit you from passing the service charge on to the customer. I'm not sure what the chances of them finding out are, but it used to be in their Ts and Cs. I make some obsolete parts for classic cars, the majority of payments I get are via PayPal but sometimes I'll run into a buyer who doesn't do PP and they will send a bank transfer. It's very low-volume, though, so I haven't had to worry about massive volumes of sales and trying to streamline things - the latter because the parts are made to order as much as anything else.
droopsnoot said:
Note that the last time I checked, PayPal prohibit you from passing the service charge on to the customer. I'm not sure what the chances of them finding out are, but it used to be in their Ts and Cs.
But you can just put your price up by 3.4% + 20p (or whatever it is now), and nobody will know.Thanks again everyone..
I'm now being astounded at the cost of insured shipping!
Looking like shipping is going to be in the region of £40 for it to be insured for the full value, unless I use a third party like https://www.secursus.com/en-gb/, which makes it much cheaper - back to in the region of £12 or so... not sure whether or not I trust them.. their documentation requirements
I'm now being astounded at the cost of insured shipping!
Looking like shipping is going to be in the region of £40 for it to be insured for the full value, unless I use a third party like https://www.secursus.com/en-gb/, which makes it much cheaper - back to in the region of £12 or so... not sure whether or not I trust them.. their documentation requirements
- Shipping label
- Proof of value of the insured item (retail / purchase invoice or certificate of sale between 2 individuals)
- Pictures of the item and packaging
- Copy of the claim made to the carrier
- Certificate of loss provided by the carrier
- In case of damage, copy of the reservations written on the delivery note
- In case of theft, a copy of the police complaint
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