Instant payment required

soba

Is there any disadvantage in using instant payment by paypal required for buy it now items? I've sold a few things recently and had to wait a while for payment so was thinking of changing to instant payment.
Thanks

Rhymsta

One problem is when you are offering combined postage and would like the buyer to order more items and have you send a combined invoice.

RFW

soba wrote: »

Is there any disadvantage in using instant payment by paypal required for buy it now items? I've sold a few things recently and had to wait a while for payment so was thinking of changing to instant payment.
Thanks

If you sell higher value items it's probably worth it, in my experience it does put buyers off a little bit, but not too many to make a massive difference, although these days a tiny difference can be massive!

So in short if you sell higher value items that customers only buy one item at a time, try it and see.

Crowqueen

It also depends on whether yours is a category that gets a lot of people asking to pay by cheque, PO etc. I haven't had paper payment since 2008 and don't get a lot of multiple buys so I would use the facility if I could be persuaded to stump up 40p for a BIN in this climate (i.e. not likely!) but I've seen a fair smattering of posts that say people are still out there wanting to pay by cheque, so if you make items IPR, then you will lose this part of the market.

But, as I said, I've not had a single cheque since 2008, and even then that one was rubber; I still offer payment options on my listings in the vague hope someone might want to pay that way but I wouldn't let it stop me using IPR.

As a buyer I don't mind it as I always pay as soon as I know I've won. If you sell a lot of BINs and you get a lot of NPBs I'd say it was a no-brainer.

soba

I sell a very mixed bag of items so the chances of someone wanting to buy more than one item are remote and it's never happened before. Like Crowqueen I haven't had payment by cheque for years. On the items that are collect only I'll continue to ask for cash on collection so it looks like IPR is probably the way forwrd for me. Thanks.

Crowqueen

Just a thought - you obviously don't want to offer IPR on collection-only items.

That would be a nightmare to resolve and leave you wide open to NPS reports.

soba

For collection items I state cash only but obviously that doesn't stop anyone paying by paypal. Most people seem quite understanding when I tell them why and are happy to have their paypal refunded and pay cash on pick up (so far, anyway!)

Crowqueen

There's always one, though. Basically, although people might understand, you are telling them "I don't trust you, please pay by a payment method that suits me rather than you." Not everyone finds that very pleasant - particularly not me personally. It only takes one neg and NPS report and you are on dangerous territory.

And it is nonsensical to demand payment up front as a condition of purchasing the item, then refund it and ask for another method.

I'd always prefer, personally, for example, to pay electronically for things over a certain amount, because then I have some protection on the risk of carrying large amounts of cash around with me in an unfamiliar place.

In reality, I think that certain items are more heavily scammed than others, and accepting Paypal for some collection items is OK. Perspective on this situation is the one thing that seems to be lacking: not all items are subject to this scam.

I'd not sell collection items on eBay at all if I wasn't happy to take Paypal for them, rather than mess buyers who have the power to ruin my account about.