Hey Lar! Another Actual Postage Workaround

Thor

Add "Bill Me Actual Postage Later" as a shipping method choice and set the shipping charge for checkout purposes at either zero or $0.01 or some other nominal amount. Buyer submits and pays for the order on checkout, but with shipping not included. Then, after you have picked, packed and weighed the order, email the buyer and bill him for the actual postage amount. Ship after buyer pays for shipping.

Sellers and buyers... what do you think? Would you use this method?

Would this be OK with you Admin?

Thor

rebrude

i think that is a good solution to all the different shipping services and costs..
it would safe sellers a lot of time refunding buyers overpaid postage..

Lawrence

I'm afraid not, this would mean the buyer is trapped into paying unknown costs, and the costs are not shown up front, which is a fundamental part of Brick Owl. Is the "Request a Quote" functionality not sufficient for your needs? I have already seen a few orders occur after the use of the feature.

DagsBricks

It means we end up paying 2.9% + 0.30 twice. I personally like the refund overage option as a seller myself.

Brian

Thor

Admin, as long as it is one of two or more choices given to the buyer, I don't think the buyer will be "trapped" into anything. The "Request a Quote" feature is good. But it is not immediate. The buyer has to wait for the seller to respond and the seller then has to wait for the buyer to place the order. In the meantime, items in the buyer's cart can be sold (which will then render the seller's quote moot and meaningless). The workaround I suggested above is intended for more experienced knowledgeable buyers who don't want to risk anything in their cart being lost while he and the seller play email tag.

I understand the great appeal of showing all costs upfront and am sure most of my buyers will prefer fixed upfront shipping. But I still think there will be a large minority of buyers (especially more experienced knowledgeable ones and those who have dealt with me before) who may prefer to pay only actual postage that is not averaged or inclusive of unnecessary or unwanted insurance. I am one such buyer and there are already several BO sellers I have dealt with elsewhere whom I would gladly trust with this shipping method.

In any event, you are the boss. If you don't want this as a matter of principle, that's OK. I will just have to make do. So please clarify whether I can or cannot offer this shipping method as one of several options to my buyers.

Thor

P.S. Brian, sellers won't pay the 2.9% twice regardless of how many payments a buyer makes. The $0.30 fee is miniscule and something I don't mind eating.

alltrightbricks

The trouble with request a quote. Is that the seller can end up going through a lot of work pulling orders that don't really turn into orders. And then what if they have it packed waiting for them to approve the quote and you sell x item to someone else. It really can start to get confusing and frustrating (I'm not thinking all the time, but definitely can add stress at the wrong times).
I think it would be great if maybe a buyer could SUBMIT AS AN ORDER (actual postage will be calculated plus a small fee to cover packaging) and so there is no initial payment, just one later with shipping cost added.
Maybe allow them to cancel a certain percentage of orders penalty free if shipping is too high. Allowed to cancel 1 in 10 say.
Also with quotes you have to be right on the money, no guestimating for small time sellers. I will often estimate an order for a buyer, but then say-- if you place the order and after it is packed the shipping turns out to be more I will gladly cancel the order (hasn't happened yet, but it is peace of mind)
Katie

DagsBricks

@Thor Yeah, bad math. 30c twice.

Thor

In any event, you are the boss. If you don't want this as a matter of principle, that's OK. I will just have to make do. So please clarify whether I can or cannot offer this shipping method as one of several options to my buyers.

So what say ye Admin? Can I offer this as a shipping option to my buyers? If so, I will also give them at least one other choice of shipping where they can see the costs upfront. AND my notes for this "Bill Me Actual Postage Later" shipping method will state that shipping will NOT exceed the amount noted under any other shipping method available to the buyer.

Basically, I am offering this as a way for buyers to immediately place and lock into their orders (without the risk of me wasting my time or the buyer losing anything in their cart inherent in the Request a Shipping Quote option) while at the same time trying to save them money on shipping.

And again, this is an option. Other sellers do NOT have to offer it to their buyers.

Thor

Lawrence

I'm afraid it's a no, if you set your shipping amount to $0/$0.01, in the catalog and Wishlist buying tool it would appear you have very cheap shipping, until people see the shipping method notes. I suppose it similar to the issue on BrickLink where extra fees mess up the price guide.

Although not ideal, the refund option is preferable (for me) to this as it tells the buyer you will pay no more than X, but you might get a refund. I may even consider making it more official with wording like "deposit" and showing the average refund amount or something.

Thor

OK Admin, it's your call. The tweak you mention to the refund option sounds interesting.

figbits

I think it would be great if maybe a buyer could SUBMIT AS AN ORDER (actual postage will be calculated plus a small fee to cover packaging) and so there is no initial payment, just one later with shipping cost added.
Maybe allow them to cancel a certain percentage of orders penalty free if shipping is too high. Allowed to cancel 1 in 10 say.

Or 10 in 10.

We should not be requiring buyers to commit to an order before they know how much it will cost.

vitreolum

I don't think paypal takes kindly to repeat refunds in short periods of time... afterall they lose money on that as well, even if it's a small sum. Not sure this is a good idea.

Thor

I was thinking the same thing. PayPal used to allow full refunds of fees when refunds were made. But they changed that last year so they could retain as nonrefundable the $0.30 fixed fee. So I wonder what PayPal will do if I and hundreds of other sellers start making partial refunds in 30% or 50% of our orders. In fact, if I charge my buyers the highest shipping in a weight band as several people have recommended here, and then refund a portion if actual postage is cheaper, I am going to be making partial shipping refunds in way more than 50% of my orders. That can't be something PayPal will like.

Thor