internet shopping question

[Snowflake]

:sl:


If you saw something in an online shop that you really liked, but could only make payment via bank transfers/postal order, would the extra effort put you off? If so what is your preferred method f payment?

[Ghazalah]

I'm not much of a shopping person. I only shop when I need, going out shopping for the 'fun' of it, or when not in need anything is very boring. Hence why my preferred shopping method is online :p: easily access what I want. Of course sometimes it doesn't look as nice as it did online, or some things like that, but I can handle it :D

[~Raindrop~]

Depends on how badly I wanted it. If I really couldn't live without it then yes, I'd resort to those two methods. Other than that, I prefer Paypal.

[Ramadhan]

I am mostly buying flight tickets and hotel reservations (from reputable airlines and travel sites) online using credit cards, and for purchases from ebay/bookstores/softwares/etc, I use paypal because it is safer.

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[ardianto]

Many of customers who send their packages through my office are business people who sell their goods in internet. But no one of them accept payment method that not bank transfer. Sometime some of them submitted their goods to me, but one or two hours later they phone me "do not send package for ..... before I give you an order. I checked my bank account, I haven't received the payment".

My experience in shopping online ?

I never bought 'hard stuff', only software or 'soft stuff' such as blog templates or Facebook coupons. I prefer to use Paypal, but sometime I used Liberty Reserve. In 2010 I had account to produce my own Virtual Credit Card (VCC), but since late of 2010, many online seller reject VCC that produced in this account.

[Snowflake]

Thank you everyone for your replies. All of you mentioned Paypal, which doesn't surprise me coming from buyers. From seller's point of view however, I've heard a lot of horror stories, not to mention the high transaction fees. I can see buyers like Paypal, so now I would like to hear about Paypal from sellers point of view.

All this is due to a predicament I'm in. I have a merchant account at the moment that is inactive as I simply haven't been able to start trading. I am being charged £15 a month for it. I knew this would happen as soon as the account opened and I accepted it. But what wasn't made clear to me was that once I actually begin using the merchant account, there will be additional fees added on under the name of:

• Total amount submitted by batch
• third party transactions
• adjustments
• interchange charges
• service charges
• fees (paying already)

As if that isn't bad enough, I recently received a letter asking me to enrol on a security scheme (£5.50 month) or a £15.00 inactivity charge will be applied to my merchant account.

It get's worse. I had to cancel a Payment Gateway account who were charging me £25.00 a month, but had initially promised that charges would not occur until I am ready to start trading. So now that I've cancelled my account with them, I am back to square one.

I am considering cancelling the merchant account too.This is the main reason I am looking for alternative methods to take payments. I do know with Paypal one account covers all your needs. That's the only plus point I can see so far. So I would be really grateful for any advice from anyone in the know how (especially from sellers) no matter how small or even insignificant it might seem to you. It might be of great help to me insha Allah.


Dear Sis Ghazalah
Sorry I meant which method of payment do you prefer when shopping online.

Brother Ardianto, thank you for the additional information you've given.






Jazakumullah khayrun

[جوري]

I only ever shop on line even for toiletries.. after getting several episodes of horrible panic attacks in malls plus food poisoning I really can't stand them..

pay-pal is good plus the items are unique not like the mall dime a dozen..

[Dagless]

Credit card, paypal (for buying and selling), bitcoins (for buying and selling).

I think the reason why people don't like using bank transfers is that you're not covered. There are lots of scams these days and at least with credit card or paypal you'll get your money back if the person or company never send the item. It may not necessarily be malicious either; companies do go bust and items can get lost in the post etc.

[Snowflake]

Jazakumullah khayr for your input both Sis BlueBell & Br. Dagless

I think the reason why people don't like using bank transfers is that you're not covered. There are lots of scams these days and at least with credit card or paypal you'll get your money back if the person or company never send the item. It may not necessarily be malicious either; companies do go bust and items can get lost in the post etc.

Good point! That's made me think that asking for a bank transfer method can look like a scam and make customers wary from buying from you - unless it's offered alongside other secure payment methods. Then it can look like just another payment option. But at the same time, I know a couple of companies who've been selling solely in this way and it's worked for them. So Allahu alam. I won't really know until I get into it myself.

Your Paypal account can be frozen at any time, without advance notice, leaving you without your money for months (if not forever), and there isn't much you can do about it.

[Ramadhan]

Good point! That's made me think that asking for a bank transfer method can look like a scam and make customers wary from buying from you - unless it's offered alongside other secure payment methods. Then it can look like just another payment option. But at the same time, I know a couple of companies who've been selling solely in this way and it's worked for them. So Allahu alam. I won't really know until I get into it myself.

People would be willing to pay through bank transfers if they trust you.
In Indonesia right now, online shops by individuals are booming through social networkings like facebook (where the individual sellers only take bank transfers as payment) or through "kaskus" (indonesia's largest online forums where you can find and buy basically everything), and buyers are willing to risk it because they can see from the shops profiles that they can be trusted.
In fact, I have bought several clothing articles and small electronic items through those and made the payments by bank transfers, but only after I studied their history and when I felt I could trust them.

So the strategy now is how do you develop those trust?
Maybe you can ask your friends and family to give good testimonials/reviews on your behalf or ask them to buy something from you so you can develop your history,

[syilla]

Salams...what is the item are you buying. how is the review? I'm in the online internet business...maybe i can help you :)

[Snowflake]

People would be willing to pay through bank transfers if they trust you.
In Indonesia right now, online shops by individuals are booming through social networkings like facebook (where the individual sellers only take bank transfers as payment) or through "kaskus" (indonesia's largest online forums where you can find and buy basically everything), and buyers are willing to risk it because they can see from the shops profiles that they can be trusted.
In fact, I have bought several clothing articles and small electronic items through those and made the payments by bank transfers, but only after I studied their history and when I felt I could trust them.

So the strategy now is how do you develop those trust?
Maybe you can ask your friends and family to give good testimonials/reviews on your behalf or ask them to buy something from you so you can develop your history,

Al hamdulillah, this is really an informative and valuable piece of advice. Jazak Allah khayr for that. I've made a few privates sales to friends on the internet, so getting testimonies won't be a problem insha Allah. Then there's also the advantage of being a muslim business and with the majority of my products being aimed at practicing muslims, that will also go toward winning a potential customers trust insha Allah. It'll be easier on me technically too. I won't have to keep adding new products to different sections and linking pages to get to the checkout.

I am also not sure if I will be able to keep the site running due to health issues. So the first few months will be a sort of trial period for me. I think to start off, this for me personally is the best way forward. Thank you so much for that. It's made everything so much clearer now.

Salams...what is the item are you buying. how is the review? I'm in the online internet business...maybe i can help you :)

I'm hoping to sell insha Allah. If you don't mind me asking, what payment method do you accept for your business?

[ardianto]

I think the reason why people don't like using bank transfers is that you're not covered

They must go to the bank or ATM. Then send payment confirmation through e-mail or SMS. It need longer process, longer time.

[Ramadhan]

They must go to the bank or ATM. Then send payment confirmation through e-mail or SMS. It need longer process, longer time.

These days I almost exclusively use internet and phone banking to do transfers, unless I have to make big amount transfer or transfer to overseas bank.

[ardianto]

These days I almost exclusively use internet and phone banking to do transfers, unless I have to make big amount transfer or transfer to overseas bank.

:embarrass

Oops, everyone will knows if I am kampungan

Bro, don't translate this word. :D

[syilla]

Ya Allahh i'm soo very sorry for taking takingggg tooo long replying this thread. :phew

for the payment method i used western union or bank transfer. next question please :statisfie

[ardianto]

for the payment method i used western union or bank transfer

For international money transfer ?. The cost is too high.

[Beardo]

:sl:


If you saw something in an online shop that you really liked, but could only make payment via bank transfers/postal order, would the extra effort put you off? If so what is your preferred method f payment?

I'm a heavy online shopper but I will only spend using immediate transactions, like through debit or credit. Bank transfers/postal orders is not an option for me.

[Snowflake]

Ya Allahh i'm soo very sorry for taking takingggg tooo long replying this thread. :phew

for the payment method i used western union or bank transfer. next question please :statisfie

Aw np ukhti. I thought this thread was dead so didn't come back to check for more replies. Khayr, anyway, I've decided to use the bank transfer method, and if I have enough regular sales then I'll look into a payment gateway solution.

For international money transfer ?. The cost is too high.

Point!

I'm a heavy online shopper but I will only spend using immediate transactions, like through debit or credit. Bank transfers/postal orders is not an option for me.

Not even for a special item - for instance bespoke/handmade?

[syilla]

it depends...some bank do give special rate on transfer please check it out. :) but i think mainly you can give the customer some options for them. if they think its ok to tt. then why no :)

[Snowflake]

^ Ok, jazakillah khayr for tip. I'm not able to work right now, so I'll enquire when I get round to it insha Allah.