Layby - is it possible on Australian eBay?

[tourterelle33]

Is there anyone out there successfully offering their buyers layby through the current Australian eBay systems?

Afterpay is not the answer for every buyer.

Once upon a time I used to tell my buyer to 'buy it now' but NOT pay - so I would get the buyers phone number at least (used to get email address) so layby conditions and payment information could be arranged - BUT, it now seems that the buyer must 'confirm and pay' otherwise it goes nowhere.

It used to work ok - eBay got their fees (I'm not trying to avoid fees) - I'd tell the buyer to ignore the payment reminders sent by eBay, and I'd have my contact information to  proceed with layby arrangements.

Would love to hear if anyone has found a way to offer layby - particularly to new buyers you have never had prior interaction with.

Thanking you!!

[domino-710]

Just a question - how do you intend to deal with ' part payments ' - what proof will the buyer have of ' part payments '.

[*sons_and_daughters*]

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@papermoon.lady wrote:

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@tourterelle33 wrote:

I just can't find a way to 'wait for payment' - eBay no longer allows you to 'buy it now' and not make immediate payment.

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I am not a seller, so I don't know for sure, but many sellers come here complaining that buyers buy something and then don't pay. Are you sure you can't disable immediate payment? From what I know, it is an "option". Have a look at your settings. Or some seller will come here and tell you how to do it.

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You are correct, you are not a seller, so please stop replying like you are because you have no idea. Immediate payment has been forced onto most sellers for years, even when they have unticked the option in their settings. I don't want the immediate payment option, but I have no choice. If my buyers buy multiple items, which they often do, they have no choice but to pay now after each purchase. Changing settings does absolutely nothing. The settings are the same, yet buyers are forced into immediate payment.

As for being on holidays, who cares? I'm working Christmas day.

[papermoon.lady]

I think that the main problem would be eBay MBG.

With AfterPay and other credit options the payment is considered complete for eBay, but if the buyer pays the seller in instalments, they are not protected if payment is not complete, and 30 days to open a case is not much.

[papermoon.lady]

Experienced sellers advice buyers to add items to their cart and then request a total. I do it all the time. I could name the sellers from whom I constantly buy like that.

Yes, it does not work with immediate payment, but obviously not everybody has it enabled.

is your old account still active?

(PS: There is an option not to view signatures in your account preferences.)

[domino-710]

The main problem is the installments - what proof does a buyer have.

[twyngwyn]

As I mainly sell at auction, I don't require immediate payment.....I let the buyers bid over a 2 week period, sometimes they pay for the 1st item and I 'hold' until they've finished.....sometimes they don't pay until the end (depends whether they are repeat buyers or not).

If they also want 'BINs' added to the parcel, they do this at the end, by placing in cart.....confirming purchase, then I send them a combined invoice

[tourterelle33]

Well that is great if that works!! I started to 'play' - buying from one of my eBay accounts with another of my eBay accounts, but when I got to the 'confirm and pay' page I lost courage!! 

Just feel as though eBay likes to save your payment methods and as soon as that button is hit, then payment is made. Perhaps I'll buy something cheap from myself and see.

Thanks again for all your help. 

[papermoon.lady]

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@domino-710 wrote:

The main problem is the installments - what proof does a buyer have.

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I am not sure how it would work with Managed Payments either??

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[domino-710]

Are you going to Lay-By it. lol

[countessalmirena]

eBay is really not the most appropriate venue for selling with lay-by (in my opinion). The whole online purchasing environment has changed dramatically since the early days of eBay.

OP, you know you’ll be charged the full FVF by eBay immediately, unless you indicate within the timeframe permitted that the purchaser hasn’t paid?

The buyer doesn’t need a credit card or debit card. (That’s been the case even with PayPal.) All that the buyer needs is a funding source - bank account. Mind you, they’d be foolish not to have a debit card (checking T&Cs to ensure it has protection of chargeback in the case of a dispute).

Under AfterPay and ZipPay, ditto (As far as I’m aware). These bodies only need a way of grabbing the money, and the buyer only had to click onto the permission field to give the company that defined access to his/her bank account.

I think lay-by works well in bricks and mortar shops and department stores, but in the eBay environment it is now fraught with difficulties.