Hello, one of my lovely customers remimded me about a conversation we had about instalment plans a few months ago. I was approached by an overseas customer who wanted high end bears but wondered whether I did a payment scheme, perhaps splitting the payment over 3 months. At the time she was a newish customer so I said no but mentioned it to a friend who today asked whether I would consider it. For long term customers there is no problem at all and I do reserve items sometimes for months on end but I wondered whether there would be a way of doing it on Folksy. High inceases in the cost of materials the past couple of years has made my bears far more expensive than theý once were and as next year I plan to make higher end their price tags will reflect this. Does anyone on Folksy offer anything like this ?
I would have to have a minimum order value I think, perhaps over £50 or £75. Could it be done as a variation ? If so how would we get past the listing price or should they contact me then I reserve the item until the 3 months have been paid and just send them a confirmation of payment each month…not sure how I can do it so that it shows how much they have paid and how much is still owing unless I add a breakdown to the listing description. Any ideas from sellers or @Folksyadmin
As my bears are expensive my customer said finding £100 in one go is hard but finding £35 a month is much easier also that this way I don’t run the risk of them changing their mind as they will have made a part payment whereas currently I don’t take any payment until they are ready. Thank you
When I did a special order for a customer a few years ago it was over £300. I got them to pay £150 as a deposit which I did as 1 listing. When the items were complete I then did a second listing for the amount left plus postage. Could you do something similar? Maybe do a listing for the 1st payment, then 1 month later do a listing for the second payment, and then a month later, the final payment plus postage. You could create all the listings at the same time and just save in draft until the correct date.You wouldn’t be able to send the item until the last payment was received though.
Hi Debbie. If a customer pays by PayPal there is an option to pay in three installments. This may be of help to you and I think you get the full payment up front. X
Hi Caroline, thank you, I remember asking them about reserving and paying later which was absolutely fine and I do that, I can’t remember whether I asked the question on this but I will double check with them and look into the FCA. There is nothing to stop me doing it with friends and my local cash paying customers as it’s no different to paying a deposit and reserving but it may be that I can’t do it online then.
Although I need to have a proper read yet, at first glance I think it may be exempt from FCA registration as long as there is no interest, fees etc charged, the product price listed must be the only charge and can be done as interest free for up to 12 months without registration.
Hi Kim, I do reserve items for customers and create custom order listings which have been done in the way you did yours, creating a listing for the work to be done but the billing them when it is complete, I don’t think I’ve taken a deposit in the past, I can’t remember to be honest. I think I will check with Folksy admin otherwise the only way would be to reserve and they pay in 3 months time but there is a risk of them changing their mind in that time and consequently losing another potential sale on the item. Thank you, I will give this some thought.
Thank you Alison @Macclesfieldbagworks, I will look into it and see whether we can use this or not, I know when I purchase online the option for instalments comes up quite a lot, I’ve never used it so I’m not sure what it entails, I imagine PayPal just take the funds each month on a set date.
