Selling knives: When you do ship it?

Matt Shade

Matt Shade

Joined
Nov 24, 1999
Messages
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My first sale over the internet is playing out right now. I'm pretty excited about someone I don't know getting one of my knives :D

Anyhow, I don't have a paypal account. Don't do enough business at this point to get into that kind of thing (maybe in the near future). So the guy is paying me by personal check. He mailed it right when he said, and told me I could wait to ship the knife until the check cleared.
I kind of feel bad about all the waiting involved. I was wondering how everyone else handles this situation. I'm generally inclined to trust people, but I know thats probably not the best business practice overall. I've been burned pretty good once or twice at other things.
So do you guys wait until you have ensured payment before you send the knife? Chance practices depending on the customer?

Thanks for any advice.
 
I always wait till the check clears before I ship unless I know the person. I don't sell over the net but on phone orders thats the way I do it. I don't go to shows I have such a backlog over a year so I don't have to worry about taking them at shows I dunno what the guys do about that, guess they pretty much have to take a chance.
 
Wait til it clears. Shouldn't take more than about threes days. Ebay buyers are aware of this practice and expect that. I do. I know my check must clear and that will cost me extra waiting time. Don't trust anyone out there that has not established a record with you.

Roger
 
First thought:

Personally, I don't take checks if at all possible. Why can't you sign up with Paypal? It's free. You just need to verify a bank account number with them. They even give you a $5 credit for signing up! The only thing is, if someone is paying me through Paypal, I ask them to split the fee with me. I add 1.5% to the cost of the knife + s/h.

Second thought:

Bill Martino has a radically different policy. There have been 2 occasions when I (as a customer) made an order and got the knife before I sent the check out. For that reason, I have purchased from him over and over again. He trusts you like one of his own. I'm sure he probably gets "screwed" every once in a while, but he more than makes up for it in return buyers, who keep coming back because of the excellent customer service.


I'm not advocating Bill's method for you. Just wanted to let the forum know that such a person/business does still exist in this age of credit card scams, etc.


Good luck and Congratulations on making the transition into selling your handiwork.

Dan
 
Paypal is easy to set up and is more secure than most methods. Just start an account by giving them your checking account number and validate it via mail. No charge to set one up. There is a small charge per transaction but worth it.
 
Thanks guys
I'm going to go ahead and wait for it to clear.

I don't really know much about paypal, so I guess I need to look into it. I'm kind of leery of doing that kind of stuff with my bank information, but it has to be reputable or all you guys wouldn't be using their service. I'll have to check it out.


Really sucks how things have gotten. I still think there are more people who are trustworthy than not, its just that those who aren't can screw you so fast and so bad that you can't take chances anymore :(
 
A much easier method is to accept only postal money orders or cashier's checks. This seems to be the most common type of internet knife sale transaction that I have run into. Then there's no worry about waiting until the check clears. As soon as you get the MO the knife ships. It's easy as pie. I have accepted a few personal checks but only from folks that I feel I know.

I use Paypal as well. No problems so far but I want to mention that if you do use their service you MUST ship the package with a signature required. If there was any problem with the buyer claiming they didnt get it Paypal can freeze your account and you'll be out your knife and your money unless you can prove it was delivered. I insure my packages as well and only ship through USPS. Again, I have had no problems so far but I'm careful.
 
Wait for it to clear. It's better to be safe. I even wait the extra two days for a credit card order (over the phone or internet) to hit the bank account, just to try to be sure it's not a stolen card or something like that.
 
The only problem with a money order is that if it gets lost in the mail, there's a real problem. You can't trace it. :grumpy: The buyer wants his knife - and as far as he can tell, he paid for it. Yet you have no cash. And neither of you can prove it was received or not.

Personally, I use Paypal because it's more safe that anything else. A check can bounce, a money order can get lost, a credit card can be a scammed card...

When somebody pays with Paypal - it's like a bank-to-bank transfer. It is seamless - goes instantly right into your account. ** This allows me to ship same-day.

You should always ship your knife with insurance and delivery/signature confirmation. It costs $2-$5 extra.

These precautions are all worth it. I've been selling over the internet for 6 years now and this is the safest and fastest method I have found. I got burned a few times 4 years ago, and that's all it took for me to straighten out my methods real fast.



** if you set up with Paypal, be sure to provide a bank account number to them. Also, only accept bank-account payments. Don't accept credit card payments. It's very simple once you set it up. The customer pays you by sending money to your email address.
 
Originally posted by J. Neilson
I even wait the extra two days for a credit card order (over the phone or internet) to hit the bank account, just to try to be sure it's not a stolen card or something like that.
Click to expand...

J that won't help you on a stolen card, the card company can take up to more that a month and then charge back your account I learned the hard way. see http://www.knivesby.com/credit-card-fraud.html

I've sent out Items, before a check got to me, the rapport you get
with a customer can make the difference but takes time to feel out.
the check number alone can tell you things.
money orders can be canceled if it takes too long to show up.
customer looking to scam you just has to hang on to it for a couple weeks knowing
the amount before hand then report it missing, then send it to
you to pay for a knife, if you don't notice the date on it look out.
with CC's just be sure to call the issuing bank and match the shipping addy before shipping.
I like paypal so far, you can ck your account on line and with a debit card on the account you get money back when you use it.
it can have draw backs also..
 
Your definately right, Dan. I just hope that they notice it before I get the cash. As much as I'd like to keep playing with them, most customers don't want to wait an extra month for their knives.:D ;) :D

Don't get me wrong. Most customers are great. I've never had a problem with payment and I do have a couple folks that I will send the knife out to before payment but, like Dan said. It takes awhile before you can build up that kind of trust. When your not sure, play it safe.
 
I wait till I have the cash from the postal M.O. in hand, then ship.

I had a customer once, he had ordered, and received many knives from me this way, then when I finished a plain drop point hunter for him, I called him, and he said that he would get the MO in the mail that day, so go ahead and ship his knife.
Something set off alarm bells, and I didn't ship the knife. Good thing, as he never sent the MO. I waited about three weeks and called him, he gave me some song and dance like "those turkeys at the USPS must have lost it, and I'll go trace it today(?), so go ahead and ship the knife. Of course I didn't ship the knife, and I never got any MO.
That puke had the gall to have his brother in law call me several months later wanting some knives. I told the in law to take a hike, and the same for all that family.

I don't trust many people these days.
 
Seems like I do it a lot - I'm going to buck the trend here. Personally, I take checks and don't wait for them to clear. I figure a couple hundred bucks at risk is not going to break the bank and the actual risk is, in my opinion and experience, very small.

If you're selling stuff to people you're a business and if you don't take checks - or if you wait for them to clear - you are not conducting yourself like a business. How would you react to your supplier waiting for your check to clear? The grocery store?

On the other hand, when the bells do start going off, like they did for Mike, it's time to ask for a more secure payment. And maybe if I get ripped off heavily some day I'll change my ways.

But in the meantime I'm going to give my customers the benefit of the doubt and treat them like they are good honest people. Almost everyone is. Just my 2c, good thread.

Dave

Oh, PS - I set up a separate checking account to use for PayPal, because I don't like giving the whole world access to my funds either. So I have a small acct that's just to shuttle PayPal money.

DL
 
Hey, I agree with the BurchTree!! Let's see this thing that's causing all the fuss;) . If it looks good enough maybe him and I can cover it.
 
I sell stuff on ebay. I have paypal and bidpay accounts. I have never had a problem, so far. The worst problem I had was I sold a metal detector to Poland. The guy used bidpay which is a western union company and they send you a western union money order. The buyer pays the fees, not the seller. It costs them a couple bucks. They pay with a credit card, bidpay sends you two notices saying it cleared and mail you the money order. Anyway, this money order was for $600. MY bank said they had problems with "those" money orders and they had to hold it 10 days till it cleared. I think they are full of it. They never held any bidpay money orders I had cashed before, but they were for smaller amounts. I think they held it because I didn't have enough money in my account to cover it. I am pretty sure they are federally secured.
I prefer paypal because it is quicker. Well, not really. It takes about 3 days when I transfer money from paypl to my bank account. My buddy that sells tons and tons on ebay said he was trying to get his paypal account to $10,000. I told him he was insane. He said they are secured like a bank and he has no fears. I always transfer money to my bank account as soon as I get it unless it is under $50 or something. I usually need the money asap anyway. Paypal has a rating system kinda like ebay. User get points for the number of transactions they have had. A higher number always makes me feel better. Plus they tell you if their address is verified with a credit card.
The only reason I typed all this is to say that it is easy to set up paypal and bidpay accounts. There is nothing hard to it and nothing to be worried about. Just set up a different bank account for paypal and keep little money in it if it would make you feel safer. I think if you give the option of accepting credit cards you will get more sells because some buyers may not have the money on hand to spend on a knife.
I would wait for the check to clear, btw. Maybe after several deals with the same person and plenty of time to feel them out, then ship when they pay if you feel like it.
 
Thanks guys
It looks like I should definitely get a paypal account. I already have a checking account thats pretty much empty all the time.

I'm pretty sure I already posted pics of the knife here, but for those that were interested here's another
attachment.php


I've got a few new ones to post pics of if I ever get this straw baled. 73 acres to go, every time we get a good start it rains :( Then 50 acres of hay and I can get back to making some knives :D
 
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