  
| Author: | bb314137  | | Posted: | Jun 17, 2013 08:41 | | Subject: | Re: Thoughts on instant checkout & postage... | | Viewed: | 37 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, enig writes:
| | Alright time to chip in.
First of all - I like seeing someone devoting such a big amount of time for something.
Thank you G.
secondly, and I dont want to put you down, but let me say that I think it's
not worth your time. I am just being frank, so please excuse me for that.
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I love getting different opinions, and people to convince me about something
that I wasn't. And it kills time, that's for sure. 
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However. My own thoughts..
To begin with - I doubt I would ever use such a system. Not because my postal
service has complicated restrictions. In fact, it is actually one of the simplest
(and cheapest) ones here on BL. I could probably ship a fully built 10190 as
a "letter" for 3.5 EUR anywhere within EU.
I have other reasons.
But if to look at it as a concept..
Many pros and cons, which are already being discussed. So not worth repeating
them I guess.
#1 BL is already complicated enough, and a new user can break an arm and a leg
just by trying to use it for the first time. Yet one more additional option (pay
now or request an invoice) would just add on to it. Especially for the ones who
barely understand English, so it would be yet one more reason for them to go
'f**k this I quit'
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This is quite a good point.
In the suggestion's favor, I'll say that some users already don't
understand how it works. I've had a couple new users asking me if they had
already paid by placing the order, or what should they do now. So, the difference
would be to have instant payments implemented, an option with both, instant payments
or invoice, which probably only experienced buyers with reasons would choose
the invoice, or invoices, just as it is now. All it requires is a badge in the
shop saying "This shop has instant checkout" or "This shop requires instant checkout".
I'm sure almost all users understand that instant checkout means paying right
there, and would choose it if they don't know about the other options.
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For us who are used to BL it does not look like that, but try and remember your
first time. How long did it really take you to learn 100% of all BL functions?
Heck, I am here for more than a year and I still dont know everything.
And the point is.. WE SHOULD NOT EVEN BE TALKING ABOUT THIS. IF we are,
then the system is faulty. But we already know that dont we 
#2 if such an option ever gets implemented, it should be extremely user-friendly.
Every non-English speaking user should understand intuitively what means "pay
now" and "request an invoice".
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Yes, this is true. But I bet it's more complicated to understand that by
placing an order you are requesting an invoice where the seller can put the shipping
cost that is previously noted in a splash page, and whatever fees he likes.
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And by that I mean - he should understand that "pay now" likely means:
a) over-paying for postage a little
b) OR that if there is something within his order which will require a different
shipping rate, he may be required to make another payment.
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This is another thing. I don't understand why making this system would mean
overpaying.
I'm curious as to wether the big-time sellers pack before invoicing, or invoice
before packing. If you are already going to charge, for most orders, based on
weight the postage that you have in your terms and conditions page, why is it
that hard to put it in an automatic page that does that work for you?
Again, this wouldn't work for small sellers, but for big sellers, willing
to loose 1$ every 30 orders by charging what they have on their splash page,
maybe.
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but then we get into that territory where, for example, to make an additional
1.5 EUR payment (for shipping) also means additional ~0.4 EUR in PayPal fees.
Bad.
If order grand total is somewhere at 25 EUR - 5 EUR shipping, 1 EUR payment fees,
10 EUR "own cost of parts", you are left with 9 EUR of actual profit on the parts.
20% taxes to your government and smilar leaves you with 7.2 EUR actual profit.
And 1.5 EUR would mean 21% decrease in profits. BL is a big game of margins,
and every single one counts if you're taking the game seriously.
Now all this being said, everyone who says that it is too complicated and would
never work is a short-sighted liar. You can code everything. They're
landing machines in Mars for gods sake.
The issue is not in the complexity if it, but in the equation of 'cost
to do it' vs 'profit'.
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It all would come down to a personal opinion. As I said, I wouldn't use it
in my store for now, but if I were a big seller, I'd take a few hours and
think about it. I'd think about the loss that this would cause, and the benefits
of it time-wise, and the other benefits. Then, just choose whatever fits me!
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To create and maintain a flawless system would be costly, because ,due
to the nature of LEGO parts, it is a never-ending work with catalog. Who benefits
from it? Not the owner of BL (one can argue on that though).
To say "oh you can mark certain parts and then not allow instant checkout if
they're in a shopping cart" is easy. But then what's the point of having
such a system if it does not really work and only adds to an already complex
environment.
Once again - it is possible to have a truly working system but I am not sure
if it would not mean an increase in BL fees. I would hate to see that going up
for something that I would not use anyways.
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And of course, BL coders would only need to make the feature. I think that even
myself, with basic javascript resources, can create a program to get the cart's
weight, and if the weight is in the ranges previously inputted by the seller,
spit out a price. If it's not, invoice it is.
The increase in fees would only come when having a full time BL team creating
the shipping prices, and also, as I said, looking at all the different shipping
options that would be not difficult, impossible. How in the world is some coder
in HK going to know that I have a cousin working in the PO and he can get special
rates in my country? This feature would only work if fully customizable by each
and every single seller that chooses to implement it.
It's a basic (coding terms) feature, that could be easily implemented, or
so I think. (?)
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But then.. at first people were getting killed for trying to prove that earth
is not flat and not the center of the universe too..
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Again, I'm not the kind of seller that would benefit from this system. It
was an idea and a solution that crossed my mind, and I thought would be beneficial
to others, so I felt like posting it. I guess I love thinking about problems
and finding solutions for those problems. That had a name, to make questions
just for the sake of finding solutions for them, but I forgot.
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Message is in Reply To: 41 Messages in this Thread:  Msg 1 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
 Msg 2 - flyingo330 (276) 134 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 3 - Pokernut (1009) 134 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
  Msg 4 - eileenkeeney (1610) 134 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 5 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 6 - Timothy_Smith (1537) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 7 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 8 - Timothy_Smith (1537) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 9 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 10 - DEREKFST (11758) 134 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 11 - Pokernut (1009) 134 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 12 - Brettj666 (1112) 134 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 13 - Timothy_Smith (1537) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 14 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 15 - Timothy_Smith (1537) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 16 - enig (6370) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 17 - Timothy_Smith (1537) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 18 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 19 - Brettj666 (1112) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 20 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 21 - Brettj666 (1112) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 22 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 23 - starbeanie (10860) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 24 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 25 - starbeanie (10860) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 26 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 27 - Brettj666 (1112) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 28 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 29 - calebfishn (2146) 134 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 30 - connie (21083) 134 months ago Jun 16, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 31 - Rbobo (3014) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 32 - bricksalabim (1353) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 33 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 34 - bb200521 (471) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 35 - enig (6370) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 36 « - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 37 - LastingToysInc (5681) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 38 - LastingToysInc (5681) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 39 - bb314137 (859) 134 months ago Jun 17, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 40 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 29, 2013 to Suggestions
Msg 41 - bb314137 (859) 133 months ago Jun 29, 2013 to Suggestions
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Spain, Andalucia Ceuta i Melilla
