Has any seller ever been asked to put something on layaway?

[creativegenius01]

I am selling some high end designer handbags and I had a buyer ask if I could put a bag on layaway. Has anyone ever done that, can it be done, or is it even allowed on eBay? 

[alcoforever]

There is no ebay mechanism for doing layaway nor is there even a need for such a mechanism.

Every ebay shopper has a credit card.   All credit cards have a built-in payment plan which the CC issuer would just absolutely love for its holders to use.   At 18% or so interest, who wouldn't?

Tell your buyer to use that credit card.

[katzrul15]

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@creativegenius01 wrote:

I am selling some high end designer handbags and I had a buyer ask if I could put a bag on layaway. Has anyone ever done that, can it be done, or is it even allowed on eBay? 

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Yes, almost every holiday season.  Lol

There is no mechanism for it on the Bay.

We had a guy last Christmas indicate he would be visiting family in Cleveland, he lived in Royal Oak, MI.  Wanted a HP Castle Lego set held.  Said he would meet me on 12/28 to buy it.

Huge set, so I raised the price to something insane like $3k and it sat in my store.  He emailed on the 27th, we edited to local pickup and back to original price.  He bought it and we Met him downtown at Ronald McDonald house in Cleveland on 28th.  He tipped us $100.  He was driving on to Hollidaysburg, PA with the set in tow.

So happy to get rid of that honkin huge set that would have been a beast to ship.  He has purchased several times since, we always ship the items to Hollidaysburg.

It can be risky - not everyone will buy when they say they will.  We've held other stuff a couple of weeks until someone gets paid as they need something for Santa.  

If you need the money to live, pay the light bill - probably not wise.  I can be a persuaded for a kid story, especially at Christmas.  Ymmv.

[redmodelt]

On the 5th day after the sale ends, with no payment, eBay will close the sale, and buyer will get a ding for nonpayment. Your fees -.30 will be credited back to you, and you can relist. Also, you might want to think about blocking that buyer. I would think that if they can't pay now, how would they pay later?

[titipeo]

Aside from eBay not having the mechanism for this to work there are other things to consider. 

Why the layaway, is it because buyer will be on vacation and he wants you to hold it, or is he going to make installments on it. 

If vacation, there are ways to do this, but get your $ upfront.

If making installments, this will have to be done outside eBay, and all their protections go out, this is now between the two of you.  

If not making installments, why would you do it, you want to sell the item, or hold it for someone else for free. 

[this*old*attic]

Yes

Once in the old days when we took checks and shipping wasn’t tracked.

And again 2 years ago on a $1000 item.

Ended it with bidders and took the EBay commission ding, set up recurring monthly invoices through PayPal, and shipped when it was paid in full.

[this*old*attic]

PayPal has the same protections as EBay.

 I wish Ebay WOULD set up a system where it could be done on site. Might increase sales, it’s certainly very buyer friendly.

[titipeo]

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@this*old*attic wrote:

Yes

Once in the old days when we took checks and shipping wasn’t tracked.

Those where the days, my listing clearly indicated that shipping will occur once check cleared the bank. Those where simpler times, and eBay was a great platform back them, I was sourcing a lot of Pepsi and Nascar items as well as Starbucks. Scams where not that rampant, sellers had protection and we could dictate how to run our listings. Miss those days. 

[duncanvr]

Not allowed on ebay, buyer fully pays within 5 days or he is blocked and order canceled.

[this*old*attic]

@titipeo 

No kidding.

A mere 20 items created a presence on EBay, almost anything got bids (and if it didn’t you stuck it in your store for a higher price), and sell through was virtually 100% counting a few items that needed a relist to sell.

Ah….. those were the days.  LOL.

[lepke1979]

Was actually thinking about this the other day. Would potentially be a headache. And obviously the seller would have to opt in, similar to offers maybe. But can see the potential for making money. Basically charge a fee that seller gets a cut of (possibly all) and the buyer can make payments.

If buyer stops paying, seller keeps the fee and maybe a percentage of what was paid in so far since they had to hold the item for x weeks/months.

Main issue I can see is is with charge-backs. Not sure if when stores do this they require payment in cash. But can potentially be a way to get abused. Although perhaps having to sign some sort of contract would negate a lot of that.

[titipeo]

@this*old*attic 

I used to work in a distribution center for a freight company, in charge of their pick & pack center for our key accounts. Once their promotions, contest, giveaways finished, I had first dibs at whatever was leftover. At least 2X a week I will drive home with the back of my Jeep Cherokee filled with stuff, t-shirts, hats, inflatables, pens, watched, bats, die cast cars, etc. Used my basement and garage for storage. I also hit local garage sales, church bazaars, for inventory.  

[auctionairecorp]

There's no layaway on eBay, period, full stop.

You and ebay want your money now.  Quite frankly it sounds like something that a competitor or scammer would ask for.  Let me guess the buyer has 6 feedbacks, all of which are from this month and three of them are from the same seller?

Don't forget to block the buyer

There's no layaway on eBay

[auctionairecorp]

Is there a "commission ding" for buy it now?

[rosachs]

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@lepke1979 wrote:

Was actually thinking about this the other day. Would potentially be a headache. And obviously the seller would have to opt in, similar to offers maybe. But can see the potential for making money. Basically charge a fee that seller gets a cut of (possibly all) and the buyer can make payments.

If buyer stops paying, seller keeps the fee and maybe a percentage of what was paid in so far since they had to hold the item for x weeks/months.

Main issue I can see is is with charge-backs. Not sure if when stores do this they require payment in cash. But can potentially be a way to get abused. Although perhaps having to sign some sort of contract would negate a lot of that.

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We do this in the retail stores -- buyers have to pay 1/3 of the total (purchase price + sales tax + layaway fee) up front, then pay off the balance within 15 or 30 days.  We only offer the two options since longer than that simply lead to more buyers forgetting and then raising cane when they lost their down payment for not completing the contract.

And yes, there was a contract.  Stating explicitly the item(s) being purchased, the 15/30 days pickup requirement, the customers agreement that they forfeit their down payment if they do not pay out in the 15/30 days as agreed, etc, etc, etc.  LayAway is not fun for the retailer -- we now have to store that purchase, safely and securely, for the 15/30 days and potentially deal with someone who changes their mind and thinks the terms of the contract should not be enforcable for them.  After all, we still have the product, right?  True - but we lost selling opportunities for 15-30 days, and most stock doesn't typically stay in the stores that long, so it most likely would have sold for full price to someone who truly wanted it, but instead we end up missing that sale, perhaps losing that customer on a long-term basis, and now have to unwrap and redisplay everything.

We have no problems with chargebacks because we have a legal contract that the credit card companies cannot ignore and the customer explicitly surrendered their right to chargeback.  They try - we win.  It's a hassle, and frankly we don't do much of it.  Most folks don't want to wait.

-Bob.