eBay

emerald40 · ‎10-28-2017

This was brought up by another poster asking if a seller could offer layaway. I believe most told him no, it was not possible to do so.

But I have seen it offered in the fine diamond jewelry categories, and here is one example of how a seller is choosing to handle it.

Layaway Plan

Choose which plan you wish to use from the three below:

1. I just want to delay my payment". Delayed payment (buy it now but take up to two weeks to pay)

2. One Month Plan (payments divided into 2 parts and invoices sent every two weeks.)

3. Two Month Plan (payments divided into 4 parts and invoices sent every two weeks.)

We will send you invoices directly to your paypal account. No interest is ever charged and you may pay off as early as you like.

Please note that once you've placed an item on lay-a-way, it is not refundable.

emerald40 · ‎10-31-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
@emerald40 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@castlemagicmemories wrote:
@tev4all wrote:
Transaction Icons
I have not seen any mention of policy regarding for or against a seller offering a layaway. The partial payment recieved icon would imply layways are acceptable if spelled out in detail of the payment section/dessciption.
Please show me in the policies where IT states not allowed.

I would advise against such payment procedure, unlesss the seller is safe with such risk.
@Anonymous

There is no section in the rules on Ebay Layaway; however, I found ample materials spelling out the Paypal Credit is the only approved method of layaway on Ebay. I believe the partial payment icon referenced here is a hold over, just like the seller block for buyers with -1 feedback. Please, could you weigh in on this? Very grateful for your help!
Hi @castlemagicmemories, the partial payment icon is primarily for when payment is split between two sources (ie. PayPal balance and another form). It can also be triggered by a partial refund for the transaction. I would recommend PayPal credit for anyone looking for something similar to traditional layaway. At this time, they offer no interest or minimum payments for transactions over $99 if the purchase is paid in full within 6 months, so can be very convenient for your upcoming Holiday shopping
Does everyone qualify for paypal credit?
Specific PayPal credit questions would be best addressed by PayPal. I can't speak to the criteria they look at, only suggest it as an option to investigate.

And that is why some sellers have turned to layaway on big ticket items if they hope to get buyers for them.

tev4all · ‎10-31-2017

@Anonymous

So, there is no official policy concerning sellers offering buyers a lay a way plan?

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-31-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
@castlemagicmemories wrote:
@tev4all wrote:
Transaction Icons
I have not seen any mention of policy regarding for or against a seller offering a layaway. The partial payment recieved icon would imply layways are acceptable if spelled out in detail of the payment section/dessciption.
Please show me in the policies where IT states not allowed.

I would advise against such payment procedure, unlesss the seller is safe with such risk.
@Anonymous

There is no section in the rules on Ebay Layaway; however, I found ample materials spelling out the Paypal Credit is the only approved method of layaway on Ebay. I believe the partial payment icon referenced here is a hold over, just like the seller block for buyers with -1 feedback. Please, could you weigh in on this? Very grateful for your help!
Hi @castlemagicmemories, the partial payment icon is primarily for when payment is split between two sources (ie. PayPal balance and another form). It can also be triggered by a partial refund for the transaction. I would recommend PayPal credit for anyone looking for something similar to traditional layaway. At this time, they offer no interest or minimum payments for transactions over $99 if the purchase is paid in full within 6 months, so can be very convenient for your upcoming Holiday shopping

Edit: I did some additional digging into this and the partial payment icon should only trigger with a partial refund. Disregard my earlier statement about partial payments and sorry for any confusion!

Thank you, Trinton, as always, you and your help are very much appreciated!

Since there is nothing in policy pages that states a seller cannot offer their own layaways, the only thing I had to go by was the accepted payments policy, which lists Paypal Credit as an accepted payment, which would seem to indicate, as I said, that Paypal Credit is the only accepted way. PP Credit makes one payment to the seller, seller ship to buyer, satisfying the shipping metric, and then the buyer assumes payment to PP Credit.

Thanks for the clarification and digging!

emerald40 · ‎10-31-2017

It might be the only approved way, but it is limited to those who qualify.

Not everyone can get a standard credit card, but you can start with a debit card, and then if all goes well maybe a credit card with a very low limit.

If paypal credit advances you the money and you immediately get the item, you could just disappear leaving them with the outstanding debt.

But with layaway, it is easy for a buyer to qualify. He makes payments and when it is paid off (not before) he gets his item. And if he does not, the seller keeps the item and all payments made thus far.

And I agree with the other poster, Trinton never said if it was allowed or not.

reallynicestamps · ‎10-31-2017

Layaway is an obsolete business practice.

When I was selling patio furniture in the 90s we used it a little. It was better as a way of bringing people into the shop than as an actual selling point.

What really happened was that the contract was immediately sold on to a finance company (Household Finance as I remember it).

The buyer paid a down payment and took the stuff home, then 12 months later HFC came knocking and charged the buyer incredible interest on the payments. Twenty percent or more.

The patio shop was paid by HFC when the contract changed hands. We took a discount, but more than covered our costs.

It has pretty well disappeared because of these:If your buyer can be trusted to pay over time, these guys are willing to take the contract that HFC did for our shop.

And Paypal is there to make it easier for both of you.

If your buyer cannot get a credit card, you can't trust him to pay you.

missjen831 · ‎10-31-2017

@emerald40 wrote:
It might be the only approved way, but it is limited to those who qualify.

Not everyone can get a standard credit card, but you can start with a debit card, and then if all goes well maybe a credit card with a very low limit.

If paypal credit advances you the money and you immediately get the item, you could just disappear leaving them with the outstanding debt.

But with layaway, it is easy for a buyer to qualify. He makes payments and when it is paid off (not before) he gets his item. And if he does not, the seller keeps the item and all payments made thus far.

And I agree with the other poster, Trinton never said if it was allowed or not.

I don't think it's allowed because it would be an off eBay transaction. eBay does not support payment plans so there is no way to arrange layaway and go through eBay checkout. It would have be arranged off eBay.It would be fee avoidance on the FVF on shipping too, wouldn't it? Unless the listings have free shipping.

One life is all we have to live
Love is all we have to give

**Formerly known as MissJen316**

emerald40 · ‎10-31-2017

@reallynicestamps wrote:
Layaway is an obsolete business practice.
When I was selling patio furniture in the 90s we used it a little. It was better as a way of bringing people into the shop than as an actual selling point.
What really happened was that the contract was immediately sold on to a finance company (Household Finance as I remember it).
The buyer paid a down payment and took the stuff home, then 12 months later HFC came knocking and charged the buyer incredible interest on the payments. Twenty percent or more.
The patio shop was paid by HFC when the contract changed hands. We took a discount, but more than covered our costs.

It has pretty well disappeared because of these:If your buyer can be trusted to pay over time, these guys are willing to take the contract that HFC did for our shop.
And Paypal is there to make it easier for both of you.
If your buyer cannot get a credit card, you can't trust him to pay you.

I disagree. During the holidays, especially with toys, families of limited means depend on it.

I remember when a couple of stores did away with it and the outcry afterwards to bring it back.

emerald40 · ‎10-31-2017

@reallynicestamps wrote:
Layaway is an obsolete business practice.
When I was selling patio furniture in the 90s we used it a little. It was better as a way of bringing people into the shop than as an actual selling point.
What really happened was that the contract was immediately sold on to a finance company (Household Finance as I remember it).
The buyer paid a down payment and took the stuff home, then 12 months later HFC came knocking and charged the buyer incredible interest on the payments. Twenty percent or more.
The patio shop was paid by HFC when the contract changed hands. We took a discount, but more than covered our costs.

It has pretty well disappeared because of these:If your buyer can be trusted to pay over time, these guys are willing to take the contract that HFC did for our shop.
And Paypal is there to make it easier for both of you.
If your buyer cannot get a credit card, you can't trust him to pay you.

________________________________________________________________

Layaway where you pay down and take it home is not the layaway I am referring to that is used here.

You do not get your item until it is entirely paid off.

thenobletuckylife · ‎10-31-2017

Afternoon Jen,

Ebay DOES have specific guidelines/requirements to sell here. The reason they do not need to address a layaway plan is that something in the requirements to sell here has to be "fudged/circumvented" (even if all the actual sales activity stays here) in order to facilitate a layaway.

As I mentioned before...there is a shipping metric that is VERY stringent...if a purchase is completed...in order for the sale to not be "ended" it then it must show being paid...or, there is a default against the buyer for not paying. Aside from that problem there is the requirement to ship the product to show ebay that the seller has completed the obligation and requirements put upon them to sell.

Sending a thank you card saying "Here are your Layaway Arrangements" with tracking in lue of the product is deceitful at minimum.

Do I think ebay should have layaway...it has merit...but until then it CANNOT be done with a clear conscience because some rule must be broken/ignored/circumvented in order for it to happen here.

Mr C

emerald40 · ‎10-31-2017

My husband'd first job in the late 70s was working at Household Finance.

He would tell me how sleazy their practice was.

omgitlightsup · ‎10-31-2017

It sounds absolutely horrifying to me.

It would extend the process of selling an item by some arbitrary amount of time.. months maybe?

And so 2-6 weeks more of your item being locked out of the market by eBay.. maybe your buyer will pay, maybe they won't. Maybe they'll come up with some way to get all their money back, even the deposit, just like buyers can back out of nearly any purchase and get the seller to pay shipping for a "free rental" today.

And it adds 2-6 more weeks of stressing out over what is already giving some sellers night sweats.. especially with valuables.

If you want to buy jewelry online and pay for it later, get a credit card for pete's sake. There's an eBay one even, I bet it gives you cashback for shopping here or something.

I mean maybe I'm just in the Halloween spirit here but that just sounds awful to me. The internet is for future shopping. Pay instantly, get it instantly. You click on it and it's yours. Layaway is a mechanism for dusty old B&M shops. It doesn't even mean anything on the web. An item on "layaway" could just be holding a lower priority slot in their JIT inventory system, like a soft inventory. eBay needs layaway like the iPhone needs a coin slot.

tunicaslot · ‎10-31-2017

Right now - the only stores I see as having online layaway are Sears, Toys R Us and Kmart. When the kids were little - I used layaway at Hills all the time - but we're talking about an online venue with millions of individual sellers and each would want to have their own layaway policies. It's hard enough informing people about Ebay policies - let alone all the hassle individual layaway policies would cause.

You might have buyers deciding not to take an item because they found it cheaper on Black Friday at their Walmart B&M - whereby the seller has pulled that item out of the inventory as it's supposedly sold.

Not a good idea in my opinion - if you want layaway - go to a B&M - better yet start a Xmas Club and then you'll be able to pay cash when you start shopping.

emerald40 · ‎10-31-2017

@omgitlightsup wrote:
It sounds absolutely horrifying to me.

It would extend the process of selling an item by some arbitrary amount of time.. months maybe?

And so 2-6 weeks more of your item being locked out of the market by eBay.. maybe your buyer will pay, maybe they won't. Maybe they'll come up with some way to get all their money back, even the deposit, just like buyers can back out of nearly any purchase and get the seller to pay shipping for a "free rental" today.

And it adds 2-6 more weeks of stressing out over what is already giving some sellers night sweats.. especially with valuables.

If you want to buy jewelry online and pay for it later, get a credit card for pete's sake. There's an eBay one even, I bet it gives you cashback for shopping here or something.

I mean maybe I'm just in the Halloween spirit here but that just sounds awful to me. The internet is for future shopping. Pay instantly, get it instantly. You click on it and it's yours. Layaway is a mechanism for dusty old B&M shops. It doesn't even mean anything on the web. An item on "layaway" could just be holding a lower priority slot in their JIT inventory system, like a soft inventory. eBay needs layaway like the iPhone needs a coin slot.

Sellers do it with multiples, I am sure they are not tying up one of a kind items.

And if he makes some payments and does not finish, they are non refundable and you still have the item.

And get a credit card - easier said than done if you do not have a good enough credit history.

I work a Christmas job. I cannot tell you how many parents are so greatful that they can put a little money down each week, and then collect the toys they put away. So many could not afford to do it otherwise.

emerald40 · ‎10-31-2017

@tunicaslot wrote:
Right now - the only stores I see as having online layaway are Sears, Toys R Us and Kmart. When the kids were little - I used layaway at Hills all the time - but we're talking about an online venue with millions of individual sellers and each would want to have their own layaway policies. It's hard enough informing people about Ebay policies - let alone all the hassle individual layaway policies would cause.

You might have buyers deciding not to take an item because they found it cheaper on Black Friday at their Walmart B&M - whereby the seller has pulled that item out of the inventory as it's supposedly sold.

Not a good idea in my opinion - if you want layaway - go to a B&M - better yet start a Xmas Club and then you'll be able to pay cash when you start shopping.

As I said it is another tool in a sellers bag to move merchandise.

And the seller keeps the money you paid on it already for his troubles.

And I remember my mom and grandma having Christmas clubs for our Hanukkah gifts.