Receiving Payments

I've signed up for PayPal and understand the fees involved, though I am unsure of how to link this with my site so that if I have an animal up for sale, someone can pay for it through Paypal. I also want to offer other payment types. With cashiers check and money order, those are sent by mail, correct? And when I cash them (I plan on setting up a bank account specifically for my snake breeding hobby) is the money instantly available or do they put holds on it? Do they do this for personal checks?

The reason I worry about checks is that a few years ago, we went to cash a check and it cleared the bank. We waited an additional week just to make sure the funds stayed put. After a week, the funds were there and we began using the money for little things..gas here...lunch there...a candy bar here...Then we noticed we were in the negative for a lot of money. While this account for my snakes will not be used like this, what is an acceptable wait time when you deposit a check from a customer to make sure the funds are not going to bounce back and you not have your money? I wouldn't want to receive a personal check, deposit it, send the animal and then have the funds bounce. So for cashiers check, money orders, and personal checks, how long should you wait after receiving the check and depositing it, if you wait at all, to ship the animal(s)?

I don't spend anything until I know the customer is happy with the animal and my guarantee period is done.

You can also call the bank that the funds are drawn against to make sure the check can be covered.

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I definitely would not be spending any of the money unless I new the customer was happy with his/her purchase! But how long is your guarantee period? Most of the ones I see are only a 24 hour guarantee. That check we put into the bank had the funds available for a full week before the other bank decided "Nope, you can't have this" and pulled it, causing us to fall into the negative.


Sorry, I'm putting my terms of service together and I just came up with another question. What should you do if the animal arrives dead (of course this is if the animal was received on the first delivery attempt. If no one is there to receive, then obviously the live guarantee is void)? Do you have them ship it back to you for confirmation? If so, what if they are not certified to ship? Do you make them pay for it? Do you pay for it?

I've never sold animals over the internet before and I'm just trying to figure out what I should do, should these things arise.

I personally wouldnt worry about checks, with the paypal (that most people have already) they can also draft monies from their checking/savings to your paypal account. Just remember to figure in all the fees paypal is going to charge you;)

I did read about the fees. $0.30 per transaction plus up to 2.9% right? As the seller, I'll absorb that.

Oh, and since today is a "Get your stuff together" day, I'm also setting up a FedEx account so I can become certified to ship. When making the account, should I opt to set it up as a business account? I read before that FedEx does not allow for shipping reptiles to individual persons, you have to "send it to another business". When you ship you have to put "Insert Person's name" Reptiles on the label instead of just their name to make it look like its a business. Is this true?

Sorry for all the questions. I finally got a day to just sit down and start working on a temporary website and start getting stuff together for becoming certified. So I've got a lot of questions on how to get it done. Thanks to you two for helping. :D

Personal checks can be returned for up to a year after they have clear for reasons of fraud, Many banks these days have converted to the "check 21" automated clearing system so funds availability status is known sooner, like with in two business days.

Certified funds like cashiers check or teller checks once issued can't be recalled. Due to the fact that they must be drawn on collected funds or cash. Many banks require the buyer of the item (check) to purchase an indemnity bond to even report it lost, and even then the item may only be re issued and not refunded.

Money orders are the most counterfeited negotiable item in the banking world and as such many banks treat them more carefully.

You can request that a personal check be sent for collection and not processed through the normal channels, but fee may apply.

As to whether the bank will put holds on personal checks or Money orders is going to depend on your relationship and history with the bank, bank balance, ect.

Since cashiers checks are drawn on certified funds it limits the type of holds the Fed allows the bank to place on the item. I want to say 3 days is the max they can hold the funds buy law and thats only for a new account status any more than that and it is against the Fed's Reg CC limits of Expected funds availability laws. Also the notice of the hold must be given at the time of deposit other wise the hold must be released and any fee's refunded and all outstanding items paid with in the account balance..

Only payment methods i accept for snake sales is Cash,USPS Money order or Cashiers checks.

The USPS Money orders are checked and verified at the office and cashed there up to 1,000 per money order, if they have it in the drawer. Cashiers checks i call the issuing bank to verify the numbers all match up and are legit. Once that is good, i deposit the check and wait for it to clear and then your good to go.

Im moving away from paypal as they have ripped me off over the years and im not the first one this has happened to. So i no longer accept them for any reptile sale, only supplies.

Unless it is someone I know or have delt with in the past, I don't ship till the money is clear. Once that happens it's off to the races. Remember that a check isn't anything more than a promise to negotiate(transfer) monies from one party to the other and as such isn't considered a completed payment until the check has cleared the issuing person bank.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Unless it is someone I know or have delt with in the past, I don't ship till the money is clear. Once that happens it's off to the races. Remember that a check isn't anything more than a promise to negotiate(transfer) monies from one party to the other and as such isn't considered a completed payment until the check has cleared the issuing person bank.

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One reason I dont accept Personal Checks, as there is a lot of shady people out there.

Any answers to my questions on the FedEx account and what to do if the animal is dead on arrival? I promise no more questions....at least for today.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

One reason I dont accept Personal Checks, as there is a lot of shady people out there.

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My years as a banker and My wifes continuing bank employment have given me a healthy respect for electronic payment or EFT.. I've seen some pretty crazy things over the years.. People almost losing their house because their boss wrote them a hot check..

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

Any answers to my questions on the FedEx account and what to do if the animal is dead on arrival? I promise no more questions....at least for today.

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Well For one i dont deal with anyone who says their not reliable for shipping delays or mis deliveries. It happens and its a risk you as the seller have to take. If you dont then dont ship snakes and you wont have to deal with it.

Any doa i may encounter(hope i dont) i expect a call from the buyer within 6 hours with video or photos verifying. Only time its not the sellers fault is if the package was left outside or not signed for on first attempt.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

My years as a banker and My wifes continuing bank employment have given me a healthy respect for electronic payment or EFT.. I've seen some pretty crazy things over the years.. People almost losing their house because their boss wrote them a hot check..

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Paypal ruined that aspect for me, so im moving away from paypal slowly to only taking certain methods. Wire transfers im not to sure i want to include as a preferred method yet or not. Still need to read up on that aspect to see if its easier or not.

My FedEx question was about whether or not to set up the account as a business account since it gives me that option.

Thank you all for your help!

i believe only businesses are allowed to be certified for reptile shipping. may be wrong on that one.

I believe anyone can be certified. The certified process is not too terribly lengthy but you do have to send them off a dud package to test. They test it and then if you pass you are certified. I accept, cash/money order, check, paypal for the time being. But I am moving away from pp as well. Checks/ money orders there's a 10 day clearance. People are told that directly up front. This is per what my bank told me to wait even though funds are available to me next day after deposit they aren't touched till confirmation of live arrival and confirmation of the order. For large purchases I wait until after my 14 day health guarantee. Just in case. DOAs (never had one yet) need to be claimed within 2 hours of delivery. Photos/video is acceptable proof but they need to show the distinct markings of the animal to confirm it's the same one. I then would investigate If the claim is valid/non valid. Basically i confirm delivery/nondelivery w/ Fedex. I also ask for pictures of the packaging. If it's a valid claim ie: my animal, my fault, bad packaging, natural weather problems to have caused the doa I will replace the animal, shipping on me, If I cannot replace refund is absolutely in order.
Hopefully this helps.
Morgan

Ok. One more question. How do you confirm death of the animal from pictures?

Pattern

Yep I'd ask for specific pictures like head neck area and overall body.

No. Like how do you tell the snake is.actually dead. I don't think you could tell if it was dead from just a photo. It would kind of suck if someone was trying to.con you by stating the snake was dead and wanted a refund when the snake was actually alive.

Itsn ot hard at all to tell a snake is dead from a picture. If for some reason it is, have him hold the snake on a pen/stick and youll know that way too

Have them lay the snake on its side....completely straight....


Pretty simple... Hard to fake that... Go grab a snake...see if u can stretch it out and lay it on its side haha