X-Cart forums

[kevinperson]

Hello,

I've been thinking a lot about getting the BSC preorder/backorder mod because obviously it's a very important tool to have for your shopping cart, but I was curious how "awkward" is it to use since we don't store CC data? Just how exactly do you go about contacting the customer and charging them for the pre-order?

Basically I'm asking for any advice, guidance, or past experiences from those who use this mod - I'm trying to understand for myself the step by step process of taking the pre-order and then contacting the customer once the product has arrived and charging them. It just feels strange to me since the majority of on-line sites just charge when the item ships - they never contact you for payment info. I'm concered of losing customer confidence by adding an unsual (or at least to me) step to the transaction.

Has anyone come up with a process they can share?

Any help would be very appreciated and enthusiastically received.

Thanks and take care,
Kevin

[gb2world]

I have used BSC preorder/backorder mod, then made mods to it to make the price a 30% deposit for preorders. The orders with preordered items stay in a preorder status until they arrive. We have set up a "Pay a Balance" product in the cart. When the preordered item is delivered, the customer is sent a link to the "Pay A Balance" product, where they can enter the amount they owe. They may also be sent a coupon or a special offer to attempt to get them to add more items to their cart while they are paying their balance. I can PM you a link to the customer front end if you want to take a look.

[balinor]

Moving to Third Party Add-Ons

[CultTVman]

Basically, I use the Preorder/Backorder mod to reserve items and I don't collect payment at check out. I ask customers to choose "Preorder - Payment at a later date" at the time of check out.

When the product is close to shipping, I contact customers to submit payment. I created a duplictate item, with the product name of "PAYMENT FOR xxxx". I make it a hidden item and include the URL in the email I send the customer.

This has eliminated a lot of problems. I don't have to worry about storing credit card info, dealing with expired cards, and it has virtually eliminated chargeback issues. It has eliminated problems of customers not knowing of they have paid someone or not.

If a customer does choose the wrong payment method, I politely email them that I am not currently accepting payment for the item and their credit card charge will be canceled or Pay Pal refunded. I also let them know the item is still reserved for them.

I end up with about 10% of the preorders not submitting payment, but I can deal with that.

You can check out my site and see how I handle the preorders at www.culttvmanshop.com

Hope that helps
Steve

[Pyro]

I do not mean to hijack this thread or anything, but maybe you could point something out to me. If someone is pre-ordering something, isn't it typically custom to collect full payment and then ship it once its in? What is the benefit to attempting to collect payment later on?

[philrisk]

I guessing this would work if you use epdq mpi payment gateway so that you can process the card payment when you are ready to despatch the order.

[SoapLady]

I use the BCSE Preorder/Backorder mod, but mostly for backordered items. I process cards manually (don't go through a gateway), so I have their credit card information and when the item is back in stock I charge the credit card and ship out the backordered items.

I tried doing it so there was "no charge" in the shopping cart, but that didn't work well because I had to go back and manually figure out what they should pay based on the quantity and price of the items.

I do find that it was somewhat "clunky" to enter the information of what products are backordered and I had some trouble with it until I realized that the quantity in stock has to be 0 in order for the backorder module to kick in.

All in all, it's been a very helpful mod.

[hoosierglass]

Originally Posted by Pyro

I do not mean to hijack this thread or anything, but maybe you could point something out to me. If someone is pre-ordering something, isn't it typically custom to collect full payment and then ship it once its in? What is the benefit to attempting to collect payment later on?

Check the terms and conditions for your merchant account. Most if not all true merchant accounts do not allow for this and is terms for termination of services.