Clients Purchasing Through You

[mattc]

Hi all,

I know this is a bit outside the scope of Actinic community forum, but seeing as you all probably come across this in one way or another (that and I don't really participate on any other forums) I thought i'd get your opinions.

What is the best way of getting your clients to purchase things, or rather you purcahse them on their behalf?

An example would be broadband. Would you simply ask your client for their credit card details and enter them on the website on their behalf? Is that even legal?

What about a domain - your client needs to own the domain. What if you don't want to resell it but want them to make the initial purchase so that they are the legal owner etc? Do you buy it and then invoice them for it?

I'd be interested to hear how you all deal with this issue.

[pinbrook]

Depends on the item ..

Personally I'd never buy broadband on behalf of a client - they should really do this themselves so they are the acct holder for support etc, monthly billing becomes an issue too

Most other stuff i give clients the choice, some prefer you to buy for them, others prefer to do it themselves

domains are quite simple, you can buy on their behalf , register it in their name, use a registrar with CP, then you just need to bill the client every 2 years for renewal.

[malbro]

What is the best way of getting your clients to purchase things, or rather you purcahse them on their behalf?

An example would be broadband. Would you simply ask your client for their credit card details and enter them on the website on their behalf? Is that even legal?

In general terms, offer your clients a service, for hosting domain name purchase etc, but definitely not the broadband connection. They can either pay you for the service and will expect you to handle the problems or pay for it themselves and deal with the problems. I see it as a part of a value added service to the client if they want it.