Pre-orders with deposit and discount

[martinkay]

Hi all

Hope someone can give me a pointer as to the best way to achieve the following in V8. I have a store that has the facility for people to pre-order items that are not yet available. At the moment I just invite people to click the "buy now" button which is changed to read "pre-order" for items with stock of zero, I take their card details and - in theory - take their payment and send the product out when it is available (often some months later).

Usually it's fine but in practice some people are abusing this service by cancelling or "forgetting they ordered it", and in one case this week rejecting it on delivery (even when reminded the week before that it was coming - "sorry I didn't check my email" - so that's wasted delivery costs too) - either they found the product cheaper somewhere else or found something else to spend their money on. The biggest problem is caused by cancelled orders pre-paid via Paypal which can't be refunded after 60 days without having to incur double Paypal fees.

So instead I'd like to get people to properly commit to buy, by paying a non-refundable deposit of 25% when they order, in return for which they get a discount of 5% on the total price when it is despatched. Pre-ordering is a help to me as I can assess the right levels of stock to get in but it's useless if people subsequently cancel.

I'm thinking that I would list pre-order items separately with a separate product reference, and copy them to the main shop section with their regular product ID (and adjusting to standard pricing) when they become "live". But I'm not sure how to set up the deposit and discount settings for these pre-order items. Any suggestions, or even ideas for another way to tackle this?

Cheers
Martin

[jont]

paying a non-refundable deposit of 25% when they order

I don't think you can do that as they still have the same rights under the Distance Selling Regs.. they can cancel at any time even after receiving the items to be returned as not required.

If I was looking for a product and it was not in stock I would not leave a deposit unless it was for something on pre-release (latest PlayStation etc) and then only with a known, big brand site / store. I would still expect a refund if not required. If it was for a "normal" item I would look elsewhere rather than leaving a deposit - especially if they asked for a non-refundable deposit. I don't know what products you are referring to but the concept still stands for the vast majority of stuff I buy online.

You could consider using the credit card details captured for processing later and then once the goods are in stock you contact them and see if the want it - only shipping once you have the approval. They can still cancel the order at any point so if you buy stock in you are stuck with it.

Another option, which I do on a product where demand always outstrips supply, is to simply ask people to register their requirements and I then contact them with a link to the product to give them the first bite of the cake before general release... again this may not be suitable for your products. If they register then get the pre-release price.

[leehack]

I agree with Jonty, you want to set up rules that you cannot by law. Pre-ordering is problematic except in specific marketplaces, i think you are much better off giving expected dates of arrival as the extra business pre ordering brings in, is often cancelled out by the problems you have stated.

Don't ever get the illusion that you are in control and make up the rules on these things - i assure you that is not the case.

If the product is due in, i would take full payment and my T&C's would state that delivery charges are non-refundable unless we were notified before despatch of a requirement to cancel the order. Protect yourself on the shipping costs and that's all about you can do.

[martinkay]

Ah, those darned Distance Selling Regs. For sure they are a good protection for the customer but some customers really do take advantage. The items are Scalextric cars and sets. I think I will have to do the "subscribe to get first bite of the cherry" option in that case; I have a newsletter that can ask people to register a specific interest (e.g. Lewis Hamilton, Rally cars etc.) so I can still gauge demand from that - maybe put a voucher for a discount in the newsletter - and actually not take any formal pre-orders at all. I definitely need to do the thing about non-refundable shipping though as at £10+ a pop for larger items these couriers aren't cheap, especially if I have to pay to fetch the item back again...

[leehack]

A discount code in a newsletter would be a very good idea IMO.

I would also run a 'send me a reminder 2 weeks before it is due in' kind of service or incorporate this into the newsletter also.