BillMeLater

Share your experiences as a merchant

[bakedjake]

Any merchants with thoughts or experiences on BillMeLater?

How is consumer understanding and acceptance?

Is settlement different from normal credit card transactions?

How is abandonment if they aren't approved for the service? What percentage are you able to recover and will use a credit card and complete the sale if they are declined for BillMeLater?

Any other thoughts or experiences you can share would be helpful.

[bwnbwn]

Sure would like to hear some input here myself as I have as well wondered about this myself.

[HugeNerd]

Looked into BillMeLater a few years ago and decided against it, just didn't feel right. In fact, it seems comparable to sub-prime housing loans -- extending credit to people who may not even qualify for a charge card...

Also, not that you should jump off a bridge just because everyone else is, but Amazon dropped BillMeLater as a payment option earlier this year.

[bakedjake]

Amazon dropped BillMeLater

I think that's more political, as eBay bought BillMeLater. ;-)

it seems comparable to sub-prime housing loans

Moral issues aside, this is why I asked about settlement differences. If they settle in the same way that credit cards do (entire amount upfront minus some percentage), then there is no risk to my business.

[CernyM]

Last time I checked, BillMeLater was focusing on larger accounts.

Do they have an offering for the small and mid-market now?

[bakedjake]

BillMeLater was focusing on larger accounts

My understanding is the same; assume I qualify.

[HugeNerd]

I think that's more political, as eBay bought BillMeLater. ;-)

Well, that's a horse of a different color. I only saw the messages on Seller Central and never bothered to research it. That's my one new thing learned for today!

According to the marketing material they provided me when they made their presentation (2+ years ago now) they claim that BillMeLater bears all credit and collections risk for authorized transactions and that the transactions are, from the Merchant standpoint, identical to credit cards.

The other 20+ pages in the packet all seem to involve how much better their conversion rate is, how there is less fraud, etc. true marketing and sales material.

Personally, BML doesn't sit right with me. It seems shady, somehow. Granted, I've never used their services as a consumer or a merchant, so my feeling entirely unqualified. However, I honestly do not know a single consumer/retail customer who uses it (...by this I mean personal acquaintances) and our wholesale side extends credit directly, so no use for it there.

[Trucker]

I used to think BillMeLater was just another way to get money from people who don't have any. I've had a little attitude adjustment since I had an occasion where I needed to use it.

I wanted to order some flowers online for my wife, but I didn't want her to see the charge on our debit card. The BML option worked great. She was surprised to get the flowers, and I've paid BML with a wire payment from our checking account.

[HugeNerd]

but I didn't want her to see the charge on our debit card.

Well, that's actually a usage for BML that I had never considered! Good call, Trucker.

Granted, no one (I hope!) really gives our widgets as gifts, so such a usage would most likely not benefit me personally. Still, it's a way I had considered using their services.