Cactus seed payment

[conolady]

HI,

It would be very difficult marrying up so many PayPal transactions with orders. The BCSS single PayPal account currently receives orders for publications including back issues, badges, labels etc. etc. There are also at the time that seed orders would be going through, all the subscription renewals not to mention new memberships. Added to this is the fact that the Seed distributors do not have access to the PayPal data and so it would have to be relayed to them by the Treasurer or Membership Secretary neither of whom want additional work at this time of the year.

Inevitably if it was a universal option members would pay for more than one thing on their transaction, membership renewals, seeds, the odd publication and identifying seed payments would be very time consuming.

Making a cheque out and forwarding it with the order to the seed distributor does not result in a delay of the order being processed as nothing is sent out before Christmas.

Hope that explains the current situation.

Suzanne.
Member of the Board of Trustees

Thanks, Suzanne. Can you tell us, as nothing is posted until after Christmas, if the seed distribution is handled on a first come first served basis, or if everything is put into a hat, so to speak, and randomised? This strikes me as a very fair way of solving most postal delay/problems. I have asked this question in another topic here and not been answered, except by one person who wasn't sure.

[iann]

The system was changed (last year, year before?) from effectively first-come, first-serviced (with rationing of obviously popular items) to an attempt to distribute seeds more fairly amongst everyone that wants them. Fewer people should miss out, they won't necessarily be those that send their orders in a little later, but nothing now goes out until after Christmas.

P.S. It is now illegal to add a surcharge for most payment methods, including Paypal and credit cards. There are exceptions for some business-to-business transactions and some less common payment types. Although the rules are generally explained as applying to "businesses", I think this includes organisations such as the BCSS.

[conolady]

Thanks for that, Iann. That's very clear.

Re the surcharge issue being illegal. I'm surprised (and pleased) to read this because I have often been asked to add such a surcharge when paying by Paypal.

[ragamala]

Thanks for that, Iann. That's very clear.

Re the surcharge issue being illegal. I'm surprised (and pleased) to read this because I have often been asked to add such a surcharge when paying by Paypal.

Indeed this is commonplace.

As I understand it this is due to EU law "The ban on credit and debit card surcharges is effective across the EU from Saturday 13th January 2018, and will apply to all purchases made where the banks of the consumer and retailer are within the EEA. In the vast majority of other circumstances surcharges are capped at the cost to the retailer for processing the payment. The UK Government took the decision to also include other payment methods such as PayPal in the ban to further protect consumers." (www.gov.uk)

Get your orders in before March!

Obviously the only effect can be, if suppliers obey the law, that ordering be no longer possible through Paypal or prices are hiked for non-EU countries.

[jpp13]

Hello,

I received the Journal yesterday and would like to order seeds.
How to pay with Paypal?
Thanks in advance.

Jean Pierre

[conolady]

Hello,

I received the Journal yesterday and would like to order seeds.
How to pay with Paypal?
Thanks in advance.

Jean Pierre

I've hunted around the site and I can't see either! I believe that the BCSS only has one PayPal account so presumably you can use that email address.

I have no idea why someone running this site hasn't answered your question.

[jpp13]

I've hunted around the site and I can't see either! I believe that the BCSS only has one PayPal account so presumably you can use that email address.

I have no idea why someone running this site hasn't answered your question.

Thanks for help!
Jean-Pierre

[Chez2]

I've been reading this thread with interest.

With regard to matching payments to orders, its similar to receiving payment for an invoice in a business. We have to trawl through our bank account matching payments to customers and invoices, Quickbooks software helps with this process.

Members could add their membership number to the order and payment and they could be matched this way. If the order and payment were done on line together this wouldn't be necessary.

It has been mentioned that Paypal adds costs. What about the time and money for someone to take the cheques to the bank to deposit them? Are there no bank charges for paying in cheques? A lot of banks charge more for handling cheques or cash, depending how many you submit. All our payments are BACS so our business still has free banking, no charges at all.

Is the new website going to deal with memberships and seed orders or is something else needed to make life easier for the people who run this for us?

[Paul D]

There are ways to automate paypal payments using e.g. Actinic or other webshop software, and integration of this with membership databases, removing most of the legwork. Getting a system like that is expensive but is the way forward. Less human error in matching up, not more! Most people don't use cheques any more, and lots of banks are stopping them- my own one no longer guarantees payment.
Also It is a 16 mile round trip for me to post a cheque.

[el48tel]

There are ways to automate paypal payments using e.g. Actinic or other webshop software, and integration of this with membership databases, removing most of the legwork. Getting a system like that is expensive but is the way forward. Less human error in matching up, not more! Most people don't use cheques any more, and lots of banks are stopping them- my own one no longer guarantees payment.
Also It is a 16 mile round trip for me to post a cheque.

Banks would like to think that they will stop cheques but that will not happen. Banks forget that customers walk.
As for paying in cheques .... many banks are entering arrangements with the Post Office. Lose the Post Office and lose the village ... and I speak with experience.