Mail Order & E-commerce shoppers. A question.

I ran this buy Dave, to make sure it was ok, and he's signed off on it.

I need a little help, and your input would be greatly appreciated on these questions.

For those of you that do any mail order, or web shopping, how far in advance of receiving an item, are you comfortable or willing, to place and pay for your order?

Will discounts of 10-20-30%, effect how far out you're willing to pre-order?

If you know it's a limited item, and by pre-ordering you're assured of getting that 1 plant that you've wanted forever, effect how far in advance you're willing to order?

Any thoughts and opinions on these questions are greatly appreciated.

Chris

If I were ordering in advance and had a guarantee that I would receive the exact item that I want, I would order and expect to recieve in an exchange a discount of 10% per month, 20% for 6 weeks and 30% for 2 months providing it is something that a) I do not need it immediately and the price beats anything that I can get locally or elsewhere online and b)the item is of superior quality but has comparable cost to something that I could find immediately of lesser quality.

More than 2 months might be a little weird but then I have ordered X amount of cannas from the co-op that I knew in advance I would not set 'eyes' on (lol at my own pun) until Spring. But I saved a lot of money and have time to get the beds ready.

Is that what you mean?

BT, I am reluctant to order anything online that is charged long before it is shipped. I do most of my shopping on the web, btw.

I might have a different view on a plant I really want, though.

i will order up to 2 month before the product is due as long as i am not billed till it is actaully sent. that way i know if it doesnt come in or something then i dont have to fight to get the money back. if i know the company then maybe more leaway will be given. discounts are nice when having to pre order but not always needed depending on how much i want the plant.

I do almost all of my shopping on the web too and not just plants.

If I knew that I could get any item at a discount by buying in advance, I would consider it. But then I am 1 of 3 so far!

Well, I ordered from a company this summer for fall delivery (roughly 3-4 weeks in advance.) Two of the items were not available until Spring. I was willing to order now because they won't hit me with a second shipping charge for the spring delivery AND the items were relatively inexpensive compared to other places. (I know this is awful, but since it was maybe $15 for the two shrubs so I can't tell you if they billed me now or if they said they'd bill me when they send 'em - it just wasn't enough money to look through my statement and figure out what I paid them...)

I almost always pre-order bulbs and shrubs, anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months in advance so I can be assured I'm getting what I order. I don't expect a discount if my credit card isn't charged upfront. If it is, then I'd be less likely to pre-order and if I did pre-order I'd want a discount to offset the interest I would have earned (or paid if I didn't pay the balance in full)

I've pre-ordered trees in the fall for spring delivery and have always gotten them in good shape. I've done this on trees that I really want and haven't been able to find if I wait too long. They don't charge my credit card until shipment though.

I agree about the charge to my credit card before shipping. I don't mind ordering weeks in advance as long as I am not charged before the items are shipped.

depends....
in my case as a seller, I may have 10,000 4inch pots, but there might only be 5 of one thing. In this case I would need it reserved in one way or another.

Of course I think it is false advertising to have a plant listed on a webpage, and not actually have that plant.
How hard is it to update a webpage???
My page is ever changing because my inventory is ever changing, it think it is the cost of business on the internet.... the internet price more than compensates for it.

Drew

I'm also ok with waiting 3-4 weeks to recieve a plant- providing that I know ahead of time it will be that long. Ahead of time meaning that it is posted on the website- not that I recieve an email telling me after I place my order. For a special bulb, I'd order in the fall to receive in spring.

I prefer that my card not be charged until the order is shipped. I just think that is bad business practice.

If, for some reason, my order cannot be shipped all at once, I do not want to be charged twice for shipping. Especially if I did not expect this ahead of time. Makes me pretty grumpy, and I'm highly likely not to buy from that company again.

A discount for orders placed ahead of time is a really nice touch (earns extra points from me), but I'd buy without it.

IMHO- as long as you don't spring surprises on customers, a business is OK.

Trish

"For those of you that do any mail order, or web shopping, how far in advance of receiving an item, are you comfortable or willing, to place and pay for your order?"

I am not willing to pay for an order in advance and I'm not keen on placing an order that can't be posted within the next week. It's too easy for companies to make promises, only to find themselves in stuck when the company they are relying upon for delivery of a set amount of items fail to deliver on their promise.

"Will discounts of 10-20-30%, effect how far out you're willing to pre-order?"

No, I would be highly suspicious of this kind of offer, I makes me wonder exactly what their retail mark up % is. I'd look for another supplier.

"If you know it's a limited item, and by pre-ordering you're assured of getting that 1 plant that you've wanted forever, effect how far in advance you're willing to order?"

IMHO there are very few plants that can't be obtained at another time however limited they may be right now, it would not affect my ordering at all.

Edited to say: the above sounds a bit harsh but once bitten twice shy, we were very disappointed at the time and are now very wary of what is usually thought of as a very good company.

This message was edited Oct 2, 2004 7:07 PM

I might place an order for something a few weeks in advance but I would certainly not pay until it was shipped.

I'm trusting but not that trusting.