Immediate payment required
I have problems where customers make a purchase but then don't make payment for it (despite contact from me).
Would it be possible that a buyer has to make payment before the sale is made? I am unsure why this is a 2 stage process on Folksy. I am thinking along the lines of eBay's 'immediate payment required' functionality.

We have implemented this using PayPal Express checkout
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lucyeabrams commented
I get this all the time. It is very frustrating. PLEASE can you change this Folksy so that an order is only an order once it has been paid for. I cannot go into a shop and "purchase" something without paying for it. Why is it different here? I waste a lot of time chasing people, and it is very embarrassing. Please change this.
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coatimundi51 commented
My customers usually get back to me and eventually pay one way or the other. The system works fine for me and I think it's very selfish for people to seek to change things for their own convenience. How about voting for the reduction of the time before you can cancel instead?
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jo.cliff commented
I had 13 items removed from my shop yesterday as 3 different people had bought and not paid, it is really frustrating.
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Jan Callow commented
Yes there needs to be the option to mark an item as paid. So it can be cleared off our order lists.
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Lizzie commented
Having an item both "sold" and "unsold" opens a huge can of worms. I make one-off items and usually couldn't make a duplicate; if I had an item still available for purchase, after someone had agreed to buy, then a second buyer came and paid for it immediately, I'd have a problem. It's not ethical or good business to keep an item for sale, when it is technically sold, even if not yet paid for.
I do appreciate that it's an issue for some sellers, but I don't think this suggestion would work; if a sale is agreed with the buyer and they are due to pay by cheque / bank transfer, then there should be a period during which they must pay, or the order would be cancelled by the seller.
The option to cancel sales immediately is now planned by Support. This should help us sort out unpaid orders more quickly. If a buyer will accept payment by cheque or bank transfer, then they must also be prepared to accept the delay that goes with this kind of payment option. Otherwise, payment should be required by Paypal only. -
jo.cliff commented
I agree, I have so many unpaid sales and it is really annoying.
I hope folksy will look into this as it will put all the stress out of thinking you have sold an item and waiting and waiting and waiting for the payment to come... which it doesn't in most cases where the seller doesn't pay straight away. -
Bernie Watts commented
I am very new to selling on Folksy but already have a problem with 4 items being in "basket limbo" despite contacting the buyer. Immediate payment would be a sensible idea.
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Lizzie commented
I didn't realise that the process is two-stage! Now I think about it though, it is possible to drop out of the checkout process part-way through, so an item might remain "in my basket", without me paying for it. If I can do that, anyone buying from my shop can also do it... not an idea to fill me with joy!
I agree that a sale should require payment immediately, or else the item be returned to sale. It should not be possible that it ends up in a sort of Basket Limbo, because someone has dropped out during the checkout process. If that process doesn't complete within a reasonable time (say 10-30 minutes), the sale should automatically cancel and re-list the product, as it was before the purchase attempt commenced. A small delay would allow for problems where a buyer's online session drops out and they have to login again, but it would stop items being unavailable to others when a buyer changes their mind.
At this time of year especially, it's not very fair on sellers, if a customer can stick an item in their basket, but not pay for it - thereby leaving it unavailable to other buyers, but also not sold. -
hbceramics commented
I agree with this, I have had several unpaid orders and its frustrating that the item disappears off sale for 24 hours. Its a very strange system, in other on line shops the item stays for sale until paid for.
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tina chi home commented
yes, i got the same problem like Jen manuel got ,