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I stopped accepting them last week because every week one fool bounces a check but on the flip side, 3 or 4 (or more) come through with flying colors. Do members who use checks have credit cards also or do you think that's the only way they can pay. Do you accept checks at your site ?
Most of the refunds I get are cheque revokes.
I don't accept checks.
When I did, for a few months, 60%-80% would come back and I got tired of paying the fees for their return and the "customer" having free access the whole time.
I don't know anyone who accepts checks and doesn't get a hight number of bounces. Affiliates don't like that either.
I do however accept 900# and SMS pay by the minute
Ya I had a problem with people bouncing checks, I stooped taking them. It just really pissed me off that like after a week the check would come back. I think allot of people know they can take advantage of the check situation and look for sites that accept them. As I look at it now if a person dose not even have a bank card they are not worth the trouble.
due to all revokes, I also stoped accepting checks
same story here, at least 60% of all cheques bounce and the fees that you get charged for a bounced cheque plus the cost of having those buggers leeching off your site for free far outweighs any benefits.
cheers,
Luke
you would think that in this day of computers and information technology that the banking system would be able to authorize payments in real time. unfortunately ACH is a little behind. :(
I'd still rather have 75% of something than 100% of nothing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Huskyhunks
Probably 25% (off the top of my head) of our check payments are returned. However, looking at our overall revenue from checks we are not yet willing to remove online checks as a payment option.
I agree with haganxy that in this day and age, it is ridiculous processors cannot verify these transactions in real time and still take several days to verify ACH funds...
Shit, wouldn't you just know it. I just checked our main account and two checks were just returned tonight :(
So that spurred me to check some recent stats. Over the last 90 days 28.5% of check payments were returned. Yes it pisses me off that those thieves gained access for free. However, that leaves 71.5% that went through and the way I see it, it's revenue we and our affiliates wouldn't have seen otherwise.
I think part of the reason that there are so many bad checks is that some surfers have figured out (just as with chargebacks) that there's really no downside to writing bad checks or charging back purchases... the webmasters almost never come after them.
To change that perception, AJ and I have been considering starting a very aggressive collection operation for our own collection of bad check writers (which isn't *that* large comparitively, maybe 28-33%) and perhaps even the people that do bogus chargebacks. If we did it, and it worked, we would probably offer it as a sideline service to other webmasters.
One of the problems we've had with CCBill, who apparently uses WTS, is that they've been known to accept checks from customers like "Mickey Mouse" with obviously phony addresses. I don't know if they even check the ABA routing system to see if it's a good ABA number.
I'm told Electracash's fraud screening is much better. We'll see, as we're in the process of getting signed up for it. If that works, meaning they can verify a valid name and address, then we'll have their correct contact information, so even if the check does bounce, at least it's more likely we're dealing with a real person.
In my other (non-adult) businesses, I've typically had really good luck collecting on payables and bad checks... it's really just a game of letting people know that you're serious and will enter the records into Telecheck and their credit files... and tacking a large enough bad check fee on top of the membership fee that makes them take notice.
One thought that's occurred to me (haven't tried it) is to add a giant statement on the join-by-check page, something like "We aggressively pursue check fraud. By using a check as payment, you agree that if your check is returned for any reason, you will pay a collection fee of $50 plus the face value of the check. If we have to pursue legal action, you will be responsible for all legal fees. If the check is not made good within 10 business days of notice to you, we will report the delinquency to your credit report and to Telecheck and Chex Systems, and aggressively pursue all legal means of collection."
Of course, you don't necessarily have to join those services or do those things, but the mere thought that it *might* happen is probably enough to scare away many would-be thieves, in the same way a fake "This house protected by _______ alarm company" sticker will scare away a lot of thieves.
:yeah: That sounds like a good plan to me, the bad check thing really piss me off I would love if my processing company would go after them. You can not use a bad check and get away with for anything else I don’t see why we should be the exemption.
We dont accept checks for access to the Condom Cash sites for the same reasons stated above, to much fraud involved with them.
Regards,
Lee
Two interesting things from Verotel,
"Verotel Glue
Verotel Glue will allow an end-user to renew his membership at a discounted rate at the point of cancellation by offering him/her a discount for staying on as a member. This feature will increase the average duration of a membership and thus the bottomline of most web-masters. This customer retention feature should go live within the next 2 months and we expect it will reduce your total number of cancellations and improve your profitability.
Double Check
This product has been tested extensively and is ready to go live within 2 weeks. With Double Check, the merchant can request additional information for an online check transaction (driver's license) Although this will result in lower signups from online check (direct debit) the reversals from this product will be much lower. Each merchant has different needs, and depending on those needs you can implement double check on your site or remain with the current direct debit product."
Maybe this will help in the check department. I will probably try it out.
I like the Verotel Glue I think I will offer a 14.95 price do you guys think that’s too low from 24.95 to 14.95?
Quote:
Originally Posted by maxpower
This doesnt' sound like anything different from the cancel discounts that ccbill has offered for years, unless I'm missing something.
As for your specific question, I look at it this way: If the member is otherwise going to cancel, you generally need to do something compelling to get him to stay. In my book, if you can get him to stay on for $15/month, you're still making major bank, and it's a strong enough incentive that it might actually convert a decent number of cancellations.
If you're a numbers geek, you might try a week or two with it at $10 discount and a week or two at $5 or something and just see if you notice a significant difference... if not, then switch to the $5 discount.
That's weird. I've cancelled dozens of memberships over the last 8 years (alot with CCBill) or so and only 1 time have I ever been asked to join at a discounted rate and that was with Adult Check like in 1999.
Charles,Quote:
Originally Posted by Huskyhunks
A lot of program owners dont set it up thats why, you'd be suprised the amount of things program owners dont take in to consideration when desigining thier sites and member transactions.
The really interesting thing i have found is that by taking the extra time to get these additional things setup, you are going to make more money in both the short term and long term.
I cant count the amount of times ive gone to a new sponsors gay site and seen how secure the members area was only to find they didnt have something as a simple 401 error page setup for unathorized user/pass combos or even a basic 404 page like the one we use at http://www.condom404.com
Another thing a lot of site owners dont do, is take the time to create custom join pages like we have on Condom Cash it takes all of 5 minutes to get them setup and it boosts sales by a good 15-25%
Regards,
Lee
Thank sounds like a good idea I will try that in a few weeks. Hey what do you think the big benefit that ccbill offers? They charge per transaction about the same as verotel, they have a really large start-up fees ECT. I really spend most of my money now on content provides, I really can not just waist money with a processing company when I don’t have too. I also like that Verotel is outside the US, like my hosting company, makes me sleep a little better at night. I know they are a bit ahead of some of the other processing companies as far as a few extra services, but so would anyone that charges as much as they do.Quote:
Originally Posted by boyfunk
Quote:
Originally Posted by maxpower
CCBill charges nothing to set up your account. If you choose to accept Visa, they, like every other legitimate US processor, charge a $750 fee for high risk registration with Visa. It's required by Visa regulations for all high-risk merchants in the US.
If you think that having your servers outside the US and your processing outside the US will in any way shield you from US regulations if you are yourself in the US, you're quite mistaken. The only bulletproof way to not be subject to US laws is to not physically (your body) be in the US. Otherwise, they'll basically follow the money.
Verotel seems stable, and some people seem to really like them. We don't currently use them, but I've heard very mixed reports as far as responsiveness and quality of support.
CCBill, on the other hand, is fabulous. Whether I call at 10AM or at 3AM, the first person who answers the phone is almost always able to answer my question correctly and/or to resolve my problem quickly. They are meticulous about following Visa regulations, which means they are much more likely to be around in the long term. (No bad words about Epoch; I've had nothing but good experiences with them as well.)
Also, if you're not doing cascading billing, CCBill's affiliate program is the best in the business in my book... total no-brainer for you, they do all the work, you don't pay anything for it, and it's respected by affiliates as being honest and reliable.
Verotel is a perfectly fine processor, I just feel like the service and support we get from CCBill makes it worthwhile for us to stay with them. And in the grand scheme of things, the high risk registration fee should be a pretty small drop in the bucket once your program gets to a decent size.
Well Verotel is really easy to get a hold of they have a live chat service as well that you can talk to someone almost 24/7. BTW I am not worried about current regulations in the US its the unknown future that worries me most. I just really don’t see why paying an extra 750+$ to them will give me anything, and a willingness to follow any new regulations or whims that visa or anyone else come up with is not a big + in my book, but I am kinda a freak that way. Maybe when my site gets bigger I will give them a second look but I will always keep my Verotel account as at least a back-up. Thax for your insights though man