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I have a question for people though,
'Has anyone been ripped of at a show when they have been paid by cheque and then the cheque has bounced? I often wonder about people who don't accept cards or people who want to pay by cheque and only have a cheque guarantee card for lees than the price of the bear?
Please let me know your experiences.
intrigued
Shelly 
Unless I know the customer, I am always a little worried about accepting cheques at shows and breathe a sigh of relief when a credit card is produced. Having said that, I've never yet had cheque bounce for a show bear ... although I have for mail order bears, but in all the years I've been selling, it's been a very rare occurrence.
desertmountainbearMany years ago I accepted a check from a lady at a show that bounced. I never got a return phone call from her and the bear was lost. After that experience I only accepted cash or charge cards. Unfortunately not everyone in this world is as kind and honest, I wish they were
Joanne
LuxembearsHi Shelly.
I haven't done many shows but have often wondered that same thing. You want to make a sale and if the payment is by check you can only hope for the best. I wish there were a better way.
I had an experience with a COD. I was ripped off over $1,000.00 for a combined sale of a bear and a bunny by a customer who has bought from me for a couple of years. She always liked COD...and it always worked out fine. Until the last time. Not only did her check bounce but MY bank charged me $20 for the NSF check! It's not right.
I thought COD meant Cash On Delivery....not check. When you buy a postal money order, the post office will not accept a check...so why will they accept one on behalf of a COD???
I tried to a few methods to collect this money but it never was resolved. I would suggest to everyone that you never ever send a bear COD. They either pay up front ( like everyone else buying in the retail world has to) or no bear.
I too would be interested to hear other people's experiences with checks.
Posts: 3,540I've sold one of my bears via check at a show and it cleared just fine. I wasn't set up for credit card back then at the show, so it was a do or die scenario.
Personally I love to utilize cash. If someone wants to come to a bear show, why on earth don't they carry cash?? Its no time at all to stop by the ATM to get some, and makes the transactions go smoother.
Judi, how awful that she did that to you 
:hug: I'm the same, I thought COD meant only Cash on Delivery!!!
I do take cheques..if I know the person, no problem, but if I don't I take their address and phone number..I have never had a problem but there is a first time for everything. I have set up a credit card account which is expensive but great ..and once you get a authorisation code it's in the bank..
I am sure I read somewhere that you can do Paypal by mobile phone now...I keep meaning to check that out too...
Newcastle, OntarioI did craft shows for over 20 years and bear shows for 5 years and I always accepted cheques and I never had one problem. It's interesting, the craft shows were in Ontario so they were fairly local, but my bear shows were all in the U.S. and I still never had a problem, so I do coun't myself VERY lucky. I still accept cheques, but everyone seems to have Paypal these days.
hugs,
Brenda
I've never had a problem and I do take cheques. I don't like to take them.. but if you want to sell the bear and it's at a show.. most of the people are part of the club that runs the show anyway. As for mail order I have always taken cheques and I just wait till they clear... I've never had a problem (knock on wood.. lol)
Hugs!
Melanie
Little Bear GuyWe did the Schaumburg show in April 2007 and about 80% of the sales were paid with by cheque. I was a little worried over that but you know what , all ove them cleared with no problems. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least, we do accept cheques but we try and get a CC if possible or cash.
hugs
Shane
Kran-Beary'sThe cheque that was written for the very first bear ever sold, at my very first craft show, bounced! :crackup:
Almost quit then and there about 15 years ago.
However, I became her worst nightmare, phoning everyday. I listened patiently and in the most understanding way to her many excuses... her teeth, her pnemonia, her sick kid, the broken car yadeeyadee yadddeee. I was very, very nice to her (no I'm not being sarcastic here. I was really, really nice. ) But I phoned everyday. If she wasn't home, I left a pleasant message telling her I was sorry I missed her, and looked forward to hearing from her regarding her NSF cheque and the associated fees.
About 3 weeks later she had someone drop a replacement cheque by and it cleared just fine. Guess I annoyed her to the point where she thought better of the whole thing. Luckily that person had lived in the same town as me. I would never ship to anyone out of town unless the cheque had actually cleared the account. (15 days)
I also lost $750.00 CAD to the same woman who stole Judi's bears. Sent the bears before I charged her VISA. Once she got wind that the bears were onroute, she cancelled her VISA and left me hanging with a lot of BS excuses about the card being stolen, replaced etc etc etc yadeeyadee yadddeee. I called and called, and eventually put her into collections. She just ignored them too.
Long story short, I had a $750.00 loss.
The moral of the story: Never ship without full payment... cleared and safely in your bank account.
Having said that... 99.5% of all people I've ever dealt with are completely honest and don't write bad checks or purposely try to get your bears for free. The other .5% just don't care about you or anyone else. Eventually, everyone runs into a bad customer. It's the other 99.5% that keep you going, and you write the bad ones off on your income tax. :dance:
hugs,
nt
Kingfisher Farm Teddies and Folk ArtWow what a thread. I lost a sale on a visa card. I used to take them at shows, using a bear show promoter's service, without calling it in. That lady KNEW what she was doing. I have also had orders 50% paid, ship, wihtout getting the balance. I just shipped an ebay sale that was sending a check, since the buyer had 100% positive feedback. So I still gamble....lol. Pam
Word of warning ... even credit cards don't always protect you entirely.
I often accept card payments by mail order and have done so for years. A while ago I accepted a card payment for a bear from an enthusiastic customer who had bought from me several times previously. On this occasion she asked me by email (which thankfully I kept) to use an alternative card and sent through the new details. I processed the credit card payment - it was authorised and I shipped the bear. Some time later I received a letter from the card company asking for proof of postage and any other paperwork I had to back up the sale and prove the goods had been posted to the card owner. Luckily I keep EVERYTHING and could send both postage and email documentation. I contacted my customer to ask why this was happening, but she didn't offer any explanation, other than to say she wouldn't have asked me to use that card .... I sent her copies of her own emails instructing me to use the card and told her the card company had been sent all relevant information. Had I not been able to supply the documentation regarding this order, I am certain the credit card company would have reclaimed payment from my bank account and I would have lost a bear worth in the region of £250.00. I would have also had issues with my merchant company because it would have looked as though I processed payment on a card without the authority of the card owner ... and that challenge hurt far more than the prospect of losing the money.
I dealt with my customer on a friendly, polite level throughout and surprise, surprise, after this incident, have never heard from her again.
It's easy to get lax when taking details from a regular customer, but believe me, you should always protect yourself by collecting sufficient details when accepting a card payment. It's always a good idea to try and get a signature faxed through for a mail order, but in the absence of that, make sure to keep your emails and postage slips and only send to the registered card holder's address.
I agree with Nancy totally regarding how to approach a non-paying customer. Persistence and politeness at all times!
I wonder what will happen in the future when cheques disappear altogether ?
I guess it's always important to make sure you get a cheque guarantee card to cover the amount of the bear and if necessary get the customer to write more than one cheque.
Shelly
Hi all,
I do take cheques, especially at shows, since I no longer have a merchant agreement so can only take cards through PayPal (it got too expensive, I wasn't covered for show transactions anyway, and all my overseas transactions were getting regularly declined post 9/11). Anyway, I have been very fortunate in that I have not had anyone bounce a cheque on me - yet! I guess there will always be a first time, but, if it happens, I shan't hesitate in putting matters into the hands of a debt collector! I only ever had to do this once, and that was over a magazine article that I didn't get paid for... one sight of 'Razors Frazer' (as I fondly nicknamed the guy), and the editor paid up pretty fast!
BTW - It wasn't a teddy bear magazine!!
"a bear by kim"iv been bitten a few times too :redface:
it happens to us all , we are a very trustworthy lot and its upsetting when people take advantage x
