Anyone ONLY accept cash, p/o's & vouchers ?

[PixiePants]

Hello all,

I have a VERY unusual surname. If someone were to see my surname on their bank statement after their cheque to me was cashed, then googled the surname I WOULD EASILY BE FOUND. The bottom line is I CANNOT take cheques and nor can I have someone else cash them for me as there is no-one I can ask !

So I was only going to accept payment by cash, p/o and amazon vouchers. And instead of having a PO box, I will have a Mailbox, which ensures 100% confidentiality, ie no-one can ring up and find out who owns the mailbox.

Are any of you in a similar boat, unable to take cheques ? Do you think that by NOT taking cheques, you lose out on customers?

Also, re amazon vouchers, when someone sends you an e-voucher, does amazon send THEM a receipt for their purchase which displays my name, e.g. “thank you for your purchase, your gift voucher has now been send to Mrs Hilda Bloggs”?

thanks in advance for your replies,
Pixie

[Serena]

Pixie your question is open ended and full of anxieties!!

It doesn’t matter if anyone else here takes cheques or doesn’t, the point is that you clearly don’t feel as you should take the risk.
Of course if a buyer can only pay by cheque and you’re not prepare to accept it then you will loose on a sale.

[PixiePants]

Hi Serena,
it’s always good to have someone bring one down to earth, thanks !

I rarely read my own tarot cards as it’s all too easy to project ones fears onto things and therefore get a reading that simply reflects those worries instead of a reading that is objective.

I guess I was just wondering how well people feel they are doing sales-wise without taking cheques.

[Serena]

It comes down to how much a buyer really wants your panties.
Accepting/not accepting cheques isn’t what is going to sell your products, it is you that will.

,Just consider that if cheques, postal orders (I think PO need to be made out to as well?), western union type payments and bank transfers are no-go, then you are left with the vouchers option only, which is probably the safest for someone in your situation.

[Serena]

I guess there is the hidden cash option as well but have no idea how safe or not it is.. UK postal service is very naughty….

Anyone uses it?

[PixiePants]

I realy don’t think it’s a huge risk sending a couple of banknotes in the post inside of an envelope that contains what 100% people would infer is just a boring old letter ? Obviously so long as the envelope isn’t see through and the note/s are inside a piece of A4 paper/maybe the order form. It’s likely things that look like greeting cards are the ones that get opened by those people hoping some cash is inside, no ? Not bog-standard white or brown envelopes?

As for Postal orders, the person just buys one and it’s then up to him to write on it, or not as the case may be, so it’s very easy to simply leave the name part blank for myself to fill in ? You can very eaily write any old name down on those anyway as not once in all my experience of cashing in p/o’s at the post office have I ever been asked for ID.

[naughtynurse]

you can ask the buyer if he can send a bankers draft.this can then be payed into your bank account.there is usually a way for the buyer to pay, depends how much he wants your panties i suppose. also there is the other side of the coin, that they will want to be discrett with their payments. have you a trusted friend or your other half,you can use their name for a cheque. we all have to be careful of what details we give out about ourselves, i have never had a problem with any of my buyers. try to get to know them a little, you will soon found out the good from the bad. use your instinct.i think there are more good buyers than bad.

[Anna]

If you are putting your panty site and mailbox in your partner’s name why can’t you have your cheques in your partner’s name?

You can use BACS you know. They don’t need your name, just your account number and your sort code. They can set payment up via online banking or over the counter.

The only problem with sending cash is that they could say they have sent it when they haven’t and you could say you haven’t received it when you have and nobody knows if the other is telling the truth or not – particularly if the postman pinched it.

[PixiePants]

I’ll consider BACS then Anna, I will look into it. Are you sure that on the clients receipt/statement for their bank tranfer to me that my name will NOT appear on it ? Just my account/sort code?

Re cash in the post, I see what you are saying but I will put a note on the site about it being sent at their own risk and that I can’t send panties out until payment is received one way or the other. I’ll look into the royal mail’s policy for compensation in the event of cash going awol in transit, though I really don’t think this is very likely to happen.

[Anna]

BACS – The only thing that will appear on the client’s statement is what they decide to use to refer to you.

When the buyer sets up a payment it asks them what they want the seller’s ref to be (which will show on the buyer’s statement) and what they want their ref to be (what will show up on the seller’s statement). The banks don’t give out any information other than amount and date.

The buyer should then tell the seller what will show up on her statement so that she knows it is from him…and not another buyer.

I once got an anonymous payment and it took months of me waiting for him to contact me to find out where his order was despite me appealing for him to contact me via my blog and site. :huh:

You could state cash at their own risk but don’t expect the post office to cover it, they won’t.

You can ask for blank postal orders too don’t forget. Then get them cashed at the post office

[Author]

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