Re: Pilot: Tracy needs a pilot

[mistered@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Edward Keyes (Mr. Ed))]

>Let me get this straight.  I order something and pay for it via First
>Virtual.  The person selling the product and I then dance the FV dance
>("really?",  "Yes, really") and then it takes 90 DAYS for the seller
>to get his money??  
>
>Yup.  A quick trip to www.fv.com and a little digging shows that this
>is correct.
>
>So, why on earth would I use FV (which I signed up for a week ago to
>buy a couple of pilot progs, BTW) to buy something when a check could
>go SNAIL MAIL, clear, and whatever else  TEN TIMES OVER in that same
>time period?  Am I missing something?  
>
>Off to cancel his FV account...

Well, no one ever claimed it was especially convenient for the seller.
For the buyer, though, charging one's credit card via email is a
lot more convenient than actually getting around to writing a
check, addressing an envelope, penning a cover letter, etc.

My guess is that the number of my registrations would plummet if
check mailing were the only method offered.  I'm not averse to
putting up with a little inconvenience and delay at my end to
present as convenient a user interface as I can for my customers.
It's not like I spend the money the instant I get it -- I'm in
the Pilot business for the long haul, so a payment delay isn't
critical to me.

For the record, though, First Virtual does have an option available
for setting up a seller's account for nearly-instant pay through.
However, this involves essentially running a credit check on the
seller, and costs much extra to set up, so it's only worthwhile
if you do FV business on the order of thousands of dollars.

- Edward Keyes, mistered@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  DaggerWare, http://www.1stresource.com/~mistered/dagger.htm