How long is reasonable for books to be in a shopping cart 3 3

[blazingbob]

Was listening to two major dealers discussing how long to allow a customer to keep a book in a shopping cart before checking out.  One dealer stated that he sold a book that was in the cart because it had been in there a few days.  The other stated that the shopping cart isn't a "sale" until the books are paid for.

I don't have a shopping cart checkout yet but when a customer orders a book it is no longer for sale,  it could have been sold at a show but I generally don't have a specific time frame.  If I am at show it could be days before I finalize invoices.  

Since I know many of the forum guys are online shoppers what are your feelings about this?

Is there a certain amount of time you feel you are entitled to before checking out?  

I am planning on putting in checkout functionality so I am curious about this.

Thank you  

[Brock]

As a buyer, I always assume that a book's not mine until I've actually paid for it.

I also assume that a seller is always within his/her rights to proceed with an actual sale over a possible sale, unless I've actually reached out directly to make some other arrangement.

[IntoAnother]

3 minutes ago, blazingbob said:

The other stated that the shopping cart isn't a "sale" until the books are paid for.

 

I also see it this way, in no way do I feel anyone should feel entitled enough to take a dealers book off the market without purchasing it or making a down payment. First come, first served. 

[revat]

1 minute ago, Brock said:

As a buyer, I always assume that a book's not mine until I've actually paid for it.

I also assume that a seller is always within his/her rights to proceed with an actual sale over a possible sale, unless I've actually reached out directly to make some other arrangement.

I agree. 

But what I do hate is when I agree to pay for a book (like enter all the credit card info and click the button), AND THEN the system comes back with 'out of stock' or whatever.  But if its just in the cart, it ain't mine, its yours.  IF you want to impose some sort of time limit, do it like buying tickets for shows online, hold it for like 30 minutes or something, or an hour (give them time to shop) at most.  make it clear of course.

[Number 6]

I’m not sure this is exactly what you’re looking for as far as input but I’ll give it a shot:

As a buyer, if I add items to a shopping cart but don’t actually check out, I don’t expect to have any kind of claim to the book(s) nor do I expect the books to be removed from the seller’s list of items for sale. 

Now when I check out, that’s different. I understand that if I’m buying from a dealer who does conventions, checking out doesn’t guarantee that I get the book. But I would expect it to be removed from the items listed for sale. 

As far as how long an item should be allowed to sit in a cart, I don’t know. Since I don’t view putting items in a cart any kind of “dibs” claim, I guess to me it wouldn’t matter since someone else could put the same item in their cart, check out, at which point they would have claim to the book and I would expect that the book would get yanked out of my cart. 

[blazingbob]

6 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

I’m not sure this is exactly what you’re looking for as far as input but I’ll give it a shot:

As a buyer, if I add items to a shopping cart but don’t actually check out, I don’t expect to have any kind of claim to the book(s) nor do I expect the books to be removed from the seller’s list of items for sale. 

Now when I check out, that’s different. I understand that if I’m buying from a dealer who does conventions, checking out doesn’t guarantee that I get the book. But I would expect it to be removed from the items listed for sale. 

As far as how long an item should be allowed to sit in a cart, I don’t know. Since I don’t view putting items in a cart any kind of “dibs” claim, I guess to me it wouldn’t matter since someone else could put the same item in their cart, check out, at which point they would have claim to the book and I would expect that the book would get yanked out of my cart. 

Hmmm,  I didn't think an item in a shopping cart was still available to other "shoppers" while it was in yours.  

I agree a time limit should be posted

Bob

[1Cool]

30 minutes ago, blazingbob said:

Was listening to two major dealers discussing how long to allow a customer to keep a book in a shopping cart before checking out.  One dealer stated that he sold a book that was in the cart because it had been in there a few days.  The other stated that the shopping cart isn't a "sale" until the books are paid for.

I don't have a shopping cart checkout yet but when a customer orders a book it is no longer for sale,  it could have been sold at a show but I generally don't have a specific time frame.  If I am at show it could be days before I finalize invoices.  

Since I know many of the forum guys are online shoppers what are your feelings about this?

Is there a certain amount of time you feel you are entitled to before checking out?  

I am planning on putting in checkout functionality so I am curious about this.

Thank you  

I'd agree the books are not taken off the market until the person hits the purchase button.  They could have 20 items in the shopping cart and not purchase any of them so why should the seller consider them sold just by them putting it in the cart.  On Amazon I don't think they consider an item sold and off the market until its paid for so I'd think that is fair.

[Number 6]

16 minutes ago, blazingbob said:

Hmmm,  I didn't think an item in a shopping cart was still available to other "shoppers" while it was in yours.  

I agree a time limit should be posted

Bob

My primary experience with a shopping cart-style checkout system is with eBay. I’m pretty sure when I put items in my cart there the items don’t get removed from active listings until I check out. 

And that makes sense to me. If a cart removes items from those available for sale I can envision some tool coming along, throwing a bunch of stuff in his cart, and then sitting on them while he takes his sweet time shopping around to see if he can get a slightly better price. Or just walks away from it as he gets the thrill of “buying” (denying others the opportunity to purchase) without actually putting out any money  

I know there’s some who might like that scenario, but for the seller that just doesn’t make sense to me.  There’s a number of buyers who could have bought and paid for those books but the seller misses those sales because the books are sitting in some bargain hunter’s/thrill buyer’s cart. 

Edited June 19, 2018 by Number 6

[Gaard]

end of business day

[Kramerica]

30 minutes ago, Brock said:

As a buyer, I always assume that a book's not mine until I've actually paid for it.

I also assume that a seller is always within his/her rights to proceed with an actual sale over a possible sale, unless I've actually reached out directly to make some other arrangement.

 

29 minutes ago, IntoAnother said:

I also see it this way, in no way do I feel anyone should feel entitled enough to take a dealers book off the market without purchasing it or making a down payment. First come, first served. 

 

Yep ^ The cart is there for the shopper so they don't forget which items they want while going through your inventory. Then when it's time to pay everything is ready to go in the cart. If a buyer finds a book they want but doesn't plan on paying for 24-48 hours then they should communicate with the seller to see if they might hold the special book for them. The cart should never take the items off the market.

[chrisco37]

1 minute ago, Kramerica said:

39 minutes ago, Brock said:

As a buyer, I always assume that a book's not mine until I've actually paid for it.

I also assume that a seller is always within his/her rights to proceed with an actual sale over a possible sale, unless I've actually reached out directly to make some other arrangement.

 

38 minutes ago, IntoAnother said:

I also see it this way, in no way do I feel anyone should feel entitled enough to take a dealers book off the market without purchasing it or making a down payment. First come, first served. 

 

Yep ^ The cart is there for the shopper so they don't forget which items they want while going through your inventory. Then when it's time to pay everything is ready to go in the cart. If a buyer finds a book they want but doesn't plan on paying for 24-48 hours then they should communicate with the seller to see if they might hold the special book for them. The cart should never take the items off the market.

Agree

[Iceman399]

Other online retailers allow you to put things in your "cart" say Best Buy for example.  Just because it's in your cart doesn't prevent another from purchasing it (if it's the last item).

In your cart is for the convenience of the check out process of single shipping address/charge to a cc.  Not yours until paid for.

[comicquant]

The standard convention is to consider items in a shopper's cart still available for purchase by others.  A completed checkout process typically removes items from available (or on hand) inventory to allocated inventory.     

[manetteska]

For an online shopping cart, a user may put items in, but they are not taken out of inventory until checkout/payment.

If, for whatever reason, people are adding thousands of items to carts and then abandoning them and it eats up space/causes you consternation, then a week before dumping the cart. However, during this entire time the items are still available for others to purchase.

Accepted offers on the other hand...

[skypinkblu]

@Blazingbob, 

OK, I may not be an expert on a lot of things, but I do know shopping online;)

I can't tell you how many times I put stuff into a shopping cart on a website ...Amazon, QVC, Disney, Target, Lord&Taylor's etc, ESPECIALLY when they were having a sale, only to be told at checkout that one or two of the things I really wanted was sold out.

It's frustrating, but that's what I get for shopping online not in a store.  It would be impossible otherwise. You could have 10 things I want in your cart and just be browsing while I as the serious shopper just wanted to buy it and get it done.

[FineCollector]

Items on Amazon can either go into your shopping cart, or in a list to save for later.  In theory, that could prevent people from putting their wishlist into a cart and walking away, but there's no guarantee it'll work.  Items should be available until they're not.  The important thing is making sure the system updates quickly once something sells.

[F For Fake]

It must depend on your particular online set-up, but with most e-retailers, putting an item in the shopping cart doesn't remove it from sale availability. For instance, with Amazon and eBay, I have HUNDREDS of items in my shopping cart. Same with several movie websites. It doesn't give me any claim to the item, it just keeps it in one spot where I'll remember that I was interested in purchasing it. If someone buys it before I pay for it, it is removed from my cart, or when I check out I'm told that the item is "no longer available". Wording can be different depending on the service. (It's especially handy with Amazon, as I am notified every time I log in if the prices have gone up or down on any items. Since Amazon's pricing algorithm is so bizarre, you never know when you'll log in and find a big price drop!)

But yeah, no question, and item doesn't belong to a buyer until it's paid for. Carts are good for organizing your purchases and planning stuff out, or just holding things off to the side so you don't forget that you wanted to buy them at some point. But the items aren't sold until they're sold. 

[entalmighty1]

If I add something to my online shopping cart, I buy it right then and there if I really want it.  I don't think I've ever left something in my cart and been upset if I go back two days later to find the item sold out.  It's an unreasonable expectation for a consumer to want an online retailer to "hold" merchandise for them to satisfy the possibility of a sale.  If the item is tied up for a couple of days or even a couple of hours languishing in someone's cart, you may very well miss a sale from a buyer that's ready to pull the trigger right now.

If I want it, I'll get it right then, or at least make arrangements with the vendor for time payments, including a down payment and agreed upon terms for completion of the transaction.

[Badger]

3 hours ago, Brock said:

As a buyer, I always assume that a book's not mine until I've actually paid for it.

I also assume that a seller is always within his/her rights to proceed with an actual sale over a possible sale, unless I've actually reached out directly to make some other arrangement.

Same here.  I've had things disappear from my cart because I took to long.  C'est la vie !

[HENRYSPENCER]

You see websites selling concert and movie tickets having countdown timers allowing you five minutes or so to check out before they waive the right to cancel the sale.  Most online checkout systems for retail don't mark items as sold and out of stock until payment has been fully processed.  So theoretically you could have two customers with the same item(s) in their cart.  One person gets the item while the other person gets an out of stock error message.

The backend of the e-commerce website, which is the CMS or content management system, is so portable and UI friendly these days  I think dealers who have both a con and online sales presence should have a computer on hand, and update inventory regularly item by item as it's sold at the con.  Worst case scenario at the end of each day.   I've never understood people's mindset who wait to answer emails in bulk by the hundreds instead of individually as they come into their inbox nor from a business perspective would I ever advise to wait until after the con is over to mark online what's been sold.  The latter seems like a great way to make errors.