PayPal seller self-protection, or customer satisfaction?

If you are an online merchant and receiving payment via PayPal, what should you do after receiving this email from PayPal?



It's a notification email saying that payment has been received from buyer. For an ordinary merchant, it's well, payment received and all set to ship the items.

In this case, this merchant has shipped the items without much hesitation, as clothings apparently carry a lower fraud risk.

However, the merchant has received another email from PayPal a few hours later. This time, it's about a case being raised on the said transaction and the related funds have been placed on a temporary hold.

At first thought, this sounds like a fraudulent transaction as the buyer has possibly cancelled the payment. So, this merchant has called the buyer to clarify but the buyer has denied reversing the payment.

7-11 Taiwan - Part 3: Payment

President Chain Store Corporation has storefronts and logistics well covered, but payment is arguably the only piece of puzzle that still has some room for improvement.



icash is a prepaid card issued by 7-11 in Taiwan, sort of like pocket money used for micro-payment mainly in 7-11. It has a point accumulation system and benefits like cash rebate to promote spending.

icash has reached an important milestone this year after launching a co-branded "iu card" (icash悠遊卡). Important in the sense as this contactless card is not only limited to 7-11s, but it can be used for public transportations and selected stores like Starbucks, Sogo, Muji etc.

However, you cannot use icash to pay online yet, with the exception of their own online store - 7net. Obviously, this is the missing puzzle and something for President Chain Store Corp to work on.

7-11 Taiwan - Part 2: Logistics

Logistics, it seems like a simple single word but it contains many aspects - warehousing (storage), location, packaging, labeling, invoicing, delivery, acceptance, tracking, reporting et al.

It's definitely a burden for small-medium-businesses. But in Taiwan, SMBs can rely on 7-elevens, or precisely Wisdom Distribution Service Corporation (大智通文化行銷).



Online merchants can store their goods in WDS's warehouse, and they will be distributed to 7-11s all over Taiwan. Its distribution service benefits not only B2C stores but also C2C sellers.

Let's say while confirming a transaction on Rakuten Ichiba, the buyer has specified a 7-11 outlet (for example outlet B) for collection. Seller will then print the packaging slip online or via the ibon kiosk and handover the item to 7-11 in his area (outlet A). WDS will deliver the item from outlet A to outlet B and the item is ready to be picked up and paid by the buyer.

This helps minimize the fraud and risk of pay first and collect / receive later.