CCNow or PayPal

[Gin]

I prefer PayPal. Like t3andcrumpets, I've heard that PayPal has lower fees and gets the money to the Lab faster.

 

Also--and this is purely selfish on my part--with PayPal, I can have my order all typed up and ready to be sent first thing on the update day. I have it in a Word document, and then I can just cut and paste. (But be warned, should you choose to do the same, PayPal does not accept cut-and-pasted apostrophes or dashes. If you've used them, you'll have to delete and re-enter them before the order will be accepted.)

[Eoywin]

I've never had a problem with CCnow. Paypal on the other hand, is not safe in my opinion.

 

I had an incident with paypal last year where all the money in my account was taken out. I did get it back, but it was a huge hassle.

[Cat]

I don't know if this is the right place to ask, but I certainly didn't want to start a new thread or waste Beth and everyone's time by emailing them, but:

 

I am quite new to Paypal and have only used it a handful of times. I used it to place my first bpal order a week or so ago. The money came out straight away. No problem. I was wondering if we get confirmatio from the lab that they received our order though. I haven't had anything, other than in my paypal account info it showing that the transfer has been made - which would have happened automatically anyway. I just didn't know whether confirmation from the lab was or was not to be expected, and since I have not had any should I be worried or is that normal?

 

Thank you.

[olympia301]

I didn't get a seperate confirmation from the lab when I placed my first (and only so far) order). I think the only thing you get is a "click 'n ship" to show that they are going to be sending your order out now that it's finished. They are very very busy and really can't be re-confirming, I think that is one function of companies like PayPal and CCNow, to let the customer know that they did place and order and give them a confirming number.

 

Of course, there could be more to it than that. I only have made one order and that was my experience.

[inkstone]

I've always gotten an email from the Lab confirming my order, separate from the email that Paypal sends. However, the Lab sometimes has email problems and the email goes astray/gets eaten/etc so I wouldn't worry too much about it. As long as you see the transaction in your paypal account, you should be fine.

[Cat]

Thanks both of you. I wish there was a consistant policy on that, but I do understand that the lab is extremely busy and no doubt very hectic as their popularity grows. I will just wait it out and if I have still not heard anything by the end of May drop them an email.

[bigeyedgirl]

Just to add, I got a paypal response from the lab for my 2/17 order but not my 2/22, 2/24, but I did get one yesterday for my 3/15, So I guess it just depends.

 

I'm sure it will come through no problem.

[tempete]

They are very very busy and really can't be re-confirming

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I disagree with the attitude that you shouldn't "bother" the Lab about your order. Cat, if it makes you feel better to get confirmation from the Lab about your order, then I think that you should go ahead and email them. Right now, if you like, because it's your money. Just be aware that (1) as far as I know, everyone who has PayPal'd the Lab money has always received their order, confirmation email or not and (2) as inkstone mentioned, the Lab has had intermittent outgoing email problems. But again, none of that should change whether you email the Lab or not.

[Cat]

I think what I am going to do is see what happens after I place my Pink Moon order (y first Lunacy Blend - how excited am I ). If I get a seperate confirmation email from the lab for that one then I will more than likely drop them a quick email to confirm they got my first order. If I get nothing from the Pink Moon order I won't bother and assume they got both.

[Cat]

Just thought I would update incase anyone was interested , I did email in the end, but actually because I thought I made a boo boo with my paypal account. But anyway, Kennedy got back to me swiftly and let me know they did get my order and all was ok.

 

I the lab and all who sail in her.

[scarlet]

The Lab doesn't get charged anything for money orders, right? I've paid with a MO more often than with PayPal, and I'm ok with it... I just wish there was a confirmation from the Lab that my payment was received. I worry for 6 weeks wondering if the envelope got lost in the mail.

[katalia]

Does the lab have a preference? I've only ordered via snail-mail before, and I'm anxiously anticipating making my next order online. I have PayPal, which is attached to my bank account. I also have a "credit card" (it's actually a debit card, attached to the same bank account as PayPal, but it's through MasterCard so it can be used as a credit card), so I can use CCNow also.. I'd prefer using CCNow because it looks easier, but if the lab prefers PayPal'd orders, I can do that instead.

 

 

(My apologies if this has been asked before, I tried searching, but I had no clue what exactly to search for, so my results weren't any help.)

[LushNatty]

Good point--I found the answer, but you couldn't have asked the question anyway because the forum is locked for new topics.

Read this thread in BPAL FAQs: http://www.bpal.org/index.php?showtopic=12215. Should help clear things up for ya.

[katalia]

Thanks . I'll use PayPal, then. (I may be posting again in a week or so asking if I've drawn up my order right before I submit it, though .)

[LyndaM]

I find Paypal much easier, personally. My first order was CCnow. I didn't realize at that time that it took a while to be charged; and I was scratching my head, wondering why it hadn't been charged, and if it had been recieved by lab at all.

 

With Paypal, I can pay and forget about it, with CCNow, I obsessively stalk the status, waiting to see when it will be charged, and worrying about my husband cluelessly spending the money!

Edited November 13, 2005 by LyndaM

[filigree_shadow]

[Apologies in advance for the length of this post.]

 

I've read every thread about ccNow, PayPal, and ordering that I could find.

 

The summary recommendation seems to be: Use PayPal instead of ccNow if you can because ccNow takes a big cut of the Lab's money and because all that received/shipped/etc. stuff from ccNow is confusing. All of that makes sense.

 

And now here's my actual question: Is another benefit of using PayPal that my order shows up in the Lab's queue faster? (In one thread, someone said yes, and someone else said no. But that was a long time ago.)

 

This is why I'm asking: I'm pretty new to BPAL (only two months), and for Sleepy Moon I just ordered it at some point in the middle of the day. Then everyone was getting their CnS notifications, and I didn't have one for several days. I was feeling a little sad because I was dying to know what it smelled like, and there were bottles up on eBay before I got mine. So I thought for the next lunacy update I'd stay up late and order right away as soon as the update was live. And maybe I'd be one of the lucky ones with an early CnS because I'd be at the front of the line, so to speak.

 

So for Peony Moon I was totally obsessive about making sure I was online when the update went live, and I ordered as soon as I could. But the same thing is happening this time -- people have been getting their CnS notifications since 3/31, but I don't have one. I don't know if it's because my order was huge (1 of each 5mL that was on the LE page, and 3 imp packs with 18 of the new GCs), or if it's because I used ccNow instead of PayPal.

 

I'm kinda thinking it was because of ccNow. I didn't know about ccNow taking a big cut until today -- I've been using it for every order (12 orders total). Finding out that ccNow took 10% of the Lab's money for all my orders makes me sick. I'll be switching to PayPal for everything from now on. It'll be interesting to see if I get one of the early CnS notifications for Dragon Moon or not...

[hachanri]

about 2 weeks ago, i ordered 7 imps from bpal, and i went to "imps ears" and placed an order by clicking "buy 6" and then added the additional imp to the "cart" list thingy... it had the option of paying with paypal, so thats what i did.

they havnt arrived yet, and the other day i looked at "welcome" on bpal, and it said:

"IF YOU ARE PAYING VIA PAYPAL, please do NOT use our online credit card processor. Place your order through PayPal using the payment address paypal [at] blackphoenixalchemylab "

... i think i might have screwed up by ordering ON the bpal site, rather than going to paypal and sending the money to them...

did i screw up? if so, is there anything i can do to fix it;?

 

please help ;o; i used the last of my money to order these scents

[sarada]

Write to them at answers@blackphoenixalchemylab.com and include your order number if you have the receipt from CCNow. It's probably a very common mistake. You can use CCNow if you're using a credit card, but if you're using Paypal you're not supposed to go through CCNow too...I'm not sure what the reason was for that, whether it was technical or an issue of them getting double-charged on fees.

[kebechet]

I'll be honest. Every time someone orders through the site, we get charged 9% on the total, including the cost of shipping. If you order through PayPal, we're charged around 3%. It may not seem like a lot, but the truth is, we charge very little over what it costs to make the oils, so every little bit helps. =/

[pranashakti]

Wow, Beth. That's good info to have. From now on, I'll always order through Paypal. I'm all over "every little bit adding up" - that's how I gather enough to buy BPAL!

[jinxpixiestixx]

Here's something I was wondering about..

 

When I get/receive money via Paypal, they take out around $.50 (give or take a little) from the total.

So when I bought some imps from someone on the forum, I added about $.75 because I didn't want to short change her or anything. My BPAL purchases are also always made through PP.

 

Personally, I really wouldn't mind adding a little extra money to make up for what they're losing because they definitely deserve every cent that they get. Just curious about how others feel about it.

 

 

~Heather

Edited April 10, 2006 by jinxpixiestixx

[Macha]

Merged a thread covering the same ground with this one, but because Filigree_shadow hasn't had her question answered, I'm bumping it to make sure people see it.

 

Just fyi, Filigree, I don't this anyone who's not lab staff can answer that question. It may be that CCNow is somehow factored differently into the work flow, but I've seen how the lab fufills orders and it seems unlikely. More probably — you just pulled some bad luck.

 

Although with the lab getting more of the cut with Paypal, I'm all in favor of people thinking that method will get the order to them faster.

 

[Apologies in advance for the length of this post.]

 

I've read every thread about ccNow, PayPal, and ordering that I could find.

 

The summary recommendation seems to be: Use PayPal instead of ccNow if you can because ccNow takes a big cut of the Lab's money and because all that received/shipped/etc. stuff from ccNow is confusing. All of that makes sense.

 

And now here's my actual question: Is another benefit of using PayPal that my order shows up in the Lab's queue faster? (In one thread, someone said yes, and someone else said no. But that was a long time ago.)

 

This is why I'm asking: I'm pretty new to BPAL (only two months), and for Sleepy Moon I just ordered it at some point in the middle of the day. Then everyone was getting their CnS notifications, and I didn't have one for several days. I was feeling a little sad because I was dying to know what it smelled like, and there were bottles up on eBay before I got mine. So I thought for the next lunacy update I'd stay up late and order right away as soon as the update was live. And maybe I'd be one of the lucky ones with an early CnS because I'd be at the front of the line, so to speak.

 

So for Peony Moon I was totally obsessive about making sure I was online when the update went live, and I ordered as soon as I could. But the same thing is happening this time -- people have been getting their CnS notifications since 3/31, but I don't have one. I don't know if it's because my order was huge (1 of each 5mL that was on the LE page, and 3 imp packs with 18 of the new GCs), or if it's because I used ccNow instead of PayPal.

 

I'm kinda thinking it was because of ccNow. I didn't know about ccNow taking a big cut until today -- I've been using it for every order (12 orders total). Finding out that ccNow took 10% of the Lab's money for all my orders makes me sick. I'll be switching to PayPal for everything from now on. It'll be interesting to see if I get one of the early CnS notifications for Dragon Moon or not...

[Em-]

As Macha said, only the Lab Rats know for sure, however, I have ordered with both CC Now and PayPal and I've been at both the front and the back of the line with both methods.

 

If I had to wager a guess in your situation, the volume of your current order is probably the cause of any hold up, because a lot of Peony Moon CnS's still seem to be going out and, again, this is just my personal experience talking, large imp orders seem to take longer.

 

But, I can say that the only time I have been the first in a CnS received thread was with a PayPal order!

[MicheleZ]

I'll be honest. Every time someone orders through the site, we get charged 9% on the total, including the cost of shipping. If you order through PayPal, we're charged around 3%. It may not seem like a lot, but the truth is, we charge very little over what it costs to make the oils, so every little bit helps. =/

 

Wow - I had no idea the percentage what that high with CCNOW. I will pay via paypal from now on.

[bigeyedgirl]

This is probably a really dumb question, but, I wanted to order enraged bunny musk and I want to use paypal. Is it the same just type my forum name in the comment section or do I have to do something else...I loathe ccnow.