Ruby Lane Gift Cards, how will that work?

I did not see an ongoing discussion about this, so here it is.

I'm hoping Carol can explain how this is going to be paid to the shopkeepers. Will it be a Paypal credit? I do hope it will not be a shop credit; I'd rather have my money go to Paypal where I can use it as I see fit, than to have my money tied up in a shop credit that may or may not be needed for each month.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by RC Antiques on February 15, 2012 at 10:28am

here is an email I just got, that led me to this discussion..and so, if you look in your mail boxes, you will have the same email..

email copy:

Hi Folks,
Everyone should have received an email request from Ruby Lane to complete a survey about the Gift Card. There is one question specifically that addresses when you would want to 'cash out' your payments. From the Group discussion I believe everyone wants to 'cash out' their Gift Card payments at the time of the transaction and not after you Finalize the order. This is the time to make your wishes known. Carol from Ruby Lane

So, I would like to have the payment at the time the order is placed, credited to my PayPal account.

I hope I am responding to this correctly ,

best wishes, Linda

Permalink Reply by The Old Grey Mare on February 15, 2012 at 10:56am

Hi Linda, I think you need to fill out the survey, not just respond here. The survey is from RL and goes back to them. Dexter

RC Antiques said:

here is an email I just got, that led me to this discussion..and so, if you look in your mail boxes, you will have the same email..

email copy:

Hi Folks,
Everyone should have received an email request from Ruby Lane to complete a survey about the Gift Card. There is one question specifically that addresses when you would want to 'cash out' your payments. From the Group discussion I believe everyone wants to 'cash out' their Gift Card payments at the time of the transaction and not after you Finalize the order. This is the time to make your wishes known. Carol from Ruby Lane

So, I would like to have the payment at the time the order is placed, credited to my PayPal account.

I hope I am responding to this correctly ,

best wishes, Linda

Permalink Reply by Mary Ann Docktor-Smith on February 15, 2012 at 11:53am

I am late in catching up on this discussion, but did not see mention of one huge advantage to receiving Ruby Lane gift card payments. If you use the proceeds to apply to pay your shop fees, you have not paid a PayPal transaction fee on the payment, i.e. you are getting full credit for the gross amount of the gift card payment. Nice!

Best regards, Mary Ann

Permalink Reply by CheriShops - Admin on February 15, 2012 at 12:15pm

Hi Linda :)

That email from Carol was to remind us all to complete the survey, especially the section on when we feel we should be allowed to cash out the gift card credits

Be sure to do the survey and enter your comment in there, as that seems to be how the majority of us feel

One thing I noticed on the survey that I totally disagree with was that it claimed that "most payment services require you to ship first" before you have access to the funds....HUH!?! I don't know of a payment service that does that? perhaps Google Checkout? (I don't use them) but certainly PayPal does not, nor do Merchant Accounts or ProPay, or my bank!! The only marketplace that I know of that does that is Amazon, and they clear the funds as soon as the shipment tracking # is entered, NOT only after the customer has received it!

RC Antiques said:

here is an email I just got, that led me to this discussion..and so, if you look in your mail boxes, you will have the same email..

email copy:

Hi Folks,
Everyone should have received an email request from Ruby Lane to complete a survey about the Gift Card. There is one question specifically that addresses when you would want to 'cash out' your payments. From the Group discussion I believe everyone wants to 'cash out' their Gift Card payments at the time of the transaction and not after you Finalize the order. This is the time to make your wishes known. Carol from Ruby Lane

So, I would like to have the payment at the time the order is placed, credited to my PayPal account.

I hope I am responding to this correctly ,

best wishes, Linda

Permalink Reply by Ruby Lane on February 15, 2012 at 12:39pm

Hi folks, You have to check your shop email box for the email to shop owners from Ruby Lane. The subject line of the email is We Want Your Opinion - Take Our Shop Survey. The survey is in the email. Responding here or somewhere else will not get your votes counted. You must complete the survey. :) Carol

Permalink Reply by The Old Grey Mare on February 15, 2012 at 12:45pm

Cheri, I also disagreed with that, and said so when I responded to the survey. And while I doubt I would ever want a check mailed to me when cashing out a gift card, I also said I would not be comfortable receiving a check once a month. Although that question was only for shop owners who do not have a PayPal account.

CheriShops - Admin said:

One thing I noticed on the survey that I totally disagree with was that it claimed that "most payment services require you to ship first" before you have access to the funds....HUH!?! I don't know of a payment service that does that? perhaps Google Checkout? (I don't use them) but certainly PayPal does not, nor do Merchant Accounts or ProPay, or my bank!! The only marketplace that I know of that does that is Amazon, and they clear the funds as soon as the shipment tracking # is entered, NOT only after the customer has received it!

Permalink Reply by Pearl's Parlor on February 15, 2012 at 1:00pm

I agree that the money should be available as soon as the buyer pays. I didn't understand either the question about shipping before having access to the funds. It doesn't work that way with PayPal. I really feel that if Ruby Lane wants shop owners to embrace and encourage the use of gift cards, the money will have to be as available to the shop as it currently is without gift cards. If they do it any other way, I would suspect there will be shops that will discourage buyers from using the gift card and I don't blame them. I really like the idea of gift cards, but only if the money is available immediately to the shop as it is now without gift cards. IMO. I replied that way to the survey.

Permalink Reply by Dodies Deals on February 15, 2012 at 1:26pm

I originally thought that receiving the money at time of sale would be best but what if you need to refund? I then decided that I didn't want to see this money until the sale was totally finalized and the product deivered, then you don't have to worry about refunds. Also, PayPal takes a fee. I would just as soon receive a check once a month from Ruby Lane. Dodie at Dodies Delightful Deals

Permalink Reply by Ruby Lane on February 15, 2012 at 1:30pm

Hi Mary Ann,

If you 'cash out' your gift card credits and request the money be sent to your PayPal account then you will be charged a PayPal fee. If you opt to receive a check then you will not be charged a fee. Carol

Mary Ann Docktor-Smith said:

I am late in catching up on this discussion, but did not see mention of one huge advantage to receiving Ruby Lane gift card payments. If you use the proceeds to apply to pay your shop fees, you have not paid a PayPal transaction fee on the payment, i.e. you are getting full credit for the gross amount of the gift card payment. Nice!

Best regards, Mary Ann

Permalink Reply by The Old Grey Mare on February 15, 2012 at 1:36pm

In a recent Ruby Lane email they said

"The Gift Card is not a shop opt-in or opt-out program. Cards can be purchased by anyone around the world, gifted to anyone worldwide and can be used in any shop worldwide that is selling on Ruby Lane in USD. (Exception: If you do not ship to a part of the world where the buyer lives.)"

A question occurred to me just this morning. I say in my shop info that I will ship worldwide, with some exceptions. But I don't have those exceptions listed. So what happens if someone from a country I do not ship to places an order and applies their gift card? Do I politely tell them that I don't ship there? And then cancel the purchase order? Will cancelling the purchase order take the money out of my shop and put it back on their gift card?

Permalink Reply by Mary Ann Docktor-Smith on February 15, 2012 at 1:37pm

Carol, my comment was about applying the gift card proceeds to my shop fees. In that case, there is no reduction of the gift card amount applied, correct?

Thanks,

Mary Ann

Ruby Lane - Carol Augustine said:

Hi Mary Ann,

If you 'cash out' your gift card credits and request the money be sent to your PayPal account then you will be charged a PayPal fee. If you opt to receive a check then you will not be charged a fee. Carol

Mary Ann Docktor-Smith said:

I am late in catching up on this discussion, but did not see mention of one huge advantage to receiving Ruby Lane gift card payments. If you use the proceeds to apply to pay your shop fees, you have not paid a PayPal transaction fee on the payment, i.e. you are getting full credit for the gross amount of the gift card payment. Nice!

Best regards, Mary Ann

Permalink Reply by Graceful Antiques on February 15, 2012 at 2:49pm

Dexters ? has been my main concern with the gift card. I also want to pay my bill with any funds as now I generally leave money in my Paypal for that.

Since PayPal pays a small interest on the money I cannot imagine RL would charge us to leave in their account or our acct.