multiple orders for one item and no inventory control!!!HELP

[pixadoodles]

I have had this happen 2x so far and no respose from Ecrater for help. So I am hoping that someone out there has had this problem and can help me.

Here is the situation...a buyer makes an order. They say they pay with Paypal but it doesn't show confrimed thru either email or my account. Then both the buyer and I recieve another order confirmation from Ecrater. Totally new order # and at a different time/date. One came as late as 1 week later. I thought my buyer had reordered but when I contact him he said "no". Ordinarily I would think it was a sneaky buyer but this happend 2x now with different buyers and different items.

On top of that. When the items are purchased, they are not being removed from my store. I do have Inventory Control on and have checked it repeatedly.

Anybody know what is going on?

[maggiethehousecat]

Sometimes PayPal doesn't work. I've had this happen on several occasions where the buyer attempts to pay with PP and the payment doesn't go through so it is not registered. Seems to happen in different places in the process. Last time it was a very experienced buyer who said PP crashed on her as she was trying to pay.

I don't think this is ecrater's fault. The item wasn't paid therefore inventory control wouldn't work.

[pixadoodles]

I thought inventory contol removed items once they are purchased (ordered) not after they were paid. Am I mistaken? In my past orders, the item was removed the moment the buyer purchased it (so I remember).

It is just very odd to me that all my previous orders went thru without a hitch in payment (both Google and Paypal payments) and now with the last 2 purchases I have recieved the same problem with both. My last buyer backed out of the order b/c she was nervous about issues with Paypal.

I don't sell many items so unfortunately I can't say if this is just a fluke. So far I just have the last 2 transactions to deal with.

[poopsheet]

[zickit]

As stated in Solutions to Common Questions - Inventory Control
items are removed ONLY AFTER PAYMENT is received on Google Chekcout or PayPal.

[raminthethicket]

I'm not sure why eCrater has chosen to activate the inventory reduction only when Paypal is used. I have not really used the inventory function actively (although it is activated in my store) because I dye wool, and simply produce more when I run out in my own stock, to fill orders. So I set the quantity at 999 from the beginning and just let it ride. Now I am closing out stock to put the store on hold for now, so I went through my 1,200+ listings and actually put in what I had on hand, so I could just close out what I have and not have to dye more, because I have taken a full-time job due to family circumstances, so will have to suspend my shop for now. We-e-e-ll, I had a weekend sale feeding frenzy and to my horror, a few customers placed large orders and paid by check, creating a situation where many, many colors were purchased twice, now forcing me to dye a lot of wool, which is hours and hours (and hours and hours) of time that I simply do not have. I am really upset about this. My only other alternative is to try to figure out where I am going to run short with all these orders (there are over 50) and write them to apologize, and either substitute, or refund. It's just a nightmare. Wouldn't it be so much better to reduce inventory no matter what payment is used, then if by chance a customer doesn't pay (never has happened to me) we put the item back into our inventory manually? This seems a much better customer service approach, than putting ourselves in the position of double selling something if we forget to manually adjust inventory, then having to explain to our customer. Having to manually adjust anything in this day and age seems silly.

I also found it very inconvenient for my customers to not be able to see how many pieces of each color I had available. I know this has been discussed and many prefer not to have this feature, but for my situation it would have been very helpful, and would have been a nice to feature to be able to activate in my store for this circumstance.

[cosmicray]

[MoonwishesStore]

Cosmic is correct. Having inventory control enabled helps, but not when you get money orders or checks (and especially if the customer didn't tell you they were sending one).

[raminthethicket]

I am aware of this, and that is my complaint. Why should inventory not be reduced when a customer pays by check? I understand that technically the sale is not complete until payment is received, but when I have sold 100-200 different items in ONE ORDER paid for by check, that is A LOT of manual upkeep in any event -- even worse in this situation, where I am closing out and absolutely do not want to be producing more stock -- no time, no money, no need, since I am closing for quite a while. Now, because I did not realize ahead of time that this would be happening, I am forced to either create a lot of product, or refund and apologize -- neither option is good for me right now. Here is what just one of the orders paid for by check looks like:

"Threshing Floor-4" Yellow HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Primrose-6" Yellow HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Bittersweet-6" Red HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 4 x $0.90 = $3.60
"Aasfia-7" Red HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 4 x $0.90 = $3.60
"RED Red-3" Red HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Noble-6" Red HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Mariah Papaya-4" Orange HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Orcas Isle-4" Green HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 5 x $0.90 = $4.50
"Frog Hollow-6" Green HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Fernleaf-6" Green HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Spring Awakening-5" Green HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 4 x $0.90 = $3.60
"Primary-2" Blue HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 4 x $0.90 = $3.60
"Coventry-4" Blue HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Coventry-6" Blue HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Crayon-5" Blue HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Passion-2" Purple HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"British Bombay-2" Blue HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Bloodroot-7" Red HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 4 x $0.90 = $3.60
"Mercy Seat-4" Red HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Borghese-6" Orange HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 1 x $0.90 = $0.90
"Arancione-6" Orange HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Murn Kelp-7" Green HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Chartreuse-7" Green HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Bootstrap-7" Brown HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
White Undyed Wool Fabric, 3"X18" Strip for Rug Hooking, Penny Rugs, Quilting : 1 x $0.75 = $0.75
"Periwinkle-4" Blue HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 4 x $0.90 = $3.60
"Cafe au Lait-6" Brown HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 4 x $0.90 = $3.60
"Sheffield-3" Grey HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 1 x $0.90 = $0.90
"La Corona-6" Yellow HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Primrose-3" Yellow HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Black Fly Season-6" Grey HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 4 x $0.90 = $3.60
"Stone Wall-2" Grey HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Heath-3" Brown HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Marmalade-7" Orange HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Pippin-1" Orange HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Arancione-5" Orange HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Mango-4" Orange HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Gina-7" Red HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Button Willow-1" Yellow HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 1 x $0.90 = $0.90
"Living Water-4" Green HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 3 x $0.90 = $2.70
"Wellspring-1" Blue HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Chrystalline-1" Blue HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 1 x $0.90 = $0.90
"Groves-3" Green HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80
"Willow Bud-6" Green HAND DYED WOOL 3" X 18" Strip for Rug Hooking & Penny Rugs : 2 x $0.90 = $1.80

So now many of these colors sold out short because they were not taken out of inventory when this customer bought it, and I will have to produce it for the other people that ordered it after this customer. And this is just ONE of several check orders. Each of these colors will take an hour of my time to produce, so I'll let you do the math. It sucks.

Not every seller has the problem of people not paying -- I never have, with over 700 transactions. Sellers in my situation would prefer to have the inventory reduced at the point of the sale. If for some reason the customer doesn't pay (rare in my experience ) we can simply put the item back into inventory manually, rather than being faced with the unpleasant situation I have now.

Anyway, it's too late for me, but maybe someone else would find themselves in this situation, so I'm just getting the info out there. One size doesn't necessarily fit all, even when we have a nice free platform -- I have appreciated it, but now it has created a problem for me.

[MoonwishesStore]

Inventory isn't reduced with a check payment because ecrater doesn't know if you will actually get the check or money order. It only changes the inventory for items that it knows is paid for. I have had many supposed MO sales and only once or twice a year at the most actually got the MO. When most of my stuff is going through PP or GCO I don't have the time to be back tracking the other way to unhide items that got hidden automatically.

Sorry this has happened to you. Can you wait at all to be sure that the checks actually show up or are these regular customers that you can count on? I know I wouldn't want to go to all the trouble only to have the check no show up.

[cosmicray]

[raminthethicket]

As mentioned in my previous post, I don't have a problem with checks arriving. Most of my clients are older women -- professionals and retired. They always pay, and in over 700 orders with perhaps 50 or so paid by check, I have never had an order that was not paid for. The checks are already here for these orders -- just the wool isn't! Oh, well. Just putting in my two cents -- as I said, one size doesn't fit all. Some sellers have this problem, and need the protection, others don't and it can prove to be a problem in some situations. Thanks for the reply, though.

[raminthethicket]

And also, as I mentioned, from a customer service point of view, I would much rather be holding inventory that was mistakenly not listed (until I saw the error and corrected it) than to have this situation, where, if I did not have the capability to produce the product, I would be having to say an awful lot of apologies to customers who paid through Paypal and risking a lot of negative feedback.