Payment through invoice or against payment in advance
Observing certain rules about security about money transfers
Customers shopping online usually have to choose between different methods of payment. The only method that can be seen very rarely is payment through invoice. A lot of shop owners shy away from offering this method, mostly for one reason: The customer gets his order together with the invoice that has to be paid within a certain period of time. Yet, the customer already has the products he ordered in his hand and many customers do not bother to pay the invoice straight away. Therefore, many shops refrain from offering this method of payment, sometimes it is only offered to regular customers who are well-known already.
Sometimes, only companies are allowed to pay through invoices while consumer customers are not offered this method. The reason for the different methods of payment offered is that invoices sent to companies are easier to recover than those sent to consumer customers. Payment through invoice, however, may have some advantages. First, customers have an advantage as they get their ordered goods before they actually have to pay for them. They are not in danger of not getting something even though they have already paid for it. This does happen; some shops do collect money but do not deliver the ordered goods. If a customer agrees to buy something against payment in advance therefore may be slightly worried about his order. But is there a middle way that gives both the buyer and the seller something they can live with? The best opportunity is payment via credit card or direct debit. The shop that is selling something gets the money for the ordered goods up front while the customer is able to reclaim the money if he does not get his order, even though the money has already been wire-transferred to the shop´s bank account. Although it is possible that customers reclaim the money even though they received their order and everything was in a good condition, it does not happen very often. Many shop-owners therefore prefer this payment method now. But one thing is for sure: There is no such thing as absolute security, neither for the buyer nor for the seller.
