Is there a layaway solution available for Miva?

[William Davis]

Is there a layaway solution available for Miva?

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

You might be able to cobble something together, but I'd consider one of the buy-now/pay-later systems like the ones PayPal (and others) offer.

[GDesigns]

you might also be able to get creative using credit on account (have user make payments towards products - manual process for sure right now) - think Miva will eventually add layaway

[Kent Multer]

I have a pre-order module that's in use by a couple of stores. It lets customers pay a percentage of the cost now, and the rest later on when you're ready to ship the item. And the percentage can be set to zero if you want to accept orders with no advance payment. The module has an admin page that makes it easy to process a bunch of orders with a few clicks when a product is ready to ship. If you're interested in this, you can drop me a line by email to discuss it in detail.

Thanks --

[William Davis]

Those sound like good workaround, unfortunately I need something more automated.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

Those sound like good workaround, unfortunately I need something more automated.

Then i'd opt for the PayPal etc route. The bonus is you get the money upfront. There are two other system's I know about: Affirm and Klarna. Affirm has a plug in module (we wrote it) Klarna at the moment requires an expensive integration (we did one) but they both offer similar features to paypal credit. Basically providing 3 to 6 month payments with fixed or no fees if paid off (or at least they used too.)

[Kent Multer]

What do you mean by "more automated?" How would you like it to work?

[slabar]

We use the Account Credit builtin to Miva for our Layaway service.

[William Davis]

Bruce, PayPal would be great, unfortunately they no longer provide services for businesses in our industry, so they are not an option. But I will look into the other options you mentioned. I did think more or less along the same lines you suggested with MivaPay, as it would make sense since the foundation has already been laid which in this case is the most difficult part from my perspective.

Kent, as to automation, it is essential in todays world if you want to remain competitive and avoid making very costly mistakes. Should work similar to some online credit card companies, wherein customers can setup automatic debit for a minimum amount on a regular basis for a specified period based on certain rules:

• Category/Product (e.g.: For obvious reasons some categories/products would be excluded, and other would have different rules)
• Total amount of purchase
• Term
• Minimum payment
• Agreement
• Ability to accept additional payments
• Online statement history (e.g.: Debits, Credits, Balance, Fees)
• Transaction/Statement email notification
• Audit log of any changes made front & back end (e.g.: When, What, Where and Who) that can't be messed with
• Reports

[Kent Multer]

Hmmm, my module isn't quite that sophisticated ... Maybe you could do something creative with Miva's subscription features? Subscriptions don't have to run indefinitely; you can set a subscription to run for a specific number of installments and then stop. There are features available to let customers view and change the subscription status.

[William Davis]

Hmmm, my module isn't quite that sophisticated ... Maybe you could do something creative with Miva's subscription features? Subscriptions don't have to run indefinitely; you can set a subscription to run for a specific number of installments and then stop. There are features available to let customers view and change the subscription status.

That is what I was thinking and possibly what Bruce was thinking as well. I believe the a very strong foundation has already been laid down by Miva with Miva Pay, if there is enough demand for it they would eventually develop it, its just a matter of principled priorities what features can be best leveraged by most merchants in the shortest period of time, etc...