Anyone use 123bill
 

Just wondering if it's worth the effort. What are recurring rates like? Or are they good for one off sales?

Bump 'cause I'd like to hear the answers too!

Shoot Brad or Bill an email, they'll be able to answer any of your questions.

[email protected], [email protected]

We've been very happy with 123bill!

123Bill has been awesome. It is great for those who do not want to pay by credit card, check etc. I am not exactly sure on retention but it seems to be doing well.

Mark

We would be happy to answer any questions about 123bill that you have! ;-)

We have over 60 merchants using our service at this time. They are all enjoying the additional signup's that would have otherwise gone off into oblivion! ;-)

been using them for about 10 months :thumbsup

123bill are righteous folk :thumbsup

what % of total gross does it take in?

please esplain how the originating site revenue flows- you give the user 25 days to pay the bill - correct to assume that this is a fancy way to offer net 30 to surfers? works with recurring billing? # of active end-user customers using 123bill already? average percentage of invoices to received payments? do you guys factor?

the verification angle you pick reminds me of verified by ebay.

please summarize the timing and structure of the merchant payouts-

looks good at first glance- more info please

Hi Everyone!

Thank you for expressing your curiousity about 123Bill. I'll do my best to answer all questions posed :)

How the process works:

Most merchants integrate us into their paysites two ways to achieve maximum throughput and effectiveness with 123Bill. Virtually all paysites these days have a "pre-join" page which gives the customer multiple payment options. Typically, this would include credit cards, checking, 900 and dialers. Some merchants also offer other smaller, niche payment methods like pre-paid accounts, etc. Our merchants include graphics and/or a link on this page to include one more option which is most often described as "Instant Access - Bill By Mail".

When the customer clicks that link they are sent to a secure one page join form on our server. The consumer picks their username, password, type of membership and gives us their information. Once they agree to our terms and click to submit our system gives them a confirmation page reiterating their "bill-to" address, price and summary. Once they agree all of the information is correct, our systems do real-time address validation and identity verification and if they pass they are granted instant access to your member's area. An email is sent to the customer reiterating their new 123Bill account information in addition to their access information pertaining to the merchant's web site. This email also reiterates their balance, payment instructions and reminds them that a bill should be in hand within the next several days.

Consumers are free to login to the 123Bill website to manage their transactions and view their statements. We print and mail statements Monday through Friday so the time between the purchase and a bill being in the mail is at most one business day. Consumers have a net 25 from the point of purchase to remit a check or money order payment and there are no additional fees for using the service.

Flexibility to Sell!

123Bill does allow for recurring transactions, cheap trials and even free trials. My experience has been that when it comes to alternative billing methods, customers are very motivated and a bit less price sensitive. I have found that the most successful offers are usually those for full monthly access. Some merchants offer more expensive version of "non-recurring" access and also longer term access in both recurring and non-recurring forms.

More about Recurring Revenue

It's hard for me to give an exact estimate of what the recurring opportunity is for every merchant. When customers are late with their payment, accounts do not renew by default. 123Bill is very consumer friendly and many customers re-sign up for sites when this happens. Sometimes, if they decide they like the process but don't like the site they subscribed to they will inquire for us to give them a list of other merchants that offer products or services in their area of interest. One of the highest areas of repeat business is most definitely live services like phone chat. Several of our merchants have a littany of repeat customers that purchase many times each month.

Once customers pay their first bill the amount of credit and transactions they can do in a 30 day period increases. When they make their second payment, that figure doubles.

Merchant Payout Schedule

We do ACH, wires and checks every Friday. There is a six week delay to start and after that merchants receive settlements weekly. Merchants receive a guaranteed payout on gross billings regardless of whether or not we have collected from the consumer. Our guaranteed payout ranges from 65% on gross billed to as low as 25% on gross billed with most merchants at a rate of 50%. We are in the business of very difficult collections and result do vary from merchant to merchant. The quality of traffic, placement on merchant sites, accuracy of the tours and consumer's satisfaction with the members areas all lend themselves to our ability to collect these debts.

The Real Opportunity

We bring new sales to every merchant that adds our process. Whether it is an addition of 2% or 10%, in every instance it is found money for merchants. We are not a replacement for credit card purchases or other payment methods. We allow a segment of the market access to your websites that in most instances would otherwise not have access. Most of our customers do not possess credit cards and only around half of them maintain checking accounts. Although they are few in number, our best customers are those that are more sophisticated and simply desiring privacy. There is a whole base of people out there that find our discreet billing attractive. It allows them to have statements sent to an alternate address so that their purchases are kept far from prying eyes and they are in control of their total liabiltiy.


:thumbsup

More questions for me?

Cheers,

Brad

Hmmmm, sounds very interesting. I'm finishing up setting up WTS to work with NATS. After that I'll give you guys a call!

Great! Also, I forgot to mention that we are integrated with NATS, MPA and X3. We are integrated with several merchants that also have proprietary systems and looking forward to integrating with Brad Shaw's new system once they have the time to work with us.

Cheers,

Brad