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ddavison
July 3rd, 2013, 23:06
I've always wanted to sound like a Big Box Salesman, and I guess now is my chance.

We are happy to announce that we now accept 6-month interest free installment payments for purchases over $99 through Paypal's Bill Me Later feature. Full to Ultimate Upgrades or Ultimate licenses instantly qualify you, but so do bundle purchases or any other combination of items with an overall total over $99. We evidently had this option for some time, but I just found out about it after speaking with someone from Paypal. Read more below.

I answered the phone to what sounded immediately like a sales call. I'm glad I took it, though, because I think this is something that a lot of our customers would actually like. Please do your own research, but here is the skinny:

1. The interest is $0 if paid off in full within 6 months.

2. The interest is a fairly high 19% if not paid off in full and while I didn't dig any deeper here, I'm pretty sure they retro-actively apply the percentage to the beginning if you don't pay it off completely.

3. The payment to Paypal is handled completely by them and you and does not involve SmiteWorks at all beyond them transferring the full funds to us in the very beginning. SmiteWorks will never call you for payment or collections activities.

To use this feature, check out and select Bill Me Later. You can look for this new banner available on the store page.

I expect this is something that will be useful for a lot of people. It goes without saying, though, that the deal becomes significantly less cool if not paid off in full during the first 6 months. I've seen worse rates -- but not very often. Paypal still gets a benefit for any sale we make but they'd probably love for people to miss the window so they can get 6X the standard percentage.

Valarian
July 4th, 2013, 07:03
Sounds like a great way to spread the cost of purchase. You need to come and see some of the interest rates in the UK though. You'll see far worse here. 19% is a good rate, comparable to credit card rates.

bennis1980
July 4th, 2013, 09:21
Yes I've seen some of those 5 day loans advertised on ITV with 2000% interest, no questions asked.

I definitely would have taken this option and spread the cost if it was available when I upgraded to ultimate.

JohnD
July 4th, 2013, 15:16
Yes I've seen some of those 5 day loans advertised on ITV with 2000% interest, no questions asked.

Plus a busted knee cap if you miss your payment.

bennis1980
July 4th, 2013, 16:03
"Smiteworks are not associated with any busted knees or broken bones due to delayed payments... that's all PayPal's bad!" - possible disclaimer from Smiteworks

ddavison
July 4th, 2013, 16:18
Yes I've seen some of those 5 day loans advertised on ITV with 2000% interest, no questions asked.

I definitely would have taken this option and spread the cost if it was available when I upgraded to ultimate.

Holy crap! The sad part is that people probably still use that option and don't make it back in 5 days.

No busted knees from SmiteWorks. The good news is that you don't really need your knees when your gaming online. :D

bennis1980
July 4th, 2013, 16:22
So your new selling tagline can be as follows:

"Who needs knees anyway, so apply for your credit ultimate licence today with 0% RISK*


(*0% risk applies to upper body parts only. Your knees may be at risk if you do not keep up your payments)"

scionofnyarlathotep
July 4th, 2013, 18:57
Just tried to use this with an Ultimate upgrade plus some other purchases. I wasn't given any option to spread the payment over 6 months either on this site or when it connected to Paypal.

Is this purely a US based offer (I am UK based)?

joeru
July 4th, 2013, 19:03
"Bill Me Later is subject to credit approval as determined by the lender, WebBank, Salt Lake City, Utah and is available to US customers who are of legal age in their state of residence."

ddavison
July 4th, 2013, 19:08
scionofnyarlathotep, I just saw the same language that joeru posted. That is unfortunate, since we have quite a bit of non-US customers. Did it provide an option to cancel your order out okay? If not, let me know at [email protected] and I will issue a refund.

In the meantime, I should add a blurb above the banner for "US Residents only". bummer.

scionofnyarlathotep
July 4th, 2013, 19:10
scionofnyarlathotep, I just saw the same language that joeru posted. That is unfortunate, since we have quite a bit of non-US customers. Did it provide an option to cancel your order out okay? If not, let me know at [email protected] and I will issue a refund.

In the meantime, I should add a blurb above the banner for "US Residents only". bummer.

No worries, it did allow me to cancel without any come back. It is a shame though as like the others, it would have spurred me to upgrade (this month has been horrendous with CoC 7th edition and Cthulhu Wars on KS so any saving is appreciated). I'll have a quick look to see if Paypal UK offer the same service.

ddavison
July 4th, 2013, 19:16
Thanks for letting me know. I wish I would have spotted that before sending out the newsletter... but I did at the blurb under the image at least for now.

scionofnyarlathotep
July 4th, 2013, 19:30
Thanks for letting me know. I wish I would have spotted that before sending out the newsletter... but I did at the blurb under the image at least for now.

I cannot find anything on the Paypal UK website, it seems to be limited to US citizens only as you are required to enter the last four digits of your SSN.

It could possibly be rolled out at a later stage, most of their innovations are.