Restaurants, residential power, water and gas, medical treatment (particularly in emergencies), manicures, pedicures, haircuts, (some) public transportation, (some) prostitutes…
Makes me wonder what the underlying thread is among all of these services. Any others to add?
It surprises me that so many transactions happen through simply trust. I’ve also seen some of these situations become awkward, like when a disheveled person gets asked to show that they have the money in advance. What’s the advantage of conducting services this way? Would paying for a meal at a sit-down restaurant in advance be so weird? Can or does this translate into the web world somehow?
A couple thoughts that certainly don’t cover all cases: As a customer, it lets you demand better service/quality. As an owner, it could help you up-sell after you’ve delivered on an experience (can I tell you about our desserts? coffee?)
Well, that’s mostly utilities (whose costs vary each month, so you’d end up having to revisit the bill anyway–plus they, almost by definition know where you live and have some leverage to get you to pay) and things you tip for (where you want to know how the service is performed before you decide how much to pay). And then there’s the outlier, public transportation. I’d add things like netflix, cable tv, cell phone bill, but those are just more utilities, basically.
But yeah, I can’t think of any internet examples where you get the “stuff” first and are actually expected to pay later–as opposed to trial software or other things where 99% of users just never pay.
Very interesting notion. I think the reason we pay for some services afterwards is just down to the way things have always been done. Your example, about paying for food before eating it is unlikely to happen I reckon.
Now, the question of how this translates (or even relates) to the web world is the most thought-provoking. For example, paying for a service (and it is a service we’re talking about, isn’t it) that is web only, i.e. you can’t get this service on the high street, *after* you’ve recieved it is probably very uncommon (I can’t think of one really) in the way the web is today. It’s down to the element of human contact that creates the necessary an bond of trust that allows you the privilege of a service before payment. There’ next to no human element on the web unless you telephone (or Skype) etc.
Just my two pence worth. It’ll be interesting to see if you get other opinions.
I’ve always viewed the deliniation between when you pay before and after for a thing as the difference between a product and service. Almost all services you end up paying after the act has already been performed. I don’t think that it can translate to the web very well, although I can see it working for something similar to “Google Experts” where you could reasonably hold the result until payment is sent. One of the hallmark things about services is that they can ostensibly call the cops on you if you “dine and dash”.