Meet the Company: Payability

Selling on Amazon means that merchants have to accept they may not see their sales funds for a couple of weeks until Amazon’s remittance to them becomes due. This introduces short term cash flow issues into the business which are a major barrier, especially for those used to having funds immediately available from other marketplaces. That’s where Payability comes in.

If you’re selling on Amazon.com then they can make funds available to you, well in advance of the marketplace’s regular payment schedule. We spoke to Victoria Sullivan, Marketing Manager at Payability to find out more:

Who are Payability?

Payability is a finance and technology firm on a mission to provide friction-free financing to suppliers of digital marketplaces. We supply Amazon and marketplace sellers with daily cash flow and growth capital so they can reinvest in inventory, drive more sales and grow their business faster.

Our scalable financing solutions were designed specifically for the unique needs of ecommerce sellers. Payability currently provides financing options to sellers on Amazon.com, Walmart, Jet, Tophatter, Shopify, NewEgg and more. Since 2016, we have advanced almost $1 billion in payments to marketplace sellers.

What does Payability do?

Payability took a well-established financial product known as factoring and made it new again for marketplace and ecommerce sellers. We currently have two products: Instant Access which provides sellers with daily cash flow and Instant Advance that provides sellers with up to a month’s worth of payouts in one lump sum.

Instead of waiting 14+ days to receive your marketplace payments, Payability Instant Access makes your sales available the next day, everyday. Each day you’ll be able to access the prior day’s sales, replenish inventory instantly, avoid stockouts and scale your business faster. Here’s how it works: Payability advances you 80-90% of your marketplace payments daily, the business day after your sales are completed. The remaining 10-20% is kept on reserve to cover any returns or chargebacks and is then released to the seller on the marketplace’s regular payment schedule. There are no application, startup or cancellation fees, just a 2% flat fee on gross sales (typically 3% for UK customers selling on Amazon.com). High volume sellers with $50,000/month or more in gross sales may qualify for reduced fees. If you want to see Instant Access in action, here’s a video on how it works.

A Payability Instant Advance is a purchase of future receivables to receive a capital today. For example, Payability would purchase $5,000 of your future receivables and you would receive $4,000 up front. Depending on your sales history, Payability is expected to receive the funds within 16-20 weeks, and each week’s cost is 1% of the $5,000. The total cost is determined by how long it takes Payability to obtain all of the receivables purchased. If Payability receives the full $5,000 before 20 weeks, you’ll get a rebate of 1%/$50 for each week it’s early. And when Payability receives half or more of the funds, you’ll be eligible to refinance and will get an early rebate plus a new advance to continue reinvesting in inventory. With an Instant Advance sellers can easily buy large amounts of inventory, launch products, take advantage of big opportunities and more. Instant Advance works alongside Instant Access, Amazon Lending and other forms of financing.

Why should I be interested in Payability?

Payability currently has no direct competitors. While there are other financing options in the form of credit cards, savings, traditional lenders or alternative lenders, no other company does exactly what Payability does for sellers. To see how Payability compares to these financing options, check out this short video.

Fast, Friction-Free Financing

• Payability allows Amazon and marketplace sellers to skip 14+ day payment delays and get paid for their sales every day and/or in one lump sum. The faster sellers get paid the faster they can reinvest in inventory and grow their businesses.
• Payability sends payments via Same Day ACH or Wire to ensure that earnings are available ASAP.
• The Payability approval process is fast and simple. It’s based on Amazon account health rather than credit. Unlike a term loan or other forms of financing that require lengthy approval processes, credit pulls and sometimes unfavorable payment terms, Payability customers are up and running with their first payment the same day or the next day. Since approval is based on account health and marketplace stats, there are no credit pulls or dings to your credit.

Scalability

• Instant Access offers sellers a scalable cash flow solution. Unlike credit the comes with risks and limits, Payability gives sellers access to their own income in real time providing them with a consistent financing source that scales at the speed of their business. If the marketplace takes longer that usual to pay or hold a payment back until the next pay period, the seller can continue to cash out based on their sales. This allows sellers to avoid unexpected dips in cash flow that can cripple their business and not to mention their credit.
• Instant Advance gives sellers the opportunity to buy a large amount of inventory at once so they can take advantage of seasonality, bulk discounts, seamlessly launch new products and more.

Avoid Stockouts/Opportunity Costs

• On marketplace platforms such as Amazon, a stockout can have negative effects on your business that can be challenging to bounce back from. Not only will you lose sales today, but you will lose the search rank you worked so hard to build within Amazon. Therefore, you also stand to miss out on future sales. Sellers spend endless amounts of time and money finding the right keywords and sponsoring their products to be seen by more customers. This work all goes to waste if you stockout.
• Without a consistent source of financing, the opportunity cost for online sellers is high. Inventory is available when it’s available and the window of time to take advantage of big opportunities is very short. Receiving your earnings daily and/or in one lump sum boosts your cash flow and gives you more control of your business. With faster access to cash, you can make the right investments, buy inventory at optimal times and take advantage of every opportunity to grow.

Shorter Lead Times

• Wholesale and private label sellers who order large amounts of inventory from China use daily cash flow to shorten lead times and cut deals with suppliers.
• When you only have one or two products, getting paid every two weeks or so might work. But, once you start adding more and more products, you find yourself having to pay different people at different times. With Payability sellers always have the cash they need to purchase inventory when they need it. If they need to wait another week or two to get paid and purchase inventory, they could lose their spot in the line and have to wait even longer to get new inventory which could result in a stockout or missing out on a seasonal opportunity such as Q4 altogether.
  vHaving cash gives sellers bargaining power. By volunteering to pay suppliers right away, sellers are able to cut deals with their suppliers for free shipping, 10% off, etc.

Take Advantage of Big Opportunities

• Payability gives marketplace sellers access to the fast cash they need to take advantage of seasonality or other big opportunities such as Prime Day, Q4 or a chance to stock up on lots of inventory at a low cost. It’s faster, simpler and free from the risks and hassle involved with other financing solutions such as term loans and credit cards.

Financing Designed for eCommerce Sellers

• Payability’s financial products were designed specifically for the unique needs of ecommerce sellers. While platforms such as Amazon have essentially created unlimited demand among consumers, most financing options are still limited. Credit has credit limits and with the demand on Amazon chances are you may be able to sell more than your credit allows you to finance. Your credit limit also doesn’t go up as soon as you start selling a hot product on Amazon. With daily access to your marketplace payments, you have an inventory financing solution that grows with you allowing you to sell as much as you can possibly sell.

Complete Cash Flow Freedom

• Daily cash flow gives marketplace sellers the freedom to scale their businesses quickly and on their own terms. When entrepreneurs are free from the constraints of payment delays, they have more time and energy to devote to sourcing new products, growing other areas of their business and doing what they love.

Is there anything else we should know?

In order to be eligible for Payability, you need to be selling around $2,000 each month on Amazon.com, have 90 days of sales history, and your Professional Amazon Seller Account must be in good standing with Amazon.

Payability typically charges a 2% flat fee on gross sales (3% for UK customers selling on Amazon.com) for an 80% advance rate. High volume sellers with $50,000+/month in Amazon sales may qualify for reduced pricing. Payability also has a Loyalty Pricing Program that rewards customers with lower fees and higher advance rates over time.

Payability is currently available to marketplace sellers selling on Amazon.com in the US, Canada, UK and internationally with additional restrictions for customers outside the US and Canada. Customers outside the U.S. use services such as Payoneer or World First to convert their payments into U.S. dollars.

What should I do next?

Visit go.payability.com/Tamebay to sign up for Payability. Tamebay readers will receive a $200 sign on bonus.