The concept is that when a customer makes a purchase from the online-store, he pays using a payment processor with the option of either card or bank. The payment processor receives the money and take a fee like 2% for the transaction, then the system (My Website) will automatically send that order to the distributor to process the order. There are two options in dealing with the the distributor: 1) Is to have money pre-deposited at the distributors bank account so that when a purchase is made they just pack and send the product to the customer. 2) Is for them to ship the product to the customer upon order completion, and then allow me to pay by invoice later on. Shipping takes 1-3 days approximately Then later on I will have to make a withdraw from the payment merchant to get the money that the customer paid. Another option when it comes to the customer paying is to allow the choice of invoice in the payment processor instead just card and bank payments. However invoice creates a contract between the customer and the payment merchant so that the customer can pay within 14 days or by installments, but in installments riba will between thoose two parties depending on the contract. The payment merchant will give me the money in full even though the customer has not completed the payment to them. In all options the products are sent directly to the customer from the distributor upon purchase from my online-store. Is this kind of business allowed?
Praise
be to Allah
According to what we understand from the question, there are
four parties to this transaction:
1.
The purchaser
2.
Your website
3.
The distributor
4.
The payment processor.
Therefore we say:
Firstly:
It is permissible for the purchaser to pay the price via the
payment processor, in return for 2% of each transaction. This is acting as a
proxy in return for a fee, and there is nothing wrong with it.
Secondly:
It is not permissible to sell an item before taking
possession of it, and moving it from the distributor’s place, because of the
report narrated by an-Nasaa’i (4613), Abu Dawood (3503) and at-Tirmidhi
(1232) from Hakeem ibn Hizaam, who said: I asked the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him): O Messenger of Allah, a man may come to me
wanting to buy something that I do not possess, so I sell it to him then I
buy it for him from the marketplace. He said: “Do not sell that which you do
not possess.” The hadith was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh
an-Nasaa’i.
Ad-Daaraqutni and Abu Dawood (3499) narrated from Zayd ibn
Thaabit that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade
selling an item where it was bought, until the merchants move it to their
own places. The hadith was classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi
Dawood.
Ways of resolving this problem are as follows:
1.
Just promise the customer that you will buy the item and take
possession of it, then sell it to him. When you have bought it and taken
possession of it, then do the transaction and send it to him.
2.
It is permissible to be an agent acting on behalf of the
distributor, selling the item for him in return for commission, or to be an
agent acting on behalf of the purchaser, buying the item for him at the
usual price, and agreeing with him on a fee in return for doing that.
3.
There is also a third permissible way, which is the salam
transaction. This means selling to the customer an item that is clearly
described and defined, in such a way that there can be no cause for dispute,
which you commit to delivering to him at a specified time, on condition that
you receive the money from him when drawing up the contract with him, even
if that is by him depositing it in your account, because that is the same as
receiving it in your hand, in terms of the ruling. It is not right for the
money to remain with the payment processor.
We have explained these three options in the answer to
question no. 254652.
Thus you will know that the problem is when you do not have
the item in your possession before selling it to the customer.
This problem may be solved in one of the ways mentioned
above, but the first way is not appropriate in your case, because you do not
take possession of the item from the distributor before selling it.
Acting as a proxy in return for a fee is valid in your case,
if the distributor agrees to that and regards you as his agent, in return
for commission that he pays to you. In that case, it is not valid for you to
deposit money in his account beforehand, because you are his agent and
acting on his behalf; you are not buying from him.
But the second way you mention is valid, which is your
withdrawing the purchaser’s money from the payment processor and sending it
to the distributor, in which case you are acting as an agent, either for the
seller, by selling and receiving the price of his item, or for the
purchaser, by buying for him and paying on his behalf. But this is on
condition that there should be an agreement between you and the other party
who will appoint you as his agent, and that you should state your fee for
acting as his agent.
As for the salam transaction, it is not valid in your case,
because the condition for it being permissible is that you should take the
price in full at the time of drawing up the contract, and the money should
not remain with the payment processor.
In conclusion: so long as you do not have possession of the
item and you cannot take possession of it before selling it, or obtain its
price in full from the purchaser, then you can only act as an agent for the
distributor.
Secondly:
What you have mentioned about the customer paying instalments
through the payment processor is not permissible, and it comes under the
heading of riba as you mentioned, because if the one who provides the
payment pays the price on behalf of the purchaser, then asks the purchaser
to pay him more, then that is riba.
What is permissible is for the customer to give the money to
him (the agent), so that he can send it to the seller, in return for
commission; in that case he will be acting as an agent or proxy in return
for a fee, as mentioned above.
See also the answer to question no.
102744.
And Allah knows best.
