Oleg needs our help

[kiev4a]

Many of you are acquainted with Oleg, one of the best and most reliable repairers of Soviet cameras.
Oleg just posted a message on the Beststuff Russian Camera Forum saying he's about to lose his Paypal connection. He has been able to receive his payments through Western Bid with his own email address ok@sovietcamera.com, while most sellers have to go through sales@westernbid.com. Apparently having his own adress allows him to get his money faster and ship back orders quicker because he gets verification sooner.
Anyway, Western Bid has apparently notified him that in the future he must get his payments through sales@westernbid.com because he doesn't generate enogh money to get special treatment (he's one of the company's oldest customers). He says he's going to drop westernbid entirely and was trying to get suggestion for another method of getting payment.

We all told him Western Bid is almost a must because it is through Paypal and allot of us won't use Western Union, Bidpay etc. We told him we didn't mind waiting a little longer for him to get verification using the generic Western Bid address. I think with him, it's a matter of principle. Here he is, one of the oldest customers, getting bounced because he doesn't have enough traffic.

In the meantime I have sent a message to Western Bid urging them to allow Oleg to keep his ok@sovietcamera.com address because he is so important to Soviet camera collectors around the world and because he is one of their oldest customers. If everyone did that, it might make them reconsider. Can't hurt.

 

[kiev4a]

Here's Oleg's actual message:

Hi all!
Looks like I am not able to accept Paypal payments now....
Many years I used WesternBid account with my personal address ok@sovietcamera.com... My personal address was linked to WB account due to I am one of first russian user of WB.
But now WB says: " so low money receiving to ok@... address..." and they want to remove my address within 10 days.... They need free place for link other email with high cash flow....
Hmmm.... I can understand WB..... But I started working with Michael Birman before WesternBid history... I am slightly disappointed...
Yes, it will be possible to use common WB address Sales@sovietcamera.com - but I'll be not able receive notification letters and send parcels fast...
So.... I stop accepting paypal now... I'll try to resolve this problem... If somebody have any ideas can help me, please give me advice!
Sorry for my problem, but I really want to resolve it....
Sincerely,
Oleg

 

[cralx2000]

kiev4a, can you copy your menssage here so I can use to send the e-mail?

Oleg, I'm with you.

Carlos

 

[peter_n]

Yes I will also write to Western Bid. Wonder if it would make sense to say that I won't buy anything through WB in the future if they go through with this?

 

[kiev4a]

Their website is in Russian so I sent the message to sales@westernbid.com

message:

I understand you have told Oleg you will no longer let him receive his payments through his email address ok@sovietcamera.com.

Oleg is a very important person for collectors of Soviet cameras and many of us will not deal with the other payment services, preferring Paypal. I urge you to reconsider taking away Oleg's address. He is one of Western Bid's oldest clients and one of the most important friends of Soviet camera collectors.

Thank You

 

[kiev4a]

Yes I will also write to Western Bid. Wonder if it would make sense to say that I won't buy anything through WB in the future if they go through with this?

It might be better to stress how important we feel Oleg is to Soviet camera collecting, rather than threatening. I suspect a good share of the money that goes through Western Bid is from Camera sales. I believe that's one of the primary reasons it was established -- because Eastern Europeans couldn't get Paypal accounts. So they established an office in the U.S. (Minnesota, I believe) to receive the money via Paypall, then, for a fee, send it one to the sellers via other means. Not the best system but better than anything else that was available at the time.

 

[Iskra 2]

Do I understand this correctly, Oleg doesn't want to use Paypal anymore or Paypal doesn't want to do business with OLeg.... and Western Bid doesn't want to let Oleg use one of their email addresses because of low volume (unprofitable)........ and Oleg doesn't want his customers to wait on equipment returns while the check clears.

Hmmm... I never used Paypal or Western Bid in the past and I don't think Western Union sends money to FSU locations anymore like they used to. So...... I used and now use International Money orders and suffered/suffer through the mail delays.

The international banking system is very greedy. Minimum fees are probably approaching the product/service costs. Thank you friendly bankers.

 

[RML]

...and I don't think Western Union sends money to FSU locations anymore like they used to.

I don't know about former FSU countries but I can send money thru WU and MoneyGram even to an outpost like Mongolia. Don't see why former FSU countries wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't be on the same list.

So...... I used and now use International Money orders and suffered/suffer through the mail delays.

I never-ever gonna use IMOs! They're bleeding expensive to start with, and silvering them costs a whopping 15 euros here!

With IBAN transfers within the EU (which I used to pay for my first FED-2 bought in Belgium and for the CLA of my M2 in Germany), easy bank transfers all over the world (just paid 2000 euros from Holland for my R-D1 that I bought from Dr Yao in Hong Kong) , WU/ MoneyGram (which I used regularly to send money to Mongolia and India to my wife), Paypal/ Neteller/ etc. (which I use regularly for payments on eBay, Amazon, etc) or international credit cards like Visa or Master Card (which I use anywhere in the world on my travels and for payments on the internet) I don't see why there's so much trouble getting payments done.

The international banking system is very greedy. Minimum fees are probably approaching the product/service costs. Thank you friendly bankers.

Working for a bank myself I can't deny that banks are greedy and try to scrape every single cent they can lay their paws on. But... without banks you wouldn't even be able to pay for your daily groceries/electricity/petrol/etc swiftly and safely, wouldn't receive your money quickly and securely in your bank account, and wouldn't be able to travel half-way around the world without having to bring a bag full of currency. Don't dis banking just because they make money. You'd do the same if you got the chance.

 

[peter_n]

It might be better to stress how important we feel Oleg is to Soviet camera collecting, rather than threatening. I suspect a good share of the money that goes through Western Bid is from Camera sales. I believe that's one of the primary reasons it was established -- because Eastern Europeans couldn't get Paypal accounts. So they established an office in the U.S. (Minnesota, I believe) to receive the money via Paypall, then, for a fee, send it one to the sellers via other means. Not the best system but better than anything else that was available at the time.

I will write today. WB is in Minnesota and I have used them whenever I have bought anything from the FSU.

Whatever you think of PayPal (and a lot of people don't like them) it is very convenient and in relative terms quite inexpensive. Having just bought a lens from laptoprob in Holland using PayPal, and a camera body from Australia using my bank's wired transfer (unbelievably slow and expensive) I know which one I prefer.

 

[Iskra 2]

Hi RML,

Recently I needed to transfer a small amount of money between two different banks that were close to each other in the same town. The cost......$16.00.

International Money Order cost was $2.00 and then about $1.50 postage for a trip somewhere east of Moscow for Oleg and took about 10 days.

I suppose if I was purchasing an RD1 the bank fees wouldn't bother me but when paying for a $25.00 Zorki it doesn't make much sense.

Hey, somebody has to "dis" them, right. Nothing personal though. :angel:

 

[RML]

Recently I needed to transfer a small amount of money between two different banks that were close to each other in the same town. The cost......$16.00.

Really? I'm truly surprised. Transferring money here in Holland from bank to bank is virtually for free. And takes only a single night.

International Money Order cost was $2.00 and then about $1.50 postage for a trip somewhere east of Moscow for Oleg and took about 10 days.

That's quite the opposite from what we have here. IMOs cost way much more and having them silvered costs 15 euros or more.

I suppose if I was purchasing an RD1 the bank fees wouldn't bother me but when paying for a $25.00 Zorki it doesn't make much sense.

The fees due were 8 euro or so. It took 8 days or so for the money to appear in Dr Yao's account. Agrred, I wouldn't opted for this if I'd buy a $20 FED or Zorki.

Hey, somebody has to "dis" them, right. Nothing personal though. :angel:

No offense taken.

 

[kiev4a]

Paypal, whatever we think of it, is a matter of convenience -- both for us and the sellers. As I stated earlier, I think for Oleg this is a matter of principal. He's had his individual identity since the beginning and now WB is saying "you don't make us enough money so we're going to throw you into the general pool."

 

[cralx2000]

I got this email from Western Bid.


Hi, this is not entirely correct,
we can not provide Oleg with his own email address, but he will be able always use our service and accept paypal on our main address sales@westernbid.com, so, please do not worry, we glad to provide service all our clients including Oleg , and Oleg can stay with us as long as hi want,

Regards,Alex,
Western Bid.

 

[captainslack]

I got this email from Western Bid.


Hi, this is not entirely correct,
we can not provide Oleg with his own email address, but he will be able always use our service and accept paypal on our main address sales@westernbid.com, so, please do not worry, we glad to provide service all our clients including Oleg , and Oleg can stay with us as long as hi want,

Regards,Alex,
Western Bid.

In other words; Get Stuffed.

*sigh* This would happen a week after I send a camera off for repair, wouldn't it?
:bang:

 

[Iskra 2]

*sigh* This would happen a week after I send a camera off for repair, wouldn't it?
:bang:

Oleg just sent me an email saying my Zorki is now OK. Had three payment options. I wouldn't worry.

 

[Pherdinand]

RML, wire transfer from a dutch bank to a non-eu bank also costs about 15 euro... At least to eastern europe. I've tried.

EU-wise i agree, wire transfer is excellent.

 

[fgianni]

Does Oleg sell cameras as well? I find the Idea of buying a leica clone inpected and fixed by an expert, more attractive that buying some crap on ebay from god knows who, and then having to ship it to russia to get it fixed.

 

[kiev4a]

Does Oleg sell cameras as well? I find the Idea of buying a leica clone inpected and fixed by an expert, more attractive that buying some crap on ebay from god knows who, and then having to ship it to russia to get it fixed.

Here's is web site:

http://www.okvintagecamera.com/

 

[Tim]

RML, wire transfer from a dutch bank to a non-eu bank also costs about 15 euro... At least to eastern europe. I've tried.

EU-wise i agree, wire transfer is excellent.

Same deal here. Transferring money between Aus (and some Kiwi) banks is fast and cheap; you can even do it on internet banking (instant and free)

But...you want to transfer money O/S? Worst case, to the USA? Then, it's going to cost you. Last one I did cost me AUD$34......