oversea's bank transfers???

[emraphoto]

looking for advice on an oversea's (eastern europe) transaction. we are attempting to trade a pair of lenses with the other fine fella adding a wee bit of moola. the other fella is a rff member with no history of transactions but a member for a while. he is unable to do paypal and seems unable to do a bank draft...
his suggestion was a bank transfer. has anyone done it? any tip's on doing it safely?
he would transfer the dough and mail the len's. once the lens arrives in my hands i would send mine... on the assumption the money has arrived and cleared.
what's your thoughts?
john

 

[FrankS]

I've just done that successfully, selling a lens to a RFF member in Poland. Payment took 4 or 5 days to get into my account. I was able to access it immediately, no waiting for it to clear.

 

[jlw]

My advice is to ask your bank first so you'll know exactly what you're getting into. Several years ago I needed to order some car parts from Sweden, and the only way to pay was via interbank transfer. The transfer itself went smoothly (although slowly -- took about a week) but the setup charges and transfer fees were about $75, which was nearly as much as the parts!

 

[akptc]

This is commonly done now, best with larger banks. I've not have any problems transferring funds to/from EU locations.

 

[cjago]

Fees

Fees

Just make sure between you that you agree whether it is the sender or the recipient that is going to pay the fees, and to be sure what currency the funds will be received in.

Typically the sender has to say: pay x in recipients currency and charge x plus all fees to me.

If you get the wrong currency in your account your bank will love to charge you for the privilege.

If the sender doesn't specify that they are paying the fees, the fees get knocked off the amount transferred and divided up between the banks.

 

[mpt600]

Someone sent me a "moneygram" once. I got an email with a reference number, went to the Post Office and collected cash. Don't know if this service is universally available, it may be called something different oversea's. Western Union do something similar, but I've heard too many bad things about them to try it.

 

[Ash]

Yep, a lot of banks charge processing fees, it can cost quite a bit. Good luck!

 

[BJ Bignell]

One of my clients pays via wire transfer to my business account; this is faster (and safer, IMO) than sending a cheque across the ocean. The fees seem to vary based on the value of the incoming transfer. Once, it cost me $29 to recieve the payment. Another time, it was $159. I almost choked.

 

[David Murphy]

looking for advice on an oversea's (eastern europe) transaction. we are attempting to trade a pair of lenses with the other fine fella adding a wee bit of moola. the other fella is a rff member with no history of transactions but a member for a while. he is unable to do paypal and seems unable to do a bank draft...
his suggestion was a bank transfer. has anyone done it? any tip's on doing it safely?
he would transfer the dough and mail the len's. once the lens arrives in my hands i would send mine... on the assumption the money has arrived and cleared.
what's your thoughts?
john

I think it is a bad idea. He may just transfter money OUT of your bank account not IN to it. Have him pay with a cash remittance service: Western Union or whatever -- cash up front clear of financial tools like credit cards, bank accounts, etc. is safer.

 

[cjago]

??

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I think it is a bad idea. He may just transfter money OUT of your bank account not IN to it. Have him pay with a cash remittance service: Western Union or whatever -- cash up front clear of financial tools like credit cards, bank accounts, etc. is safer.

And how would he do that? You give somebody your bank account details every time you write a cheque. Anybody ever "just transfer money out" of your bank account?

Bank to bank transfers are as safe as any payment method. You either trust YOUR bank or you don't.

I forgot to mention in my first post it is wise to get your bank to tell you what their SWIFT, IBAN and BIC codes are. These are the various numerical ways of identifying bank branches internationally. Telling the sender these codes means that somebody in obscuresville's bank branch doesn't have to look them up with all the language complications.

 

[emraphoto]

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cheers! thanx for all the info!!!

 

[jesse1dog]

I paid a guy in the Ukraine by Paypal - that was OK. But the deal soured because the camera wouldn't work. I returned the item and got a full refund including the postage to me in the first place, but not my postage back. But the refund wasn't by Paypal but Western Union! The guy's fees must have been considerable and I had to find a Western Union office. I did - it was 38 miles away and a round trip of over 2 hours to get my money. So I'm not a fan of Western Union. Looks good on paper until you see what the fees are. I guess its the same with Banks - the transfer looks good until you examine the fees.
Best of luck.