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Thanks for the advice. I claim ignorance and stupidity. I’m going to try to complete the auctions. Who knows, you may have opened up a whole new world to me. Many Thanks Dave G – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been selling 9-11 new york times for a couple of months for 10-15 bucks. No big deal. My auctions state no over seas shipments. It sounded like a pain and I did not want to deal with it. At any rate two of my auctions over the last month were won by "buyers" in Germany. Against my better judgement I am trying to complete the auctions. Both buyers want my bank account number so they can wire the money. I don’t know if that is safe or not but I am not giving that info to anyone. I’ve emailed the buyers who understand very little english. One says his bank is only open on Thursdays and he will send the money in us funds. The other guy I have not heard from. I don’t leave negative feedback unless I get screwed big time. I’m out a couple bucks for listing and final value fees, so that’s not going to kill me. Does anyone here ship over seas? What should I do at this point? Thanks Dave G First. So far the advise you have received is canned and while meant well, relatively empty of substance. Second. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving someone your bank wire info. I do it all the time and ship all over the world. Third. It is the safest form of payment. All the buyer can do is put money IN. They can’t take it OUT. And it is cash. I actually would prefer it from all of my buyers. Fourth. If you don’t want international business, then you are literally cutting out over 3/4 of the world’s population from bidding on your auctions. Ridiculous! I will never understand the logic behind refusing to sell to international bidders. They pay the shipping. So it’s a little extra work. It’s a sale! A sale you may not otherwise have gotten. But as far as this case goes. A guy offers to wire you funds, and you are considering leaving him a neg! Not smart. If you are going to spread your wings, then learn as much as you can before making stupid assumptions. And for gosh sakes, don’t always listen to the masses here. Sometimes they all
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Yeah, they do. When our bank first started to require your account number on checks from others that you cash, I objected and they gently pointed out that it was already on every check I sent, and I sent checks all over, so what’s the diff? Bonita writes – at least, that’s the way it is with cheques in the UK, and surely there are *some* limits to American exceptionalism? How else would the payee bank know where to draw the money from?
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"Flogodino" wrote "Krhill98" wrote Texas alone is bigger than quite a few countries! (put together) Well pilgrim. If you think that’s something. Alaska makes TX. look like miniature shoes from Argentina.
Yeah, but you can wear them on your head, if you’re into it, or even Inuit. ;) a. linklurker
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – [...] Second. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving someone your bank wire info. I do it all the time and ship all over the world. Third. It is the safest form of payment. All the buyer can do is put money IN. They can’t take it OUT. I’m from Germany. 
There are two things worth mentioning: 1. *In Germany* it’s possible indeed to take money out, using a "passive" way: Buyers must give away permission first to let sellers do that. And buyers are able to cancel it afterwards (within 14 days AFAIK, if the seller won’t send the item) and will get their money back. I think the possibility to pull money out of foreign countries’ bank accounts depends on the country (and maybe the bank). So you better ask if you want to be *really* sure. 
2. If Buyers use the "active" way, that is: sending money directly to your bank account (not letting you "get" the money like mentioned above) they can’t get the money back. Whether it is in Germany or in the U.S. Exception: you send it back. So don’t worry to let people from Germany send you money. We all do it here, and in Germany this is the usual kind of payment (besides credit cards)! Christian.
In the USA, one cannot TAKE money out of an account under any circumstances, unless of course it’s a debit charge, online purchase, things like that. Those things are ‘active’ permissions. There is no such thing as ‘passive’ permissions here. In an account, anyone who’s name is on the account my take out money. Otherwise, it’s not happening. The key of course is NOT to give out your drivers license number or your PIN with your account number. You do that, and you are looking at nightmares. With the DL, they can create checks with your account number and DL. With the PIN. ATM here I come!
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You know, I can picture this poor German guy sitting in his apt. with this dumbfounded look on his face, not knowing what to do. Yet with the best of intentions.
Yes, I think that’s probably close to the mark. You’ll not, in general, come across people who’ll diligently follow all the rules and be punctilious down to the last dotted "i" and crossed "t" as the average German (if one can talk about people in terms of averages!). As Krhill more or less implies, get up a good speed anywhere in Europe and you’re in another country, with another set of norms and another way of doing things, pretty much before you know it. Actually, after ten hours on the autobahn, that preconception would probably be open to revision, but he has a point. I went through all kinds of culture shock hitching round Europe as a teenager, and got back home with my head in a whirl, when an American with his thumb out on the road for the same period of time might have taken in just half a dozen states. Growing up with that, you get used to people pulling really weird numbers – like being German, or whatever – without so much as batting an eyelid. In this topsy-turvy world, it takes the "melting-pot society" to get twitched about things like that! — John http://rarebooksinjapan.com
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<snip And they all speak one language in Texas – and only one.
<snip When was the last time you were in Texas? Texas has always had a significant percentage of the population who spoke only Spanish, particularly in south Texas, and another group bilingual in Spanish and English. Since the influx of Vietnamese refuges in the 70’s, Texas has developed a significant population bilingual in Vietnamese and English. The last time I heard the numbers quoted, the Vietnamese community just in the Dallas area numbered around 30,000.
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Texas alone is bigger than quite a few countries! (put together)
Well pilgrim. If you think that’s something. Alaska makes TX. look like miniature shoes from Argentina.
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[...] Second. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving someone your bank wire info. I do it all the time and ship all over the world. Third. It is the safest form of payment. All the buyer can do is put money IN. They can’t take it OUT.
I’m from Germany. There are two things worth mentioning: 1. *In Germany* it’s possible indeed to take money out, using a "passive" way: Buyers must give away permission first to let sellers do that. And buyers are able to cancel it afterwards (within 14 days AFAIK, if the seller won’t send the item) and will get their money back. I think the possibility to pull money out of foreign countries’ bank accounts depends on the country (and maybe the bank). So you better ask if you want to be *really* sure. 2. If Buyers use the "active" way, that is: sending money directly to your bank account (not letting you "get" the money like mentioned above) they can’t get the money back. Whether it is in Germany or in the U.S. Exception: you send it back. So don’t worry to let people from Germany send you money. We all do it here, and in Germany this is the usual kind of payment (besides credit cards)! Christian.
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Krhill98: the rest of the world suddenly seems a very long way away, and I guess it must be the same in parts of the US, especially for people who grew up there and have never been anywhere else. You have to admit, the US is pretty damn *huge*. Somebody living here could have traveled a whole hell of a lot MORE than somebody from Europe, and still have never left the country, while the European may have been to several countries. Texas alone is bigger than quite a few countries! (put
together) Well, yes, that’s true, but somehow in a way I would think that makes it even worse – I imagine one could end up convincing oneself that, being in such a vast landmass, one could somehow dismiss anything outside it as not being significant. Look at it this way, though; people in Siberia or living on the Tibetan plateau could take the same attitude, but to you it might seem that, for all the vastness, their horizons were actually pretty limited. Just kind of thinking out loud, really – I’m English, living in Japan, so what do I know? Oh, I lived in Spain for a good few years, and that’s a pretty decent chunk of land – comparable with Texas, anyway! Thanks for not taking offence – I was kind of grouchy this morning when I wrote all that! Cheers, — John http://rarebooksinjapan.com
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"Krhill98" wrote the rest of the world suddenly seems a very long way away, and I guess it must be the same in parts of the US, especially for people who grew up there and have never been anywhere else. You have to admit, the US is pretty damn *huge*. Somebody living here could have traveled a whole hell of a lot MORE than somebody from Europe, and still have never left the country, while the European may have been to several countries. Texas alone is bigger than quite a few countries! (put
together) And they all speak one language in Texas – and only one. Europeans speak and write several, generally. I *collect* positive feedback in foreign languages!!! I’ve soared to about 30% international packages-shipped. I’d a two-week run recently wherein over 50% of my shipments were international. I just handled 3 payments in the past half-hour: Puerto Rico, Miami, Brisbane (Australia, mate.) The Australian BINed an item I’d put up not 2 hours earlier! And not a former bidder nor buyer! Cherry-picked it! =) Paypal-ed *immediately*, conviently clicking the page link and paying through that, adding the *correct* shipping fee to Australia for the item, which was *plainly* and *clearly* including in the description, along with fees to too many other nations to state here. The zone stuff is sort of complex, but can be sorted with a little patience quite easily. Don’t look at *all* of the numbers: just find your ship-to country, find your selected delivery mode, and get the zone code. Then go to the rate chart for the delivery type selected, find your zone and weight and *bingo*: jackpot! I’d a potential bidder from Poland contact me earlier: how much for shipping to them in Poland? And do I take BidPay? Poland is Rate Group 5 for Airmail Letter-Post, the method of choice (mine) for this item: easy to calculate: same as HK, Taipai, and Korea (SK). =) Fire off the answer (no bidpay – none for me, thanks), with *firm* shipping quote, and get response asking if I will accept registered letter with cash. I do it *often*: I am awaiting such a letter at this very moment, from Spain: I’ve already sent the item: this is a *proven* repeat buyer and *bidder* (doesn’t always win; sometimes bids, sometimes BINs): their well-concealed cash always arrives within 4 days of their letting me know they are ready to make a payment (they wait until they’ve had enough, in any particular ’sitting’ =)) I am *happy* to get their item on the way (only one this time: fine with me =)) to them, knowing that they will appreciate receiving it asap. =) So, back to Poland: I respond, "yes; well-concealed, please, and only if you are certain that you are comfortable." 5 minutes later, their bid is on the board. =) =) =) I sent a package to someone’s brother in Texas, in order to save them shipping fees to Mexico: they walked across a border bridge and picked up the package and walked back and saved enough to make it very worth their while. =) (Also, there was concern on their part about the local postal system on their side of the rio.) I have *never* had a problem with *any* sale internationally: only a couple problems as a buyer, and those worked out favourably enough. (Of course, every overdue winner I’ve at this moment is located at a US zip.) International sales *rock*!!! It’s a small world after all. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=974520865 And, yes, it is fun. ;) a. linklurker P.S. If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1575876195 If it’s Tuesday in Texas, it might as well be Sunday: no alcohol and too much American football.
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the rest of the world suddenly seems a very long way away, and I guess it must be the same in parts of the US, especially for people who grew up there and have never been anywhere else.
You have to admit, the US is pretty damn *huge*. Somebody living here could have traveled a whole hell of a lot MORE than somebody from Europe, and still have never left the country, while the European may have been to several countries. Texas alone is bigger than quite a few countries! (put together)
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Flogodino wrote* Does anyone here ship over seas? What should I do at this point?
I cannot believe people can be so parochial on the "world wide web". "Does anyone here ship overseas?" – as if, you know, out of maybe a thousand people there might – just might – be one! I mean, is that ridiculous or what! First. So far the advise you have received is canned and while meant well, relatively empty of substance.
Yup. If there’s anything more disturbing than the parochial nature of the original posting it’s the fact that half the replies actually seem to translate into something like, "Wow! You got some punk from *abroad* bidding on your auction! Sh!t, that’s heavy. Yup, you sure got a problem on your hands there, boy. Watch ‘em good and don’t trust ‘em an inch…" Second. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving someone your bank wire info. I do it all the time
So does the original poster. The basic details appear on every cheque he writes – at least, that’s the way it is with cheques in the UK, and surely there are *some* limits to American exceptionalism? How else would the payee bank know where to draw the money from? Ridiculous! I will never understand the logic behind refusing to sell to international bidders.
The same logic, I suspect, that makes some Japanese bar and hot spring proprietors put up signs saying "No foreigners". It makes no sense at all to close your auctions to about three quarters of your potential bidders, especially where something like newspapers – that can be shipped around the world at very cheap rates – are concerned. But when you’re in Japan the rest of the world suddenly seems a very long way away, and I guess it must be the same in parts of the US, especially for people who grew up there and have never been anywhere else. But as far as this case goes. A guy offers to wire you funds, and you are considering leaving him a neg! Not smart.
Well, hell, Flogodino, the guy’s *German* for xxxxsakes! And he doesn’t even speak English! You gotta cut the seller a little slack here and admit the buyer’s pretty much *asking* for it. If you are going to spread your wings, then learn as much as you can before making stupid assumptions.
Flogodino, have you ever thought of becoming adviser to the White House or something, and getting this kind of advice to the people who really need it? — John http://rarebooksinjapan.com
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eBay *should* block international bidders from auctions that state such bids are unwelcome — but they don’t, and it leaves it to the seller to deal with the problem.
As long as the seller has the option of "whitelisting" such blocked bidders, then I have no problem with being blocked. But being out and out blocked with no hope of bidding on the auction? That I’d never agree to. I have people in the US I can have the items shipped to, so I think I should be allowed to bid if the seller so decides. Curtis. — Stacey, we broke up months ago. // That doesn’t mean we still can’t go out, does it? // Actually, it does. That’s what breaking up is.
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been selling 9-11 new york times for a couple of months for 10-15 bucks. No big deal. My auctions state no over seas shipments. It sounded like a pain and I did not want to deal with it. At any rate two of my auctions over the last month were won by "buyers" in Germany. Against my better judgement I am trying to complete the auctions. Both buyers want my bank account number so they can wire the money. I don’t know if that is safe or not but I am not giving that info to anyone. I’ve emailed the buyers who understand very little english. One says his bank is only open on Thursdays and he will send the money in us funds. The other guy I have not heard from. I don’t leave negative feedback unless I get screwed big time. I’m out a couple bucks for listing and final value fees, so that’s not going to kill me. Does anyone here ship over seas? What should I do at this point? Thanks Dave G First. So far the advise you have received is canned and while meant well, relatively empty of substance. Second. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving someone your bank wire info. I do it all the time and ship all over the world. Third. It is the safest form of payment. All the buyer can do is put money IN. They can’t take it OUT. And it is cash. I actually would prefer it from all of my buyers. Fourth. If you don’t want international business, then you are literally cutting out over 3/4 of the world’s population from bidding on your auctions. Ridiculous! I will never understand the logic behind refusing to sell to international bidders. They pay the shipping. So it’s a little extra work. It’s a sale! A sale you may not otherwise have gotten. But as far as this case goes. A guy offers to wire you funds, and you are considering leaving him a neg! Not smart. If you are going to spread your wings, then learn as much as you can before making stupid assumptions. And for gosh sakes, don’t always listen to the masses here. Sometimes they all
Totally agree with ‘Flogodino’. At least in Europe it’s completely safe to give your bank account number to buyers (NOT your pincode of course), but maybe things are different in the U.S.? And another thing: In many Western European countries, banks close ridiculously early EXCEPT on thursday (maybe different days in different countries?), so that part is totally plausible too. Martin
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"Kris Baker" wrote eBay *should* block international bidders from auctions that state such bids are unwelcome — but they don’t, and it leaves it to the seller to deal with the problem. As long as the seller has the option of "whitelisting" such blocked bidders, then I have no problem with being blocked. But being out and out blocked with no hope of bidding on the auction? That I’d never agree to. I have people in the US I can have the items shipped to, so I think I should be allowed to bid if the seller so decides.
I’m with Curtis all the way here. As I said in another thread recently, I’ve found that, on the whole, sellers who don’t ship internationally are more likely to be bad sellers than those who do, but I still bid on such auctions from time to time, if it’s something I really want. I generally clear it with the seller beforehand, but sometimes overlook the shipping requirements. Either way, I’ve never had a seller who’s refused to ship to me, but if it ever did happen then, like Curtis, I’d have the item sent to an address in the US and get it forwarded to me from there. — John http://rarebooksinjapan.com .
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Flogodino wrote* Does anyone here ship over seas? What should I do at this point? I cannot believe people can be so parochial on the "world wide web". "Does anyone here ship overseas?" – as if, you know, out of maybe a thousand people there might – just might – be one! I mean, is that ridiculous or what! First. So far the advise you have received is canned and while meant well, relatively empty of substance. Yup. If there’s anything more disturbing than the parochial nature of the original posting it’s the fact that half the replies actually seem to translate into something like, "Wow! You got some punk from *abroad* bidding on your auction! Sh!t, that’s heavy. Yup, you sure got a problem on your hands there, boy. Watch ‘em good and don’t trust ‘em an inch…" Second. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving someone your bank wire info. I do it all the time So does the original poster. The basic details appear on every cheque he writes – at least, that’s the way it is with cheques in the UK, and surely there are *some* limits to American exceptionalism? How else would the payee bank know where to draw the money from? Ridiculous! I will never understand the logic behind refusing to sell to international bidders. The same logic, I suspect, that makes some Japanese bar and hot spring proprietors put up signs saying "No foreigners". It makes no sense at all to close your auctions to about three quarters of your potential bidders, especially where something like newspapers – that can be shipped around the world at very cheap rates – are concerned. But when you’re in Japan the rest of the world suddenly seems a very long way away, and I guess it must be the same in parts of the US, especially for people who grew up there and have never been anywhere else. But as far as this case goes. A guy offers to wire you funds, and you are considering leaving him a neg! Not smart. Well, hell, Flogodino, the guy’s *German* for xxxxsakes! And he doesn’t even speak English! You gotta cut the seller a little slack here and admit the buyer’s pretty much *asking* for it. If you are going to spread your wings, then learn as much as you can before making stupid assumptions. Flogodino, have you ever thought of becoming adviser to the White House or something, and getting this kind of advice to the people who really need it? — John http://rarebooksinjapan.com
Smart thinking John. And right on the money. It just amazes me how people still act as if the USA is a private club on the internet for American members only. You know, I can picture this poor German guy sitting in his apt. with this dumbfounded look on his face, not knowing what to do. Yet with the best of intentions. When are people going to wake up and realize that the WORLD wide web is just that. World wide. We are no longer strangers. We have come together under this amazing medium called the internet. To exclude those that do not live in your country is, in a word, ignorance.
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Totally agree with ‘Flogodino’. At least in Europe it’s completely safe to give your bank account number to buyers (NOT your pincode of course), but maybe things are different in the U.S.? And another thing: In many Western European countries, banks close ridiculously early EXCEPT on thursday (maybe different days in different countries?), so that part is totally plausible too. Martin
Martin, Thanks for the info. I’ve never been outside of the US, so this is all new to me. Dave G
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I would hold my ground and require them to pay via money order or paypal, western union, etc.. DON’T give your bank account number to them. The chances are good that they WON’T come through, but go ahead and give them the benefit of the doubt… If they don’t come through after a period of time, neg em and forget about it… Shipping overseas isn’t that big of a deal.. and for me, betting paid isn’t a big deal as most of em use PayPal to pay me (it’s easier than getting a money order in US currency, I guess)… Chris
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been selling 9-11 new york times for a couple of months for 10-15 bucks. No big deal. My auctions state no over seas shipments. It sounded like a pain and I did not want to deal with it. At any rate two of my auctions over the last month were won by "buyers" in Germany. Against my better judgement I am trying to complete the auctions. Both buyers want my bank account number so they can wire the money. I don’t know if that is safe or not but I am not giving that info to anyone. I’ve emailed the buyers who understand very little english. One says his bank is only open on Thursdays and he will send the money in us funds. The other guy I have not heard from. I don’t leave negative feedback unless I get screwed big time. I’m out a couple bucks for listing and final value fees, so that’s not going to kill me. Does anyone here ship over seas? What should I do at this point? Thanks Dave G
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Some countries have postal money orders is US funds, Japan for example. Canadians can send a personal check and just write US Funds on it. The gals at my bank raise an eyebrow, but they clear just fine. I tell people to just mail cash in US$. Or if youre traveling soon to Europe on vacation just have them send euros cash.
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been selling 9-11 new york times for a couple of months for 10-15 bucks. No big deal. My auctions state no over seas shipments. It sounded like a pain and I did not want to deal with it. At any rate two of my auctions over the last month were won by "buyers" in Germany. Against my better judgement I am trying to complete the auctions. Both buyers want my bank account number so they can wire the money. I don’t know if that is safe or not but I am not giving that info to anyone. I’ve emailed the buyers who understand very little english. One says his bank is only open on Thursdays and he will send the money in us funds. The other guy I have not heard from. I don’t leave negative feedback unless I get screwed big time. I’m out a couple bucks for listing and final value fees, so that’s not going to kill me. Does anyone here ship over seas? What should I do at this point? Thanks Dave G
Your problem is that you can’t decide whether you’re going to ship internationally or not. If your auctions say "No international shipments (or buyers)", you should stick to that. Or…if you’re going to give in to those who ignore your rules, take it out of your auctions. Your items will probably sell for more if you let international bidders in on them, BUT you need to specify payment options in your listing. It’s your right to set policies, but I think policies are there to be abided by, or they’re worthless. eBay *should* block international bidders from auctions that state such bids are unwelcome — but they don’t, and it leaves it to the seller to deal with the problem. All you can do is abide by your policies and NPB them for ignoring auction terms….OR accept their bids, send them payment info, and go on with life. I’ve only had one bad international bidder (a nonpaying bidder). The rest have been fantastic and I welcome their participation. Kris
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Kris, Thanks for your thoughts. The auctions ended and I had no control over who the winning bidder was. I’m going to ride it out and see what happens. I am not going to post neg feedback, or go the NPB route. Who knows, I may get a bank draft in the mail any day now. I’ve learned enough from the replies to this to more than pay the auction fees! Dave G – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been selling 9-11 new york times for a couple of months for 10-15 bucks. No big deal. My auctions state no over seas shipments. It sounded like a pain and I did not want to deal with it. At any rate two of my auctions over the last month were won by "buyers" in Germany. Against my better judgement I am trying to complete the auctions. Both buyers want my bank account number so they can wire the money. I don’t know if that is safe or not but I am not giving that info to anyone. I’ve emailed the buyers who understand very little english. One says his bank is only open on Thursdays and he will send the money in us funds. The other guy I have not heard from. I don’t leave negative feedback unless I get screwed big time. I’m out a couple bucks for listing and final value fees, so that’s not going to kill me. Does anyone here ship over seas? What should I do at this point? Thanks Dave G Your problem is that you can’t decide whether you’re going to ship internationally or not. If your auctions say "No international shipments (or buyers)", you should stick to that. Or…if you’re going to give in to those who ignore your rules, take it out of your auctions. Your items will probably sell for more if you let international bidders in on them, BUT you need to specify payment options in your listing. It’s your right to set policies, but I think policies are there to be abided by, or they’re worthless. eBay *should* block international bidders from auctions that state such bids are unwelcome — but they don’t, and it leaves it to the seller to deal with the problem. All you can do is abide by your policies and NPB them for ignoring auction terms….OR accept their bids, send them payment info, and go on with life. I’ve only had one bad international bidder (a nonpaying bidder). The rest have been fantastic and I welcome their participation. Kris
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I’ve been selling 9-11 new york times for a couple of months for 10-15 bucks. No big deal. My auctions state no over seas shipments. It sounded like a pain and I did not want to deal with it. At any rate two of my auctions over the last month were won by "buyers" in Germany. Against my better judgement I am trying to complete the auctions. Both buyers want my bank account number so they can wire the money. I don’t know if that is safe or not but I am not giving that info to anyone. I’ve emailed the buyers who understand very little english. One says his bank is only open on Thursdays and he will send the money in us funds. The other guy I have not heard from. I don’t leave negative feedback unless I get screwed big time. I’m out a couple bucks for listing and final value fees, so that’s not going to kill me. Does anyone here ship over seas? What should I do at this point? Thanks Dave G
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been selling 9-11 new york times for a couple of months for 10-15 bucks. No big deal. My auctions state no over seas shipments. It sounded like a pain and I did not want to deal with it. At any rate two of my auctions over the last month were won by "buyers" in Germany. Against my better judgement I am trying to complete the auctions. Both buyers want my bank account number so they can wire the money. I don’t know if that is safe or not but I am not giving that info to anyone. I’ve emailed the buyers who understand very little english. One says his bank is only open on Thursdays and he will send the money in us funds. The other guy I have not heard from. I don’t leave negative feedback unless I get screwed big time. I’m out a couple bucks for listing and final value fees, so that’s not going to kill me. Does anyone here ship over seas? What should I do at this point? Thanks Dave G
If you take paypal or billpoint, tell them to send the money that way. If not, tell them to use Bidpay, which mails you a Western Union money order from within the US. If they don’t have a credit card, then they are pretty much out of luck, unless they want to do what someone else had a bidder do recently, and send the money via Western Union, which would be fairly expensive to do for a small dollar purchase. If you’re going to ship overseas anyway, you really ought to say so in your auctions, and lay out exactly how you expect to be paid by non-US bidders. Richard Ward
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been selling 9-11 new york times for a couple of months for 10-15 bucks. No big deal. My auctions state no over seas shipments. It sounded like a pain and I did not want to deal with it. At any rate two of my auctions over the last month were won by "buyers" in Germany. Against my better judgement I am trying to complete the auctions. Both buyers want my bank account number so they can wire the money. I don’t know if that is safe or not but I am not giving that info to anyone. I’ve emailed the buyers who understand very little english. One says his bank is only open on Thursdays and he will send the money in us funds. The other guy I have not heard from. I don’t leave negative feedback unless I get screwed big time. I’m out a couple bucks for listing and final value fees, so that’s not going to kill me. Does anyone here ship over seas? What should I do at this point? Thanks Dave G
First. So far the advise you have received is canned and while meant well, relatively empty of substance. Second. There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving someone your bank wire info. I do it all the time and ship all over the world. Third. It is the safest form of payment. All the buyer can do is put money IN. They can’t take it OUT. And it is cash. I actually would prefer it from all of my buyers. Fourth. If you don’t want international business, then you are literally cutting out over 3/4 of the world’s population from bidding on your auctions. Ridiculous! I will never understand the logic behind refusing to sell to international bidders. They pay the shipping. So it’s a little extra work. It’s a sale! A sale you may not otherwise have gotten. But as far as this case goes. A guy offers to wire you funds, and you are considering leaving him a neg! Not smart. If you are going to spread your wings, then learn as much as you can before making stupid assumptions. And for gosh sakes, don’t always listen to the masses here. Sometimes they all
Response:
Some countries have postal money orders is US funds, Japan for example. Canadians can send a personal check and just write US Funds on it. The gals at my bank raise an eyebrow, but they clear just fine. I tell people to just mail cash in US$. Or if youre traveling soon to Europe on vacation just have them send euros cash.
I’d be careful of having a Canadian write US funds on a personal check, many banks would treat it like any other foreign instrument and put it in for collection, with a substantial fee involved to get it cashed. Canadians can send postal money orders that US sellers can cash at the post office, just like Japanese buyers can, and they can also generally get an international money order from their bank that’s paid through a US affiliate, and is in fact a US instrument. The OP’s customers were from Germany, and most of Europe, including Germany, uses a different form for their international postal money orders, and they aren’t readily cashable in the US. There’s a list of countries that use the same international postal money order form as the US on the USPS web site in the International Mail Manual, but the only countries on the list that I’ve ever had any business with are Canada and Japan. Most of the other countries are either Caribbean islands or third world countries, neither of which have a particularly large eBay presence. I haven’t got an international money order from Japan or Canada in over a year, Paypal has pretty much taken over the market on those transactions. Richard Ward
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