Overseas Buyer Help

[Goochman]

Need some advice.

 

I have an overseas buyer interested in something I am selling. They cant do PayPal so Im wondering what is the best alternative payment that others have used here? For the bank routing information route Id be worried about a withdrawal vs a payment - not sure how that works?

 

If you did a Money Order or whatever is that reasonable?

 

Also - shipping wise Ive had some minor trouble with customs in another country where the package was rejected and the buyer had to pay for shipping twice - is this a common occurance or was I just snake bit the one time I did it?

[+GroovyBee]

There are various options like Western Union, international postal order etc. For low ticket items the fees on something like Western Union will be horrendous for the buyer.

 

An international BACS transfer will be quite costly for the buyer with additional fees. There is always cash in the post but that's not very safe for the buyer.

[+orpheuswaking]

I always used to stick to International Money order, unfortunately a lot of places don't like these anymore as they are heavily counterfeited. Is there a particular reason they can't use paypal?

Edited February 20, 2011 by orpheuswaking

[edintv]

Be suspiciuos if they don´t want to use Paypal, I recieve some suspicios offers of alternate payments that I got the feelings who where scams.

 

You can ask if they can use paypal competition like moneybookers

[svenski]

I'd avoid anything but PayPal or Moneybookers as edintv mentioned - and I would suggest them over PayPal. I know Germany (example) sort of bucks the trend with many people avoiding credit cards and PayPal and like to pay by Bank Transfer but for international transactions go for one of the above.

[Goochman]

Thanks for the information - Ill look into Moneybookers (I think we tried to use that for the Ultrasatan) or a Western Union Money Order.

 

Any thoughts on shipping? UPS as good as any?

[+GroovyBee]

Any thoughts on shipping? UPS as good as any?

 

You might be better off with one of the USPS flat rates. It depends on what the buyer wants to pay and if they want tracking.

 

Is the buyer aware that additional import taxes may be due on the parcel when it arrives at their end? That all depends on how high the value is that you put on the customs docket stuck on the parcel. If they don't want customs hassle you could declare it lower and the buyer takes the risk if anything happens to it. Its up to you and the buyer to work that bit out .

[Goochman]

Any thoughts on shipping? UPS as good as any?

 

You might be better off with one of the USPS flat rates. It depends on what the buyer wants to pay and if they want tracking.

 

Is the buyer aware that additional import taxes may be due on the parcel when it arrives at their end? That all depends on how high the value is that you put on the customs docket stuck on the parcel. If they don't want customs hassle you could declare it lower and the buyer takes the risk if anything happens to it. Its up to you and the buyer to work that bit out .

 

Ive only once shipped a video game overseas and Customs rejected it for some reason - the buyer paid for shipping again and it went through without a hitch - Declaring something as a video game hopefully wont garner too much attention!

[Goochman]

So I have another question - For those that have done bank transfers - what is the risk with these? Thinking about it, if you send someone a check they would have the same info required for a bank transfer so in some respects Im not sure the dangers of doing this - would these need to be authorized for any tranfers (debit or credit) to an account?

[svenski]

So I have another question - For those that have done bank transfers - what is the risk with these? Thinking about it, if you send someone a check they would have the same info required for a bank transfer so in some respects Im not sure the dangers of doing this - would these need to be authorized for any tranfers (debit or credit) to an account?

 

Not sure if you are talking about sending or receiving a bank transfer payment. Sending a bank transfer is not really risky apart from if the details are wrong it will get returned and there are usually bank fees if international and they vary depending on the method used. Obviously you have no comeback once the payment has been sent.

 

As for receiving - loads of people use bank transfers as the common way of receiving payment (especially in Germany) and the risk of someone using your bank details for something else are slim as long as you don't send them copies of your drivers license, social security number etc etc or they happen to live in Nigeria

 

For bank payments without the hassle (lower fees, quicker etc) then use moneybookers.