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PayPal or bank transfer advise please

chris platt

Site Supporter
10 Years
Joined
Jan 21, 2014
Messages
336
Location
north west
I'm selling to u.s and buyer wants PayPal and I want bank transfer....just don't want PayPal politics involved but understand it may be a hassle to convert and send for him if he's never done it before....advise please
 
Paypal can be disputed - which if outside the UK could be painful... all you need is a "not as sold" and you could be stuck in limbo where PP freeze the funds in your account and he has your playfield.... Unless he's willing to send Friends and Family in which case he has no protection.... Plus you will receive funds in US$ so you then take the hit on the ridiculous Exchange rate paypal charge... But you know this...

I have used something like a Revolut card (pre-paid Mastercard) to purchase stuff in the US with no hassles at all (multiple times over the past 5 years), however i dont think it works in reverse (US Credit)

The other alternative is Bank Transfer - all he should need is your IBAN number and that should be good for payments he just says he wants to pay £x to that IBAN and his bank should be able to do the rest... Used to take a few days to go through...

Difficult one... I shall refer to those that have done this before :D
 
if money sent paypal "as money/payment to friends/family", used to be called 'gift' then should be ok however if sent as paying invoice, etc then if buyer not known could be risky - would then go for bt which in this day and age should be quick and easy - whichever way just make sure that amount is in £'s i.e. he sends x amount as ex rates differ
 
Difficult one. If i were a buyer I'd be extremely reluctant to do a bank transfer or paypal friends&family in case the product is a lemon (which I'm not suggesting yours is).

I would accept Paypal but make the buyer pay the commission. When you send it through courier make sure its insured (and charge the buyer for that also)
 
Paypal can be disputed - which if outside the UK could be painful... all you need is a "not as sold" and you could be stuck in limbo where PP freeze the funds in your account and he has your playfield.... Unless he's willing to send Friends and Family in which case he has no protection.... Plus you will receive funds in US$ so you then take the hit on the ridiculous Exchange rate paypal charge... But you know this...

I have used something like a Revolut card (pre-paid Mastercard) to purchase stuff in the US with no hassles at all (multiple times over the past 5 years), however i dont think it works in reverse (US Credit)

The other alternative is Bank Transfer - all he should need is your IBAN number and that should be good for payments he just says he wants to pay £x to that IBAN and his bank should be able to do the rest... Used to take a few days to go through...

Difficult one... I shall refer to those that have done this before :D


thanks for quick reply....im talking as I type so was keen for a quick one...you have confirmed what I thought ..i know when I do an online bank transfer it never asks for dollars to pounds and iban numbers as i recall so not sure how easy it is to set up for him....also i know paypal has a friends and family option but again no idea how to police in what format it's sent by buyer .....or if i even want to deal with third party banking paypal....its a good wedge so think we are both cautious !!
 
Tons of easy money conversion options - I use Transferwise as they are cheap. It's the protection that's the problem. Not sure if they put funds into Transferwise (or other provider) by credit card whether they are actually covered or not. I did this recently for a deposit (since any amount paid by CC will cover the total loss) but I have no real idea whether the cover is actually there or not, but for a few pence it was worth a try... If they were to do this you would obviously be in the clear if they did decide to do any funny business...
 
Escrow is a holding account where you both have to agree to release the funds (or normally both agree a condition of releasing the funds). In this case you'd have to agree that the item was in the condition as described OR that the other party returned the item and you received it in the same condition to release the funds back.
 
The thing to remember is that PayPal is an intermediary. If someone pays you with a stolen card, or their bank does a chargeback, it won't matter whether you were sent it "friends & family" or not - PayPal will try and claw their money back (since they act as the payee) or put your account in the hole, chasing you for payment.

Bank transfer is a lot safer. But intuitively it feels less secure for buyers, I think.
 
lost the deal.....i contacted him so sure he's no scammer but he wants the protection and I don't want the politics .....plan b ???
 
I can foresee the reverse thread on pinside where an american guy would be trying to buy something from an english man without having seen the item in the flesh and trying to protect himself. Not that i am suggesting that what you are trying to fleece him. But it is a difficult one.

Is there any way you could point him towards this forum and show him your excellent reputation for playfield work. Like some of the guys on here who have dealt with direct could vouch for you and build up his confidence? Might make it easier to convince him to do bt then?

Just a suggestion.
 
I can foresee the reverse thread on pinside where an american guy would be trying to buy something from an english man without having seen the item in the flesh and trying to protect himself. Not that i am suggesting that what you are trying to fleece him. But it is a difficult one.

Is there any way you could point him towards this forum and show him your excellent reputation for playfield work. Like some of the guys on here who have dealt with direct could vouch for you and build up his confidence? Might make it easier to convince him to do bt then?

Just a suggestion.




haha yeah I never thought of that...an american parallell universe conversation ....i have stated im on here so maybe he will
 
Also if he wants the protection, he will have to offset the fees for you.

You know you will be sending an A-Class item, go through eBay and Paypal and ship it, it'll be fine.
 
We need sign posts.
AMERICAN FELLOW, LOOK THIS WAY
Admin: we need big banners
 
Has he got decent eBay feedback? Message him on his account and ask him to reply.

Ditto reputation on Pinside.

Ultimately any transaction is going to reach a point where one of you has to take a risk. Asking someone to use an escrow service never previously used probably isn't any more palatable than simply sending the money normally anyway.
 
are you on ebay Chris? if you are then ebay now do this global shipping programme , gsp, wait for one of the offers of max selling fees £1 or £3 and saves a lot on fees. All you have to do is sell international, could just be that particular item, put exact weight dimensions in listing and then when bought and paid for, through ebay/paypal, you ship it to gsp uk depot and they do the rest, tracked insured, etc
 
I did a bank transfer two weeks ago from my Hong Kong account to a UK account. I did it online and it took all of about five minutes. The funds were in the receivers account in 24 hours - sent as HKD and received as UK pounds.

Don't touch PayPus with a barge pole for anything more than you are prepared to throw away. Too many loop holes and grey areas.

Also, do not believe that a Paypus payment made as "friends or family" cannot be reversed - it can be and you will be out of pocket.

If the buyer doesn't want to make a bank transfer, I would say sorry, no sale, cherrio.

FWIW: the banking system in the USA (in my experience) is very lacking compared to Australia and the UK. They just don't seem to have the systems in place to easily make transfers to another person. Maybe this is why or how PayPus was able to get a stranglehold in the first place?

DISCLOSURE: I am well known for 'bashing' PayPus and with good reason. Selling replacement pinball boards to the USA actually lost me over AU$3000 - more than any profit I ever made selling boards there! PayPus is a bad joke that allows shonky people to rip you off with total immunity.
 
the ridiculous Exchange rate paypal charge.
just an fyi, but on Paypal purchases at least I choose the rate of the underlying payment method. I use Halifax Clarity for foreign purchases which supposedly has a "near perfect" exchange rate, the difference can be up to a few quid on £100 equivalent purchase.
 
I did a bank transfer two weeks ago from my Hong Kong account to a UK account. I did it online and it took all of about five minutes. The funds were in the receivers account in 24 hours - sent as HKD and received as UK pounds.

Don't touch PayPus with a barge pole for anything more than you are prepared to throw away. Too many loop holes and grey areas.

Also, do not believe that a Paypus payment made as "friends or family" cannot be reversed - it can be and you will be out of pocket.

If the buyer doesn't want to make a bank transfer, I would say sorry, no sale, cherrio.

FWIW: the banking system in the USA (in my experience) is very lacking compared to Australia and the UK. They just don't seem to have the systems in place to easily make transfers to another person. Maybe this is why or how PayPus was able to get a stranglehold in the first place?

DISCLOSURE: I am well known for 'bashing' PayPus and with good reason. Selling replacement pinball boards to the USA actually lost me over AU$3000 - more than any profit I ever made selling boards there! PayPus is a bad joke that allows shonky people to rip you off with total immunity.
Being pedantic but a F&F payment can't be reversed through PayPal's system, as in there is no option to dispute it.

If it is paid with a fraudulent funding source, or the person simply tells their bank that they don't recognise the transaction, then their bank could do a chargeback which would then have the effect of PayPal either trying to get the money back from any payment method you have recorded on file (I imagine it's in their T&Cs that you allow them to do this), or if they can't they'll simply put your account in to a negative balance and chase you / stop you using the account until resolved.
 
Having tried to deal with USA people with guitar and amplifiers the last 20 years - I now will not ship anything outside the UK unless it is bank transfer. PayPal will ALWAYS side with the buyer.`

OH - I once sent a friend some money on a friends and family. Then an item I sold on ebay got disputed and they pulled back that payment, put it back in my account - and then froze ALL of my balance for an £100 item I sold.

SO - FRIENDS AND FAMILY CAN be clawed back - also if funded by a credit card.......
 
The way I see it, you're the seller so it is up to you how you wish to receive the money. If the buyer does not want to comply they're able to walk away or you refuse to sell.

I understand the reluctance of both parties wanting as much protection as possible, but at the end of the day there's always going to be an element of risk dealing with an unknown person. If neither party is able to trust the other, the sale is likely doomed before it's started.

It all depends how desperate you are to sell the item, or if there is someone closer that could buy said item.
 
Being pedantic but a F&F payment can't be reversed through PayPal's system, as in there is no option to dispute it.

If it is paid with a fraudulent funding source, or the person simply tells their bank that they don't recognise the transaction, then their bank could do a chargeback which would then have the effect of PayPal either trying to get the money back from any payment method you have recorded on file (I imagine it's in their T&Cs that you allow them to do this), or if they can't they'll simply put your account in to a negative balance and chase you / stop you using the account until resolved.
The point I make (and your response agrees with) is that 'friends and family' IS NOT a safe and solid way of ensuring you will keep your payment.

Many extol this method as being foolproof and safe and it is certainly far from that. It is just as easily clawed back as any other type of PayPus payment.

One of the bigger issues with PauPus (as Pick Holder has mentioned) is that they will, more often than not, freeze your entire account for SIX MONTHS if there is any slight hint of a transaction going wrong EVEN IF it is the other party causing the problem. You will be the loser.

We are very fortunate to have a banking Ombudsman in Australia and I have used them five times to force PayPus to "see reason" - in the end I just demanded my account be closed and the funds deposited to my bank account forthwith - suddenly all of the stupid demands being made by PayPus (fax copies of mothers marriage certificate etc etc) were not required and the money was in my account in a day or so.

PayPus are one company that will have earned its eventual demise as more reliable and sophisticated payment methods evolve and take over and good riddance to bad eggs I say!

Systems Like AliPay and WeChat pay have taken over in China and will no doubt make there way around the world in time. This should worry the boofheads at PayPus greatly.
 
PayPal is great for buyers, but From what I have heard dreadful at times for sellers, as homepin highlights above
 
I've been advised by an online shop to use PayPal Return Shipping service to refund me for return postage. Apparently PP will pay for 12 up to £15 return postage per year for online items paid using PayPal. I'm not sure if that's something else that can be clawed back from the seller.
 
Ask if the buyer has any friends or contacts in the UK.

They could inspect the playfield, pay you the money and derisk the whole thing for everyone.
 
thanks for comments guys...he has perfect e bay score and 15 machines on pinside collection and I approached him as he wanted a playfield.....its a low risk i suppose for me but really didn't want PayPal .....I said we could just call each other and talk...seems the best way !
 
suppose bottom line is no easy answer, just comes down to trust, if the buyer is a 'good' guy then shouldn't be a problem whatever payment method is used ;)

however if buyer is bad then they will already know how to 'scam' people for refunds whatever payment is used.

paypal not great and yes fees are a rip off and not particularly advocating using them but if £ sent via family/friends then no fees.
 
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