Question
if I want to buy from a european seller, from their countrys website for instance germany or france, and the seller says they accept transfer or cash, where would I go to get francs or marks? I am having to use babelfish to translate what they say to me as well as what I send so I'm not sure I'm getting the full gist of it. Is bidpay a service that is only available in the us? I mean, will they deliver money orders only in the us or can we send them via bidpay to other countries?
thanking you in advance.
Answer
You can pay via Western Union:
http://www.westernunion.com/index_consumer.asp?language=en&src=goog&term=money _transfer
I did a quick calculation, to send $100 to Germany would cost me $120 total, and they would receive $72.39 Euros (at the current exchange rate). I suppose you could work it backwards if you knew the price in Euros or Kronar or whatever.
Paypal is also international:
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/paypal/international/
Edited to add: I couldn't find anything on the Bidpay site about sending money internationally.
Answer
I sent them an email asking (with the help of babelfish) and the answer was transfer or cash, no paypal. they have their bank account numbers right in their auction so I asssumed they meant wire transfer. I'm going to go look at the bidpay site but I don't see anywhere on their auction where they say they will accept money orders from anyone, even their countrymen.
It's looking like cash or not bidding! if I can figure out where to get some in francs
Answer
Did they possibly mean "American" cash? We receive US currency from European biddersfairly often, apparently it's more plentiful there than Euros are here. If you can work through the language barrier maybe they can help you with the exchange rate.
I know what you mean about the bank account numbers, we had a German buyer send his bank info, and pretty much trusted us to debit him for what we needed
We didn't even try to tackle that one. He wound up sending cash - clean, new, sequential bills. In an envelope, with nothing wrapped around them.
He is a trusting soul.
Good luck with your purchase!
Answer
I hadn't thought about sending them euros, just francs. I'll need to ask them that. thanks.
Answer
Probably they were talking about direct wire transfer, a method of sending money bank account to bank account that is commonly used all over the entire world EXCEPT in the Americas.
General info: http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum22/3377.htm
Note in the string that some banks, foreign-owned but well established in the US, e.g. HSBC, seem to have no problem setting up these transfers; others look at you like you're from Mars.
Note also that this protocol bears no relationship to the ACH transfer, the way PayPal transfers money into your account, which is a two-way permission. PayPal can put in/PayPal can take out. The transfer protocol used in the rest of the world is irrevocable; once the money has been sent from one account to the other there's no calling it back.
Answer
summerhouse,
that is what I thought they were referring to also.
I did that once with a large amount from an Australian buyer and my bank charged me $25 (though that was still cheaper than paypal or bidpay fees). But this transaction wouldn't even total $25 !
I have written them to ask if they take international money orders and if they accept us dollars in cash.
When I look at the international ebay sites, I may have to start looking at just the sellers that accept PayPal I am actually mailing several sellers right now with the same question and mostly getting back transfer or cash. I am beginning to appreciate those who take paypal ! I've bought from quite a few countries lately and used paypal with all and other than all the different transactions to convert to their currency really clutters up my paypal screen, it's remarkably pain free
Answer
If you look at eBay France and eBay Germany, you'll see that all the listings are in Euros. Unless you deal with a very small bank, you should be able to buy Euros from your local bank.
Answer
irene,
thank you! I DO deal with a (in todays world) small bank but I'll call them and find out.
I did get a response from one seller they would accept an international money order in euros so I'll call my bank to see if I can get that there to. I remember years ago I bought a money order in australian dollars but I can't remember for the life of me where I went to get it.
Thanks again to all.
Answer
well, it's official. I live in podunk.
no one in my town offers euros or international money orders in euros. not even bank one or national city. apparently this is by branch and no branches in this area offer this service.
the closest for me would be the indianapolis airport ( around 2 hours round trip) or maybe, just maybe, an american express office but even that is in indy. holy cow. maybe paypal isn't that bad after all !
*edited for spelling