I hate banks

[robinbloke]

I've won an item on Ebay, but fool that I am I forgot to check the payment methods the person accepts, they only accept bank transfer.
This isn't normally much of a problem, except that they live in Germany and the bank will charge me 25 quid to transfer 16.90 euros, or approximately 8 quid to them.
Bloody hell.
Any advice anyone? Apart from checking payment method next time...

Comments

[borusa.livejournal.com]

They only allow bank transfers? How odd.

Why not see if they'll accept cash at your risk?

[velvetfox.livejournal.com]

Contact them

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

See if they'll accept cash (Euros)? You can get free currency conversion at the Post Office.

[davefish.livejournal.com]

I think that its a cultural thing, as in Germany bank transfers are the regular way to move money around, and cheques are less common.

robinbloke, I guess you could try nicely asking any friends you have in Germany at the minute, or from Gremany who might have an account still open over there, as that my well get you around the rather hefty charges for international transfers.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Oh thanks, didn't know the post office did that - thank you!

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

I've asked them if I can post cash (I'll probably end up sending them more anyway as coins are dodgey to send)

Bleh.

[crocodilewings.livejournal.com]

You didn't win it, you bought it!

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Either way I have a problem.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

My only German friend karohemd doesn't have an account over there sadly, he normally uses cash he says.

[siranui.livejournal.com]

Ironically, I was going to make exactly that point. People talking of 'winning' on Ebay is becoming a pet peeve.

The question is - I suppose - just HOW much do you want the item? Enough to pay over 30 quid for it?

Try mailing the seller and seeing what they say.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, win. I just used this term as it followed from bidding; you 'win' a bid, you don't 'buy' a bid.
Anyway,
I can buy the thing on Amazon for 25 quid, so 30 quid is somewhat more than I want to pay.

If nothing else it's a lesson learned, not all of them are this cheap.

[riksowden.livejournal.com]

Talk to the seller, and see if anyone else's banks don't charge for international transfers... You CAN do a paypal to someones bank account i think - though that'll cost you (about 10% i think) so worth thinking on...

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

You can? That would be good, I'll have to check paypal.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Exactly, cheques are basically not used at all anymore. There used to be eurocheques but they have been replaced by Chip&PIN cards.
I was very surprised how much cheques are used over here when I came over, not only by individuals but also by companies. Bank transfers are the norm, no faffing about with sending cheques and having to wait three days or more for them to clear.
Most standard bills are paid by bank transfer, utilities etc. usually by direct debit (something used in Germany for as long as I can remember and only introduced here recently).
Obviously, nowadays you can do online transfers as well but that doesn't change the principle, just the method (clicking instead of filling in a form).

Right, I stop here or I'll rant all day about this backward country. ;o)

[riksowden.livejournal.com]

I *think* so...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_stormknight_/]

As far as I know, the only way to get money from PayPal to a bank account, is if it is your own PayPal account, and someone has sent you some money.

I don't know if http://www.moneybookers.com/app/ would be of any use, as it is designed for this kind of situation. If you explain to your seller about the charges, and ask if you can add an extra £5 or something ontop to cover his inconvenience for using some kind of website service?

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, couldn't find anything :(

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Looks promising, thanks.

[riksowden.livejournal.com]

Damn. Sorry :(

See if anyone has a bank which doesn't charge?

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Hm, even with this service, the other party need to sign up for it. Could be easier than PayPal, though.
*bookmarks for future reference*

[http://users.livejournal.com/_stormknight_/]

Yeah, they're not sponsoring me or anything, I just ran into the site a few months back, when someone I know was in a similar situation of needing to send some money to someone in Germany.

I sell stuff on eBay and if an international buyer said they could only send payment to me through something like this, I'd probably grumble, but at the end of the day, I want the item sold and gone, so a few minutes of sign-up isn't the end of the world.

#;)