Money Transfer: Online, Electronic, Auction payments & Cred Card Merchants

amity

This is most certainly about money isn't it? I am just not so sure it will be found by all those who have something to add or gain by being in this part of the forum. I think in light of the popularity of services such as ebay & online purchasing & business in general that is this a very pressing topic for discussion indeed. With the number of transactions via such systems increasing we have to consider those businesses we are patrons of by using their services & those we are potentially ignoring to our detriment.

I do not work for any such company. In fact I do not work in finance full stop. I am merely on the other side of the fence together with anyone who purchases anything from anyone who is not large enough to have personal finance systems that allow them to take a credit card.

What then?
Which are the most effective & cost effective services. The ubiqutous PPal seems to be ever more prevalent but is it in our best financial interests to be complacent about something we are likely to be reliant on more in the future?

Discuss please

jonesMUFCforever

There are many ways of paying (or getting paid ) for services other than Paypal. These include
1 Cash (if local or by registered post if not)
2 Bank transfer
3 Cheque
4 Internet transfer
5 Western Union (although for most the mere mention of them would make people run a mile!
6 Postal order
7 Bank cheque or draft
I'm sure that some will think of many more without having to revert to a credit card.
Eric

soolin

The problem is though although there are dozens of ways of being paid for something many people distrust any method that makes it difficult to get their money back if it goes wrong.

My analogy would be my differing views as an ebay buyer and seller. As a seller I really push bank transfers as they are quick, convenient and mean I can't lose the money once I have it, I do also accept cheques (which I dislike as I've had a couple recalled after several weeks) but don't accept cash as my post is dodgy and of course even sending something Recorded delivery is no good as cash is not covered when using RD in cases of loss. I rarely get paid though by any method other than paypal.

As a buyer on the other hand I would never use anything other than either a straight credit card payment to a merchant, or paypal to an individual seller both of which gives me some protection in case of non delivery. I know there are no really foolproof methods of payment, but I just feel that some protection is better than nothing.

Soo

jonesMUFCforever

Soolin
I said registered post not recorded for safe transportation of cash.
Eric

soolin

ejones999 wrote:

Soolin
I said registered post not recorded for safe transportation of cash.
Eric

Registered post doesn't exist anymore, the only option other than recorded is special delivery and that costs a minimum of £3.85.

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content3?mediaId=400026&catId=400024

Soo

amity

Thank you for the replies guys & please do point more like-minded souls to this thread as I would wish it to become an all encompasing discussion on this subject which I feel gets very little attention.

If you read the discussion of money that is the book 'Sterling' or one of many other essays on money you will doubtless know that in the modern age rather than a means of defining value, money's primariy role is that of transfer; transfering value that is. This was not the case when money was first 'invented'/created.

Why did I just mention that?

Because I meant this thread to be a discussion of online money transfer providers & mechanisms. Regretably or not that tends to stipulate the use of a debit or credit card.
It seems that my title 'Online, Electronic, Auction payments & Cred Card Merchants' did not make this plain.

I would very much wish to see comments from those on either side of the transaction & from whatever role they may have experience on. If you run a store you may have got a good deal with a clearing merchant.
You may find that nochex is infact superior to every other option etc.
I cannot add more examples becuase I don't know enough.

Please, don't be shy/bashful & add your experiences if you do.

jonesMUFCforever

Are we helping you in some way with your course work here>?

soolin

ejones999 wrote:

Are we helping you in some way with your course work here>?

I second that..

A discussion is just that, I don't think it is really in the spirt of this thread to suggest which replies are useful and which are not.

However, I would say, following the 'guidelines' laid down in your thread that as a buyer and seller on ebay I don;t find nochex particularly useful. I find the daily limits restrictive and the fact that it is UK only even more frustrating. As a buyer I would never use it as I cannot do a chargeback against the seller/retailer.

Soo

amity

Yes what nochex was marketing as one of its strengths has infact resulted as one of its weaknesses. It's UK-centricity has in the end become one of the primary factors that make it unattractive. It is also interesting to note that on its comparison tables where it hopes to figure favourably in comparison to merchant systems such as Worldpay & the shadow under which it operates (Paypal anyone?) that it states the impossibility of chargebacks as one of the advantages to sellers.

I certainly did not expect anyone to be offended by creating a thread specifically for this topic - I do not see another similarly specific thread on the forums.

I was also not out to contradict the spirit of anything. I am incapable of such things - if needs be look up what my name means in any dictionary.

I believe this is a very relevant area of discussion for money savers. We should be looking into what is the most viable payment options & ensuring that we drive the popularity of the most cost effective & reliable. The difference between 2.5 & 3.5 is considerable if you spend £10,000 that way over 10 years say?

I do not believe that I am the only person to whom a pooling of this info would come in useful; I just rarely see it discussed in detail & the point argued properly.

Perhaps this is a topic more fit for a purely financial forum?