should I accept a bank transfer a spayment method?

tillybilly_2

hi all, thanks for the replies, the buyer has only 12 feedbacks and is from another european country but her feedback is 100% positive and is all for the same type of items I'm selling, namely childrens clothes. The point about giving out a savings account is a very good one though so thanks to whoever gave that idea!
T.x

babys*mum

tillybilly wrote: »

hi all, thanks for the replies, the buyer has only 12 feedbacks and is from another european country but her feedback is 100% positive and is all for the same type of items I'm selling, namely childrens clothes. The point about giving out a savings account is a very good one though so thanks to whoever gave that idea!
T.x

How Do I Accept International Bank Transfers?

You will need to give your buyer your IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and your BIC (Bank Identification Code) – both of these should be available on your bank statement. If not, you will need to ask your Bank.

It is vital to give your Buyer your name and address. If it's not your account give the name of the account holder or the transfer can be bounced to the sender and this will cost them money.
Mainland Europeans can do an International IBAN transfer online, over the phone and in branch, just as we can transfer UK to UK.
Your buyer should pay you in EUROs, not UK£ and should select “shared charges”.

Biggles

tillybilly wrote: »

the buyer has only 12 feedbacks and is from another european countryT.x

Uh-uh. No way. If they're an international buyer, avoid bank transfer unless it's a large sum of money, your bank will charge you for converting EUR to GBP (probably around £10).

digerati

Biggles wrote: »

Uh-uh. No way. If they're an international buyer, avoid bank transfer unless it's a large sum of money, your bank will charge you for converting EUR to GBP (probably around £10).

This was the case up to around seven years when the EU changed the cross-border bank transfer rules. Provided someone in the Eurozone sends a bank transfer using the recipients BIC + IBAN details in Euros (€) with Shared charges, then there should be no charges* levied on the UK end. Also the exchange rate tends to be very good compared with the mid-market exchange rates.

Read the EU/EEA directive 2560/2001 for full details or ask your local bank for details about free bank transfers in the EU/EEA.

*NatWest/RBS charges £1.00 for a notification letter with sender details (which you can opt out of).

Biggles

digerati wrote: »

This was the case up to around seven years when the EU changed the cross-border bank transfer rules. Provided someone in the Eurozone sends a bank transfer using the recipients BIC + IBAN details in Euros (€) with Shared charges, then there should be no charges* levied on the UK end.

That's a widely held misconception, especially by people in in Euro-zone countries.

The fact is, there should be no charge for the actual transfer. And that's the end of the story if transferring money between Euro-zone countries.

But there's no ban on making a charge for converting Euros to Pounds. This is commonly £6-7 plus a small loading on the conversion rate. Now, if your buyer sent it to you in Pounds, you might get away with it, but then they'd have a conversion charge to pay. And money sent in Pounds might not be covered by the new rules anyway, so leaving you open to other charges.