Posting a heavy item abroad....what's best?

Tunstallstoven

EDIT: Sorry - just to clarify, I'm more intersted in methods of payment than postage options. Just realised my thread title is a little misleading!!!

Hi all

After the very helpful advise here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1677093

I will not be sending the item to Nigeria!!!

However, someone called me on the phone from Germany today. I asked him to email me - which he now has. He is interested in buying my Marshall amp, which weighs around 25kg. I found some cheap shipping costs, but I haven't a clue what the best form of payment would be......

I asked him for his advice and he suggested using UPS or DHL Cash On Delivery service. I really know nothing about that. The only experience I have is with Paypal......I'll use it if I must but I'd rather avoid the fees. Plus, having read about how easy it is to reverse payments and do chargebacks, I'm a little skeptical now!

The only other thing I can think of is Western Union, but again, I know very little about it. So if anyone could point me in the right direction while I read up a little more about these various forms of payment, I would really appreciate it.

Cheers

Max

chja

Just ask for direct payment into your bank account - buyer will need your IBAN and SWIFT BIC, both of which should be on your last statement.

Once you receive funds, they can't be charged back.

Tunstallstoven

I have done one direct bank transfer in the past. I gave the buyer my account number and sort code....... Was I wrong to do that? Ive never heard of IBAN and BIC numbers!

buglawton

Back to what I think was your original question: Last time I had to send a hefty item to France I shopped around and settled on Senditeasy http://www.senditeasy.co.uk/ currently a 25 KG 50cm x 50cm x 50cm box would be a bit over £25 on their cheapest tariff and a bit over £45 using Senditeasy's DHL option. I used their DHL offer last time. Good service and full online tracking but I strongly recommend you get item collected from premises that are guaranteed to be open all office hours (so no excuses about you were out when they wanted to collect).

Tunstallstoven

Sorry - my title was a bit misleading and I cannot edit it......

But it is the payment options which I would like advise on, not postage options. Many thanks for your input in any case!

soolin

Can I ask whether you are absolutely sure this is genuine. I ask because German buyers are usually quite upfront about things and would have a good idea how and when to pay.

Most now use paypal, some still prefer bank transfers although this is becoming rarer and rarer now. I've never had a buyer suggest any of the cash on delivery options and it concerns me.

ArmitageShanks

We sell off ebay.de and I would say not far off 40% use bank transfer.

As for who to use parcel wise:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Parcel-Delivery-to-Germany-30-kilos-Limit_W0QQitemZ270376886842QQihZ017QQcategoryZ121879QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

Tunstallstoven

OK - I've got back to him suggesting a bank transfer. Let's see what he says. I guess there is no way of telling if he is genuine, but is it fair to say that if he agrees to a Bank Transfer he must be genuine because Bank Transfers are non-reversible????

Thanks for all the help.