Western Union

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Sure if you can find a western union branch. Where I live I've never seen any and I'm not prepared to go out of my way just to collect a payment. I'd much rather pay a PayPal fee (much more convenient) than spend time and money travelling to a a Western Union branch. I'd trust PayPal over Western Union anyday.

smartie1976

If I accepted WU, once I'd paid to travel into town, park, walk to the WU place it's end up costing me the same as paypal fees anyway.

bleugh

ebay have banned it because the average person is too stupid to realise whats going on

with western union, you get a number, you take that number to a western union shop/place (plenty of 'em around), along with ID (usually a passport)

give them the number, they give you a nice wodge of NON BOUNCABLE cash

simple really


trouble is, despite all the emails stating DO NOT POST TILL YOU HAVE PAYMENT IN HAND or something to that effect, most people go 'oooh, an email, thats legally binding' and post the item before they have the physical payment


ebay have banned it for ONE reason

1 - they make NO money off it

it 'used to' be the prefferred method of scammers, but they've all shifted to paypal. cynically, ebay make their cut from legit auctions and scams alike, so, they're not really bothered

ebay/paypal REALLY DO need to make the YOU ARE NOT COVERED BY PROTECTION, a lot clearer, by adding 'YOU WILL LOOSE YOUR MONEY' or similar to the payment received page/emails

you only need to read the forums here to see how many people are still loosing out

cafenervosa_2

Well I'll tell you what happened, I got the money......

I walked into the town centre and went to one of those buy to sell places like cash generator (I forget the name). It had western union outlet signs advertised all over the windows etc. So I go in and wait 10 mins to get served and when I finally do get to the counter the guy said they have stopped doing western union :mad:

So I then walk to the other side of town to cash generator, again with western union signs in the window, so I walk to the back counter. After waiting 5 mins for this other guy to be served I finally get to the front. As soon as I mention about Western Union the lady says the computer is down today, so no chance of collection western union :mad:

I then go to the Money Shop over the road and its a much better experience. I really hate these places though, charging to cash a cheque early :rolleyes: .
Well they make me fill a form out with mine and the buyers details which is a bit of a hassle to be honest , and the counter girl was not very friendly.....I finally get handed my £26 cash!!!

Conclusion - I saved on Paypal fees but Paypal is so much easier!!!!

RichyRich

Bank Transfer is as easy as PayPal, no chance of chargebacks, easier than Western Union.

Though it may be impractical for foreign purchasers, I always list it as an option.

Rich

frivolous_fay

Bank transfer is still a good option for those paying from europe. Buyer pays in euros, most banks don't charge a fee. The US though... that's a whole nother mess...

Searcher

cafenervosa wrote:

As you all know I know very little about Western Union but eBay have banned it for a reason. I have always got the impression that WU is open to fraud, I don't get how yet but I will.

So it's nothing to do with it not being Paypal then?
Or is that just my post midnight cynisism coming out?

soolin

Bank transfers are wonderful for a seller, but the problem still lies in the fact that buyers prefer to use a payment method that offers them some protection. Although I offer bank transfers on all my auctions, even sending out my bank details on my end of auction emails no one really uses it and since I would never personally pay by a method that gives me no comeback if the transaction goes wrong I can hardly be surprised if my buyers don't want to use it either.

Soo