Receiving Western Union from Romania

frivolous_fay

Ebay's WU brainwashing has done its work

ManchesterMoneySaver

Thanks for the answers! The pro-WU-for-sellers answers seem better informed that the avoid-WU-at-all-costs answers!

I'm not too keen on giving out my bank details. Ebay don't recommend it, but I expect that's partly them protecting their huge PayPal fees. I think the info they'd need is more or less the same as is printed on cheques, and in the old days we used to give those out to strangers all over the shop.

So I think I'll give WU shot then, I don't really have anything to lose. I'll check out if there are any fees for Euros. I never post anything out until after payment is complete anyway, and if I have actual cash then that's better than virtual Paypal money that they can take back off you! If all goes wrong then I can just offer it to the second highest bidder.

Is it a "Money Transfer" that is needed?

Thanks again! I'll post back to let you know how I get on!

frivolous_fay

ManchesterMoneySaver wrote:

I'm not too keen on giving out my bank details. Ebay don't recommend it, but I expect that's partly them protecting their huge PayPal fees. I think the info they'd need is more or less the same as is printed on cheques, and in the old days we used to give those out to strangers all over the shop.

We still do! Bank transfer is extremely safe for sellers - but for international sales it can be complicated to get right.

For buyers, however, it's risky, as it can't be cancelled. This is one of the reasons (along with preserving their monopoly on fee-charging methods of payment) ebay don't recommend it.

ManchesterMoneySaver

frivolous_fay wrote:

Hm, I think the only fees are at the buyer's end, but you should probably check with WU about any possible exchange complications.

I just called my local WU agent at Thomson and there are two options. The sender can decide on the amount to send in USD or EUR by working out the equivalent of the (say) £70, and this would then be converted to Pound sterling in the local office. Or, even better, the sender can specify an exact value that should be received, i.e. say that I should receive £70 exactly. This latter option sounds better as I should get the full value I expect and not lose anything out to double rate conversions.

Hintza

This was repost of my earlier post ...goodness knows how at thais time...weird

vaio

The scam bit come when you get a spoof email from WU saying your money has arrived and will be released once you email them a tracking number.

But, as long as you get actual hard cash in your hand BEFORE you post anything you will be fine

digerati

To summarize:

Western Union Money Transfer is safe for Sellers - provided you get the cash before shipping.

Western Union Money Transfer is unsafe for Buyers in any instance - unless you know/trust the seller.

A cheaper option is MoneyBookers.com which (unlike PayPal) is available in Romania. MoneyBookers also offers better seller protection against charge backs and does not permits fund reversals (unless the recipient initiates them). AuctionChex.com is another low-cost option. Both are UK based companies.

molar

digerati wrote:

To summarize:

Western Union Money Transfer is safe for Sellers - provided you get the cash before shipping.

Western Union Money Transfer is unsafe for Buyers in any instance - unless you know/trust the seller.

A cheaper option is MoneyBookers.com which (unlike PayPal) is available in Romania. MoneyBookers also offers better seller protection against charge backs and does not permits fund reversals (unless the recipient initiates them). AuctionChex.com is another low-cost option. Both are UK based companies.

As far as I know Western Union has got to be the safest way to get paid. Safer than a bank transfer or postal orders! :beer:

ManchesterMoneySaver

Update: All done via Western Union, no problems at all!

From Romania, the buyer said WU could only send a USD or EUR value. He converted it and added a bit to make sure I should get at least the amount owed. He then sent me the reference number.

Before doing anything I went to the WU website and entered the reference number and the buyer's first and last names, and that told me that the payment was waiting for the receiver (me!) to collect. So no scam.

So I went popped down to my local WU agent (a Co-op travel shop), filled in a form and showed some ID (my passport). The cashier then counted out the cash in front of me and handed it over in GBP. The currency conversion was perfect, just 3p over the amount owed! Cash safely in hand, I then went to the Post Office and posted the item.

Of course, it took longer than PayPal, but there were no fees at all for me (the seller/receiver) to pay. The PayPal fee would have been about £2.50 in this case.

Thanks everyone for all your help and advice!

frivolous_fay

Nice one