Accepting cheques?

GarnetLady

Does anyone know off hand how long after banking a cheque it's safe to post ebay items?

I'm selling some specialised stuff (nothing weird ) and I've never had so many questions! Can I post to Italy - No. Can I post to Greece - No. Can I pay by cheque...

(Anyone experience of posting to Greece for future reference? Won't post to Italy, I know the post there is dire!)

The ones from abroad must be browsing the UK site as I have it set to UK only.

Crowqueen

I posted a book to Greece earlier in the summer, everything was fine.

As for cheques, look up the 2-4-6 rule. Basically that means after 6 days it will have cleared and cannot bounce. However, for cheaper items, I'd always usually post promptly - it did rebound on me once but with the 2-4-6 rule things are easier on the recipient. Anything under £5 I wouldn't wait and bank it at my leisure. Anything over that I would wait, but I haven't had one since 2008 so it's largely academic for me.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheques#United_Kingdom:

Following concerns about the amount of time it took banks to clear cheques, the United Kingdom Office of Fair Trading set up a working group in 2006 to look at the cheque clearing cycle. They produced a report recommending maximum times for the cheque clearing which were introduced in UK from November 2007. In the report the date the credit appeared on the recipient's account (usually the day of deposit) was designated "T". At "T + 2" (two business days afterwards) the value would count for calculation of credit interest or overdraft interest on the recipient's account. At "T + 4" clients would be able to withdraw funds on current accounts or at "T + 6" on savings accounts (though this will often happen earlier, at the bank's discretion). "T + 6" is the last day that a cheque can bounce without the recipient's permission—this is known as "certainty of fate". Before the introduction of this standard (also known as 2-4-6 for current accounts and 2-6-6 for savings accounts), the only way to know the "fate" of a cheque has been "Special Presentation", which would normally involve a fee, where the drawee bank contacts the payee bank to see if the payee has that money at that time. "Special Presentation" needed to be stated at the time of depositing in the cheque.

Strapped

^What CQ said. I'd reply saying you're happy to accept cheques (if you are) but can not post until funds clear, which will be 6 days later. If they're happy to proceed on this basis, blah, blah...

GarnetLady

Fantastic, thank you both. I knew I'd read about a rule, but couldn't for the life of me remember how what or long it was! (I'm blaming baby brain, even if said baby is nearly 16m old )

Will definitely be over £5, so will wait til cleared to post if this buyer wins!

martindow

Strapped wrote: »

until funds clear, which will be 6 days later.

I think I would specify 6 working days. The whole thing is quite drawn out waiting for the cheque to arrive, paying it in, sending the item etc you are up to nearly three weeks.

You could suggest they do a bank transfer if they want it more quickly.