BACS Payment Queries

MaD2ko0l

Hi,

Just have a few queries about BACS payments.

My dad is after something from Germany off of eBay and the guy will only accept a BACS transfer (Says he don't use Paypal because he doesn't want to pay their fees), the guy has good feedback so i don't see it being much of an issue.

Anyway, he has given his bank details but i know nothing about these kind of transfers and wanted to know how safe and secure my account and the payment is.

Please advise.

Regards,

Martin

BASFORDLAD

How much is it for?

Is it a UK bank? I do they them all the time. Perfectly safe.

Gromitt

Personal (ie, non-business) customers don't have access to BACS transfers anymore. You have faster payments or CHAPS, thats it. I'd never buy anything on ebay through either of them as its prone to fraud and you get no protection whatsoever from either Ebay or Paypal if anything goes wrong.

Genuine people on Ebay don't mind using Paypal for the peace of mind to the buyer. If the item is so cheap that Paypal would ruin them, then the buyer can usually pay the Paypal fees.

dr_adidas01

I wouldn't do it, if something goes wrong you have no buyer protection if you don't use Paypal.

If hes requesting BACS payment something is a bit dodgy, we've heard many cases in this forum where this has happened and they have lost the money and can't get it back from the bank.

I would insist that you want to pay by paypal so that you have protection if something goes wrong. If they are a genuine seller then they wont mind.

MaD2ko0l

Thank you for the replies.

@ BASFORDLAD: the amount is something like £94 (or 94EURO not sure which). and i believe it is a bank in germany

@ Gromitt & dr_adidas01: sounds dodgy to me as well but my dad was bugging me so i thought i would ask the question before going nay further.

Much appreciated.

JuicyJesus

If the seller didn't send the items you wouldn't have a single bit of comeback. And feedback can be falsified.

I'd avoid it if I were you.

JohalaReewi

On the other hand, many Ebay sellers in Germany don't take Paypal. I believe it is against the law there for Ebay to make Paypal compulsory, and German sellers prefer to use bank transfer instead (it's cheaper).

agrinnall

If the German seller actually used the term 'BACS transfer' then I would be wary - as Grommit says BACS transfers for personal customers no longer exist, and it has NEVER been possible to do one to an account that doesn't belong to a UK sortcode. If you did decide to go ahead you would need to do a SWIFT transfer, which incurs a cost that varies by bank but could well cost between £10 and £25.

x.jones.x

you will have zero protection if it goes wrong or is a scam. be careful

thenudeone

If the person has a lot of good feedback as a seller, you're probably okay, but there is zero comeback with the bank if the goods don't arrive or are faulty.

Not everyone asking for a bank transfer is dodgy. I don't suppose many people in Germany know the finder details of how the Faster Payments system more or less replaced BACS. I bet people in the Uk will still call them BACS payments for decades (It rolls off the tongue much better than "Faster Payments"). It's just a shorthand for bank transfer, so I wouldn't worry about the seller's lack of knowledge of BACS/FPs.

Why didn't they call the new payments QACS - Quicker Automated Clearance System or IMPS- IMmediate Payment System? Either would be much easier to pronounce:)

jamesd

MaD2ko0l wrote: »

My dad is after something from Germany off of eBay and the guy will only accept a BACS transfer (Says he don't use Paypal because he doesn't want to pay their fees), the guy has good feedback so i don't see it being much of an issue.

Anyway, he has given his bank details but i know nothing about these kind of transfers and wanted to know how safe and secure my account and the payment is.

If he has a UK account to receive the payment and lots of good feedback it's OK. UK means sort code and account number.

If the sendor does not have a UK account but instead supplies an IBAN and BIC, then your father is likely to pay £9-25 for a SEPA payment plus a foreign exchange cost of 3% or so hidden in the Pound to Euro exchange rate. That may be cheaper for the seller but it's unlikely to be cheaper for your dad.

However, there are cheaper ways to send money to the Euro zone than using banks. CurrencyFair or TransferWise might be useful. Note that since they rely on matching those sending and receiving it might take a while for the money to be sent.