American wants to pay by money order

cazmanian_minx

A week after she buys the thing, my American buyer casually mentions that she doesn't have Paypal and can she send a money order? :mad:

I seem to remember that if she sends one in dollars it's going to cost me a lot in charges to bank it and since the item + postage only comes to £2.99, I'd rather cancel the order. Is it possible for American buyers to get money orders in pounds sterling that I won't get charged for banking?

Caz

Little_Miss_Winner

Hi Caz,

Don't know about money orders?

Could she not pay by bankers draft? (or is that the same thing?)

pulliptears

yep, a money order will cost you more than £2.99 to exchange.

In the past I have accepted USD in a global priority envelope, then Id save them in a jar. It worked well because it meant I couldnt spend it! Id save for 6 months then cash them, often giving me a tidy sum. But if you dont accept $$'s usually its not of any use to you. I believe the post office still exchange them for free though.

soolin

Unfortunately though you cannot ask for cash as it is against ebay rules, so i the buyer got shirty they could turn you in.

If your auction stated paypal only for overseas buyers then stick to it, they don't need a paypal account to send money, they can make a one off payment via card.

Soo

aqueoushumour01

yes maybe the buyer doesn't know that it's possible to use paypal without actually having a paypal account when paying by card

madbazoo

Depending on who you bank with it could cost you more to clear a cheque in dollars.

I get some very small dividend cheques on some US shares I own and HSBC charge me £10 to clear each transaction which is almost the amount of the cheque.

cazmanian_minx

aqueoushumour01 wrote: »

yes maybe the buyer doesn't know that it's possible to use paypal without actually having a paypal account when paying by card

I'd forgotten that too! I've sent them an email asking if that's an option for them - thanks :beer:

Caz

frivolous_fay

FYI... you can cash a money order (or several) for a flat rate of around 50p (I believe) via auctionchex. I've never done it but it's always sounded like a great service to me, and certainly worth it if you have several money orders, or a large value one.

But my inclination would have been to make her pay via an accepted method!

digerati

I'd send a note to the buyer along the lines of "For such a small amount US$6 or $7 cash might be easiest (small bills; no coins), but unfortunately eBay doesn't allow me to ask you to pay that way." They should get the hint...

Or accept a USD money order and send it to auctionchex.com for collection provided your buyer adds $2 to cover the processing fee.

greeneye

Auctionchex exchange rate isn't great though.
http://auctionchex.com/excalc-s.html
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi

Selling dollars you loose 5 pence in the pound at todays rates compared to ebays. Although you have to factor in paypal fees on top of ebay's conversion rate.

maxfactor_3

It cost me £15 to cash a cheque and my postage was £20 for 2 kg.