Bank transfer - how safe for the seller?

paul_h

It's just the 24 hr thing - once you're past that, they're supposed to be totally safe.

I just tell them the payment has cleared a day after it actually has. As the payment usually appears in 2-3 days, I've had no complaints yet...

paul_h

soolin wrote:

I always assumed that bank transfers were the bees knees, I don't like cheques, I don't take posstal orders and obviously although I love paypal do find the charges a little high. I really push bank transfers and always send my items out as soon as the money shows in my acocunt.

Why not accept postal orders? They're guaranteed payment and can be processed with cheques at your bank, or cashed at the post office if not crossed... nearly as good as cash!

soolin

paul_h wrote:

Why not accept postal orders? They're guaranteed payment and can be processed with cheques at your bank, or cashed at the post office if not crossed... nearly as good as cash!

I don't take postal orders as I've had problems in the past not with them but with the buyers.

I found most people would just bung the whole lot, including receipt in an envelope and post it to me and I had a couple go astray. It then developed into a war of words with buyers thinking I had their money and assuming I was trying to scam them and because they had no receipt and the PO was uncrossed it couldn't be cancelled. I don't accept cash for the same reason, too much has gone missing in the post.

I did start, on my end of auction emails, explaining to buyers how to use postal orders. I asked that they be crossed and made out to me and the receipt retained in case of problems, and still I got the whole lot in an envelope.

I now don't tick the box for postal orders and if someone specifically asks if they can pay using one, I explain that it must be crossed etc.

Soo

Speculator

I had the same problem, buyers just send the whole postal order uncrossed including the receipt!

The ideal way for me to accept payment is by cash paid straight into my Halifax/Nationwide bank account. Most towns have either a Halifax or a Nationwide branch and I simply email my buyer my sortcode and account no.

Redseal

paul_h wrote:

It's just the 24 hr thing - once you're past that, they're supposed to be totally safe.

Not always. I've read of a transfer being reversed by the bank 3 weeks after it was received, as they claimed it was funded by fraudulent means..

Spinner

I've had mixed experiences with bank transfers. One went very well and easily; there were no problems.

The other one involved a transfer to Germany: now that was a real headache. It had a hefty charge of £8 or so levied on it!

This is rather frustrating, since often I get requests from German sellers to pay by bank transfer: has anyone any tips on cheap ways to send money overseas? Most German eBay sellers seem very reluctant to try PayPal.

As for postal orders, some Americans won't use PayPal. I've heard of "International Money Orders": can these be cashed at the Post Office or the bank?

Incidentally, this is my first post on these particular forums, so please bear with me if I'm committing any frightful faux pas!

paul_h

Redseal wrote:

Not always. I've read of a transfer being reversed by the bank 3 weeks after it was received, as they claimed it was funded by fraudulent means..

Up to 6 months if funded by fraudulent means, the same as cheques - but that is clawed back by the bank itself, and there is a trail to the originators bank account so you can take them to court for payment.

The problem with the 24 hours is that the sender of the payment themselves can ring his bank and cancel the payment, and the bank will do it. It's very easy.

paul_h

Spinner wrote:

I've had mixed experiences with bank transfers. One went very well and easily; there were no problems.

The other one involved a transfer to Germany: now that was a real headache. It had a hefty charge of £8 or so levied on it!

This is rather frustrating, since often I get requests from German sellers to pay by bank transfer: has anyone any tips on cheap ways to send money overseas? Most German eBay sellers seem very reluctant to try PayPal.

As for postal orders, some Americans won't use PayPal. I've heard of "International Money Orders": can these be cashed at the Post Office or the bank?

Incidentally, this is my first post on these particular forums, so please bear with me if I'm committing any frightful faux pas!

Overseas bank transfers are a nightmare.

I'm sure the Post Office will cash Euro and Canadian dollar IMOs, but I'm not sure about anything else. I don't think they will take US dollar ones - people seem to use auctionpix for these, they do a far cheaper service than a bank transfer but I've never used it myself - I only take PayPal from overseas.

soolin

paul_h wrote:

Up to 6 months if funded by fraudulent means, the same as cheques - but that is clawed back by the back, and there is a trail to the originators bank account so you can take them to court.

The problem with the 24 hours is that the sender of the payment themselves can ring his bank and cancel the payment, and the bank will do it. It's very easy.

So basically bank transfers are no safer for the seller than paypal?

I like paypal and often defend it on here but I am aware that the moment a fraudulent card or bank account is used to fund a payment you lose all your protection. I had thought that bank transfers were entirely safe but if not then this is one more reason for me to consider going to paypal only auctions.

Soo

paul_h

soolin wrote:

So basically bank transfers are no safer for the seller than paypal?

I like paypal and often defend it on here but I am aware that the moment a fraudulent card or bank account is used to fund a payment you lose all your protection. I had thought that bank transfers were entirely safe but if not then this is one more reason for me to consider going to paypal only auctions.

Soo

It's much easier to open a PayPal account (with a fraudulent or stolen credit card) than a bank account - there is little bank transfer fraud because of this.

I too use PP by the way, I would say for 90%+ of sales.