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Bears-a-Bruin!I just logged into eBay and was greeted with this message:
The use of instant money transfer services, such as Western Union and Moneygram, as a payment method is now banned on ebay.co.uk and ebay.ie.
Hopefully this will help to cut down the number of fraudulent activities there, since most of the dodgy auctions use this method. Not sure if this will or has been extended to other eBay site (.com?) but I think it should.
They still accept bank-to-bank transfer....has anybody ever done this? I know it's quite a common payment method in some parts of Europe, and I just opened an account specifically for this purpose but don't have the courage to offer it yet! 
Bine-TeddiesThey still accept bank-to-bank transfer....has anybody ever done this? I know it's quite a common payment method in some parts of Europe, and I just opened an account specifically for this purpose but don't have the courage to offer it yet! :P
It never occurred to me that there is another way to pay your monthly invoices. In Germany and Sweden we do bank-to-bank transfers all the time and it works very smoothly and fast. I do it online with internet banking and the money is on the other account next day (3-4 days to another European country) or whatever day I specify. Giving someone my account information is safe as they can't use it to get money, just to send some. I wouldn't put that in the ebay auction info though, but give it to the winner by email if they ask about it.
Now I'm curious, how do you pay your invoices if not by bank-to-bank transfer? This board teaches a lot more than bear making. 
Merry Christmas
Patsy Lake BearsI use direct deposit and it works well I have used it to put money into an account in England as well as in Australia...... no problems so far
Bears-a-Bruin!Oooh, thanks for your replies!
I do pay my bills (invoices) via online banking here in the UK - and it's free for those purposes. But to pay bills outside the UK the banks charge hefty fees. As I understand it, this is to cover handling and conversion from one currency to another. If the UK were to adopt the Euro as it's major curency than presumably the banks wouldn't have the excuse to charge these fees any longer.
However, it is possible for UK residents to accept cheap direct bank transfers within the EU provided the money is sent in Euros...I've just been reading all about this on a thread in the community section on eBay! I've learnt a lot this morning! I've opened a 'Smile' bank account online and will be offering bank transfer as a payment method to buyers in Europe. Sabine, your experience gives me confidence I shouldn't hit any great problems (no more than usual!) because many Europeans are already savvy with international transfers.
Patsy, my bank charges something like £7 to accept an overseas payment. Possibly more... 
But I would be prepared to do this for highcost items, and share the costs.
(I accepted an international money order in dollars once, and the bank wanted £10 for conversion - eek!).
Estelles canal bears and Tod TeddiesThanks for the info I sent cheque to the US in dollars and my bank added £10 handling charge, and I had to have the cheque made out by there internatiol branch and posted to me to then be forwarded to the US customer. Not worth the hassle.
Bears-a-Bruin!Estelle, it's so annoying, isn't it?! The banks in the UK are very expensive. But I've found the following site very useful and much, much cheaper: www.auctionpix.co.uk . They offer an auction payment service (they'll send a USD cheque to the seller, and you send your sterling cheque to auctionpix) for a 2.5% charge. I haven't used this particular service yet, but I have sent them numerous US cheques and money orders and found them to be cheap and reliable (they send a UK cheque by return post).
:hug:
Estelles canal bears and Tod Teddiesthanks Helena I have posted that site on one of my bookmarks so I can investigate at leisure, It looks very good.Thanks again 
Bine-TeddiesI think the EU has some law or rule or whatever legal term that banks must not charge more for transfers within the EU than they charge in their own country. My bank is free (only the credit card costs a moderate fee) and that includes international bank transfers worldwide. However, Sweden doesn't have the Euro either. Would save me a lot of money in exchange fees (there is a 1.65% fee for that) if all of Europe had the Euro. I have another bank which doesn't even charge an exchange fee, but they have a really bad customer service and my card just got used by someone who somehow stole the card no. and CVC code (the last three digits on the back of the card). 
I suspect the bank had insufficient security on their servers. They have to take the fall since I didn't lose the card itself, but it taught me that the cheapest bank isn't always the best.
I also transfer money to Paypal so I don't have to use my card. Some ebay sellers won't accept cards through paypal and I feel better if my info isn't sent back and forth between my bank and paypal (after above experience until I calm down again :teddybear:)
Bears-a-Bruin!Now you're making me jealous Sabine! I wish the same were true for the UK, but somehow they find ways to add charges on here, there and everywhere. I think it's particularly for those who use a business account - but even a plain old personal account is bad enough. It's good to know that Sweden is more organised and forward thinking.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience with a stolen card. Glad they took responsibility for it 
PS I may be visiting Sweden next Spring! Can't wait!
Bine-TeddiesHelena, no reason to be jealous. Sweden has very low salaries and the world's highest taxes. There are banks with high fees and low interest rates, but I avoid those.
Give me a holler in case you get to Stockholm. Maybe we can have a cup of tea or something. I'll give you a behind the scenes tour of the Natural History Museum.
Hugs
Bears-a-Bruin!Thankyou Sabine - that's very kind of you! :hug:
