Receiving money from Europe (guitar sale)?

imalrightjack

Does anybody have any experience of receiving money for a guitar going to Europe?  Buyer is paying shipping/arranging courier - I just want to make sure, like Faster Payments, the money arrives safely and is irreversible.

Thanks!

John_A

yes, if the are paying in to your bank, once it's there its there to stay

imalrightjack

@John_A ; That's great, cheers. He's not planning on paying for insurance, which disturbs me but that isn't my problem!

John_A

imalrightjack said:

@John_A ; That's great, cheers. He's not planning on paying for insurance, which disturbs me but that isn't my problem!

Debatable, it it gets lost or damaged, he's unlikely to say 'not your problem mate'  At least get him to confirm by email that he's happy for it to be sent without insurance and if it gets lost or damaged he'll take responsibility.

imalrightjack

If it's irreversible @John_A how can it be an issue? Just wondering. He appears to do a lot of buying/selling

designerseye88

It is worth checking with your bank that the money that has been transferred to your bank and is ' confirmed as irreversible'

If the money was paid by a personal cheque then it can still be returned as unpaid. Some online banking systems do not show how the money was deposited. It is rare but the lesson that came out of it was to confirm with the bank that the funds paid are irreversible and it is worth checking how the buyer plans on paying you. 

John_A

Not an issue of him getting his money back, but dealing with a pissed off buyer is a pain.  If it's insured no-one loses out

Johnnyseven

Are you selling through ebay? If so don't post without adequate insurance under any circumstances. In fact I would avoid completely if through ebay.

goldtop

Agreed - if this is an Ebay sale, then no way.

If it's privately arranged directly between the two of you, then payment to your bank is fine. (I've even accepted PayPal when there was a reasonable level of trust.)

By the way, I don't think Faster Payments applies to outside-of-UK accounts.

p90fool

I just sold a bass to a guy in Germany, he just did a direct bank transfer. Keep an eye on exchange rates for transfers though, what he thought he was sending me (he sent me a screenshot) and what arrived in my bank were two different things - I was £60 short. 

I didn't chase it or even tell him tbh, he loved the bass and hadn't haggled me too hard, and UPS did fully insured shipping for a good price. 

I'd ship it fully insured if I were you and just add it to the price if you want piece of mind. UPS shipped my long scale 12kg bass, insured for the full value of £3750 for 65 quid. 

It seemed pointless to scrimp on it at that price. 

imalrightjack

Thanks, peeps. It's via Facebook, so no eBay or Paypal comeback. He's arranging a courier and seems very relaxed about it!

gavin_axecaster

Not about the non-reversible bit but...
Depending on your bank you may be charged a fee for receiving the money. I know in theory transfers between EU institutions are fee-free but I know for a fact my bank charges. Plus you'll probably get a crappy exchange rate.
Transferwise now offer customers bank accounts in sterling, euro and USD. You get an actual account number for each and you can receive those funds with no fees. Transferwise also give great exchange rates, so you can give the buyer an accurate euro figure.
When you have received the money you can either keep as euro to pay for stuff from EU using the Transferwise debit card (very handy) or convert it to sterling and transfer to your bank account fro a modest withdrawal fee.

designerseye88

gavin_axecaster said:

Not about the non-reversible bit but...
Depending on your bank you may be charged a fee for receiving the money. I know in theory transfers between EU institutions are fee-free but I know for a fact my bank charges. Plus you'll probably get a crappy exchange rate.
Transferwise now offer customers bank accounts in sterling, euro and USD. You get an actual account number for each and you can receive those funds with no fees. Transferwise also give great exchange rates, so you can give the buyer an accurate euro figure.
When you have received the money you can either keep as euro to pay for stuff from EU using the Transferwise debit card (very handy) or convert it to sterling and transfer to your bank account fro a modest withdrawal fee.

Yeah i used transferwise a few weeks ago to buy a guitar form Ireland. Highly recommend, It wasnt the quickest to get the money but the fees are much less and a far better exchange rate.

imalrightjack

He's using TransferWise apparently .

Teyeplayer

Used transferwise for a sale to Germany recently. That meant what was being paid at the other end was what I received. I arranged courier but buyer paid for it. Tbh it was one of the easiest sales I’ve had.

mr-mac

Registered address shipping via PayPal may be better.  Fairly sure money can come back off you from an iban transfer after quite some time.

57Deluxe

if using IBAN make sure they pay any charges at their end and that this is agreed beforehand.

DLM

Nope.

Only on the "enforcement" end.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CyEBXTL1Y3U/sddefault.jpg#404_is_fine