Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 16:55:29 -0800
Reply-To: David Marshall <mailinglist@FASTFORWARD.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Marshall <mailinglist@FASTFORWARD.CA>
Organization: Fast Forward Automotive Inc.
Subject: Re: [NVC] Looking for a secure payment from Germany
In-Reply-To: <03c501c74a16$e53db170$0b0ba8c0@RON>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Ron and the list.
The problem is there is no real secure way of international payment short of
a money transfer direct to your bank account.
PayPal, Visa, MasterCard etc are not good for the exact reasons that Ron
described. I have had one person try to take me for about $1800 USD with
MasterCard, who shall remain nameless at this time, for doing a charge back
to MasterCard as the goods I sold them wasn't to their liking - nothing
wrong with it, they just didn't want it once they got it. I would have had
no problem giving them a refund provided they sent the item back to me, but
apparently according to the customer and to MasterCard keeping the item and
their money is perfectly acceptable.
Cheques (of checks as they are called in the USA) are a good as a person's
promise and unfortunately these days, that means absolutely nothing. In
Canada a foreign cheque, be it a personal one / cashier's / bank draft are
now held for 21 BUSINESS days before I can have the funds released to me and
they have up to SIX MONTHS to say that the cheque bounced. Needless to say
this is why I *never* accept or write cheques with my business. Even
certified cheques can be bounced - it happened to me personally. A 20.000
CERTIFIED cheque to Germany for payment for a vehicle, and it bounced -
basically the bank froze 20.000 in my account and my account was at 20.010
at the end of the month - well, at the first of the new moth when the $20
service fee came out of my account, the balance was a 19.990 and they
bounced a certified cheque on me. That was the last cheque I ever wrote - a
very embarrassing moment for me and hence the reason for paying for things
with a bank transfer for things like vehicle purchases - guaranteed funds
delivery.
With every transaction there is a risk. Short of having cash dropped in
your hot little mitts and verifying that it is not counterfeit, there is no
uber secure way to send funds that guarantees that you get the funds and the
buyer gets the product. It all comes down to trust.
Personally, a payment from Germany that is under 1000 EUR I would take
PayPal for it. Over 1000 EUR I would only accept a money transfer to my
bank account. More due to the fees that PayPal will take from me than
anything else.
David Marshall
http://www.hasenwerk.ca
http://www.fastforward.ca
Box 4153, Quesnel BC, Canada V2J 3J2
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
The Bus Depot
Sent: February 6, 2007 9:48
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: [NVC] Looking for a secure payment from Germany
> Whats the risk in paypal if he pays you first? german paypal
> can only be paid by überweisung or credit card, are you
> afraid the payment bounces after you send the item off? I
> dont think that can really happen
The problem with Paypal is that the buyer can claim they didn't authorize
the charge, never got the goods, or got goods that were not as described,
and dispute the payment (through Paypal, and/or their credit card if it was
credit card funded). The Paypal terms state that Paypal can then take the
money back from you, freeze your account, etc. There have been publicized
cases of honest sellers being burned by either dishonest buyers, or by
crooks who accessed the Paypal account of an honest buyer and went on a
spending spree. Paypal's "Seller Protection" feature protects sellers
against this, but only on transactions sent to a confirmed Paypal address
within the U.S.. Even shipments to Canada are not covered.
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
www.busdepot.com
(215) 234-VWVW
_____________________________________________
Toll-Free for Orders by PART # : 1-866-BUS-DEPOT
