Money Order

[450sl]

Hi Guys,

I am in the proces of detailing my Sl , and wanted to buy some Engineeringlabels  from a fellow Sl-forumgroupmember who is  an expert in reproducing these original labels.

So far so good, but the Gentleman only accepts money orders ,  the only options for me are Cash in an envelope or using Paypal.

I am somewhat doubtfull in sending cash over the post.

Anyone outhere willing to accept Paypal and transfer the money order to him?    Of Course i take care of the Paypal fee.

Thanks
Mark

[Garry]

PM sent re sources given I purchased labels only two weeks ago.

Garry

[mdsalemi]

Mark, you can walk into a large bank nearly anywhere in the Netherlands, ask to buy a "US Dollar Check (cheque)" and they'll pull out bank-checks drawn on US Banks such as Chase, etc.  The fees are nominal.  Many people in Europe don't know this, some refused to believe it, but I received quite a few US Checks this way from selling the Pagoda Style book. One bank in Berlin had a round about way of doing it--they didn't actually give them a check right then and there, but mailed it from a correspondent bank in the USA.  Nonetheless it was a very inexpensive way of moving money from Europe to USA.

Europeans don't use checks often.  Using "wire transfers", SWIFT, etc. is absolutely prohibitively expensive and simply NOT DONE for non-commercial US residents.  For me, a wire out or SWIFT transfer involves lots of paperwork and a USD $25.00 fee. INCOMING is about the same.  This makes Paypal look very attractive!

There is a basic incompatibility in our payment systems.

[450sl]

Hi Mdsalemi, Nowadays Our Dutch banks are very limited in their services , no to say they do not offer ANY services  at all (with small returns).

[mdsalemi]

Mark, I cannot tell you what will happen if you walk into a large branch of ABN/Amro or Rabo today, since I am not there.  I can tell you that what you told me was the same answer I received from others--until they actually walked into the banks and asked.  I received enough checks to know that from some countries and some banks, it was very easy and very inexpensive--a few Euros or dollars charge (aside from the check amount and conversion fee).  So, try it you might be pleasantly surprised!

I do know that for Americans to get an IBAN or SWIFT transfer, there is a large fee involved, generally speaking, unless you have a commercial account.

Of course Western Union is an option as well: http://www.westernunion.nl

[66andBlue]

There are other more economical ways to transfer money than SWIFT or WesternUnion. From the USA to other countries, for example XOOM.com,
and from other countries to the USA, for example Transferwise.com.
Of course, the higher the transferred amount the cheaper it becomes.

[Peter van Es]

Mike,

remember our recent conversation? About me cashing your check? 450sl is absolutely right... NL bank's service is no longer existent, and getting a US check will cost us lots. Best solution for him: PayPal to a trusted American, who writes a check to be cashed by said American member.

Peter

[Flyair]

Michael

When you say that there is a basic incompatibility in our banking systems (i.e. US vs. Europe) in fact most if not all major banks are global or at least international. They operate under the same system. Citi or BofA have subsidiaries in many countries, as does Deutsche Bank or UBS, yet the money transfer experience looks as you described. I would not call it incompatibility but rater Greed. I worked 26 years for European and US banks, so you may call it "insider info"

By the way, did you know that PayPal moves money through... BofA? They make money (fat fees that is) on sellers of goods and services, but also (Veeeery faaaat margins) on indecent FX rates. But they are handy indeed .  

[ctaylor738]

Mark,

While others debate the banking system, I am happy to get a money order and mail it if you still need it.

My Paypal account is the email in my profile here.

Cheers,

[Benz Dr.]

Pay Pal is a way for people ( small vendors ) to get or send money, either owed or collected. Instead of the small vendor having a mechant's CC system, they let Pay Pal take care of it for a fee of course.

 Which is why I didn't go that route. I have a merchant's VISA which wasn't that easy to get since I do international shipping and payments. A CC has no accent and knows no international boundrys.

 The problem faced by small operations is that COD, money orders, and things of that nature can be a lot of hassle. They're too small to have merchant's CC and yet are big enough to have a fair bit of sales.

 Pay Pal covers these things nicely but it's not for me because I am a commercial operation. Almost everyone has a CC, although they may not have the right one.   

[mdsalemi]

Of course, everyone makes good points here...but so far, nobody has told me that they have absolutely positive walked into an ABN-Amro bank, and asked for a dollar cheque...so I just called ABN Amro, and they verified what I state: for a small fee, maybe 5 euros, you can "buy" a US dollar check at an ABN Amro bank. This is what I mentioned from the outset.  The caveat (probably relatively new because of money-laundering rules and all that post 9/11 terrorist stuff) is that you have to have an account...it doesn't make a lot of sense for a USD $50 transaction, but if you were spending many hundreds or thousands, the end result is a US dollar check drawn on a US bank with US banking numbers.  This is a bank check, and exactly what I was talking about.  Many people did this for me in the past year for Pagoda Style.

This is different than me sending a US check to you Peter.  I should let you know that while I did indeed resend your funds via Paypal, nearly everyone else just cashed the check.  Yes, with fees, and some probably outrageous.
Paypal has been good, and the fees transcend the difficulty for moving money across borders.  I've been using a Paypal merchant account for some time now and it is very, very easy to use, and you can do about anything you need to with it.

Dr. Benz has a merchant CC account and here in the US they are very easy to get.  But, you just have to have a certain level of business to justify getting one. When I was in the car wash business, my fellow car wash owners used to complain vociferously about the CC fees.  My fees averaged just under 5%, but I had a plan with no chargebacks, and no face-to-face personalized swipes; this made the rate higher than a store, for example.  But I had no cash to deal with, which took an enormous amount of time (when it was coming in in $0.25 coins and dollar bills, mostly!  I wished all my funds came in by CC.  No dirty money, no stuck bills, just automatically deposited every night.  Just about perfect!

Alfred, there is something inherently trustworthy about Western Union (with a long history) rather than some upstart like XOOM.  There were plenty others I found, and I'd be hesitant about using one I had not heard of.

Stan, Europe has a long history of international dealing.  Prior to 1992 of course we had all these different currencies, and the need to move about the continent and converting all the time was standard procedure.  There are very few places in the USA where you can buy foreign currency. That's one reason why it is difficult (except for Paypal now) for me to get money to Europe.  We just don't use the same kinds of processes and procedures here in the USA that are commonplace in Europe. When MB bought the remaining inventory of Pagoda Style, they tried to pay me via SWIFT, and my local bank was not taking it.  I had to open up another account at Chase, an international back, merely to get paid!  MB only pays vendors with SWIFT.  While an increasingly large portion of payments (such as all my utility bills, credit card bills, etc.) are paid electronically, it is NOT with a SWIFT transaction.

I just use Paypal and suck it all up as the cost of doing business.  Whoever sells the labels that started this whole conversation should just accept Paypal and make everyone's life a bit easier and open up a larger world market!  It was with Peter's insistence early on that I opened up the Pagoda Style to Paypal and for most of the subsequent sales it was very easy--particularly when a merchant account was set up.

[Benz Dr.]

All good points Mike.
I've had a number of larger payments made to me from euro countries using SWIFT through my local TD bank. Shelley took care of that and I believe we now have a number ready for such transactions.

[450sl]

Michael,  it might be theorettically possible to buy a check.

But i dare  you would change your mind , if you go to the bankcounter in person with a 5 euronote in your hand .

I Can tell from experience  that when you for example want to withdraw a langer amount from your account   and yes Abn-Amro (exeeding Dutch ATM limits ) you first have
to make an appointment ( that itselves takes several days ) before you can come get to collect your own money.
I am talking about bankoffices in cities over 100.000 citizens....... in smaller Cities they nearly all closed their offices.

But then again, when for example you want an insurance etc.  youre welcome anytime without appointment.........

[450sl]

Hi  Chuck ,

Thank You very much for your kind offer !!!!!!!! .

PM sent.