Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

teapot.countess
Community Member
I need advice badly. I made my largest sale ever on the weekend- $1775. The buyer says, "it is not possible for me to pay for the item with PayPal because the amount is too high. I have even corresponded with PayPal's european service center. It is not possible to pay with one credit card."

She wants me to email her my bank account number so that she can wire the money. Never having done this before, I asked my bank for advice yesterday. Two employees at the bank advised me not to send my bank account information over the unsecured Internet. They both said that I should insist on PayPal. If PayPal didn't work, they said I should ask for a cheque or international money order and wait for that to clear before sending the item.

Now the buyer is asking me to fax her my bank account number.

I'm hesitant. I don't know if I'm being ridiculously paranoid. At the same time, I can't help but wonder why she cannot pay via PayPal. She has 100% feedback, but as of Sunday, her feedback rating was only 7. That makes me nervous, too.

What should I do?
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Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

acurael
Community Member
Bank wire transfer is perfect - once in your account there's no reversing it - unlike PayPal and even money orders (which could be fake and take a while to filter their way back to you)

There's zero risk in sending your banking information over the web. Many companies post their account info on their websites. Google search for TDOMCATTOR and see for yourself. (TDOMCATTOR is a swift routing code to TD Canada Trust)

Be aware that banks may have a fee for receiving a wire transfer, but this will be cheaper than PayPal.
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Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

teapot.countess
Community Member
Thanks for your reply and reassurance.

I am still nervous, however. Something seems very fishy to me about this whole situation. She has just forwarded an email to me from another bidder of my auction that said I had issued her a second chance offer. The email asked whether she-the winning bidder- still wanted the item. I have not issued any second chance offers; nor would I unless the first bidder told me she no longer wanted the item.
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Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

Scammers target higher-end sales with a second chance offer scheme - sounds like that's what your buyer got. Forward a copy of the email with headers to ebay Trust & Safety and suggest she do the same.

As far as bank transfers are concerned, this is the norm in Europe. I do not believe you can come to any harm here - don't forget that you hand out your account information every time you write a cheque (with your signature, name and address too!)

Ann

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Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

teapot.countess
Community Member
Thank you, Ann, you have made me feel a lot better about this.
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Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

Teapot

Sound like the person who rec'd the 2nd chance offer was suspicious and therefore contacted your winner.

You should be happy your buyer wants to send a bank transfer as it's 100% safe ans much cheaper than PayPal for an the amount involved.

I've pasted below some info from the International board (on .com) that will give you all the info you need. While this info is for transfer to the USA they pretty much apply equally to transfers to Canada.

The buyer is wanting to pay you by wire transfer which is HOW payments are done in most of Europe. MOST US banks will charge a large fee to receive the wire. You will want to call your bank and ask them what the fee is for a "Incoming International Wire Transfer". Many banks charge in the range of $15-40 to receive the wire transfer. There are several banks that only charge a small fee or even no fee.

IF the fee your bank charges is reasonable and you want to extend this payment method to your customer you will need to ask your bank for their "SWIFT Code". This is a international 'routing number'.

To have a customer pay you by International Incoming Wire Transfer you need to provide your customer the following information:

- Your name (as it is on the bank account)
- Bank name
- Bank address
- Bank SWIFT Code
- Your account number

Some buyers bank's want your address as well although this is usually not necessary. DO NOT provide your routing number from your checks - this will only usually add confusion as the routing number is only used here in the USA.

You will want to advise the buyer (this applies if the item is listed in USD) to send the transfer in USD and to choose "OUR" for the fees. What this means is that the buyer assumes all foreign exchange fees. If they send in another currency or do not choose "OUR" for fees your payment will usually have fees deducted by banks enroute. On a side note, if you list on another one of eBay's sites you will need to accept payment in the currency of that site. So this paragraph usually only applies to payments for items listed in USD.

After the buyer sends payment it will usually take about 5 days to appear in your bank account. The beauty of a wire transfer is that once it is in your account it CANNOT be taken back so there is no risk of a "chargeback" like there is with PayPal or direct acceptance of credit cards. This payment method is very secure and safe. There are people who will say 'do not give out your bank account number to anyone' who do not realize that all of your information (and your signature) is on every check you write!

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915


"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.
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Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

One more thing, if you item sold in US Dollars you should try to have your buyer send the equivalent in CANADUAN dollars (use xe.com to convert). This will save you some money and not cost your customer anything extra.
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915


"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.
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Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

teapot.countess
Community Member
Thank you, Recped, for your detailed answer. You have not only reassured me, you have told me everything I have to do. I'll contact my bank tomorrow and get the SWIFT Code, etc. Thanks again for all your help and advice.

Stephanie
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Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

I am in the process of opening a daily interest chequing account with Citi bank Canada in toronto. you can recieve funds without charge with the citibank global transfer service. You can also send money but it costs 10.00 to send a global transfer.

Only bank in Canada to offer reasonable global transfers fairly easily and over the internet or phone.
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Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

teapot.countess
Community Member
Thanks for the information. It is much appreciated. I'll look into Citi bank tomorrow.
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Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

jasonsportscards
Community Member
actually i just started using email money transfers with purchases i made, all u have to send is your email address and they can get the funds from your own bank after u make a purchase. great way to do it, quick and no paypal fees
jason
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Advice Needed. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer.

EMT is only good in Canada, and even then it only applies to users of the big 5 banks, not Desjardins, PC Financial, etc. It's not a wire transfer, it's an Interac service.
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