Payment From Russia

[snoopwiz]

Hi. We have just received an email from a potential bidder in Russia. I have copied and pasted his request here

Q: Hello! Our country doesn't approved for PayPal,I have Mastercard ,but you doesn't accept directly. Can you accept cash by Western Union or Money Gram Money Transfer in US $? You just need find nearest Western Union Agent locations/Addresses or Money Gram Agent locations/Addresses and pick up the money. Can you ship it by Airmail Letter Post REGISTERED Mail to Moscow, Russia ? How much it will cost? Thanks, Sergey.

We used to accept Bidpay however, due to their "issues" with mailing from the US to Canada, we have opted to stop showing the BidPay logo until their mess is sorted out. Sorry but 2-3 weeks from upper New York State to Toronto is just unacceptable to us. We have never received payment in the manner that this bidder would like to pay. We have checked his feedback and there are 14 Positives and no Negatives, all being purchases in the USA. We expect the auction to reach $60-80 and were hoping one (or more) of you can shed some light on this with your suggestions, do's, donts etc. Thanks much, have a great day.

[phoebescollectables]

From a sellers point of view there is no problem with a Western Union wire transfer. You get the cash in your hands before you ship the item. No possible chargeback.

The only caveat is that they will convert the money to Canadian$ so you will lose a bit on the exchange.

[montrealmaps]

I accepted many times the payments from countries like Russia or Lithunia. Never had any problem. Western Union is very secure - you get the money, you send the item. The same with Bidpay. No chargeback is possible.

[recped]

As others have mentioned there is absolutely NO risk to receiving a Western Union or Moneygram transfer. With Western Union at least you can get cash or a money order when you pick up the money.

Regarding BidPay, the issues are resolved, money orders are now arriving in 8 - 12 days, this has been the case since mid-August, the money orders are now mailed from Chicago (Jamaica NY is toast).

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

[lucid-tech]

I received a postal wire transfer from Latvia once. I was quite surprised. They go to their post office (or wherever...I'm not sure), transfer the money to Canada Post and CP issues a corporate cheque to the recipient.

[itrecovery]

I’m selling all over the place, including Africa, Middle East and such. As long as you get wire or WU transfer, there no way to take your money out your pocket (literally).

Paypal would be a different story, don’t let me to start here….

[vesivus]

I've received many Western Union Instant Money Transfers. I tell some of our more international customers (Brazil, etc) that its virtually required.

To get around the bad Western Union rate, I require the customers to wire the money in CANADIAN, and I give them the amount to wire, converted. So far, no problems. It works well, and the items cannot be "charged back".

It does take some trust on the part of the buyer, so communication is key.

John

[silvio-art]

Trust Russians.There are more billioners in Moskow then in Manhattan..now .You get money via Western Union, not by "Eastern Express">>>What else do you need.Dont be Stuborn.