any risk at all in recieving payment via international wire
Discussion
Previously I have bought a lot of items and vehicles from all over the world and virtually always used wire transfer as a method of payment.
Never saw it as a problem and always thought it the safest way to do things.
But in light of the huge ammount of scams on the go my latest sale of a reasonably high priced ebay item has me feeling a little nervous.
Initially the guy bid on my item and I noticed he was in the USA, so I contacted him to make sure he was aware of my location and that I did not accept paypal, only cash or wire transfer. He replied asking if I would ship to the middle east.
I then cancelled his bids.
The next day he bid again and sent me a message stating that shipment to his home address in the USA that was on his ebay account would be fine and he had only asked as the item would be going over to his other home in the middle east anyway - and he would be happy to pay by wire transfer if I required.
In the end he won the auction and then messaged me asking for a total for paypal!
I reminded him that I had already told him payment was by wire transfer only.
His next reply said that wire transfer would be no porblem if thats what I wanted, but would I be able to ship to a different Address in the USA as he was about to move home later next week..........
All sounds a little suspect but his current address as registered with ebay checks out with someone of his name living there.
The question is - if he pays by wire transfer is there anyway I could be being scammed even after the bank tell me I have cleared funds - fraudulent/ reversed payment ect??
I am possibly being overly cautious, but I hear of new scams almost everyday.......
Never saw it as a problem and always thought it the safest way to do things.
But in light of the huge ammount of scams on the go my latest sale of a reasonably high priced ebay item has me feeling a little nervous.
Initially the guy bid on my item and I noticed he was in the USA, so I contacted him to make sure he was aware of my location and that I did not accept paypal, only cash or wire transfer. He replied asking if I would ship to the middle east.
I then cancelled his bids.
The next day he bid again and sent me a message stating that shipment to his home address in the USA that was on his ebay account would be fine and he had only asked as the item would be going over to his other home in the middle east anyway - and he would be happy to pay by wire transfer if I required.
In the end he won the auction and then messaged me asking for a total for paypal!
I reminded him that I had already told him payment was by wire transfer only.
His next reply said that wire transfer would be no porblem if thats what I wanted, but would I be able to ship to a different Address in the USA as he was about to move home later next week..........
All sounds a little suspect but his current address as registered with ebay checks out with someone of his name living there.
The question is - if he pays by wire transfer is there anyway I could be being scammed even after the bank tell me I have cleared funds - fraudulent/ reversed payment ect??
I am possibly being overly cautious, but I hear of new scams almost everyday.......
funkyrobot said:
If you need to ask ....
the question is if payment is made by bank transfer how can you be scammed...anyone know of a scam such as this?
If it were payment by paypal it would be obvious,
but its not, and he isnt really coming across as the usual scammer type and may be genuine,
so yes, I do have to ask really..
I'd be careful as the freight costs could be high! Unless you've included all the freight costs to the actual address you could get stung! i.e. the freight company refusing to accept an ex-works shipment, as the recipient is unknown etc
If you have all costs banked the only thing you'd have to be careful of is the export paperwork and possibly import paperwork for the recipients country.
I'd certainly not ship to e.g. Saudi if the buyer is in the US.... Saudi customs nearly always want a pretty high baksheesh....
Shipping to the Middle East has a lot of problems, make sure you have a good advisor in a freight company before you do it!
I've recently been stung by a US partner who wanted me to ship stuff to his GB daughter company. It went ex-works as usual, the US mother company then refused point blank to pay the freight, over €250,-!
If you have all costs banked the only thing you'd have to be careful of is the export paperwork and possibly import paperwork for the recipients country.
I'd certainly not ship to e.g. Saudi if the buyer is in the US.... Saudi customs nearly always want a pretty high baksheesh....
Shipping to the Middle East has a lot of problems, make sure you have a good advisor in a freight company before you do it!
I've recently been stung by a US partner who wanted me to ship stuff to his GB daughter company. It went ex-works as usual, the US mother company then refused point blank to pay the freight, over €250,-!
Edited by JMGS4 on Sunday 23 October 08:44
it all appears ligit,
did a search on his name and it comes up with the address given on his ebay account.
His ebay account also tallies with his name and a previous ebay account in the same name from several years ago.
As long as the funds transfer comes from someone with the same name it all seems ok.
Also would be being sent to the USA address.
Less happy that ebay is charging me VAT on their sellers fees which I wasnt expecting.
did a search on his name and it comes up with the address given on his ebay account.
His ebay account also tallies with his name and a previous ebay account in the same name from several years ago.
As long as the funds transfer comes from someone with the same name it all seems ok.
Also would be being sent to the USA address.
Less happy that ebay is charging me VAT on their sellers fees which I wasnt expecting.
You will have no recourse in a pay by wire transfer payment, if it goes wrong. I would ensure that not only you receive the money , but there is no possibility of the money being clawed back ( the most common scam). I think that can take three weeks. Onlu post the items after that. If he is legit, he will wait.
katz said:
You will have no recourse in a pay by wire transfer payment, if it goes wrong. I would ensure that not only you receive the money , but there is no possibility of the money being clawed back ( the most common scam). I think that can take three weeks. Onlu post the items after that. If he is legit, he will wait.
I've a feeling that international pay by wire is irreversible. If it works, that is it, the money has gone. So vital you give the correct details.But don't take the word of an anonymous internet forum. Get onto your bank, get them to state the truth - and get a name.
wire transfers are reversible, usually takes the account owner agreeing to the funds being taken back,I had this years at go at work, a client insisted they were expecting a payment we inadvertently released twice, they blanked our banks requests to return the duplicate, we never did see the money back, cost us 5000 CHF.
As has been said, best to ask your bank.
If you ship to any address that is not the authenticated Ebay delivery address, you lose your sellers protection (such as it is), so I would also be wary of any request to send somewhere else.
As has been said, best to ask your bank.
If you ship to any address that is not the authenticated Ebay delivery address, you lose your sellers protection (such as it is), so I would also be wary of any request to send somewhere else.
hmm, do none of the courier companies offer a service which only allows release of the package at the other end on producing verified identification?
spoke to Natwest this morning and they stated that the funds could not be reclaimed once cleared into my account.
IF however it was later proven to be a fraudulent transaction of "illegal funds" they would cover my loss? - this bit was a little hazy...
spoke to Natwest this morning and they stated that the funds could not be reclaimed once cleared into my account.
IF however it was later proven to be a fraudulent transaction of "illegal funds" they would cover my loss? - this bit was a little hazy...
Edited by hedgefinder on Monday 24th October 10:36
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