Help! Anyone know how to wire $ from Italy?

[BadgerDave]

I sold my Fulltone Distortion Pro on eBay. Turns out the buyer is in Italy and has no clue how to pay. Despite working in the financial industry for 20 years, I have no idea how to do an international bank wire. The total amount is about $200 including shipping. Is it even worth the effort? Any other suggestions - he doesn't have a PayPal account.

Thanks!

[ET_KenW]

Western Union?

[silentman]

Dave, I did this recently with a guy from austrailia. Call your bank and tell them you want to receive a wire from overseas. They will give you the bank info (ABA routing # and bank address usually) and you will also need to tell the buyer your account # you want the $ to go in along with its registration. To be safe, and avoid shenanigans, I opened a new account to recieve the $. (had to put $10 in). That way if the account got messed up, my savings wouldn't be effected. There should be no fee on your end to receve the wire, but some banks may chare a fee of like $25. It's up to trhe bank at his end to do the proper conversion to US dollars at the time of his transaction. Also, the money cannot be removed form your account without you initiating the transfer, so you don't have to wirry about givung your infio to a stranger.

Edited to add: I suck at typing and I m too lazy to fix my typos.

[Buzzy Fretts]

>>he doesn't have a PayPal account<<

Tell him to get one. Its easy enough. And easier for you.

[sw686blue]

Dave,

Lou's instructions are perfect. You will have to provide your account #, swift code and bank name and bank address. It is safe for you as the buyer can put money into your account but can not remove money. Be aware that you will be charged a fee for receiving money through a wire transfer.

I used this method on several occasions and one in particular from a HFC member who lives in Spain. Not a problem.

Nick

[jerseydrew]

Dave,

I too have had someone from Italy buy something from me on ebay. Here are the two options I would do.

The easiest would be for him to send you the money through Western Union. If he did this, I believe you would get an email from him with some code and his name and address. Take that info to your local Western Union office. You'd be surprised, they're all over. My local supermarket happens to be one. At any rate, take the info to the Western Union. They'll punch in the info and give you CASH. If they don't have enough cash in the drawer. They give you a Western Union check. It's surprisingly easy Plus, it costs you nothing. No fees to lose like Paypal.

Another way I have done is what Silentman said. I went to my local bank and opened up and BRAND NEW account with NO link to my regular account whatsoever. I think I had to put $20 in or something. No big deal because it's still my money. I'm not exactly sure how it works, your bank can explain. You'll get a routing number or something. The buyer will need that number to wire you the money. HIS BANK will know how to do this. Then once your money is safely in your account, withdraw it and put it in your other accout. You can either keep the "NEW" account for future dealings, or just cancel it altogether.

[BadgerDave]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

I've offered him the Western Union and bank wire options. We'll see how motivated he is to get this done. So far, the communications have been slanted in the "tell me how to pay you. I think I need a code" direction.

It would probably be a good idea to have that second checking account to route PayPal transactions through, anyway.

[Jorge]

>>he doesn't have a PayPal account<<

Tell him to get one. Its easy enough. And easier for you.

+1

I am an international buyer. I live in South America. If an Italian cannot open a Paypal account, no need to bother.

[silentman]

tell him you'll throw in a bag of ravioli if he's quick.

[jerseydrew]

>>he doesn't have a PayPal account<<

Tell him to get one. Its easy enough. And easier for you.

+1

I am an international buyer. I live in South America. If an Italian cannot open a Paypal account, no need to bother.

I wouldn't do the Paypal thing from somebody out of the US. The reason is, is that they won't have a "confirmed" address. Any time you ship to someone with an "unconfirmed" address, you're taking a chance.

In addition, I use a totally different bank for my Paypal account. I would suggest to anyone who does a lot with ebay and Paypal, to go to a different bank and open up another account. Most banks offer free checking, so you have nothing to lose. This way your personal stuff is totally separate from your ebay stuff. Especially when it's a different bank, so there's no way they can link the two accounts or "make a mistake". IMHO

[DaveL]

I've done wire transfers and they're very safe

for the seller, safer in my opinion than a bank

check and definitely safer than paypal.

My experience has been that it costs the sender

$15 and the receiver $15 but this was for a higher

amount. as long as you've accounted for this

you should be fine.

BTW: USPS is pretty fairly priced for international

shipping.

[BadgerDave]

BTW: USPS is pretty fairly priced for international

shipping.

Agreed, but you lose the tracking capability of the higher priced alternatives.

USPS only offers "Delivery Confirmation" which means "until it's delivered. we don't tell you squat". Not much help when you're trying to figure out where a package is five weeks after you dropped it off at the post office.

[belgian]

  BTW: USPS is pretty fairly priced for international

shipping.

Agreed, but you lose the tracking capability of the higher priced alternatives.

USPS only offers "Delivery Confirmation" which means "until it's delivered. we don't tell you squat". Not much help when you're trying to figure out where a package is five weeks after you dropped it off at the post office.

They do offer tracking. I had several shipments from the US (some from Elduave) and they all had tracking except for two. It seems to depend on the post office clerk, if they are offering tracking or not.