Funds Transfer

[Hfinn]

Hi there! I wanted to ask how you transfer money to each other in the west in Europe and America, for example, for the sale of pipes. Do you use the bank's application for instant transfers? Or do you only use the PayPal? I use PayPal to accept payments from abroad, but it has one drawback - they hold money for 21 days, and sometimes it takes another 3-4 days to withdraw money, which is not convenient. How do you feel about direct transfers to a credit card through the bank client (application)?

 

[Ryszard]

I almost exclusively use PayPal, which has both the benefit of not sharing my bank details with the other party and protecting you in case something goes sideways. I'm not sure about them holding your money, it must be some local limitation, because when I want to take out money from PayPal they book it onto my bank account within 1-2 days after my request.

I'll be completely honest here. I'd never ever do a wire transfer (bank account to bank account/bank account to credit card) to another country without receiving the goods first, unless it's something I absolutely must have and where I'd be prepared to lose the money.

It is unfortunate though, back in the day you could trust that people had some sort of ethics and common decency. I would transfer money anywhere for telephone-orders without thinking twice, but these days there are so many frauds that you really have to be careful about what you do on the internet or anywhere else for that matter.

 

[mikethompson]

Back in my younger days, I sold quite a bit of car parts on eBay. This was around 2005, before PayPal came out, or at least before it was commonly used. I accepted US cash or International Money Orders as payment. You could buy them at the US post office and I could cash them in Canada. Anyone remember these?



I would get piles of these in the mail and literally hundreds of dollars in US cash. Good times.

Nowadays, PayPal is the easiest and best way to pay online I think.

 

[Hfinn]

I recently bought a pipe from a Russian online store. The store has a very simple site and does not provide for payment. The site only shows photos of the available pipes and the mailing address. I contacted him by mail, he gave me his credit card number and I made the transfer. Of course, I first looked at the reviews about him on the forum and everything was ok. Within an hour, he sent me a fiscal receipt with a track number. After 2 weeks I received my parcel)

 

[KafkaStoleMyBike]

I have only used PayPal for pipes and my personal purchases, but the only quicker alternative I know of is Wise (known as TransferWise previously); there’s still a delay and a minimum $25 deposit, but I’ve used it before when sending money to colleagues.

 

[Hfinn]

PayPal is undoubtedly a necessary invention, but it is bad that it has no alternatives. In US, they may be good, but in other countries, they are sometimes too strict. Only 1 the world-famous payment system is too little.

 

[KafkaStoleMyBike]

PayPal is undoubtedly a necessary invention, but it is bad that it has no alternatives. In US, they may be good, but in other countries, they are sometimes too strict. Only 1 the world-famous payment system is too little.

I 100% agree. Back when international travel was a thing, I usually relied on Visa to get decent exchange rates and always carried some cash, but constantly paying exchange rates took its toll pretty quickly. There are a handful of companies like Wise trying to fill that gap, but it’s still far from perfect.

 

[craig61a]

Back in my younger days, I sold quite a bit of car parts on eBay. This was around 2005, before PayPal came out, or at least before it was commonly used. I accepted US cash or International Money Orders as payment. You could buy them at the US post office and I could cash them in Canada. Anyone remember these?

View attachment 75651

I would get piles of these in the mail and literally hundreds of dollars in US cash. Good times.

Nowadays, PayPal is the easiest and best way to pay online I think.

I bought and filled out a lot of USPS Money Orders back in the early 2000’s,... PITA

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I wouldn't ever engage in an instant transfer outside of a third party app. That is just asking for problems. I know it worked for you, but not everyone has been that lucky.

 

[craig61a]

PayPal is undoubtedly a necessary invention, but it is bad that it has no alternatives. In US, they may be good, but in other countries, they are sometimes too strict. Only 1 the world-famous payment system is too little.

Venmo, Apple Pay, others... Not as popular.

 

[kcghost]

The question is western Europe and America and PayPal is very good for those. I am not sure why there hasn't been any real competition but dominating eBay makes PayPal a formidable opponent.