>There is a new service starting up in Australia - paymate.com.au -
>which is similar to PayPal but for Australian sellers. This will allow
>people in certain countries (USA, Canada, Germany and some others at
>the moment) to pay Australian sellers using credit card.
Just a cautionary note about things like this.
I sold my Motor Drive MX to a Japanese buyer on eBay a couple a months
ago, and he asked if he could pay by Bidpay. I would receive a Western
Union branded International Money Order for the full amount in US
dollars. I rang the two Western Union agents in my town and one said no,
but the other said yes, no problems. Fine, so I agreed to Bidpay.
It took about ten days, but sure enough a Bipay Western Union branded
International Money Order arrived and I took it to the Western Union
office that had said yes, no problem. Ah, in fact BIG problem. The person
I spoke to on the phone had said yes to a Western Union branded
International Money Order. In fact what she really meant was a Western
Union International Money Transfer. Big difference. The money transfer is
a system whereby the person on the other end goes to a Western Union
office and pays by credit card or whatever, and they literally wire the
money to the nominated receiving office. All the buyer then does is quote
the seller by email a reference number. Take the reference number and
some ID to the receiving office and they dish out some readies. Great. So
what's wrong with a Western Union branded International Money Order?
Everything.
The Western Union office would not accept it. Neither would a Western
union Bureaux des Change, nor (crucially) my bank!!! No explanation -
they simply do not deal in Western Union branded International Money
Orders. Ever.
I write the buyer with the bad news and he gets Bidpay to write to me.
They say that the following website may help: www.auctionpix.com who have
a system whereby they exchange Western Union branded International Money
Orders for a UK Sterling cheque. In fact they did it and it worked, but
they (of course) adjust their exchange rate to cover their costs. On the
£243 selling price, I got a cheque for £226. I emailed the seller, but
his English is not great - I pointed out I was losing money on the
exchange, but in fairness, I was at fault because I had agreed to the
Bidpay payment without doing my research properly - which just goes to
show, you can't trust a sweet sounding gal on the end of the phone in a
Western Union agency travel shop.
I've sent off the drive, and he has yet to receive it. I've written off
the loss, learning my lesson. I will not accept and Bidpay in future on
any of my auctions!
This is just my experience, in the UK, and does not reflect badly on
Bidpay - I'm sure it works using Western Union branded International
Money Orders elsewhere on the planet - but make real sure BEFORE agreeing
to it!
Cheers,
Cotty
PS I bought the drive originally for £180, and sold at £226 (well the
auction closed at £243) so that's better than a poke in the eye, eh! Now
I'm loaded up with LX gear, I had no need for it. MXs and winders still
in residence. At that sort of mark-up, I wish I had the cash to buy all
Rob's stuff up!!
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