posted on October 25, 2001 04:55:06 AM
I just had a bidder from Germany end one of my auctions BIN, and I got this e-mail from her:
============================================
I want to ask if it is possible to send you the money bar and then you can send me the (item)?
Or it is possible to tranfaer you the money to your bank?
please contact me back! my e-mail is
____________@___.de
what is the price ((item) + chipping costs)
============================================
First I don't know what a "money bar" is but I'm assuming that's some kind of language mixup.
The only options I can think of for her to pay is by CC through BidPay or Billpoint (or PayPal) or her mailing me an international m/o in U.S. dollars. But I wondered about her asking me if she can transfer the money to my bank account. Is there a way to do this? There is electronic check but that's only U.S. bidders I think...
posted on October 25, 2001 05:21:00 AM
For all I know, "money bar" may be their terminology for money order.
The "send money to your bank" probably refers to a wire transfer directly to your bank. It's done often in Europe as the fast & safe way to transfer funds around the continent & abroad. I use wire transfers to send money to business partners overseas.
With a wire transfer, it would require you sending certain information regarding your bank account to them. They would need the bank account number, the ABA number & your name/address on the account. They also need a fax number to your bank.
Before that concerns you too much, this is nothing more than what's on any check you give anyone today. The sender ususually pays a fee (in the U.S., it runs around $10 for a domestic transfer & $20 for an international transfer) & it's quick!
posted on October 25, 2001 05:21:55 AM
Actually check with your bank and see if there is a fee for accepting a wire transfer, if not, then send your routing number and bank account number to them and have the money wired. Lots of bidders from Europe do this.
Or, have them pay by CC with Bidpay.
http://www.ezinkjetstore.com
posted on October 25, 2001 10:48:58 AM
jubilee333,
I've been getting a slew of overseas buyers lately, and though most messages are in perfect English (makes me feel ashamed of my complete inability to speak a single other language!), a few have been kind of a challange to decipher.
I found a neat site that you can use for free translations - www.freetranslation.com -
You cut & paste your text & then select the translation you want, English to French, English to Italian, etc... they have a good selection that at least will get you most of the Western European languages.
I haven't used the 'to English' part yet, but I've translated my e-mails from English to their language in the hopes of at least making my instructions clear to them. I've been told the translations are very good and easy to understand.
I'm sure that slang would probably get translated literally, so I try to avoid it (harder than I thought!). Also, your formatting, Paragraphs etc.. will go out the window, so I do just one paragraph at a time.
I don't know if this will help you with your problem, but maybe it'll come in handy someday down the road...
