Buying on ebay in europe without PayPal?

andyspencer

andyspencer

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Hi guys, looking for some advice. I'm looking at a number of items mainly in Germany, but the sellers don't have PayPal... Do i still have any Ebay protection? Any what are my options for paying? They've told me I can either send euros in the post or bank transfer. How does the bank transfer work and what costs are involved? Any other advice I may need?

Thanks :)
 
The Continental Europeans seem to use bank transfers a lot, presumably it doesn't cost them much, but doing one over the counter from the UK will cost you a lot - about £30 I think! Plus you almost certainly won't have as much protection via eBay.

Best advice I can give is to contact the seller and ask if he would be prepared to take a Paypal payment, perhaps if you offered to pay the charges at your end? It's always worth asking the question, the worst they can say is no, and many will say yes.

FWIW I've bought several excellent items from German Ebay, but all from sellers who would agree to take Paypal after all.

Jon.
 
Some years ago I did some buying and sent cash - DM - mostly went OK.
But one went wrong, never received the goods, and no answer to coms.
Several cash buys with US $ were OK.
I would say avoid sending cash. Of course eBay warn against this - now.
 
? Can you make an internet transfer payment to another country?
 
From experience at Lloyds it's 20 quid over the counter and 10 if you diy on the internet banking service. Saying that the guy at the other end got stung so I ended up paying #20 anyway. (although I sent that in Euros and he promised me a beer!)
I would bank on it costing at least twenty pounds.
 
Payments to EU from a Bank in the UK will end up going via SWIFT which costs the bank, hence the extortionate charge made by them (tho the SWIFT charge is not that expensive - its the man power in creating the electoric transfer and charges levied by the receiving and or intermediatry banks).

[Dont ask how i know all this carp as I only write software to do it].l
 
As I live in France I have a French bank account which is not so different to the UK. Charges are much lower, cheques are used ( Euro only ) and internet banking is not encouraged.
As I work in Germany I must have a German bank account for salary payments. The German banking system is totally differnt - they do not use cheques only credit transfer ( überweisung ) either by completing a proformer or internet banking, which is widely used in Germany. I send money from Germany to France each month by internet at a cost of 0.45 euro ( about 37 pence ) fixed fee.
Credit transfer on ebay has no protection but can be claimed back through the bank if things go wrong. This takes time and can be expensive ( 5 -15 % of claim).
However, my expriance with German ebay is 100% positive. :thumbup:
Perhaps I have been lucky but I find most German G-Scalers are friendly and helpful ( seems to be a global thing with us :bigsmile:). I always get a positive answer to the question " will you ship to France " even when the postage details say Germany only.
Not sure if this helps
Regards
Alex
 
I set my Search Parameters to only view tems from those who accept PayPal. Yes you may miss items, but I never know that I have missed them because I never see them. There is so much on the German site, what you want will be offered by someone that offers Paypal eventualy.
JonD
 
Does anyone know how easy it is to get a euro bank account with, say, a German bank ? Desperate I know, but one way round the issue .
 
Dtsteam said:
Does anyone know how easy it is to get a euro bank account with, say, a German bank ? Desperate I know, but one way round the issue .
Click to expand...

Should imagine its the same conditions as required in the UK - proof of residence, proof of ID ? It's an EU thing (preventing money laundering, false IDs etc.) but if you work in another EU country/state it wouldn't be a problem.
 
Although a lot of people complain about using Paypal, it is the most protected system for ebay buyers.It also makes the purchase of a lot of items easy and painless. As also a seller I cannot say the same from that side!!
I have had disputes as a buyer and because I paid by Paypal, I got all the money back including the postage.
I would never send cash unless it was a very small amount for a cheap item and low postage. We are generally a goodly bunch but there could always be the time when a big amount of cash is sent and the goods never turn up. There is no protection for cheque or for cash buyers as there is not the required Ebay proof of payment having reached the seller etc. This can also be the case in bank transfers but a long protracted investigation might go in your favour in this case.
A lot is taken on trust on ebay, even with Paypal (as goods might not be exactly what they seem etc) but to send a larger amount (than lets say a five to ten quid, or 6 to 12 euros) of bare cash is really a little too trusting IMHO.
 
If you send the money in Euros and send it AIRSURE then it has to be signed for at the other end.
It is tracked all the way. I had one that did not arrive and got the money back from the post office.
 
Just to add a recent personal example to this thread....

I've been after one of the LGB 31190 parcels vans (the brown "Stuckgut" version of the classic green post van, the one with the taillights and office interior) - there was a used one on UK ebay a couple of weeks ago that I did put a bid on but in the end it went for a silly price (almost 90 quid plus £7 postage). So, I went rummaging on German eBay and quickly found one from a seller in Austria, on auction rather than a BIN, and his payment methods stated bank transfer or cash only (no Paypal option offered). I stuck a bid in nonetheless, and won it for £43 - less than half the price that the UK one went for! Even the shipping, at £14, was only twice that of the UK one, so the whole thing still came out WAY cheaper. I contacted the seller after the auction and asked whether there was a possibility of paying through Paypal after all, offering to pay a little more to cover his costs if he would do so - and got a very quick PP invoice in reply with just an extra 2 Euros added for costs. The package arrived yesterday, safe and sound and very well boxed, and the van is absolutely mint - it looks like it's hardly ever been used. I'm now very pleased that someone outbid me on the UK auction, as I've got a better example at little more than half the overall cost. ;)

So, a big thumbs up for buying from eBay.de yet again, and as mentioned before - even if the seller doesn't offer Paypal, it is very much worth asking! :thumbup:

Jon.
 
I've now won several items from Ebay.de. The cost of some items is so much lower than uk ebay! i have noticed that when I use paypal, theres a little converstion charge added (maybe 4euro). Does anyone know what the percentage of this charge is or if its a standard charge on each transaction?
 
Dtsteam said:
Does anyone know how easy it is to get a euro bank account with, say, a German bank ? Desperate I know, but one way round the issue .
Click to expand...

You can get a Euro account from most UK banks but you have to keep between £2000 and £5000 in them to avoid fees.
 
Professional German ebay sellers have to take PayPal if they list items availble to buyers outside Germany.
 
funandtrains said:
Professional German ebay sellers have to take PayPal if they list items availble to buyers outside Germany.
Click to expand...

Mmm, that's useful to know, thanks. In the case of my 31190 mentioned above, the Austrian seller was a private individual rather than a dealer (or possibly, he is a part-time dealer posing as private seller), so it wouldn't have applied in that case - but it's handy to know that those are the rules for major dealers and stores.

Ta!

Jon.
 
I have resorted to sending cash, far cheaper and providing it is disguised in a box or similar and a signed for delivery . The best deal seems to be the post office. Other wise you have to do an international money moverwhich at Llods TSB is twenty quid
 
Does VISA offer a debit card in Europe?
It works like a credit card except that you put your money on it then use it like a credit card.
VISA does offer protection, but they do charge a monthly fee here in Aust to maintain the card (gotta get their massive profits from somewhere right)
 
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