Sometimes people want to pay me with international money orders (from US to UK). I'm resisting because it seems I may have to go to the bank personally to cash it, which ain't worth it. But it's not very clear. Does anyone know more about this?
Update: does anybody have more information about why Paypal may be used for paying for hardcore content on eBay, but not for even the most softcore pay site? Paypal is very adamant about it, I used them before they adopted this policy. There seems to be a difference between physical items sold, and downloadable content.
International money orders is a service provided by the postal system, not banks.
ReplyDeleteI'm resisting because it seems I may have to go to the bank personally to cash it, which ain't worth it.
Man, your life sure is tough. ;-) I hope not many of your customers are that insulting ... geez!
Ah, so I would need to go to the post office.
ReplyDeleteIt easily takes an hour to go to the PO, stand in line, do the business, and get back. For somebody earning a good professional wage, it would have to be a hefty money order to really be worth it.
Why not just work with cash? I know people are funny about sending actual money , but it has worked without fail for me when the amounts are small. An element of trust by both parties is a must, but cash leaves no trials.
ReplyDeleteI do take cash, and there are almost never a problem with it. Only the occasional guy won't do it.
ReplyDeleteOver ten years, it's only gotten lost once.
The easiest and safest way to send or receive money is to use PayPal. I've used them for years with nary a problem!
ReplyDeleteMost money orders are handled by the post office but western union is also popular. I don't know about the uk so you would want to check at your bank but in Canada I often deposit them into my bank account as if checks. The bank clears them just like checks. Also I'm fairly sure you can arrange to send them into the bank by mail but you'd have to ask at your bank about that and what they will accept. Anyone paying by money order isn't too concerned about speed so taking a couple days extra to relay them to the bank isn't likely a big issue. I used to just say they all take 2-3 weeks to clear and people just expect it'll be slow.
ReplyDeleteI use Paypal but there are some people who can't bare to use them. You may suggest they use moneybookers - which seems to be popular in the uk. Though that also means setting up an account with them too.
Thanks, folks.
ReplyDeleteI used Paypal for a couple of years, but then they adopted the policy of not dealing with gambling or "adult" sites.
At the risk of saying what you must already know... One problem I've encountered too often to ignore (and not pass on to you the experience) is that of counterfeit.
ReplyDeleteInternational money orders, Western Union, cashier's checks... These days there's very little that can't be duped/counterfeited.
Call first to verify the account numbers, they say, but I've been stuck when, a few weeks later, the truth outs. Good luck!
You could just, like, I don't know...use a BANK. Any civilised country can transfer money from an account in one country to an account in another. Simply provided your domai fan with your bank details and they can go to their bank and pay you. It's really as easy as that. Sure, it takes a while, and sure, your bank will quite likely take a piece of the pie, but whatever.
ReplyDeleteI would like to take this opportunity to point out that the UK banking system is a joke.
Anon...I think you missed the point. Go back and read Eo's initial post. It is the customer who does not have the bank account with which Eo is trying to accommodate.
ReplyDelete. . .used Paypal for a couple of years, but then they adopted the policy of not dealing with gambling or "adult" sites.Since PayPal is owned by Ebay, the quick and easy way to test them for hypocrisy (and possible liability for your financial damages . . .! ;-) -was to log on to Ebay's Adult site to see if Paypal was used there. Well, gee, first item, a selection of DVDs with your choice of Co-eds, Anal etc. displays a PayPal preferred icon - and is a 'buy it now' auction, which requires PayPal.
ReplyDelete-Eric
A bank is an option, but sadly they are less userfriendly, slower, and more expensive than Paypal (for amounts under $100).
ReplyDeleteEric, apparently there's a difference between item bought on eBay and downloadable adult business. It may have something to do with higher fraud amongst payments to porn and gambling. I think the credit card companies charge higher rates.
In any case they are very adamant, they cancelled my account twice.
I'm sure for Paypal it's not based on moral reasons. Those guys have none. But more than likely it's simply experience with high fraud rates. And that goes both ways - not just sellers making problems for buyers but buyers who make false claims against sellers. They download the content and then decide they'd like their money back. How does Paypal decide who is defrauding who? Regarding eBay they have another level of control in watching over both buyers and sellers. I've used Paypal on ebay as a seller for 10 years and even though I hate them sometimes when they unilaterally take money form my account - on the whole it works well and costs less than other options. One option you may want to explore for downloadable content is Amazon web services. I don't know what their rules are but they are expressly setup for selling "transient" services like downloads and system access etc. I know they have a micro-payments option as well. I haven't used them but was thinking about it.
ReplyDelete"There seems to be a difference between physical items sold, and downloadable content."Absolutely. Dowloadable content is worse, because it's not virtual.
ReplyDelete;-P
Thanks, Chris, I hadn't heard of AWS.
ReplyDeleteYes, buyer fraud is said to be high in adult biz. Me, (Domai), I have a big guarantee promise, and yet I have less than half of a percent refund requests. CCBill told me that's abnormally low.
"CCBill told me that's abnormally low."
ReplyDeleteI always knew you weren't normal!
Takes one to know one, right? ;-)