Won this and worried about bank transfer

[StuKeith]

I have won this on ebay and am now a bit worried

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN:IT&ih=001

I didnt notice that he wants payment via bank transfer. I dont feel safe sending almost £50 and have no way of getting it back if I dont see the goods.

What do you guys think?

[Sharingan]

That particular seller has a 100% positive feedback (out of 62 people who rated him), so it would appear he doesn't just grab people's money and run away without sending the goods - otherwise someone would definitely have snuck in a negative feedback in there. Only German people appear to have traded with him so far, though, so I wouldn't know how he handles foreign transactions.

In the end, with online trades like this, you'll always be running a slight risk, no matter how someone is rated - in other words, no guarantees, unless you're willing to drive all the way to Germany and make a one-on-one swap in person!

Why don't you contact your bank and ask about whether reclaiming money is possible? I heard some banks allow transfers to be reversed should there be a valid reason to do so.

[Stephen Coates]

Well, he has a good feedback rating, and as far as I have noticed, alot of germans tend to like bank transfer. I wouldn;t worry about it, although you should speak to the bank if not sure.

[Tiago]

I never used bank transfer in ebay, i try to use only paypal.
Seller looks honest. IT's always a litle risk in ebay...
But io dont think you'll get any problems

[TiredOfLife]

As Steve says, it's common for Germans to ask for bank transfer.
Never used it myself.
I have registered a few bits of software with German authors, but I have sent money through the post instead.
It was for small amounts so I just took a chance.
Always try to use PayPal where possible.

[StuKeith]

Emailed seller and he takes paypal. just added an extra 2 euros to cover fees. least should be covered by ebay protection now if it dont arrive.

But £40 for the board im well chuffed. the only thing is, on ebay theres a 1230-III for £50 in my area so I can collect! DOH!

[Submeg]

Whoops!

[Demon Cleaner]

A lot of Germans still prefer bank transfer, that takes of course longer to transfer the money, but it was worse some time ago, when only 2-3% accepted PayPal.

[Harrison]

The advantage of direct bank transfers is that there is no charges for receiving the money. Compared to Paypal who take a percentage of the money received into your paypal account. That's why some still prefer that method.

[Stephen Coates]

I'm usually not bothered about paypal charges, as they are quite low unless you recieve a lot of money. I'd say most of the time, for the convenience, it's worth it. I just find it annoying when people want you to add extra for paypal payments. I ordered a floppy drive from someone recently and he wanted an extra 5% for paypal.

If you use PayPal you could always just get a personal account which doesn't have fees, if you don't mind not recieving credit card payments (I stuck with a personal account until someones only method of paying was credit card, which left me with no choice but to change to premier).

It is easy to transfer money between bank accounts? I have never done it, except to recieve a payment of about £5, which arrived OK (or I think it did, I didn't really check properly and assumed it had)