German EBAY?

[tuscanyswe]

Since my crash i can only go for a few walks before im tired and and its time for rest. This has lead me to visit ebay abit to many times. Now i dident expect to win but it turns out i did.

The seller does not however accept paypal. Seems that bank transfer is kind of common on ebay.de. So my question is, it is safe to just pay the bank transfer that was forwarded to me via email or should i wait for ebay to send me the same info as well or will they not do that ?

Thanks for any info.

Cheers
Björn

[Flaroc01]

Strange that the German eBay doesn't let you pay by Paypal since I believe eBay and Paypal are the same company practically. I would wait for the eBay to send an invoice and see if there is any Buyer protection on the item you won. Lastly check out his feedback. If he's a reputable seller with lots of positive feedback I would feel better about the transaction. If he only has a few or has a lot of negative feedback I'd be concerned.

[tuscanyswe]

Strange that the German eBay doesn't let you pay by Paypal since I believe eBay and Paypal are the same company practically. I would wait for the eBay to send an invoice and see if there is any Buyer protection on the item you won. Lastly check out his feedback. If he's a reputable seller with lots of positive feedback I would feel better about the transaction. If he only has a few or has a lot of negative feedback I'd be concerned.

Yeah good advice. I think he is legit. I just dont like to send biggish sums on bank transfer before i get some kind of confirmation other than the sellers sending me a note. But perhaps im beeing overly cautious.

If i go to the "pay now" symbol on ebay page it wont let me complete the transaction because of no shipping cost listed for my country but the item said worldwide shipping so perhaps ill just need to sit tight for a while and it will be fixed after some communication.

[blessthismess]

Sounds fishy. Regardless of his feedback I would DEFINITELY contact Ebay before depositing any large sum of money into a foreign bank account.

[tuscanyswe]

I think its mostly that i dont speak german tbh :)

[paredown]

Not fishy, just a different country.

When we were living in Germany, a lot of my eBay transactions were by Bank Transfers--as a retail bank customer, you generally have low-cost transfers that you can do online, and it was the preferred method of payment for catalog sales etc over there long before eBay showed up.

The problem for us over here though is that bank transfers cost us extra in fees etc, and require a trip to the bank to transfer money, so it is not really convenient for us as North American consumers.

You could try offering to pay the the Paypal fees for him to see if that is acceptable.

[tuscanyswe]

Not fishy, just a different country.

When we were living in Germany, a lot of my eBay transactions were by Bank Transfers--as a retail bank customer, you generally have low-cost transfers that you can do online, and it was the preferred method of payment for catalog sales etc over there long before eBay showed up.

The problem for us over here though is that bank transfers cost us extra in fees etc, and require a trip to the bank to transfer money, so it is not really convenient for us as North American consumers.

You could try offering to pay the the Paypal fees for him to see if that is acceptable.

We do bank transfers here to so that part is cool. I have paid german banks before via this method so thats not the thing. I was merely hoping that it would be via ebay rather than on the info i get from a person on a mail separately from ebay but i think the guy is legit and nice so it will work out.

Just wondering about the procedure with ebay really.

[christian]

Asking Americans about electronic banking is like asking cavemen about physics.

[tuscanyswe]

Asking Americans about electronic banking is like asking cavemen about physics.

:) we have german members here ya know

I bought a bike you would like if you were my length tho you would prefer a different paint! Which brings me to the Q: Did you buy it? You better hurry there may not be any hooks left empty over here soon .)

[phcollard]

Asking Americans about electronic banking is like asking cavemen about physics.

Lol :)

My friend in Belgium who sells a lot of bike parts and frames is also very reluctant about Paypal and accepts bank transfers. He told me that it is because the FISC (equivalent of the IRS) has records of Paypal transactions and they may come knock at your door asking if you pay taxes on your little side business. That could also be the case with your German seller.

[martl]

I think the seller can chose the kind of payment he is willing to offer.

i can help you translating, and i offer to act as a relay between you and the seller for the money transfer, as well, if you are sending me the ebay details (there are a very few sellers at german ebay i'd rather not deal with). If you are willing to trust me, that is - and i wont be offended if you don't :)
I am a member of classic-rendezvous and run two websites that have my real name and adress in the imprint. contact me via pm if you are interested!

martl,
resident german

[tuscanyswe]

Thanks Marti

Thats very nice of you to offer but i think this guy is legit plus if i was selling it i would be suspicious of a buyer using some kind of escrow to pay for it .)

cant ask others to be trustworthy if i cant act like it myself. Perhaps some pointers would be nice, if it comes to that ill pm you, thanks!

[stev0]

if you need further reassuring - lived in europe for a while, bank transfers are more or less the norm. there isn't much paypal use for person to person, as the transfers cost nothing and are much easier than using a service like paypal.

not sure how it works for ebay, though. I can say that I have purchased via Paypal on ebay.de before, but via bank transfer. not sure how easy it is to wire money from a US bank to a german account

[tuscanyswe]

if you need further reassuring - lived in europe for a while, bank transfers are more or less the norm. there isn't much paypal use for person to person, as the transfers cost nothing and are much easier than using a service like paypal.

not sure how it works for ebay, though. I can say that I have purchased via Paypal on ebay.de before, but via bank transfer. not sure how easy it is to wire money from a US bank to a german account

Im in Sweden so it will work out fine. I even have a bank transfer link on my internet-bank page so its just a matter of typing the right digits. Like Christian said.. Its weird US havent catched on to this easy way of moving money. It does involve more trust tho since really no security once you sent the money and this is what i was wondering about really. If ebay would somehow c that i did this transfer or if i could do it via ebay somehow. Im sure it will work out without issues, just im new to the ebay part of it.

[stev0]

oops. sorry for the redundant info, then. Like you said, it would be nice if ebay had a better verification system for this (since, presumably, they are taking a cut from the seller at the end of the day)

It's getting easier now, but it is rather strange how difficult it can be to transfer money person-to-person in the states.

[cnighbor1]

I use Germany eBay some sellers it is ok to use PayPal
as bank transfers are in US $45
If no PayPal I get photo cardboard envelope and send funds in euros
American Express fee is $5.00 if you don't have a card

Thanks for any info.

Cheers
Björn[/QUOTE]

[Stephen2014]

Ask him to enable the Paypal function. I bought something in this situation and I asked before bidding if Paypal would be ok, he said yes, and he enabled it after I won.

[tuscanyswe]

Do all ebay users have to have paypal too?

[jimoots]

I am pretty sure that if you sell on ebay it is compulsory that you offer Paypal as a payment method.

Sellers obviously don't like it as it costs them 2.4%.

But as a buyer I wouldn't use anything else - you are protected if the seller does the wrong thing. Which happens.

If you use a bank transfer to pay and the transaction goes wrong... Definition of a clusterf---. Banks do not like reclaiming transfers, it takes a long long time to do.

[tuscanyswe]

I am pretty sure that if you sell on ebay it is compulsory that you offer Paypal as a payment method.

Sellers obviously don't like it as it costs them 2.4%.

But as a buyer I wouldn't use anything else - you are protected if the seller does the wrong thing. Which happens.

If you use a bank transfer to pay and the transaction goes wrong... Definition of a clusterf---. Banks do not like reclaiming transfers, it takes a long long time to do.

Yeah you are right. I would be okay with transfer if the numbers and accounts was atleast provided by ebay and not a seperate mail. Thats whats holding me off from just paying right now. Awaiting response from seller..