Thread: How to make Payments for Costumes?!?

I need some advice...I'm purchasing two different costumes from two different countries, both have NO PayPal accounts and want me to make payments using wire services, like Western Union.
I know that these services charge a fee that will probably add about $30 to each purchase...which sucks. I also know that some are more reliable than others...does anyone have advice about which to use or not use?
Thanks!

bank transfers not an option?

Thanks so much for answering! I thought more Bhuzzers would chime in! I am completely new to this...I think he said that a bank transfer would be an option...but I don't know how it works...do I contact my bank? What info do I need from his end to complete the transaction? Will they cover me if the merch is never sent???

You are a brave woman, that is all I can say!
I have done bank transfers within the US using my credit union. They told me the information that I needed to get from the vendor. I very much doubt that the transaction is insured by the bank, and your bank representative may warn you a few times about making sure you know who you are sending money to.

Me, I'd find out if there was some way to set up an escrow account, as in, you deposit money in an account, and when you receive the goods in good order, the bank releases the cash to the vendor. Again, I'd call your bank.

Originally Posted by maurazebra

You are a brave woman, that is all I can say!
I have done bank transfers within the US using my credit union. They told me the information that I needed to get from the vendor. I very much doubt that the transaction is insured by the bank, and your bank representative may warn you a few times about making sure you know who you are sending money to.

Me, I'd find out if there was some way to set up an escrow account, as in, you deposit money in an account, and when you receive the goods in good order, the bank releases the cash to the vendor. Again, I'd call your bank.

Great advice...thanks...outside of direct cc payments and PayPal, I've got precious little experience with other methods of pay...so this is all very helpful and informative! Thank you!

I think bank/wire transfers are more costly than western union

That is so weird, I think personally I do at least a dozen bank transfers a month, and fory dance school at least double. My hundreds of dance students all pay me for their classes via the bank. All via online banking. If that can be done perfectly safe within Europe I really don't get why the banks in the states haven't picked up on that. Cheques are an anachronism here, considered unsafe and almost nobody writes or accepts them anymore.I know in the uk it is differnt. But I think Belgium Netherlands Germany all banktransfers


Here within the country to send someone money I log into my bank account, need to do a bunch if safety procedures through a little device the bank send me, punching in a bunch of codes to get a number I need to log on. And then all I need are the persons name and account number


To do international transfers I generally need the persons name and adres and thei bic and swift and iban code. These are basically their banc account nr with some extra letters identifying the country and the bank branch. Witin europe it is for free and I can do it online. Towards the us it costs a little and I need to do it on the bank office

Thanks so much Artemisia! I use few checks here...I do have online banking, but just in the USA...checks are becoming a thing of the past too...but they're still used with regularlity and safely...

You have no protection when using wire transfers or Western Union. They simply provide the service. Paypal provides limited protection. I wish you much luck with both purchases.

Hi Artemesia - when we did our transaction, the employees at my bank here in Arizona managed to pull it off but it was clearly something they were not accustomed to doing. They weren't sure which of the numbers provided meant what, so they just gamely tried placing them where they hoped they should go in the forms! It all worked out fine in the end of course, but it seemed to confuse them a bit. We don't use checks much anymore either over here, but everyone uses ATM cards - bank transfers are rarely used for small transactions, and Paypal is usually used for overseas purchases.

The problems can go both ways when one tries to send money across the Atlantic without PayPal and credit card. I still remember the days of trying to pay for my US grad school applications from Europe, which was before the days of PayPal. I was my German bank's training case for processing checks drawn on a US bank; I spent many hours waiting for them to try and locate the proper forms and a small fortune on fees in the process ;-) And, I also recall that it took my grandmother's bank several attempts at figuring out how to translate American routing numbers and hefty fees to do a wire transfer from Germany to the US. PayPal really can make life so much easier!

Paypall can also suck, freeze your account for no apparent reason and then go incommunicado. Never again.

As soon as I have the right info, which for Americans is sometihes hard to get their bank to provide them with, I have quite easily transferee money overseas multiple times. I have paid most of our American guest instructors that way also as I run a non profit company and cannot legally pay people with wads of cash.

Hi!

Maybe, you could try moneybookers. My hubby uses this regularly with a tiny fee and it is absolutely safe.
I don't know if it works for a transaction like that and abroad Europe but you could look it up on their homepage.

Sahira