Question on ways to transfer money internationally...

[Zuerst]

I want to buy something from a private seller who is located in Singapore. He does not have Paypal. I asked my bank and they said they want a whopping $47 for wire transfer!!! What are my other options and their related fees?

So far I have come up with MoneyGram.com and their service. Is MoneyGram reliable? How does money orders work exactly?

 

[satan_srv]

Western Union?

When i bought a tranny from the UK I paid via wire transfer, I believe it was something like $40 canandian dollars at the time, but I was paying $2000 or so for the tranny so I didn't mind.

 

[Alsodais]

I'm not sure of what you're buying or what the circumstances are, but just a word of warning for transferring money internationally; it can be very risky. I would recommend going through an escrow service. Money that is wired and lost to fraud can be very tough to recover. Best of luck.

 

[lemansnsx]

Unfortunately Paypal (Ebay) has killed off most of the competition in this field. Even Citibank had to admit defeat by closing their service late last year.
Western Union runs what used to be BidPay - basically sending a money order from a local office to your seller. Another choice would be an international money order from the post office but note that you have to order the darn thing from your local p.o. and then the order goes to a central office to generate the actual money order and then it goes to your seller so it is not quick or convenient. My hick town p.o. didn't even have the form for it the first time I asked.
If it is not a large amount of money consider cash through registered mail but I'll never understand people's reluctance to get Paypal unless it is just not offered in their country.
There are one or two others mentioned on auctionbytes but it looks to be a few months since it was updated.

 

[Zuerst]

Thanks for the response guys... I think I'm going with Western Union's money transfer. I'm sending around $290USD ($324 with fees), is that silly? Does Western Union offer any security? Is it better to go through escrow.com?

 

[lemansnsx]

I'm sending around $290USD ($324 with fees), is that silly? Does Western Union offer any security? Is it better to go through escrow.com?

Silly? Well, depends... first off, that's not a significant amount of money to most people here so we'll assume you'll just be pissed off not homicidal if it goes missing. How did you get put in touch with this seller? Is he part of a group that you chat with like this forum or did you just see something on Ebay and contact him directly or what? I belong to several wristwatch forums and seller's reputations are quite easily discovered and crooks are quickly outed. If this is a deal that is too good to be true then yes, you are being silly. Western Union's security has holes as my b-in-law found out to the tune of $2K last year. He bought a camcorder through Ebay and paid by W.U. with their assurance that the funds could not actually be released without his ok - I forget the details but somehow it got fouled up and the money was released with NO identification and NO recourse. W.U. denied any knowledge of his conversations with them about the procedure so make sure you get names and numbers from anyone you speak with. He got the credit card company to charge back W.U. but it eventually got charged to him again and stuck. He's an idiot for buying something so expensive internationally... actually, come to think of it, he's just an idiot.

 

[Zuerst]

Come to think of it, can I just send a personal check and send it via registered/insured mail?

 

[lemansnsx]

Come to think of it, can I just send a personal check and send it via registered/insured mail?

Sure but the seller will have fees on his end to convert the currency and deposit it to his account. He will also have the worry of the check clearing. Have you asked him if Paypal is offered in Singapore? I'm pretty sure that it is - I just sold something on Ebay to someone in SG and he paid via Paypal. Of course, he may have arranged an account here in the US through friend or family.

 

[Arata]

Thanks for the response guys... I think I'm going with Western Union's money transfer. I'm sending around $290USD ($324 with fees), is that silly? Does Western Union offer any security? Is it better to go through escrow.com?

Pay by Credit card, it is the only way to pay that you have any recourse if the transaction is in any way bogas.

Every ligit business takes credit cards.

 

[lemansnsx]

Every ligit business takes credit cards.

The very first post in this thread refers to "a private seller" so it is unlikely that this is a business - legitimate or otherwise.