Request for a Language Lesson

kaiserzeit

kaiserzeit

New member
Greetings all!

For the linquists in the group:

I keep stumbling over a consistant problem with my ebay payments in Europe.

It seems to be quite customary within Europe to use interbank transfers as a payment method. Unfortunately, such transfers are very expensive and only make sense for big ticket transactions.

I am hoping that banks in France and Germany offer a service equivalent to what we have here: bank draft / bank cheque / certified cheque / bank money order.

The premise here, is that a personal cheque is simply a promise to pay - not everyone keeps their promises. To make the payment more secure, the bank sets aside funds to cover the cheque and then certifies / guarantees the payment.

What are the French and German terms for this type of payment? The stuff I get out of Google Translator doesn't seem to work.

Thank you for your help.

Cheers,

Laurie
 
I don't know how it's working in France or Germany but in Belgium when you have to cash a foreign bank cheque, certified cheque or bank money order you have fees to pay who are around 15% from the amount of the cheque... In Belgium (and also I think in the other european countries) we have international postal money order. When you make one you have to pay fees but when you recieve it you have no fees to pay. I think international postal money order don't exist in the States?
 
Hi timp_be,

Thank you for your note. My question is related more towards what sort of payments can European buyers make to sellers in North America (I'm in Canada).

Do banks in Europe have an equivalent to bank draft / bank cheque / certified cheque / bank money order?

As for Post Office money orders, there is a limit on how big they can be from the Canadian Post office $100, I think. Probably the same in European countries so they are not so useful.

Cheers,

Laurie
 
I don't know if banks in Belgium have an equivalent to bank draft / bank cheque / certified cheque or bank money order. I've never used such a payment method but I suppose they have. When I have to pay in the States (or in Canada) I always use international postal money order and I don't think there is an amount limit. I also use Paypal, without problem, when the seller accept this method...
 
Hi Laurie,
I have found the international money orders to be expensivem and they require that you wait 6 months before you can get a replacement, and then you are charged another fee. Paypal has been catching on even with the risks (it is possible for a seller to have a chargeback from paypal many months after the transaction, so it is a risky way to receive payment). I have found that sending cash has been the best way for me, I have only lost $54 in the past 5 years (previously, I lost a International MO for $30, I had to wait 6 months and pay over $7 to get a refund, so with the original fee, I recouped about half in the end). The largest payment I have sent in cash was just less than $1000, but it was to a fellow with a good reputation (actually it was to his brother) That one would have hurt if it had been lost. One of the great benefits to sending cash was the anthrax attack in the US, US postal employees are much less inclined to open letters now. One would thinik that it would be easy to use a credit card for overseas payments, you can travel to Europe and make purchases with an American card, and you can travel from Europe and make purchases in any North American business tha accepts the card, so why not between the continents?
Gus
 
Thanks Gus, timp_be for your further comments.

Quite frankly, I have used cash payments a number of times for purchases I have made and have suffered some pretty heavy losses so I am not 100% happy with that mode in either direction.

Paypal is growing in its market presence but it is not perfect either. And, I am not set up to accept credit card payments.

Really, if someone can tell me the common French or German expressions for bank draft / bank cheque / certified cheque or bank money order, that would be super.

Many thanks,

Laurie
 
If it's just the translation that you search, if I don't make mistakes it must be:

- bank cheque = chèque bancaire (cheque from your own bank account)
- certified cheque = chèque certifié (the bank certified that you have the money on your bank account)
- bank money order = mandat bancaire (order made by the bank in the name of the bank)

For "bank draft" I don't know.

Hope it helps!

Before you ask on a buyer one of this payment method, ask at your bank the fees you'll have to cash this kind of international order... I don't know if they are expensive in Canada but so as I told you, in Belgium they are very important.

timp
 
Hi Laurie:
Here is my 2 cents worth and part of this is frrom Tony. The Europeans commonly do a bank transfer electronicaly bank to bank rather than use a cheque for payment as we do in N America. Often on Gbay you will see this bank transfer method listed as a means of payment. This is very expensive to try and do from Canada.
I do not deal with the Cdn post office for international money orders. They charge a fee for the transaction and there may very well be a limit on the total of a money order (that would be soooo like the posties!!!) I always get MO's from my bank.
There is a US international money order and you have to state this as a requirement for any US buyers on Ebay. Cdn banks will not take domestic US money orders.
I have had a buyer in Poland use Western Union for payment. He paid in Poland and I had to go to our local WU office with a transaction number (which he sent to me) in order to get my money. This cost me nothing in fees.
The other problem is Euros...our Cdn banks do not commonly stock them in house. They are a special order with bank fees added on. I always request that I pay in US cash when dealing with the Germans on Gbay. Brian
 
I have had a buyer in Poland use Western Union for payment. He paid in Poland and I had to go to our local WU office with a transaction number (which he sent to me) in order to get my money. This cost me nothing in fees.
Click to expand...
I too have used WU, but the fees on the sender's end are a bit high (in my opinion), I have had a friend use the Überweisung to make a payment for me, but that is going the other way, the fact is, even though we are in a global economy, the banks have us by the short and curleys, and they are going to get their pound of flesh on every transaction if they get their way.
Gus
 
I have to say that for all its limitatioms Paypal is a breeze to use.

My UK bank chages GBP10.00 for a Bank Mandate and GBP21.00 for an electronic bank transfer using the IBAN system commonly used in Europe.

French banks in particular appear to penalise those presenting foriegn bank mandates...with charges of up to Euro 40.00 just to process them by the recpient....so much for the Global Econmy...:D
 
Dear Laurie,

May I add a word on my own experiece? There is no easy way to deal with international funds transfers. Each method has its limitations and associated costs. Many overseas sellers do not accept PayPal for a number of reasons. The less reputable do not like the fact that you may have financial recourse if you are unhappy with what you receive. More practically speaking Paypal like American Express has an unattractive fee structure for its users. This is not at all surprising given that it is an ebay product. Any seller on ebay can attest to how much "off the top" eaby takes on each transaction that a seller makes. Using PayPal is often like rubbing salt in a wound.

The method that I have found that is most useful is an international bank to bank transfer of funds with each bank using their SWIFT code as the respective sender and reciever. An example of SWIFT code usage is evident on Herrr Weitze's webpage www.weitze.net

Your bank will transfer the funds in your local currency. There is still the hassle of exchange rate conversion on the receiving end and any asssociated bank fees for the recipient. The money, however, does get there and you have a trace of when and to whom money was sent by your bank. A follow-up email to the seller is helpful in alerting him to the transfer of funds as the receipt of same in his local account may take a few days from his bank's central processing center.

Are you still with me? At the end of the process there may still be a modest balance owed due to exchange fluctuations but that is usually resolvable.

On your next transaction this might help. I hope so.

HypoVereinsbank Hamburg
Account-No. 3213360
BLZ: 20030000
IBAN: DE53 2003 0000 0003 2133 60
SWIFT BIC: V U W B D E H H X X X

Postbank Hamburg
Account-No. 426665203 /
BLZ: 20010020
IBAN: DE48 2001 0020 0426 6652 03
SWIFT BIC: P B N K D E F F

Best wishes,

Bill "Zorndorf"
 
It costs me $35 with the TD bank (a Cdn bank here) to do a Banküberweisung to Deutschland.

Compared with losing sleep when sending an envelope stuffed with a few hundred Euro, $35 is worth it. I wish I did not have to pay so much, but I don't really have to collect either I suppose..... :|
 
I have lost Csh in past in the mail I to deak with TD and will try that method.It probably is quicker for fund transfer.
I had lodt cash to Ausrailia and New Zealand then it took 48 days and 52 daays for the dealers to get funds ,Thanks Canada post.the items were returned with in 2 weeks oof reciept of second cash mailing.
In total $700 US was lost.
But if I win Somthing from Europe I will try that method.
Thanks Tony :)
 
Rendsburg said:
Tart said:
...
Gus
Click to expand...

Gus? Sug? Gsu? Zaphod? etc, etc, etc,,,but TART :o :lol: :o :lol: !!!

Tricheur!!!!Shame on you, Gus!!!

Otto
Click to expand...
OOPS! If I log in to quickly, I drag the curser past Maggie's log in information, so sometimes I "accidently" log in as Maggie , but I am still wearing my own underpants!
Gus
 
Timp, Bill, everyone else,

Thank you for your support in this one. Sorry, I was off line for awhile giving my PC a good bash - it had been doing strange things.

My own experience with payments has taken many turns. Here, in Canada, the federal government has its hand in things so we pay what is essentially a $35 tax for international bank transfers. And, haven't you noticed that banks along the way have sort of nibbled at the edges, so what started out as $100 ends up as $92 or something like that?

I deal with the Canadian affiliate of Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC). They are possibly the largest international banking group, worldwide. As such they give more flexibility in handling foreign currency payments.

If I can get my mitts on a Euro/US$/GBP cheque or whateverelse you want to call it, I don't get charged any fees - I can carry accounts in all 3 currencies, as well as C$. For anyone who has access to an HSBC affiliate, they are in 50-odd countries, it may be worth checking out.

That issue out of the way, I have had an H. of a time with the pure linguistics of finding out what those pieces of paper are called. Timp, thank you for giving me the French.

Can one of our fluent German speakers please chime in with the equivalent expressions auf Deutsch?:

- bank cheque = chèque bancaire (cheque from your own bank account)

- certified cheque = chèque certifié (the bank certified that you have the money on your bank account)

- bank money order = mandat bancaire (order made by the bank in the name of the bank)

Or, Bank Draft.

Oh, before I close, I am embarrassed to say that, sending cash, I have lost, in increments of $20 to about $300, a total of about $2000 over the past three years. For me, it was a cost of doing business so I took it on the chin. However, as a private individual, it still sucks.

Tony, you are right, for big ticket items, bank transfer is the only way to fly.

Thanks again for all of your help.

Cheers,

Laurie
 
Hey Laurie,
It just occured to me that Torsten maintains a bank account in the US so payments can be sent direct to his bank for purchasers in North America, you might consider opening an account in Europe to do the same, that way, you could make one transfer per month rather than several.
Gus
 
Gustaf said:
Rendsburg said:
Tart said:
...
Gus
Click to expand...

Gus? Sug? Gsu? Zaphod? etc, etc, etc,,,but TART :o :lol: :o :lol: !!!

Tricheur!!!!Shame on you, Gus!!!

Otto
Click to expand...
OOPS! If I log in to quickly, I drag the curser past Maggie's log in information, so sometimes I "accidently" log in as Maggie , but I am still wearing my own underpants!
Gus
Click to expand...

"Accidently"...Iknow...
Otto
 
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