Bank Charges

[treeboy]

Dropped a bit of a clanger I think. Bought a 1 Euro 45 from Europe on Ebay, stupidly not checking the sellers payment options. No Paypal. Only realised this when I got the invoice. Bank Transfer is the payment method. I've never done this before. A quick glance at my banks website reveals a flat rate charge of £9.50 for the privilege. Is there a way 'round this? Am I being a complete numptie, or have I just messed up? (Possibly both)
Anyone else had experience of this?

[highland cow]

Send them cash?

Worth the gamble I'd say.

UK banks are ridiculous. I don't know what UKIP are worried about. As far as the banks are concerned we never REALLY joined Europe in the first place.

[Carlitos]

Send them cash?

Worth the gamble I'd say.

UK banks are ridiculous. I don't know what UKIP are worried about. As far as the banks are concerned we never REALLY joined Europe in the first place.

Yes, in the past I have sent some euros left from trips to Europe and I never had any problem. Just camouflage them between 2 sheets of cardboard and they should arrive fine. The only problem is that, if there is any problem, you won't be able to demonstrate you send them unless you do recorded delivery but that's quite expensive for Europe also.

[reza]

Didnt know it was possible to opt out of paypal on ebay anymore , they made it compulsory I thought

[Great Day]

Is there a way 'round this?

I've never used online banking, but I believe that the transfer fee is either free or low if made online. You could get someone else to sent the money, then pay them what they sent. (after Euro exchange rates etc)

Didnt know it was possible to opt out of paypal on ebay anymore , they made it compulsory I thought

Depends what section the item is listed in. The 7" might not have been in the music section.

[Hayes]

NatWest charge me a tenner to send money to an EU account for a non-urgent payment, there's no cheaper option with them. That's online too.

[Great Day]

ahh it might just be free within the uk then with bacs. Pity.

[emperor tomato ketchup]

I think there is an EU directive that stops banks charging silly money to transfer cash across state lines.

But they get you on the exchange rate. So as long as it is a Euro country its cheap and easy for me. I think there's a fee of around 70c.

[d7bohs]

Look at transferwise?

Disclaimer: not used it, but people tell me good things - better exchange rate and a flat fee per transaction.

[djvw]

Treeboy, if it's a seller in the Netherlands I can transfer him/her the 1 euro for you. I live in the Netherlands.

[Milesago]

Anyone with a bank account in the euro zone is supposed to be able to do it for free as long as the payment is between private bank accounts (as opposed to business accounts). This is certainly the cae in the Netherlands and Germany.

[treeboy]

I tried contacting the seller last night to see if Paypal was an option. No reply. Just got in tonight, and have an email from ebay, saying the item is marked as dispatched, please pay. WTF? Surely you wait for payment and then post the item The seller must be dead keen to offload the 45. Transaction total inc p&p is only 4.50 Euros.

[treeboy]

Send them cash?

Worth the gamble I'd say.

UK banks are ridiculous. I don't know what UKIP are worried about. As far as the banks are concerned we never REALLY joined Europe in the first place.

Seller has just contacted me, and was equally bewildered by the UK bank charge, and told me to bung the cash in an envelope.
I've looked online, and other people have fallen foul of this apparent glitch, which some are saying is illegal under European law.
Whatever, I've learned a lesson

[d7bohs]

I think there is an EU directive that stops banks charging silly money to transfer cash across state lines.

But they get you on the exchange rate. So as long as it is a Euro country its cheap and easy for me. I think there's a fee of around 70c.

That seems to be the case - I found this on an official looking EU site:

You cannot be charged more for transferring money to an account in another EU country than you would be for a transfer between two accounts in your own country.

i.e it doesn't matter whether it's euro-> euro or another European currency -> euro

Which would mean that treeboy's bank are taking the piss - unless that's what they charge for regular transfers?

[Medicine Weasel]

Yup, happened to me a couple of weeks ago. Bought a single from German ebay thinking I was getting a bargain, then realised that the guy didn't accept PayPal. I Google-translated about 10 emails in an attempt to get his bank details before I left Berlin....finally made a bacs payment thinking I had cracked it and then checked my bank statement recently....£15 for the privilege! Nice one Barclays.