All Abt Overseas Payment - A Comparison

[pulpy]

i can't find a related thread on this. hope i ain't repeating it.

for those with experience, pls share as i find it rather confusing and difficult to advise overseas buyers on the mode of payment.

below are the few i wish to gather more info on. feel free to add more:

-money order
-international money order
-bank draft
-western union
-postal order
-personal cheque
-traveller's cheque
-wire transfer

will there be additional charges if we deposit all these in our local banks like ocbc, uob n posb? what's the diff between all of them? tia! =)

[poochi]

Neat thread! This promises to be really useful for a lot of cotters here. I'm sorry I can't help much, but you need to add PayPal to the list, because millions around the world use it.

[Michele]

Western Union Money Transfer (those that are done at Singpost) - I've used it to collect $$$ from a European buyer. However, the exchange rate is really bad...so I won't use it anymore. I'm sticking to Paypal - it's instant payment & the exchange rate is much better than WU Money Transfer.

[wanderlust]

i've accepted american cheques before. the bank will charge a service fee and the exchange rate is really bad. my friend once received a USD15 cheque as a refund for something, the bank said the charges will be about the same as the cheque value, so in the end the cheque was thrown away.

kopibeauty, how do you collect money from paypal? they will link it to your designated bank account? any service fees?

[pulpy]

so maybe we can ask the person to send more money as in charge them higher if they are using western union right?

then in that case, we won't be losing out too much on exchange rate.

[gajahgirl]

I sometimes accept cash sent by registered mail from people who are not comfortable using PayPal credit card. So far, it has arrived safely. But I would only do this in first world countries and I ask the person to double seal the envelope (put in two envelopes) just in case one tears. Personal cheques only make sense if denominated in Sing$ or foreign currency drawn on a bank in Singapore - then its free for us to cash out. The other options often don't make sense unless you're dealing is large amounts.

[navygal]

PLEASE HELP!

i am buying some shirts from a guy overseas. and the few methods of payment he gave me are:

1. bank transfer to HSBC (hongkong branch)
2. western union
3. wire transfer
4. personal cheques (UK and Singapore only).

anyone knows which of the 4 is the safest method? Please do tell me, too, which method is trackable. (just in case he is a fraud )

And if there will be any surcharge or admin charge. THANK YOU!

[krispourri]

i do think wire transfer is the safest.

[navygal]

how do i go about doing wire transfer? n where too?

the guy mention that there will be a surcharge of SG20, n that he can spilt the cost between me n him. But how could that be done?

[angelstar]

do it by western union. you dont incur any fees as he is the one that needs to pay. all you have to do is to go to a post office that does western union, or go to a western union outlet (lucky plaza has one).

you have to provide the details and show identification before you can collect the money. (the sender of the money will have some number to give you, and you will need to provide details of his name, address etc). the sender will need your name, identification number, address and some other information (so when you collect, basically you will have to corroborate this info)

[navygal]

OH OKIE! But I read from some of the threads that western union have a bad exchange rate. Will it affect me?

example: to pay US200, I will need to fork out S$200 instead of S$180.

[angelstar]

oh! ok i read it wrongly. i thought he was buying things from you! if you're the buyer you'll have to incur fees and i think western union fees arent too cheap so maybe its a better idea to do wire transfer esp if he's willing to split the costs with you.

or maybe you can just check with western union on what the exchange rate is and how much the fee is, then you can have a comparison between that and the wire transfer and see which is better?

[tabbie]

Another way of remittance is via International Bank Draft. This can be easily purchased at all Singapore Post branches at a cost of $8 regardless of the amount of money you're sending. It is actually a cheque by Citibank but it only comes in certain currencies. It is computer generated and you'd have to mail it to the payee. The charges for S&H is not inclusive in that $8.

I've tried this method before. It's easy but not as efficient as wire transfer.

BTW, if you have a banking account with Citibank, you can send funds to another Citibank account globally. It's only a flat fee of S$10 regardless of the amount and destination. Best of all, it's immediate! Click here to find out more!

[navygal]

i went to POSB and Singpost to enquiry today! n here are some stuff which i hope is helpful~

Wireless aka Wire Transfer aka Bank-Bank Transfer
Admin Charge: S$30 (note: the reciever will need to fork out S$15 on his side too)
Period of process: 3 - 4 days (all done by the bank!)
Exchange rate used: The bank we are withdrawing from
Additonal Note: Only applicable at Banks.

Western Union at Singpost
Admin Charge: S$26
Exchange rate used: Singpost's system (not very sure though.. the lady at AMK's was very unclear)
Additional Note: Advisable only to use when you know the other party

International Bank Draft at Bank
Admin Charge: S$10
Exchange rate used: The bank we are withdrawing from
Additonal Note: You need to send the bank draft out yourself

International Bank Draft at Singpost
Admin Charge: S$8
Exchange rate used: Our local bank (not very sure too.. the guy at JP's was rather unclear)
Additonal Note: This is the only option at Singpost to transfer money to a company. and you need to send the bank draft out yourself.

[Sprouts]

If i want to send money to South Korea, what's my best option?

can someone help, especially cotters who spree korean stuff?

i have checked with Western Union and it is very expensive!