EBAY Question - UK Users?

[elizabethann]

Any EBAY experts out there?

I'm hoping somebody can help me. I won an item on EBAY. It's from the UK. One of the payment methods said PERSONAL CHECK. So I said I was going to pay with a PERSONAL CHECK. Well now the seller is emailing me saying to pay with PAYPAL because USA checks are not good in the UK. Well I refuse to use PAYPAL. I just don't trust it. But that's not the point. The point is the seller said PERSONAL CHECK.

Does anybody know if USA checks aren't good in the UK?

Anybody have any advice?

Thank you.

[Husky_mom]

sorry i cant help, but you can stand by that, it was clearly stated and he backed out, maybe another way?? sorry i wasnt of help i hope it ends out good

[Jessika]

Inatead of sending a personal check can you send a money order instead? You can get one from your bank, and those are international.

I have been told though that checks are universal across countries. I want to say that my fiance's parents own a business and sell to individuals all over the entire world, and they accept personal checks from all over the world and I want to say they have never had a problem cashing them. They could have been money orders, but I am PRETTY sure they were personal checks (because I have ran them to the bank to deposit them for them before).

All else fails, contact eBay and explain your situation to them, because that is unfair and not a reputable thing for a seller to do.

Why don't you want to use paypal though? I use it before; I have it linked to my bank account so when I purchase something that accepts paypal, the transaction goes through paypal and paypal pulls it out of my account for the exact amount. I actually consider it safer because that way the seller has no direct contact with my bank information at all.

[chocolatepuppy]

The seller should have stated that in his ad. You shouldn't have to pay him if he doesn't honor what was in his ad. We had a guy from another country buy from us after our ad clearly stated 'ship to USA only'. I even contacted ebay because the guy got nasty. They said we did not have to sell the item to him. Unfortunately, the guy can still leave you bad feedback, but you can return the favor if he does. ;)

[Ginger's Mom]

Many many years ago I bought something from a company in England. I sent a personal check (I believe it was even written in US dollars, but it has been so long ago I am not sure about that anymore). They took my check and my money (;) ), no problem.

[Karen]

Personal checks just take a lot longer to "clear" across international banking systems, but they do work.

[kuhio98]

How about a Cashier's Check (also known as a Bank Cheque)? When I sent a donation to New Zealand, I got a Cashier's Check from my bank (that means they already take the money out of your account) and mailed it. The recipient didn't have to wait for it to clear that way.

[G535]

There are usually very high bank fees to process foreign personal cheques here, maybe the same in the UK? He also might have meant personal cheques from UK buyers only.

[Killearn Kitties]

I think it might be a question of the charge the banks will impose for processing the transaction. I know that when we were paid in euros for a job at work, the bank charged £25 to process it a couple of years ago.

Is there anything I can do? If you could get the cash to me, I would send your seller a check. You can let me know the details anyway, if you want to go ahead.

[chocolatepuppy]

A few other posters reminded me, one time we did sell to a guy in Canada. He paid with a Western Union money order and it was in US dollars. It took me 20 minutes at the bank, a hold on the money order and a $7.00 fee out of my account. So these fees may be why people don't want checks or money orders from other countries.

[elizabethann]

Thanks for the help. I contacted EBAY but they haven't responded to me yet. I also contacted the seller and said if she can't accept my personal check, I won't be buying the item. If she gives me negative feedback, I will just return the "favor". Such is life.

Thanks again everybody.

P.S. Jessika, I don't want a Paypal account because I know several people who have been screwed with imposter Paypal emails. I don't want that happening to me.

P.P.S. Killearn Kitties, Thanks for the suggestion about getting the money to you. I would do it if the item meant the world to me.

[Jessika]

Thanks for the help. I contacted EBAY but they haven't responded to me yet. I also contacted the seller and said if she can't accept my personal check, I won't be buying the item. If she gives me negative feedback, I will just return the "favor". Such is life.

Thanks again everybody.

P.S. Jessika, I don't want a Paypal account because I know several people who have been screwed with imposter Paypal emails. I don't want that happening to me.

P.P.S. Killearn Kitties, Thanks for the suggestion about getting the money to you. I would do it if the item meant the world to me.

You run the risk of getting "imposter" paypal emails whether you have a paypal account or not, though. My fiance does not have a paypal account, and even he gets them. I get them on email addresses that are not associated with any paypal account (email address on my own domain lol). Its another one of the joys of spam. I just ignore all emails I receive from paypal, log into my paypal account, and if there are any legitimate messages for me they will be there.