international money transfer WITHOUT paypal, how?

[db (martinez, ca.)]

Can someone here suggest a low cost and easy way to pay from europe to the US for an ebay auction without using paypal. thanks - d

[Etienne Victoria]

When the involved US bank allows it, I usually use an international Bank-to-Bank money transfer using the IBAN & BIC/SWIFT numbers.

IBAN= International account number
BIC/SWIFT=Bank code

AFAIK, all European Union banks use these codes (even if you don't see them directly on your bank reports) and quite a number of US banks also use it.

These codes uniquely identify the accounts/owners and allow traceability.

The cost depend on the banks and type of transfer with the following options:

- all costs covered by sender,

- sending costs covered by sender & receiving costs by recipient.

I typically pay EUR 3,25 to send money from France to the US with the first option and EUR 4,75 with the second option but your mileage may vary.

Etienne

Edited: 29 Apr 2006, 4:40 p.m.

[db (martinez, ca.)]

[David Smith]

Western Union money transfer...

[Howard Owen]

If you trust the recipient, that will work.

I pay Hrast in Croatia using Western Union. The first time I used their service to buy one of Hrast's emulators, Western Union tried to dissuade me from using their service. I'm not sure if they had an alternative in mind, since I overrode their objections, but there you are.

Regards,
Howard

[Bruce Horrocks]

If the amount is for a round number, or near enough, then you can buy a traveller's cheque from your bank or foreign exchange bureau for that amount, fill it in like a regular cheque and post it to the seller.

[Bruce Horrocks]

I forgot to add: the seller simply pays it into his bank account like a regular cheque. (Remember to buy a US dollar traveller's cheque as the seller is in the US!)