eBay seller with no payPal...how to pay?

[SeashellnBubbles]

I bid for and won a lovely Hair-Do pony off of eBay Germany and I'm quite tickled, however the seller does not appear to have a PayPal account! I though you needed one to be a seller? Anyway, the only option is eTransfer of funds from my account to hers, but I have no idea how to do that or even if I can
I don't know if overseas transfers are as easily done as in-country. How can I pay for this pony in a timely manner? Are there other options that she may be able to accept? Thanks for your help all!!

[Navi]

You could always ask the seller directly (if you haven't already). She might have a Paypal account, but it's not hooked up to ebay for some reason.

[himmie]

It's quite common for sellers in Europe to not have or use Paypal. Quite often they only use bank transfers. If their auctions are listed as having Worldwide shipping, I would definitely ask them clearly if they can accept Paypal. I always inquire before bidding or buying and if Paypal is not an option, I have had members here bid on and pay for auctions. I can then reimburse them via Paypal.

I hope you can get it sorted!

[Chimerick]

You should be able to find out if you can transfer funds. Go onto your accounts website and check it out. Some allow it right away with a small fee. Others don't allow it at all, unless you request it and fill out the paperwork.I agree with the others, talk to the seller, let them know you are unfamiliar with this type of payment process and that you need their help. Good luck!

[hathorcat]

Its not that common within the UK because we are out with the Euro Zone but due to SEPA it is very common within the Euro Zone as a payment method. Typically within the Euro Zone you can transfer bank to bank [even from different countries] without any fee or with a small fee [no larger than your bank would charge for a domestic transfer]. And most domestic transfers have no fee which therefore forces the banks to transfer country to country with no fee. Thats what makes it popular - you skip paypal fees. However, it really only works this way in Euro Zone countries, even those banks trading in European countries but not using Euros and which have signed up to SEPA find a way to impose charges due to currency conversions.

Your problem will be that you are not in SEPA - its only relevant to those in the EU plus some additional European countries. You could find that transferring a payment to Germany could get pricey. I am in the UK and a bank transfer to Germany would costs me a fee of £25 for standard and £40 for priority transfer. 

The first thing I would do is message your seller to ask them if they will accept paypal - they may very well have an account but have set up bank transfer as a preferential payment method. You could let them know at the time that because it is an international transfer there could be a significant waiting period for payment to reach them. Some buyers will accept the remittance advice issued by your bank as confirmation of payment however.

If they don't have paypal you will have to speak to your bank to find out how much a transfer will cost. You need their IBAN and BIC, bank name and potentially their bank address in order to make the payment. Alternatively you could find a nice Arena member in the Euro Zone [preferably in Germany] who will allow you to send paypal payment to them which they could then bank transfer on - however, from experience, I know that this can get really complicated and you will always need to bear in mind the fees which are incurred along each stage of the transfer.

[SeashellnBubbles]

I've purchased a lovely pony off of eBay Germany but didn't realize that the seller appears to not have a PayPal account! I may need someone to help me as a middle man to transfer funds from my PayPal to you, to their account. I say I'm not sure because I haven't received word whether or not they have a PayPal account that just isn't their preferred method of payment. I'm just trying to be proactive is all.
The amount is only 9 Euros, so not too much, but I'll pay whatever fees etcm are required.
Thanks all!

[moving to Trader Support ~ many thanks ~ hathorcat]

[mul-ta]

You need their IBAN and BIC, bank name and potentially their bank address in order to make the payment.

And potentially the address of the account holder as well (at least I do).

That said, I could make the transfer for you unless you can find a German member - it is free, but the downside of using me is that it will be a little slower than within Germany.

[ponylady]

I merged threads for you since this one is dealing with an already active topic you have. 

[Ringlets]

Thats some good advice from Hathorcat. yes its common in the European mainland countries to use bank transfer rather than Paypal ,but outside those countries if you use this method to pay then there is usually quite a big fee as Cat mentioned .
 Perhaps having another Euro member pay for you and then you send them the Paypal payment may be the easiest option if your seller turns out to not have a Paypal account. Thanks for offering your help  Mul-ta