Comments on: a warning for craft businesses

By: June

June — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:57:33 +0000

Thanks for your feedback, Mhairi. Unfortunately it wouldn’t help as a seller, as it’s PayPal who are cancelling the transaction, not the buyer. PayPal can always reverse a transaction and charge the amount to your credit card if you’ve already withdrawn the funds from your PayPal account. But I’m happy to hear you’ve implemented your own buyer protection policy!

By: mhairi

mhairi — Sat, 07 May 2011 10:07:58 +0000

While I don’t sell online I do buy through eBay. I have a separate bank account for this, so you transfer into this from your regular account, transfer the money to the seller and then it is empty (and I welcome anyone to try to transfer a zero balance for profit:))
You could do the same as a seller, most banks don’t charge for internal transfer between personal accounts.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Tue, 27 May 2008 04:32:23 +0000

It’s an odd way to do business, but most companies print out their invoices with their banking info right on it – the IBAN, BIC/SWIFT code, bank name and address, etc. It may sound a bit odd, but I live in Austria (I’m Canadian) and I deal with this type of banking each day. The IBAN is the International Bank Account Number. In Europe we have the IBAN and BIC/SWIFT but in the USA you have your account number and ABA. Most Europeans do not realize that IBAN codes are only in Europe (and not all European countries either!).

By: Brandi

Brandi — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:56:21 +0000

No matter what, if it isn’t a standard way of doing business for you, then don’t make such concessions, as that is where fraud finds a way to occur. Whether or not this person was legitimate, it is best to be safe than sorry.

There are many payment systems out there that allow someone to transfer money to you without using your direct banking information, even if the transactions is between countries, so I highly recommend the approach you took, June.

I accept multiple forms of payment and giving out my banking information is not one of them. Even if the account info is deposit-only, I just don’t recommend it.

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:16:39 +0000

I meant to add that accepting a wire transfer in the US generally costs a fairly hefty transaction fee. The last one I received (to help a friend in Germany do business with an American vendor) cost me twenty bucks.

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:14:18 +0000

In Europe, paying for things using one’s IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is how things are done. In North America, we call it “wiring money”.

Essentially, the emailer wanted to deposit money in your account via a wire transfer.

By: val

val — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 17:44:30 +0000

you are so right in not giving in. On the off chance they were genuine, they would’ve been able to work it out. Just not worth the risk……….good for you

By: Jillian

Jillian — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 02:18:46 +0000

Thanks for getting the word out. NEVER give any random person your bank account information. That is just common sense, haha.

to marmadaisy, yes, the numbers are on our checks in the US as well, but most people keep their checks out of sight and in a safe place. I always have that fear of people stealing my information at the credit card companies, etc, (because the numbers are on the bill payment slips) but if that happened they would more than likely get caught, and fired. That is why you are supposed to shred all important information before you throw it in the trash. In addition to that, keep a close eye on all of your accounts to make sure there are no fraudulant charges. If you find any, report them immediately, as well as take measures to stop the crook.

By: Marmadaisy

Marmadaisy — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:43:14 +0000

I don’t know about in the US, but in the UK this information is printed on any cheque you send out anyway.

By: Donna

Donna — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:32:56 +0000

wow.. sneaky people out there. Glade you didn’t fall for it!