Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/02/07

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Subject: [Leica] Paypal Saga
From: nathan at nathanfoto.com (Nathan Wajsman)
Date: Wed Feb 7 08:03:43 2007
References: <20070207040754.18377.qmail@web25503.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> <CAE74508-04F6-4F7C-9D5A-3FF838F53395@mac.com> <45C9F5FF.3030300@gmx.de>

I am 100% with Douglas on this one. Paper cheques/checks virtually do  
not exist in Western Europe anymore anyway. I have not had a  
checkbook since I left the US in 1995.

If I need to pay someone in Europe, I just make a bank transfer from  
the comfort of my home. Within the Eurozone such payments cost the  
same as domestic payments (in the case of my bank in NL, basically  
nothing); outside the Eurozone (like when I send money to someone in  
Denmark or the UK), there is a fee of 4.50 EUR--not trivial, but not  
that horrible either.

The problem is when you want to make trans-Atlantic payments, and the  
problem is mostly on the US end. I once sent my father-in-law over  
there some money, and his bank fleeced him $50 or something like that  
for receiving a payment of a few hundred $ (and yes, I had made the  
payment in $, not in Euros).

And don't even get me started on Western Union...it may be good for  
drug dealers and the like, but is ridiculous for normal people.

I will happily pay Paypal their 3.9% for making the transfer  
securely, easily, and instantly.

Nathan

On 7-feb-2007, at 16:53, Douglas Sharp wrote:

> Even something as simple as mailing a cheque in Euros to someone  
> with a bank account in the UK is horrendously expensive. After  
> exchange rates, foreign currency charge processing and so on and so  
> forth the recipient gets to see about 40% of what you send (The  
> European Commission is trying to crack down on this but is still  
> meeting with strong resistance from banks) .
> Paypal does the whole lot loads cheaper than my bank does - and a  
> damn sight faster too.
> Douglas
>
> Lottermoser George wrote:
>> Even here in the US PayPal makes sense. The cost of printing my  
>> checks = .18 + .39 postage + .05 envelope + drive to post office.  
>> On Doug's end he has the cost and inconvenience of driving the  
>> check to the bank. Direct deposit of funds is, in my opinion, a  
>> service worth paying a small fee for. Every time we use our credit  
>> card the person receiving that form of payment loses a small fee.
>>
>> Regards,
>> George Lottermoser
>> george@imagist.com
>>
>>
>>
>> On Feb 6, 2007, at 10:07 PM, Nick Roberts wrote:
>>
>>> For me, it's quite simple - with PayPal, Doug has already got it.  
>>> I have no idea how long a cheque from a UK bank would take to get  
>>> there, or what he could do with it anyway once it had. Worth  
>>> their share, I think, at least for those of us elsewhere.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>

Nathan Wajsman
nathan@nathanfoto.com
General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com
http://www.greatpix.eu
Picture-A-Week: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog



In reply to: Message from nickbroberts at yahoo.co.uk (Nick Roberts) ([Leica] EMERGENCY FS: Reflex stuff)
Message from imagist3 at mac.com (Lottermoser George) ([Leica] EMERGENCY FS: Reflex stuff)
Message from douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas Sharp) ([Leica] Paypal Saga)