I am posting looking for guidance and advice. There is a new member to the Arena who is interested in purchasing some of my G3 ponies. However, she lives in Serbia and does not have access to PayPal. She has offered to use Western Union. Having never used Western Union, I was wondering what people's thoughts/advice on this matter is?

I have never had a positive outcome from Western Union sending money, personally.

However, if you feel comfortable accepting the money that way, I would just suggest that you use Priority with Tracking or Signature confirmation as a shipping route. I bet you plan to, though, because attempting a postal claim is such a headache! Just as long as your buyer understands it may take some time for the ponies to arrive.

I've come to find it is incredibly difficult to cash Western Union money orders. At least where I live, kinda out in the country. Even banks that do Western Union would not cash it since I didn't have a bank account with them. It was ridiculous and I'll never accept a Western Union money order again. >.<

That was my only experience with Western Union, maybe others have more positive ones?

I'm not sure I'd go through with this transaction, personally. Unless they have Paypal I do not do sales with people outside the US/Canada. It's too much of a hassle to get the money and pretty much everyone has Paypal nowadays anyway. Is there any possibility for your buyer to go ahead and set up a PayPal account? It doesn't cost anything and is easy to do. *shrugs*

I'm not a fan of Western Union. Usually it's the buyers who take the biggest risk as they send the transfer off with no guarantee of getting anything in return.

However as a seller I share Teddy's sentiment - if a buyer can't use Paypal or get a friend/family member to pay via Paypal then I move on. It's just too much of a headache for a few dollars

I believe ebay had a warning at one time about Western union Payments.

You have to go pick the funds up at the nearest Western Union Station also, which can be a distance from where you live. I would go with well concealed USD Cash first LOL

I've accepted money through Western Union before. Except for the fact that you have to go pick it up it's no big deal. You don't have to pay any fees like with PayPal. If you're in a decent sized city there should be several different WU locations. The real risk is to the buyer, there's no guarantee that the seller will ship the item. The only trouble I've had is when I sent money to my son while he was traveling, the locations on the website weren't up to date.

Since you're dragging me on this topic, I'll explain.
You said it wrong.
I offered you Western Union or paying over bank account,not because I don't "have access to PayPal", but because PayPal in Serbia doesn't exist.
If you are easier using bank account, sending me your bank account number ,SWIFT and IBAN code of your bank,etc. then fine by me.

I have just sold some ponies and accepted a payment through Western union. i've never done that before but personally I had no problems at all. There are several locations in the nearby town where you can go collect the money so it was no hassle and I had no fees either. Everything was fine. Just letting you know I had a positive experience

mendica wrote:

Since you're dragging me on this topic, I'll explain. You said it wrong. I offered you Western Union or paying over bank account,not because I don't "have access to PayPal", but because PayPal in Serbia doesn't exist. If you are easier using bank account, sending me your bank account number ,SWIFT and IBAN code of your bank,etc. then fine by me.

No offense here but I would not give any account information, bank etc. etc. And we all know why. Please do not take offense to that it's not intended to say anyone is a scammer just it's not safe in any way.
I think Western Union is fine, I have never had any problems other than the hassle of picking it up.

mendica wrote:

Since you're dragging me on this topic, I'll explain. You said it wrong. I offered you Western Union or paying over bank account,not because I don't "have access to PayPal", but because PayPal in Serbia doesn't exist. If you are easier using bank account, sending me your bank account number ,SWIFT and IBAN code of your bank,etc. then fine by me.

The bank account transfer is a common payment method overseas but not really something that we use in the US. I don't even think we have SWIFT or IBAN codes.
Griffinthecat, if you don't want to fool with it I could pick up the payment at my local grocery store and PayPal it to you.

That's why I prefer sellers from Europe, like wonderful person from UK.
It's much easier.
But for this short time, I haven't had any problems with sellers from USA as well.

CrazyCatLady wrote:

The bank account transfer is a common payment method overseas but not really something that we use in the US. I don't even think we have SWIFT or IBAN codes.

You got that one CCL, the banks here in the US don't offer transfers like that. Good luck with it all GC:-)what ever you decide to do.

mendica wrote:

That's why I prefer sellers from Europe, like wonderful person from UK. It's much easier. But for this short time, I haven't had any problems with sellers from USA as well.

As you'll probably notice a fair bit, most people outside the EU aren't comfortable with bank transfers. It can be very costly to send and receive them (over here it would cost me $30 just to receive it ) and there is the added safety issue. I'm sure you can appreciate that

Perhaps a third option would be for you to send a bank transfer to someone within the EU that you've worked with before, who could then send the money onto your seller through Paypal. It's a bit of work - but definitely an option to think about

Sounds like a tricky situation. Here's hoping it comes out all right.

In my experience, Western Union isn't a risk for the sellers receiving the money as they have no fees to pay and once the transfer is paid out, it is done (no chance of the buyer filing to get their money back as with Paypal). Also, most locations where you will receive payment should also be able to cash out the WU check without needing to send you elsewhere.

I work at a store where we send and receive Western Union payments. When a person is receiving money, all we need from them is their ID and a form completed with their personal information, the name of the sender, and the expected amount (also the MTCN is helpful, but not necessary). We then look up the info, print out a check, and can generally cash the check at the register unless the register doesn't have the funds. It is convenient because you can avoid dealing with the bank and their check policies.

Many stores have Western Union - in my small town we have a Rite Aid and a grocery store with WU. Also, I should mention that when a Western Union payment is sent to you, the sender specifies your name and the expected location (city, state) where you will pick it up. However, it doesn't really matter if you are in that exact place specified - it is an electronic funds transfer so you could go to any WU location to pick it up.

I hope this helps!

~Nicole