Purchasing from abroad - seller asks for money in bank account

S

shipibo

Registered User
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951
A Chairde,


My friend is purchasing items from Asia, and has to transfer funds into their bank account before they dispatch.

The company seems ok, but I was wondering if this is common practice, and what comeback he will have if items are not dispatched / lost in transit. Will proof of lodgement in Bank suffice if their is a dispute.
 
Personally I would not do this other than perhaps for small value items where it would not be a disaster if the seller did not deliver.
 
The normal procedure is to open a letter of credit (L/C) which offers great protection to the buyer.

An L/C is a bank to bank transaction whereby the buyers bank pays over the funds to the sellers bank when presented with a number of official documents such as a bill of lading, an inspection certificate,a commercial invoice etc etc.

Anyone who pays out larger sums of moneyy to an unknown overseas party is pushing their luck to the extremes.
 
And, of course, any supplier who sends goods to an unknown overseas purchaser prior to payment, is pushing their luck to even further extremes.

Brendan
 
Brendan, Not really so

The letter of credit protects both parties.

The supplier is guaranteed payment as long as he ships the goods and fullfill all the terms outlined in the L/C.

The purchaser protects himself by requiring the seller to present various certificates of loading, inspection, quality and transportation to the buyers bank before payment is released

Effectively the banks of both buyer and seller are the stakeholders
 
Thanks for all the replies,

PAYPAL is not an option, mentioned a letter of credit to him, will say it to him again.

Is new to Internet and items are over 7000 euro and have to be shipped, insurance is not part of deal.
 
I would not go near this. The savings on the product would have to be considerable to offset the risk of losing €7000. For that amount of money, it would be worthwhile (and safer) flying out to the seller and doing a deal fact to face!!!
 
Would an escrow account be a viable option for such a small amount?
 
Sounds dodgy alright - especially the 'is new to internet" part. Is this an eBay purchase from a new eBay seller by any chance? If so I'd avoid like the plague, although you could look into the eBay escrow service.
 
Thanks again for replies,

Nothing to do with eBay, dealership setup on internet, and has money transferred into Asian bank.

Checked internet for company to find if they had good / bad recomendations , but found nothing.

I agree , when you spend thousands, you need to fully check your sources, but he is quite impulsive, and will go ahead with it.
 

Hi Importer

I fully agree with you that Letter of Credit is the way to go and you have explained it well.

I was just dealing with your point that anyone who sends money to a supplier without getting the goods is taking the same risk as a supplier sending goods in the hope of payment. The Letter of Credit gets around this.

brendan
 
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