Wire payments

[Termin8or]

Apologize in advance as a newbie - I understand why sellers like wires, but why do buyers go with wire transfer as well? Wouldn't they lose all protection in an online transaction? I'm looking for a hulk or a batman as my first watch but it's scary as a buyer to go the wire route instead of PayPal unless I'm missing something?

[Bshaf]

I don’t mind wire transfer as long as I’ve done my research with who I’m dealing with. There are a lot of great trusted sellers here! David is one of them!

Research research research


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[glenn_herwig]

Just make sure the seller is good to go in The Who’s who section and you are all good to wire. There are many good trusted sellers.

[torrente]

First you have to find a trusted seller, in my case I did not had any issue in sending a wire transfer to DavidSW after receiving a proforma invoice.
I would not send it to a non trustable source.

[911NBK]

Also you're in texas. There are a lot of trusted sellers from texas. If you want a face to face go that route.

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[MercedesHand]

I used to work for a Big bank and did alot of wire transfers domestically and internationally so I'll chime in as to the risks.

Yes, there is risk... if the other party is a thief.

I assume you're in the USA. If the receiving party is also in USA then the wire must go to a bank or escrow bank account. It is very difficult to bank anonymously as a one off scam within the US so pulling off a swindle via wire is more difficult as there is legal recourse. Not much comfort if the other party is intending to defraud but better than nothing.

The real risk is international wires or wires that pay out cash upon receipt, place like Western Union, where someone with fake ID can cash out and or transfer the $ to another account immediately.

Much depends on the reputation of the seller. Do you trust them?

Other ways wires can work in transactional situations is you wire to $ to reputable escrow account. A lot of pawn brokers used to operate this way on ebay. Not so much anymore. Escrow account notifies seller payment received, seller sends item. Funds are not released until you notify escrow holder item has been received whereupon they release funds to the seller.

In legit transactions, wire transfer are still King all over the world. If I was a legit seller, that's how I'd want to be paid. Sellers run into fraud from buyers too! For the buyer, sometimes you dont have a choice if thats all they accept.

But in point to point transfers, especially out of the country and with shady bona fides, you're taking a chance. Can you use credit card/paypal? I'd be very leery if thats the only method of payment they accepted and it was out of country.

[Solo118]

I only send wire transfers to people I trust. If I did business with them, or if they have positive references from people that have proven accounts/track records. Many people in our circle have dealt with TD's so if the TD has a positive interaction, I consider it good to go.

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by Termin8or

Apologize in advance as a newbie - I understand why sellers like wires, but why do buyers go with wire transfer as well? Wouldn't they lose all protection in an online transaction? I'm looking for a hulk or a batman as my first watch but it's scary as a buyer to go the wire route instead of PayPal unless I'm missing something?

Unless you can do a F2F with a seller, many insist on a bank wire as Paypal transactions can be a risk for a seller. If you deal with a seller who has thousands of positive transaction reviews, a wire is a non issue.

[rbox]

because most sellers pass along the merchant fees (3%) to you if you use paypal or another payment service.

i’ve wired money to reputable trusted sellers with a web site and ongoing business multiple times with no problems. i would not wire to an individual i don’t know.


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[skytick]

I have wired money to a few sellers I trust, it is very essential to do you research well.

[InitialAndPitch]

Yesterday, in another part of the forum I read the story of a guy who spent $US45k on a watch after lots of emails. Seller insisted on wire transfer. His package arrived with an empty box inside. He’s reported it to FBI but he must be crushed. See the ‘scam’ section of forum.

[Bigblu10]

Originally Posted by InitialAndPitch

Yesterday, in another part of the forum I read the story of a guy who spent $US45k on a watch after lots of emails. Seller insisted on wire transfer. His package arrived with an empty box inside. He’s reported it to FBI but he must be crushed. See the ‘scam’ section of forum.

So called "seller" was a scammer and thief. He certainly wasn't DavidSW, Takuya, JustRolexes, OCRolexguy or some of the other reputable watch dealers here who you could safely wire 50K to without worry.

[77T]

Originally Posted by InitialAndPitch

Yesterday, in another part of the forum I read the story of a guy who spent $US45k on a watch after lots of emails. Seller insisted on wire transfer. His package arrived with an empty box inside. He’s reported it to FBI but he must be crushed. See the ‘scam’ section of forum.

You will read many such cautionary tales in the WatchOut section. And the forum leaders also share much wisdom in the sticky threads on buying/selling.

Two things to keep in mind:

1. These tales often begin with mistakes made by the author that are easily avoided by only buying from a trusted seller. Emails are just that - scammers know how to pose artfully.

2. Despite all those cautionary tales, people still continue to get burned by repeating the same mistakes.

Only deal with trusted sellers with long-term history here and do do over PM’s here. Not just email addy’s that an imposter may employ with a lookalike addy of a trusted seller.


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[Cesium137]

Wire transfer saves the buyer money because the seller will charge PayPal fees. You have to find a trusted seller though.

[knm]

Wire transfers are perfect when dealing with trusted sellers.

[Termin8or]

Haven't seen it in the watch world but I've had friends buy expensive hunting equipment on escrow.com. they charge a smaller fee than PayPal but gives both buyer and seller protection supposedly. Not sure if anyone's used that?