Urban Art Association

You still need to wait for some bank transfers to clear, not all banks clear instantly.

I have paid by bank transfer a few times and it takes usually 2 to 3 days to clear. I have taken bank transfers only twice, one cleared instantly and the other took 3 days.

In my opinion they are safe (but don't just take my word for it), just make sure its cleared before you send the item.

Good luck with the deal.

only a transaction of 10k+ would trigger a potential money laundering alarm

Thanks all thats made me feel a lot better i was worried that they may have been a charge back and i would have lost out

Just noticed your post said the buyer was in Italy... a lot of ebay sellers state that they wont sell to buyers in Italy.. no idea why, but take care, its a lot of money

You can´t withdraw a banktransfer, I learned the hard way some time ago where a seller didn´t ship the print.

Once it´s in the sellers account it can´t go back. That only goes for credticards, Paypal, etc.

yes you have. Remember when I sent you a transfer and the bank messed it up, it took ages ;D

So can I. Its above me to the right!

The reason, more often than not, that you see this stipulated in some sales is due to the postal system in Italy. It is common practice, far more than here, that postal workers syphon off the odd parcel and even with secured signed for services.

Money often trades places at the other end and the proof of delivery conveniently gets lost and any attempt to solve the problem becomes very complicated, that is why a lot of sellers, especially ebay, avoid Italy.

However, I made a decent purchase, £450, just before Christmas and had something delivered from Italy, without any issue, although it did come via TNT or some other firm.

Bank transfer is the safest possible way to receive funds imo. I pay for a lot of art this way, dealing with galleries and members in here and as a buyer I've always been aware that I'm taking a bigger risk, as once the money hits, there's no way to claim it back, but I despise paypal, so it works for me. However as a seller, you should bite the guy's hand off, as there isn't a sdafer way to receive money, including cash, where counterfiet notes become a potential issue, especially in a foreign currency. Don't worry, but just make sure you only share the info the buyer needs and that way you're safe (IBAN, SWIFT/BIC code, account holder's name and town of residence and confirm the name of the bank). Very quick (2/3 working days max' within EU) and very secure!

I forgot, it is worth getting the buyer to email over confirmation of the transaction (which may take him a day or so if he processes the transaction online as it will be emailed to him, but he will have it immediately if he does it over the counter, in person). This can be useful for chasing it up with your bank if there is any delay in receiving the funds - never happened to me within the EU before though.