BS: Changing $ into Sterling

Subject: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 27 Feb 04 - 10:36 PM

Folks...I have a multiple of bills I NEED to pay in the UK.

Wire transfers for $200 US....(aprox 120 UK) are costing me $50. US additional!!!

The "money changers" are reaping a fortune!!!!

I cannot use CreditCards because most UK providers are not equipped.

PLEASE ...advise....

I have tried opening and depositing USA funds into new UK checking accounts....but cheques are not available.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

A world-traveler soon to abscue all UK connections.

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: sledge
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 01:03 AM

What about using international money orders/Western Union, I have used both the other way when paying Ebay sellers in the USA, worked fine for us both.

Regards

Sledge.


ps we do have cheques and credit cards in the UK, the whole country is not really a giant film set for Sherlock Holmes shows and period drama. (joke)

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 10:58 AM

Go to AAA, get travelers' checks in pounds sterling (travelers' cheques for the UK). These are free to AAA members. Mail the travelers' checks to whoever you need to pay off in the UK.

Simple. Of course you have to pay for the checks or cheques!

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 11:00 AM

Oh, yeah. You can also get these checks in Euros, Yen, and 'most any major currency.

AAA doesn't charge a fee for them to members, but yes, in case my earlier post wasn't clear, you DO have to pay AAA the value of the checks!

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Mr Red
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 11:07 AM

Well I sent dollars a couple of weeks ago, in a "signed for letter" I haven't seen the MP3 player yet but the friend is well trusted. Not quite sure about the post.

It is possible to use credit cards from here to the US but there are plenty of fraudsters and plenty of insurance rules that the vendors have to use so effectively it is of limited use.

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Kenny B (inactive)
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 12:20 PM

I sent a $ cheque to a relation in Boston area.
My Bank charged me £16.00 to process the cheque.
Moral of the story - NEVER send a personal cheque if you can avoid it!

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Allan C.
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 02:11 PM

Bank of America has offices in London. It might be worth investigating arrangements between a stateside BoA and them with regard to electronic bill paying.

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Allan C.
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 02:24 PM

Oh, I forgot to add that once you get this sorted out, my mistress, the former wife of the recently martyred grand vizier of Oombaglia is just dying to deposit her fortunes in your accounts. Simply email all of your account information to [e-mail].

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 06:05 PM

Well, you know what suppliers you are wishing to buy from,gargoyle, but if they don't accept credit cards they are pretty unusual ones for the UK.

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 07:51 PM

Kevin-
Would that you were right, but an astounding number of UK vendors don't accept plastic. It's been a major hassle as far as my importing of CD is concerned.

dick

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Leadfingers
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 08:05 PM

The problem with Plastic for small businesses is the commission charge made by the Card Companies. When I was doing the Day Job we did NOT accept Diners Club as their charges were too high even for a company as big as Mercedes Benz !! American Express Visa and Mastercard were charging 1.8% compared to Diners 3.something %!!

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Feb 04 - 08:12 PM

............"an astounding number of UK vendors don't accept plastic"......

name names, Dick. In my experience, if they have a web presence, they accept plastic.

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Folkiedave
Date: 29 Feb 04 - 04:03 PM

I pay by plastic all the time. I also use Paypal a lot with no discernible problems. The one thing that will not do nicely is American Express and Diners Club. Their charges are extortionate and you wll find that many UK retailers will tell you their system is down!! I have sent wll concelaed cahs with no problems and if the worst comes to the worst I (like has been indicated find posting travellers checks as good as anything) but just as risky as cash of course.

Dave
www.collectorsfolk.co.uk

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Mr Red
Date: 29 Feb 04 - 05:46 PM

There is a reluctance on some of those vendors that do take plastic to accept cards and not ship to the card-holders address. Let alone ship to a different legislative domain. I would have thought a lot of Dick's vendors are the bands themselves, and not part of the credit card coterie.

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 01 Mar 04 - 03:49 AM

Let me mention WalMart, and Borders as two US companies who would not take my credit card in payment for goods to be sent to my son in Hanover NH. Pretty happy to take them when I slide up to the counter in person though. It's a bummer right enough, I use Paypal, and that costs, but not a lot. On one occasion a company I ordered marine electronic equipment from said they were not allowed to send the goods outside the US, or the supplier would cease trading with them. [This sort of equipment is lots cheaper in the US.] Anyway the guy at the store sent it to his home address stateside, then sent it on to me, no extra cost. Now that's what I call service.
John

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Hrothgar
Date: 01 Mar 04 - 06:23 AM

I have had no trouble paying in the US or the UK by Mastercard.

Paypal is even easier, but the charges for the seller are pretty steep, I believe.

For small amounts, I have sometimes just gone down to a local travel agency and changed Australian money for US dollars and sent them, well wrapped, through the mail. The travel agency charges a damned sight less than a bank.

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 01 Mar 04 - 06:45 AM

Find someone in the UK you can trust and send them the approximate amount on a dollar cheque. They can pay the cheque into their account for a, usualy small, fee. They can then pay your UK suppliers from their account. It can take up to 20 working days for it to clear but in my experience it rarely takes more than 3 or 4.

It is a bit of guesswork due to the fluctuating exchange rates and you may end up sending to much or too little but what kind of amounts are we talking? Your bigger problem at the moment is the strong pound - Don't get much for your $ I'm afraid:-( If you do not have any trustworthy contacts in the UK (How about one of your suppliers?) I am happy to do it - Can you trust me enough?

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 02 Mar 04 - 04:58 AM

I've used NOCHEX for a few transactions - it seems to work OK, although it can take a while to get your account verified in the first place. I think you can use it from the states.

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Greg F.
Date: 02 Mar 04 - 07:49 AM

Ruesch International

http://www.ruesch.com/locations_fs.html

Used to handle this sort of thing for individuals at reasonable rates. You'd have to contact them to see if they still do.

Subject: RE: BS: Changing $ into Sterling
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 02 Mar 04 - 12:21 PM

Okay, I'm a little confused on this. Having lived in the UK for 8 years, I've had no trouble just getting money out of my local cash machine. It takes Plus and all the other familiar names, and their exchange rate goes up and down depending on the market for the day. Barclays doesn't charge for using their ATMs, though my bank in Hawaii charges me 3 bucks a pop, so I make sure to take out a fairly large amount each transaction. I then pay in cash, since I don't have an account here.
I also use my AmEx at Sainsburies regularly, though they have their own charges for using their card, the bastards. But the supermarkets and stores I've gone to almost all take Mastercard and Visa as well. In fact, it's really surprising to me that you're having trouble with this.
Am I missing something???
PS- If your bank won't give you checks, they can certainly set up a Direct Debit account for your bills to be paid through.
Also, my friend has his bank send him funds through a bank check and I don't think he pays a really high exchange for doing it. And he can put that directly into his English account to draw from as needed.
Does ANY of this help???