Dear Co-Merchants,
Well this is definitely one of the most critical aspect of selling internationally. Basically we are talking most of the B2C Transactions : i.e. customers buy directly for their use and hence there shall be smaller and many such transaction. The modes of Payments available are:
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1.)Paisa Pay - Credit Card. (Master / Visa Cards ONLY)
2.) Western Union Money Transfers (12 Transactions a YEAR, with around $ 2000 USD as a maximum limilt per transaction, as far as I remember, pl. check exact on their website.)
3.) PayPal ($ 2500 USD per Month Withdrawal limit)(1 Business account and 1 personal account can be made, so your cumulative limit goes upto $ 3000 USD)
4.) BANK SWIFT CODE TRANSFERS
5.) Personal / Business Cheques ( Takes 20 - 30 days + say around 150 - 250 towards charges..) but HDFC / ICICI can be a faster and a better option.
6.) BANKER's CHEQUE in INDIAN RUPEES. ( AT PAR payable in all major cities of INDIA, with no charges and ONLY 2 days in CLEARING)
7.) BidPay Cheques (Haven't Used this, But can also be helpful)
8.) GreenZap : Like PayPal, but is new and can be more effective, if it really starts it's services fullflegidly)
Discussing all these modes of Payments :
1.) Paisa Pay: Well this is simple but will definitely not suit all such users who need faster, reliable and effortless transactions. PATIENCE IS A MUST. CANNOT USE IN HIGHER TRANSACTIONS, as they do not support. Customer's ALWAYS FEELS ANNOYED, when he notes that he has to senmd a FAX copy of his Front and Back Credit Card Copy. ALTHOUGH, we would like to clarify, they recieve and store ONLY the ELECTRONIC COPY, coming thru a SECURE LINE, and hence this cannot be missused, generally. However is still CUBERSOME, takes too long. Infatc initially our credit card transactions for even 2000 bucks, took a week to clear as buyers were not familiar with this verification process and were lazy to co-operate. But you can trust them, as this will be your Back Bone in DOMESTIC TRANSACTIONS.
2.) Wester Union Money Transfer : This goes thru the INCOME TAX department and hence the limits as mentioned above needs to be taken care. ALSO THAT THE COMPANY ALSO INDICATS that this is not a MODE OF TRANSACTION for COMMERCIAL USE, however you can mix and match all your servicss. This is Pretty secure as this forms the Basic mode of Payment for Childern Studying / Working to send money home...as we see in TELEVISION COMMERCIALS...Haa HAaa.
3.) PayPal is the BEST AND THE MOST FASTEST way to recieve money, although one has to be a bit knoweledgable of the FOREX / CURRENCY CONVERSIONS as we can raise INVOICES DIRECTLY TO CUSTOMER's EAIL ACCOUNT, but in USD, EURO, GBP, AUSD, JYP, etc...and not in INDIAN RUPEES>
SECONDLY, they have that FRUSTRATING $ 2500 USD monthly Withdrawal LIMIT, since we INDIAN SELLERS may not be having a US BANK ACCOUNT and then we have to Withdraw thru Physical Cheque, which takes 15 business days to reach in hand. The Cheque is in INDIAN RUPEES and this is the BEST PART. This is also so good, as ALL OF ther CUSTOMERS of the WORLD are aware of PayPal and hence easily can pay. THIS IS NOT AN INTIGRAL PART of EBAY INDIA, but is like PaisaPay on all EBAY INTERNATIONAL SITES. But the customer's dont mind, as far as you can easly explain them, and make thins look simple.
4.) Bank Swift CODE Transfer : is the BEST, FASTEST, NO LIMIT, 3 Days transfer. Where the customer's pay all the expences incurred. This is also USED for all ADVANCE PAID EXPORT ORDERS....But this is not feasible to a normal, INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER and is not feasible for smaller Transactions. Is also not so cost effective. ( ALSO CALLED A WIRE / CABLE TRANSFER )
5.) Personal / Business CHEQUES : Take that long as they are in USD ( any international Currency ) and will go the native place back for clearance. One should ship only after the BANK confirms the funds are in your ACCOUNT. This mode takes the LONGEST TIME, but is also one of the mods where the customers / importers are know n to the EXPORTER and he uses this as a CREDIT PERIOD for the SALES MADE. This mode can be a bit more faster if you hold HDFC as your banker. They clear all such cheques within 7 business days for USA and around 15 days for rest of the world. But they m,ay be expensive.
6.) This is the BEST OFFLINE MODE OF PAYMENT, where the customer get's the Needful done. Paysa some charges there, and gets the DRAFT ORDER in INDIAN RUPEES, so to clear in your city / or neighbouring city. To clear in 2 days, with no hassel. The Only time it takes is to reach you in hand, thru POST.
7.) BidPay is like PayPal and Western Union : MIX. Customers Pay with credit card, all the expences bourne by them, and then BidPay sends the Draft / CHEQUE ( NOT SURE ) but this is also another way to recieve credit card payments thru Physical cheques / drafts. SOME what popular. (HAVEN't USED IT)
8.) GreenZap is a new mode like PayPal, they will include Payment collection from customers thru Cheques, Bank WIRE TRANSFER, CREDIT CARDS/ DEBIT CARDS etc./..) is cheaper than PayPal in all ways, but has not yet started it's services. SO, still incomplete info on this.
I guess these are all the possible modes of International PAYMENTS. AND NOT TO FORGET, the RBI / BANK PAYMENT REALESE where BULK EXPORTS are involved. The Paymwent here can be ADVANCE ( BANK SWIT CODE TRANSFER ), or an LC = LETTER OF CREDIT, and on this behalf you ship the goods. And the other terms can be 30 Days, 60 Days, 90 Days Credit, where the RBI will be an intermedietery for all such exports made and paymwnt to be collected after the Time is scheduled.
Hope all these info help you all. Do get in touch for any further clarification. There was no one to teach us, but we learnt, as we wanted to DEFINITELY SELL INTERNATIONLLY, and the same for you all, advance tips and points here can be LEARNT when once all the aspiring ones actually start exploring their OPTIONS. We have grown from SINGLE $ 14 USD Transactions to $ 3500 USD Trsnactions....and hence explored all our modes.
The Cyberwiz
Tarun
Anmol Kreations
Anmol Sparkys
