| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: What is your preferred payment method? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
Anthony Baldwin 
United States
Local time: 13:15
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| cold hard cash or paypal | Apr 10, 2015 |
Of course, that doesn't happen too often.
Otherwise, I prefer Paypal.
I lose a lot more in fees for bank transfers, especially from foreign clients.
Contrary to what I've read here, it costs NOTHING to transfer to/from my bank account,
and most of the time I don't need to anyway, since I have a paypal debit/mastercard with which I can pay bills, buy groceries, withdraw cash at ATMs, etc. It's just like having another bank account, really.
It's much fas... See more Of course, that doesn't happen too often.
Otherwise, I prefer Paypal.
I lose a lot more in fees for bank transfers, especially from foreign clients.
Contrary to what I've read here, it costs NOTHING to transfer to/from my bank account,
and most of the time I don't need to anyway, since I have a paypal debit/mastercard with which I can pay bills, buy groceries, withdraw cash at ATMs, etc. It's just like having another bank account, really.
It's much faster than checks, bank transfers, etc., in terms of putting my money where I can access and use it.
Yes, there are often ATM fees, but that's from the banks, not paypal, and, sure, there are some fees from paypal, too, but they are far from excessive, and I get "cash back" all the time for using the associated mastercard, which offsets some of the fees.
I know they charge me more than they give me back, but they're in business, to make money.
Frankly, I find them more reasonable than many banks I've used (Chase, Bank of America, etc.)
I now use only a small local bank and paypal, because huge, corporate fascist banks are ridiculous.
They were robbing me ridiculously with all kinds of hidden fees (sometimes for services I neither requested nor authorized, even). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Anthony Baldwin
United States
Local time: 13:15
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Edward Potter wrote:
I have a U.S. based client that insists on paying with paper checks sent by snail mail. I have them send them directly to my bank in the U.S. since I live in Europe.
Americans still don´t use the bank transfer method much. Anyone know why?
I swear Chase Bank was charging me 20% in fees for bank transfers from foreign clients...it was ridiculous.
BoA wasn't much better.
| | | | Anthony Baldwin
United States
Local time: 13:15
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Chris S wrote:
... surely there should've been the option "Peanuts"?
I will accept peanuts, but they must be fresh, shelled, roasted, salted Virginia (VA, USA) peanuts,
and I must have 2lbs thereof per 1000 words.
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 13:15
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| I don't know why, but I've never... | Apr 10, 2015 |
been paid by bank transfer in 20 years. It's always been checks.
Edward Potter wrote:
I have a U.S. based client that insists on paying with paper checks sent by snail mail. I have them send them directly to my bank in the U.S. since I live in Europe.
Americans still don´t use the bank transfer method much. Anyone know why?
[Edited at 2015-04-10 19:33 GMT]
| | |
|
|
|
| Cabernet Sauvignon | Apr 10, 2015 |
It’s only happened once, but it certainly has my preference .
The client happened to be based in my home town and he decided off his own bat to pay me with a case of Cabernet Sauvignon, delivered to my door by taxi. It was no doubt worth far more than the translation I’d done for him, but I didn’t argue . Would you?
| | | | James McVay
United States
Local time: 13:15
Russian to English
+ ...
| Simple question, complicated answer | Apr 10, 2015 |
For me, it depends on the country of the payer and the amount. If the payer is located in the U.S., I prefer paper checks regardless of the amount. There is no charge to me, and the payer pays only for the check itself, a matter of pennies.
If the payer is overseas, I prefer PayPal or Moneybookers provided my cost for the transfer is no more than $15 (the amount my bank charges for a bank transfer), otherwise, I prefer bank transfer because my bank charges a flat fee.
I... See more For me, it depends on the country of the payer and the amount. If the payer is located in the U.S., I prefer paper checks regardless of the amount. There is no charge to me, and the payer pays only for the check itself, a matter of pennies.
If the payer is overseas, I prefer PayPal or Moneybookers provided my cost for the transfer is no more than $15 (the amount my bank charges for a bank transfer), otherwise, I prefer bank transfer because my bank charges a flat fee.
If a payer located in another country can pay by PayPal eCheck, that is often the best way for both of us. Although I've never made a payment by eCheck myself, my client located in Canada who uses this method tells me it costs him a flat fee of $5 regardless of the amount. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Money order (Western Union/MoneyGram) | Apr 11, 2015 |
Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
Because the banks charge outrageous fees.
This was not part of the proposed answers, but it is my preferred payment method giving the situation in Cameroon.
Indeed, Paypal does not allow professionals living in Cameroon to receive money, we can just send. And as Muriel rightly said, banks charge outreageous fees, up to 37% of the amount to be transferred and no client is ready to share this charge with you, let alone pay it. But, still many clients insist on bank transfer and very very few accept to pay through money order.
[Edited at 2015-04-11 11:01 GMT]
| | | | David Earl
United States
Local time: 11:15
German to English
| Checks in the US | Apr 12, 2015 |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne wrote:
Just out of curiosity David, I don't understand what you mean when you say that 200 checks costs around USD25. In my experience, UK and France, cheques are free of charge. Are you saying that the last time you had a chequebook you paid USD25 for the privilege?
I think part of the problem may be the differences between European and American checking accounts. American checking systems only work with the cash on hand, no credit or anything comparable to the system based on the historically Arabian giro concept. If a person needs credit, they apply for a line of credit or credit cards with an approval process. With an American checking account, there wasn't anything comparable to what Germans might call a "Dispo" and running a checking account with a negative balance could lead to legal proceedings for one form of fraud or another as well as closure of the checking account (and the associated bad credit rating).
The banks would supply very basic, unattractive checks free of charge, but they are/were so ugly that almost no one actually uses/used them. In fact, the banks kept blank checks readily available, but those didn't even have the account information on them. The account holder had to write in their own account information. Add to that the fact that any piece of paper can be used as a check as long as it has the correct transfer information, amount, date and signature. It was standard practice to buy more attractive checks from printers, especially when checks were pre-printed forms. The specific account information was added as a subsequent printing process, similar to the offers that printers make for business cards. Naturally, for an additional price, they could print forms with corporate logos and other customized designs.
In the 80's, there was a story about a Canadian watermelon farmer who didn't even bother with paper. When suppliers delivered, he would grab a piece of watermelon rind and write the required information on that (from memory). According to the story, it went to court because the bank refused to honor such "checks". The judge decided that, because all of the legally required information was present and correct on the rinds, the bank(s) would have to honor the watermelon rinds as valid checks. I have never checked if there is any truth to that story, but it is not implausible. (Remember, we're talking about North America; "gibt es kein Gesetz, darf man".)
It has also been so long, that I may have misremembered the number of checks in a standard printing package. It may have been more like 1000 checks for USD 25.
[Edited at 2015-04-12 16:14 GMT]
| | |
|
|
|
James McVay
United States
Local time: 13:15
Russian to English
+ ...
| Working for peanuts | Apr 15, 2015 |
Anthony Baldwin wrote:
I will accept peanuts, but they must be fresh, shelled, roasted, salted Virginia (VA, USA) peanuts,
and I must have 2lbs thereof per 1000 words.
Anthony, you need to raise your rates. Unless I screwed up the calculation, that works out to less than $0.03 per word if you accept payment in salted and shelled Virginia peanuts.
[Edited at 2015-04-15 20:13 GMT]
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: What is your preferred payment method? | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.
More info » |
| | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
