It’s been raining rants and raving at alibaba.com, a top trade lead sources for B2B. As usual its about Paypal and buyers trying to enforce the payment method for China Suppliers. Most of these buyers who usually uses Paypal as a gateway for payments are usually small time buyers and doesn’t usually order a huge amount of quantity since they are most of the time Ebay Sellers who inevitably doesn’t have an established company or business.
Unfortunately for these buyers, the main exporting country, China do not entertain the use of PayPal and payment via credit cards. This is because the access of Paypal in China is not well established and the service rates for international sellers are not very pleasing to look at.
For China Paypal Users, there are 3 different type of fees and charges they have to bear every time they withdraw the cash from PayPal unlike in the US which is free. Furthermore, not all banks in China has the facilities to accommodate Paypal. You can view how much they are being charged when each withdrawal is being made by them. View it Here
I’ve also attached a copy of the different charges for Sellers in the US and in other parts of the world which they had to bear should they use Paypal. See the differences? That’s a lot to choke for sellers.
However should the Sellers use the other easier and much lesser hassle of payment method like T/T, LC (there’s a lot of types of LC), Bank Draft, Bank Guarantee. Usually they would use a T/T or LC for huge quantity to be exported to the desired country.
T/T and L/C is considerably cheap and safer. For companies that have done multiple import/export businesses, they would know that Irrevocable LC is the best choice where both parties would be on a safer end should any party tries to play Hide-N-Don’t-Seek game. So I’ve heard and read many complaints and horror stories about buyers using T/T to pay to their Sellers but then found out that the Seller has scam them out.
Look, if you are going to T/T the money over for your payment for a huge amount of items you have purchased, ALWAYS and let me stress this again ALWAYS T/T to the account name that bears the Company’s Name. Never pay to a personal account because by then they could easily run off with your money and leave you with a huge heart attack.
When you are in doubt in any form of payment methods especially if you are doing a T/T and the bank name and account bearer’s sounds suspicious to you, do not hesitate to contact your Bank Manager and get all your necessary checks on the account itself. Don’t be stupid and just jump into the basket when you know you are going into the crocodile’s den.
Also never use Western Union or Money Gram to pay for any of your said transactions. If the suppliers / companies are as valid as they tell you, they have no problem whatsoever to accept a valid T/T from you. What company, big or small, doesn’t have a company bank account? How in the world are they going to submit their yearly income tax and accept cheque payments from their customers? Sounds fishy doesn’t it?
Using Western Union and Money Gram is the most fastest way and 100% NOT SAFE for buyers to pay for their transaction. Only scammers and illegitimate sellers use Western Union and Money Gram as their form of payment. They can’t be traced down at all when they have finally scammed you out of your money even after you lodge a police report to whichever parties and organisations.
However just because we have heard so much horror stories about Sellers being scammers, there are also plenty of stories of Sellers being cheated by their Buyers. Believe it or not there are Buyers who made off with the finished products/ items without paying the Sellers. Sellers also faces irresponsible Buyers who never conform to their contract agreement by not paying on time or running out on the last second when products have been manufactured and awaiting for payment.
Ask Suppliers and Sellers anywhere, they will tell you their own horror stories. I’m a Supplier myself and I really hate having to come out thousands of dollars to manufacture the requested items for my customer only to have my payment be delayed by months. Who is going to pay for my bills, workers’ salary, daily company expenses and so on? Do the Buyers care? No they don’t.
So people, please do not ever blame us, the suppliers, for your own carelessness for not doing a thorough on your Suppliers. In the business line, everything is a risk. Nothing in life is risk free. Everyone have to play their part to make sure that unwanted incidents and losses to happen.
Thus, stop pointing fingers and just accept our mistake.
- Category: Safe Trading, Scammers




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