Safe ways to pay internationally

1. Paypal

Paypal is the world largest internet payment platform. It is easy to set up an account and get ready to make a payment. In almost every country it is possible to create an account, this makes paying to lots of countries possible.

Why should you use it?

You are able to use it as a credit card that charges your bank account after the purchase or use the funds that you have in paypal. The costs are very low, around 3%, for a secure payment.

Pros and Cons of paying a bill by Paypal

Pros:
1. User friendly, very quick and easy.
2. Goods and Services, secured of getting delivered as described.
3. Seller needs to provide a track and trace code.

Cons:
1. Paypal charges a flat fee and a percentage of the payment.
2. You need to describe the item in detail.

Related: How to use Paypal Goods and Services

2. credit card

Credit cards are one of the most used payment methods in the world. In the USA is this besides cash one of the most used payment methods. Everywhere in the world is it accepted and are you able to do purchases online with.

Why should you use it?

Almost all credit card providers have securities build in. Like extended warranty, guaranteed delivery, refund if the item does not match with the description etc. 

Pros and Cons of paying a bill by Credit Card

Pros:
1. Known service, daily used by most of the people
2. Securities build in by the provider

Cons:
1. Providers charges a percentage of the payment.
2. The refund procedure is a hassle to fill in and difficult to comply.

3. Ebay

Ebay is one of the largest marketplaces in the world. Used by almost every country and easy to list your item on here. Due to the size of Ebay, it has related company connections with for example Paypal. 

Why should you use it?

You are able to use a lot of payment methods on ebay, also the national methods. Also the securities you get from making a purchase here are the same as paypal. You are also able to buy from the whole world, so you don’t need to search on local marketplaces.

Pros and Cons of paying a bill by Paypal

Pros:
1. User friendly, very quick and easy.
2. Goods and Services, secured of getting delivered as described.
3. Seller needs to provide a track and trace code.

Cons:
1. Ebay charges a flat fee, a percentage of the payment and a percenate of the listing.
2. Ebay references are not always real, be careful and check if they are real. 

Related: How to use Ebay

4. 3RD party sites

3RD party sites like Vinted/Marktplaats/Ebay Kleinanzeigen are using their own payment methods with their CLAIMED “build in securities”. 

Why should you (NOT) use it?

Almost every 3RD party website is claiming that they fight against Fake items. Unfortunately the payment methods are not a result of that. If you are reading in the rules, there stands that they do everything in their powers to delete fakes from the sites/marketplaces.
If you go and look deeper in to the rules of the sites, you can see that it is only a “delivered” mark and nothing else. So it pushes the seller to provide a Track and Trace number that goes to your adress. 

Why not using marktplaats/vinted?

Their payment method is based on a release of the funds after the package is DELIVERED.
Marketplaats can’t do anything when:
– The item is different as described, including damaged packages
– The item sold is fake
– The package is empty

Why not using Grailed/Depop?

Their payment method is based on a release of the funds after the package is delivered and as described. 
They have also their own “authentication” service on all listings. But this is done by people that are not specialised in a certain area such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci etc. 
So you always need to double check the seller and item you are buying, by professional companies to ensure the authenticity of the item.