German eBay auction

can anyone help me translate the terms of this auction? I see he only ships to Europe (I can figure that much out), but what are his payment terms?? I really like the look of this piece, and it's something I have never seen before.

It looks like just Überweisung which is the direct checking to checking account method they have in Europe.

Yep, all we need to know here is the seller's IBAN and SWIFT code (every bank account has one) and we can make a direct bank transfer to €uro countries via the net with no additional charges.

Right, and that is what is the seller wants and accepts. From what I have read, some banks in some European countries (Spain and Greece for example) charge extra for such transfers, thus violating EU regulations. Seems they get away with it ...

Transfers within Germany, and to Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, work fine for me. In addition to the BIC (or "Swift code") and the IBAN, some banks want more info, like the recipient's name and location; no idea if entering that info is actually necessary. And I have not tried transfers to/from Finland yet ...

Christian

Transfers in euro between euro accounts between countries that signed the agreement are at the same cost as an inland banktransfer for the sender ( like half a euro) and no cost at all for the receiver provided full BIC ( Bank Identifer Code) and IBAN ( International Bank account number ) are used
Spain as been named by my bank as not conforming all the time
I paid to the UK to a person who had a Euro account and that worked
On the other hand Monaco made me pay 20 euro cost

In my opinion the guy will ship to the US if you can get the money there without cost but be aware the US did not sign the bilateral post agreement so insured mail to the US is not possible only registered mail

I added a link

http://www.ecbs.org/iban.htm

I have made such transfers to Germany, France, Belgium and even Portugal without a problem.





Yes, my bank stresses this. If the bank has to correct any error or fill in a number/letter or complete the info in any way, then I will be charged a handling/service fee.

Also have made this kind of transfers to Germany, The Netherlands and Italy with no problems and to Spain with several problems, will advise to get another way to make your payments to a Spainish seller.


Jose

I wonder why we don't do that here.

It's kind of odd indeed: On one hand the US is among the most advanced countries when it comes to "the cashless society" - on the other hand, means of payment such as checks are still common there. We mostly use money transfer and direct debit payments here, and debit (and to a lesser extent credit) cards for "plastic" payments, and cash (a lot), but checks are pretty much extinct in DE.

Note, however, that when Sir Sisu writes "no additional charges", this just means that the transfer charge to a €-based account abroad must be the same as a domestic transfer. Somebody who pays for every transaction would of course be charged; I have a "free" account so a transfer to Berlin or Brussels would not cost me a cent ...

Christian

Well, it's a very common type of payment here. In case you bid and win, and the seller wants the amount to be transferred via Überweisung, let me know.

Christian

hehe, I think Kuhli meant the coin with that...

You may well be right. Guess the double question mark "led" me in the wrong direction ...

Christian

I have had to instruct many german , french , italian vendors in BIC and IBAN
I have two tests first tester is the IBAN
The first two figures after the country are the restsum of an algoritm
The test you can download here
http://www.iban-calculator.de/

If a BIC exists and is operational you can test here
http://www.swift.com/biconline/index.cfm

I used to go to the bank to pay because if I sit there and the numbers are rejected I do not have to pay
Now I check them at home
My cost is 0.5 euro because I do not pay enough fixed cost to have a "free" account

On top of the numbers you need the name of the accountholder or the computer system in belgium will refuse submittal

The EEC forced all member banks by EEC legislation to drop the 20 euro per transfer cost and do an electronic transfer for the price of an inland transfer
to all euro member countries

The banks retaliated with a cost for having a bank account and for using it and now they try to make you pay to get cash out of a machine
Also they ask 0.5 euro for a check and the check no longer is covered by any guarantee

They also upped the price of debtor cards to around 20 euro
Our euro card / master card is not a credit card
All outstanding sums have to be paid per month

Hmm, I don't use a MasterCard, but I know that with my Visa card (I am in DE) I could use the credit option. Maybe that depends on the country and/or the issuing bank?

On the other hand, I do not want that credit but pay 100% back every month. I prefer to keep all my arms and legs.

Christian

Visa is a credit card in belgium too but costs a lot more just to have it then eurocard/mastercard and since I use the card mainly on business travel I want to pay off every month anyway

Again, this is why I love this place so much. I asked a question hoping to get some of the basic facts I needed, but instead got a full education on this, with answers to several other questions I hadn't considered to ask.

Christian, I am watching this auction. I am still debating on whether or not I want to jump into it. If I do, I will PM to negotiate some assistance. Thanks!

As I often spend time browsing some of the European eBays, and dealing with European coin dealers, I have many time seen the requests for IBAN transfers. (now I know what IBAN means, and have a much better understanding of the system). I wonder, are there any American banks that participate in this system, or perhaps even American branches of European banks, where I might be able to go and open account in order to use such a transfer service??

You need a euro account in a euro country
I guess a euro account in germany would be the most logical thing
I think most banks would be able to offer that
only the price would vary
My friend is an american retired coindealer he pays paypall
If nothing else works, I pay for him

I tried to get a Cash advance off my Visa in Germany and the bankers looked at me like I was crazy. Finally one of them figured out to send me to a Citybank branch, Citibank does handle VISA whereevr they are. But Germany was very MasterCard biased.

Hmm, strange. Germany is very "balanced" in that regard: There are about 10 million Visa cards and 11 million MasterCards in DE. Relatively low figures (since over here credit cards are used to a much lesser extent than the EC/Maestro debit cards that practically everybody has), but in Germany Visa and MC are about equally widespread ...

Christian

In Hamburg I just went to one of the foreign exchange kiosks and "purchased" money with my Visa.

Well if you are ever in Wattenscheid, don't try to explain a Visa cash advance to anyone except the people at Citibank

I got Swiss Franks in Basel with my Eurocard/Mastercard but then again it was a branch of the National Bank and the amount was very restricted

On the other hand any supermarket will give me a few hundred euro in cash with my Maestro Bank Card with ID chip

OIC. In general I try to avoid this anyway - cash advance that is. One time in a store my Maestro card could not be "read", and they did not accept credit cards. So I went to an ATM, tried the Maestro - did not work there either (later I was told that the magnetic stripe was damaged), so I used the credit card. Now that basically was a cash advance, and it cost me dearly.

Fortunately the Maestro cards are now accepted in much of the US as well. So I have two "plastic wallets" without having to have two credit cards ...

Errm, where were we? Ah yes. Two bids on that 1 dinar piece so far.

Christian

My american friend is a retired coindealer
I asked him about the Dinar
He said he used to pay those like 4$ per pound mixed with all the rest of estate
miscelleaneous coins
So I understand that postage probably will cost as much or more then the coin ?

Here I can do transfers, but I think that they cost around $30.

I bid, let's see what happens. If I win, I am going to owe you!! I will find something special for you.

Seems you did.

Christian

yep, waiting to hear from seller.

All the Deutsch I know is "Ein bier bitte" and "danke schoen" Do you really need to know anymore than that?

Depends. If you go to a German speaking country (as a tourist) on your own, a little more would come in handy. And if you travel in a tour group, even the two phrases above are not necessary ...

Seriously - if I go to some place where I don't speak the local language, I try to keep in mind what "I don't speak (insert local language), sorry" means in that language. After that, it is usually easier to switch to whatever the other person and I both speak.

(Besides: Beer ... yuck. )

Christian

Okay, I admit I probably know a bit more German than that, in fact for all my mumbling about it, I never ordered beer in Germany, just lots of marzipan(food of the gods and cheap there), pizza, strudel etc. And hotel rooms, sleeper cars on the train etc. And I knew enough to buy coins when the occasion chanced

Marzipan + Münzen = Great Combination. I love it.

Christian

Marzipan is one thing about being in Europe I miss most. It is very expensive where I live now, a tenderloin steak cost less by weight. But in Germany I could buy these 1/2 kilo logs of it for only a few DM's. I remember having a bunch of it on the train and trading away hunks of it for fruit, schnapps, etc. Maybe it is in the blood of Germans or something?

I hope sometime to go back, perhaps after my Portugal vacation.

I never tried it but Marzipan should be easy to make
Now in Belgium too it is cheap so I never tried

When in Germany I prefer Weizenbier
I order two because of the foam they have to pour slowly and I have finished the first by the time they have poured the second

LOL, so it's not just me.....

Right, marzipan is not really expensive here. But there are considerable differences as far as the quality is concerned. Niederegger, for example (the most famous one in DE) makes marzipan with a high almond content; cheaper marzipans often have more sugar ...

What is interesting (and brings us back to coins!) is the possible origin of the word marzipan. There are many different explanations, and it seems that nobody knows for sure, but the most numismatic one is that "marzipan" is derived from an Arabic word for a kind of lethargic king/ruler. That word - mataban or so - was then ironically used (by Arabs in the times of the Crusades) for a Byzantine coin showing the seated Christ. In the late 12c it was used for a Venetian coin (matapan). No idea whether that is the most likely explanation, since I don't quite see the link to the stuff we can eat, but it's the most appropriate one for CoinPeople.

Christian

They make a marzipan hot chocolate too that I can't live without in the winter. Marzipan is awesome.

I just knew you have good tastes