Subject:
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Re: Questionable eBay auction
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Sun, 30 Jan 2000 02:06:23 GMT
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Viewed:
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1967 times
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In lugnet.market.auction, James Brown writes:
>
> Is this a common practise in the States? It seems like a blatant example of
> shafting the customer, to me. I can see a fee for MO's not in US funds, or • for
> MO's not drawn against a US bank, but a US money order drawn on a US bank
> should be indistinguisable from cash, to a bank.
James, near as I can tell, it *is* common practise. I don't know all the
fancy terms for it, but the banking system in the USA is very different from
here in Canada. In Canada we have the major banks (what, 5?), which are quite
heavily monitored and I believe "insured" by the government. In the USA,
there are a gazillion little banks..., in fact one of my colleagues at work (I
work in the USA) said there are no real national banks like we have in
Canada. To an outsider, it seems that anyone can start up a bank if they've
got the capital. In driving through Vermont I've seen a bank that is the size
of a small shed, looks like only one room, located next to a McDonald's Drive-
Thru. I'd guess there are as many different banks in the USA as there are
names on gas stations. And thus the frequency with which banks in the
USA "fail" (go bankrupt). I don't think that's happened in Canada since the
Great Depression of the 1930's.
Anyhow my point is that part of their system seems to be that they can charge
whatever service fees they want, and they don't have to provide services
between different banks, or even different branches of the same bank. Some
people I work with have to take their paycheque to the exact bank in Michigan
from which the cheque is drawn..., other banks, even their "home" bank, won't
accept them! And that's a paycheque! Me, I bring my paycheque across the
border and dump it into the ABM at whatever branch I can get to, and the money
goes into my account with absolutely no service charges whatsoever.
Another one that freaked me out. A lot of the ABMs in the USA will charge you
a "convenience fee" that varies widely from machine to machine. But this
isn't the typical service charge that we may get in Canada. This is a fee
charged you by the business that owns the location where the machine is
located, and goes directly into their pockets. For example, if you go to a
Shell station, and use the ABM machine to get some cash, you may end up having
another US$3 taken out of your account, and that money goes directly to the
owner of the Shell station, not the bank! I had that happen and thought it
was highway robbery..., I'm buying their gas and shopping in the convenience
store, and yet they're going charge me for me getting money to pay them??
I hope this isn't way off-topic for auctions, but my point to Canadians is
that the USA financial network is very different compared to ours..., many
Canadians would say it's pretty whacked, but basically it's just different.
So don't be surprised if you buy something from the USA, and things suddenly
seem to get very complicated when payment time comes. Every one in the USA is
going to be stuck in a different position, so you can't really come up with a
common strategy that will work in all cases. Me, I use Canada Post money
orders in US dollars, and so far haven't had any problems. Knock on wood.
KDJ
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Kyle D. Jackson
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
________________________
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Questionable eBay auction
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| (...) Is this a common practise in the States? It seems like a blatant example of shafting the customer, to me. I can see a fee for MO's not in US funds, or for MO's not drawn against a US bank, but a US money order drawn on a US bank should be (...) (25 years ago, 29-Jan-00, to lugnet.market.auction, lugnet.market.theory)
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