Taking Payment from a client in the US

[lewisparrott]

Hi guys,

Just acquired a client in the US but I'm not sure how to accept payment from him.

Direct bank transfer will destroy me with fees (learned my lesson there) and I refuse to use PayPal because I've had endless issues with them.

What's the best way I can do this without losing too much in fees?

Cheers,

Lewis.

 

[AyrshireBacon]

To be honest, PayPal but I feel your pain in regard to using them until they 'trust' you as such.

The benefit currently is that if you ask the client to send funds as a Personal Payment Owed the fee is zero, you should open a USD currency in your existing account with PayPal. The forex rate they offer is always slightly worse than the bank rate but as things stand you could park those funds until the forex improves.

...or are you invoicing the US client in Sterling?

 

[mick&sarah]

PayPal I would say exchange rate a bit more than slightly worse than bank rates.
May I ask what kind of problems did you have with PayPal?
A lot depends on number and single amount of transactions I suppose to give you a more precise alternative.
Would adding the fees you suffer on top of your invoice (admin fees or something) kill the newly acquired business? Even partially maybe

 

[Simon Dunant]

What about using Zoho Invoices, there's a 14 day trial that's free and it allows you to set up integration with Stripe very very easily from within Zoho itself.

Other than that for small businesses PayPal is pretty much the main way to receive funds internationally and avoid the burden of merchant accounts.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Credit card and dont send the goods until proven clear

 

[50 Pound Social]

How about Transferwise? He can pay you the exact amount you require in GBP. You save on bank fees and the conversation rate is better than PayPal, so it's good for your customer too.