Re: [OT] eBay Yet More - FSE & Painted

Jon wrote:

> Any bank should be able to issue you with a cheque made out in GBP, 
> with a UK clearing bank address on it; this is fine for us. Or, you 
> can always buy UK currency (as notes) from the bank and send it by 
> registered mail.

Sorry Jon, but that's not the case.

There are a lot of smaller regional banks in the United States. Here in
Monroe, Louisiana, my wife and I used to deal with Progressive Bank, one
of these regionals. They could not give me a money order in Pounds
Sterling; I know, I tried. They couldn't get me British currency. In
fact, they couldn't even get me _Canadian_ currency that day, though
they could if I was willing to wait several business days. Many of these
small regionals just don't deal with people on an international level. 

Now, I think I could do it with our current bank, Bank One, which is a
large, multi-regional bank. I haven't tried, and I have no idea how much
the service charge would be. They don't offer any kind of account with
free wire transfers, so I'd expect to pay through the nose for a money
order in Sterling. If you use a regional, or one of the smaller local
credit unions, you're just pretty much out of luck on international
transactions unless it's through PayPal or using a wire transfer (and a
wire transfer will cost US$15 to $25).

Grant wrote:

>    They just need to shop around for better banks.

I like the phrase "just need to".

This assumes that the person has contact with other folks from other
areas and realizes things can be better... and that they actually have a
choice in their area. Progressive Bank offers free chequing (spelled
checking down here) accounts, but even if they offered free money orders
you aren't going to get it with that account. On the other hand, you can
usually get an account with monthly fees at larger banks that offer
things like free international money orders. If you're a college
student, do you really want to pay $8 to $12 a month just so the
occasional international money order is free? If you are working and
have your pay transferred to your account automatically (as well as an
automatic debit for your car insurance, car loan, etc.), do you really
want to go to the hassle of switching banks just to buy some stuff once
or twice a year from Britain?

My point is that there are substantial hurdles for a lot of folks in the
U.S., particularly those in rural areas, when it comes to financial
transactions across the Atlantic. I was pointing this out as one reason
why eBay auctions of GZG products can hit prices higher than Jon sells
them for by mail. We have anecdotal evidence that GZG games and figures
are less prominent in the U.S. than they were when Geo-Hex was
distributing them. The "just buy them from the U.K." comment that many
of us (myself included) tell players looking for the rules and figures
just isn't an option for some Americans.

Allan

--
Allan Goodall		   agoodall@att.net
http://www.hyperbear.com   agoodall@hyperbear.com