Review these tips to help make receiving payment from buyers in other countries easier.

• Review the international abilities of your preferred payment methods so that you can highlight these to potential buyers and increase item appeal. If your preferred payment methods aren't available internationally, add new payment options that will work for the buyers you're trying to attract.

  Note: If you accept payments with a PayPal Premier or Business account, you can accept credit card payments from buyers in 38 different countries.

• Be flexible and responsive to buyers’ needs. If your buyer suggests an alternative payment method that is faster/easier/safer, consider using it. Such flexibility could get you your money faster and will improve your buyer's experience.

• If you are passing postage costs to your buyers, review the Posting Internationally information or see more in the Global Trading Centre.

Instant Money Transfers

The use of Instant Money Transfers as a method of receiving payment is not allowed on eBay.co.uk. We have banned the use of Instant Money Transfers as a payment method on the eBay.co.uk site to protect members, because in the past some sellers have exploited Instant Money Transfers in order to defraud buyers.

If you notice a listing offering International Money Transfers as a payment option, you should report it to us so that we can maximise site safety. To do this, click on the “Contact Us” link on the left-hand side of any Help page. Please make sure you always include the Item Number in the email. You will find the item number in the top right-hand corner of the listing.

Recognising a counterfeit cheque scheme

• Often a seller of a high-priced item receives a request from a bidder to accept a foreign cheque as payment or deposit for the item.

• The cheque amount often exceeds the value of the seller's item.

• The buyer asks the seller to send the overpayment amount via money wire transfer service.

The problem is that the cheque or banker’s draft is most likely to be fraudulent and it can often take weeks or even months for the seller's bank to know if a cheque is real or fraudulent. If the cheque is fraudulent, the seller is held responsible. Sellers should never accept overpayments from buyers for items where the buyer is asking to be reimbursed for overpayment.