The annual membership contribution

[jeroen]

To become a VMR member in The Netherlands I paid the annual fee of 20 GBP by cheque. My bank charged me € 23.89 for the twenty pounds and added € 21.17 overcharge. The overcharge was so high because payment by cheque is obsolete in the Euro countries. Of course I could have saved about € 20.-by just mailing two banknotes of 10 GBP to Ian Grace but there must be more sophisticated ways of international money transfer. Has this ever been considered by VMR?
Jeroen.

[Ian Grace]

We have looked at taking payments by credit card several times in the past, but the overhead is simply too much for a small club like this. Cash in Sterling or US Dollars is perfectly acceptable instead of a cheque if that is easier/cheaper, and many members around the world do just that. We continue to review the credit card situation, but as of now, this option is still not a good one. There is another small club like this who has a member who runs a small business and he takes credit card payments on behalf of that club. If there is a member out there in this situation, and who is willing to offer such a service, then we could set up such an arrangement.

[cammy]

Ian, Have you investigated the Pay Pal option?

[Trevor Wilkinson]

Would it not be possible to supply the bank sort code and account number so that the money could be transferred directly?

[Ian Grace]

Would it not be possible to supply the bank sort code and account number so that the money could be transferred directly?

There is one member (in the UK) who does this. Happy to provide numbers if it is of use or woudl save cost.

[Ian Grace]

Ian, Have you investigated the Pay Pal option?

Not really - but I will look in to it. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Ronald]

Paypal has to be the way to go, you simply link a bank account to an email address, and then 'we' can effectively send money to that email address.... it can't be simpler, and whats more, we can change the currency to whichever is prefered....!!!

[prharris25]

Presumably PayPal charge somebody for this service ?.....they most certainly do for most things it seems !

Paul.

[Ronald]

Presumably PayPal charge somebody for this service ?.....they most certainly do for most things it seems !

Paul.

They do yes, but it's such a small amount it would barely be worth worrying about, and if it were, simply charge those members paying that way an extra quid... or dollar...LOL!!

[Toby]

I had a cheque returned from the states as they wouldn't bank it, they requested a bankers draft in dollars which Nationwide couldn't do! Do you still want me to send you a cheque Ian, for the money I still owe you or would it be better to get it transfered as above?

[Ian Grace]

I still have a bank account in the UK, plus another for the VMR which is where most of the subs end up - I just post batches of cheques over when I have them. Sounds crazy perhaps, but you are right - I cannot put a Sterling cheque into my US current account. Some members around the world send me Dollar cheques which can go straight into my account here, but only if they are made out to 'Ian Grace', not the 'Vintage Minor Register', as I don't have a VMR Dollar account!

All the Oz and NZ members pay in their own currency by sending cheques to Alex Dempster, who has Oz$, NZ$ AND a Sterling account So he just sends me a Sterling cheque every so often when the spare funds warrant it after he has used what he needs to post on the Oz and NZ mags which eh also does for me.

I am investigating starting a VMR PayPal account connected to the VMR account in the UK - watch this space!

[Ian Grace]

OK - we might be in business here. It turns out my daughter has a Sterling PayPal account.

The e-mail address is kangamingo@gmail.com (DON'T ask! )

Anyone want to give it a test drive?

[halbe]

Iwill try and pay the 20 pounds in a minute, let me know what happened!

Halbe

Just paid using paypall

[Ian Grace]

Payment details

Amount: £20.00 GBP

Transaction Date: 16 jan 2009

Transaction ID: 6MW968997S909650U

Subject: VMR payment H.Tjepkema

Message: membership VMR Halbe Tjepkema Would you let me know if all is ok? Regards, Halbe Tjepkema


It worked - Cool!

[halbe]

Wow , that was quick!!!!
This makes live a lot easier and cheaper for us in Holland , bank's charge something like 20 pounds for making a cheque
I rather spend that paying my membership fee

Halbe