The cat offered PayPal....
Do you think PayPal is more secure than Western Union? I've used both and don't have much to compare them except that PayPal transaction costs are lower. WU charges like a wounded bull...but it works.
I know WU got a bad reputation but that was (as far as I know) with other classes of scams where you are buying something but you never get the goods. It works because WU does pay out in cash on the receiving end. But if you are the seller that's all good. You have the cash in your hand before you ship the goods.
Also note that PayPal is owned by eBay and eBay thus has very strong commercial reasons for wanting to say PayPal is "guaranteed" and WU isn't and you should never pay via WU. Simple vested interest, and it doesn't apply when you are the seller. WU gives cash in the hand. PayPal can reverse payments more than a month later which is a long time for your buyer to have to wait. I use PayPal all the time, so I'm hardly biased against it. It just depends on the situation.
I have sent WU money to my daughter when she was studying dance in Guinea, West Africa. No problems, although she would take a couple of big guys with her for "protection" when she picked up the cash. My wife similarly sent me WU money when I was studying drumming and dancing in Ghana so I could purchase a set of Gahu drums to bring back. No problem. Cash in the hand. I also took a "minder" with me. x-mas3
I'm used to dealing in international transactions and with people from different places and cultures. I was born and raised in California but I've been out since 1975. I only trot out "I was born and raised an American" so I can say the next sentence without getting too much flak (I hope). The most common thing I observe is that Americans who have not lived overseas (I exclude military personnel and multinational employees who live in compounds as "living overseas") don't have any practical experience to draw on when it comes to international matters. For the rest of us outside America dealing with different people, languages, cultures, currencies, customs, and so on are more common events. For Americans who have always lived in America transactions with the outside world are scary. It's just different experiences. Most people are nice. Occasionally transactions go bad.
Just my :2Cents: or 2 Euros or 2 pesos.
Kona: have you really managed to avoid posting things to the USA? Amazing. It is an international border and whatever you need to do for that will be pretty much the same as for European destinations. You do need to check with the Canadian postal service about the rules they have to follow to ship to Poland. All international shipping is by treaties and different countries stick different regulations in. Canada has to abide by the Polish rules when sending things there. The silliest example of this is the Italian one about no musical instruments. But the rule which can cost you dollars and make some shipping impossible is maximum size restrictions. It matters if you are shipping large cymbals (and large bass drums).
People who ship musical instruments to Italy are used to just putting "garden ornament" for cymbals. I don't know what is commonly put for drums. Maybe toys. This is just how you deal with it and it is done all the time. Same with ticking a box marked "gift". Internationally it is no big deal. Within America I've heard some Americans who think it is a big deal. For example:
Watch out for that "mark it as a gift" thing....that is trying to circumvent customs right there. Both sides can get into trouble for that!
No instance of any problems with ticking the gift box have ever come to my attention. I think after I post this I might check out what snopes has to say about it.
