Escrow / Flippa - EU to US - what am I missing?

[Andreas Thiel]

Hi,

tried (kinda still trying) to buy some assets on Flippa via Escrow. It was going to be an international wire transfer (above 5k neither CC nor PayPal are an option).
Basically I discovered maaany ways that this does not work and this has been going on for more than 10 days.
Support on Escrow and the "Post Sales Enablement Team" were not helpful and sent me in the wrong direction repeatedly.

Basically I found no way to transfer the money without an IBAN number.
Then the support gave me account details with an IBAN, but of the London based account.

First I sent an EUR amount, which they did not like because the Escrow managed transaction is a USD transaction.
Then I sent a USD amount which apparently the London account can't deal with in general.

Has anybody successfully done this?
Is there something I am missing?
Should I be able to initiate a wire transfer without an IBAN number? Is this not possible from a regular checking account?
Anything else I should know or anything else I can try?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Happyheart]

Hi,

tried (kinda still trying) to buy some assets on Flippa via Escrow. It was going to be an international wire transfer (above 5k neither CC nor PayPal are an option).
Basically I discovered maaany ways that this does not work and this has been going on for more than 10 days.
Support on Escrow and the "Post Sales Enablement Team" were not helpful and sent me in the wrong direction repeatedly.

Basically I found no way to transfer the money without an IBAN number.
Then the support gave me account details with an IBAN, but of the London based account.

First I sent an EUR amount, which they did not like because the Escrow managed transaction is a USD transaction.
Then I sent a USD amount which apparently the London account can't deal with in general.

Has anybody successfully done this?
Is there something I am missing?
Should I be able to initiate a wire transfer without an IBAN number? Is this not possible from a regular checking account?
Anything else I should know or anything else I can try?

Can you split the transaction in installments?

 

[Andreas Thiel]

The seller proposed a split ... 50% now, 50% after completion ... but I am not sure that would work better. That would put each individual payment under 5k.
I suppose we wouldn't be able to go through Escrow then, because from what I read for them the overall transaction amount must not exceed 5k.
Whether or not the seller is okay with ditching the Escrow service altogether is an open question. Not sure I am okay with that, either.

We could try to turn the transaction into a EUR transaction and go through the London account then, but the support on both sides just gave us those "we will do that IF YOU INSIST" vibes. No suggestions regarding a solution and no answer to the question how this usually works for other people either.

 

[Andreas Thiel]

It is getting worse and worse.

Basically after I sent the USD amount which the London account "can't handle" the money was not refunded ... they must have forwarded the money in EUR and then from there the other support staff handled this like I sent EUR in the first place.

Flippa turned the overall transaction into a EUR transaction without us giving the go-ahead.

I sent the required amount and now they want a 170€ top up. I won't get a refund from Escrow unless Flippa requests it. I have exchanged Skype information with the seller and we have chatted.
He even offered to waive the 170€ but that would probably require Flippa to set up a new transaction which they won't do.
I have zero confidence that paying the 170€ would be the end of it.
The Flippa stance is currently one of "your have no access to your money ... so what are you going to do about it?".
They accuse me of messing up though I still don't see what I did wrong.

My guess is that other Europeans are somehow able to send money to the US account - without an IBAN. I wasn't.
Now roughly one third of my net worth is tied up in that mess.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[McAdam]

@Andreas Thiel - I have generally only heard reasonable things about Flippa, maybe hold out a bit longer and ask the seller to to lean on them heavily!
I would avoid going outside of Escrow - its there to protect you, like an insurance, Amazing when you have it and need it!
---
I know that its not so helpful now - but hopefully something to help you out in the future;

It's 100% essential for an EU Entrepreneur to set themselves up with the right banking system to handle all kinds of transactions. If you're doing any business online, it becomes even more important.
I know the Finanzamt and your Buchaltung would hate the fact that you have so many accounts, but that's their problem!

1. For incoming and outgoing USD transactions:
Get yourself a "Wise.com" borderless account - formally TransferWise
This is a genuine US Bank account that can receive USD using Routing Numbers and Account Numbers.
ANYONE in the US can send to you, and you can send to ANYONE in the US.
The account is free!

2. For Incoming and Outgoing GBP transactions:
Same, Get a Wise Borderless Account
UK Sort Code and Account Number.
Native transactions in and out.

3. For EUR:
This will be controversial, but AVOID all the normal banks.
Reasons for this are Speed, Limits and FEES.

A few years ago I switched over to BUNQ out of the Netherlands.
I have 2 accounts with them, each with up to 25 sub accounts with their own IBANs
They recently added local IBANs in Germany (Where you are) and Spain (Where I am)
The important thing is this:
BUNQ is at the forefront of instant transactions.
From BUNQ to 95% of other EU banks, transfers are instant.
AND
From Transferwise to BUNQ - also instant.
BUNQ also has US$ and GBP accounts, but they are IBAN only, not with Native account.
That means the second US$ lands in my Wise account, I can forward it to my Bunq account and use it immediately.
No stupid waiting for 5 days, no BS about market rates, NO NADA
My money, instantly from my accounts to my accounts with LOW FEES.

------

All these accounts can be set up from the comfort of your home with VideoIdent and opened within minutes.
Both accounts come with physical cards that you can use anywhere, and Virtual Cards to use online.
BUT
Its still important to maintain a normal physical bank account so you can deposit/withdraw cash when you lose faith in the banks or want to spend money without questions!

 

[Andreas Thiel]

Thank you for the detailed response.

The seller is kind and he even went so far as to threaten that he will have to pull all of his listings if they can't resolve the issues. No complaints with him.

So in this case the Wise.com account would have been the answer. This will probably become relevant for me with my next endeavor, but I will never touch Escrow or Flippa again if their corporate identity consists of ignoring questions, blaming and indirectly insulting customers and artificially maximizing the fees that they squeeze out of them.

Still wondering why other Europeans seemingly have no issues. I don't think all of them have a Wise.com account.

Tried to overextend just a little for once and I was just not ready for that kind of transaction, I suppose.
But services like that must have the preflight checklist in place that tells you that you will run into issues. I read through their documentation and did not learn anything relevant there.

 

[Chrissie]

Thank you for the detailed response.

The seller is kind and he even went so far as to threaten that he will have to pull all of his listings if they can't resolve the issues. No complaints with him.

So in this case the Wise.com account would have been the answer. This will probably become relevant for me with my next endeavor, but I will never touch Escrow or Flippa again if their corporate identity consists of ignoring questions, blaming and indirectly insulting customers and artificially maximizing the fees that they squeeze out of them.

Still wondering why other Europeans seemingly have no issues. I don't think all of them have a Wise.com account.

Tried to overextend just a little for once and I was just not ready for that kind of transaction, I suppose.
But services like that must have the preflight checklist in place that tells you that you will run into issues. I read through their documentation and did not learn anything relevant there.

Why not send bitcoin?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andreas Thiel]

Why not send bitcoin?

Don't see how that is an option.

Do you know this works for Flippa / Escrow, or is that just a general question?

 

[Andreas Thiel]

Interesting ... more than 25% "bad" ratings ... several users complaining that things have gone downhill for a while.
Should have checked out those reviews first ... Flippa is rated "Average" with 3.3 / 5 on Trustpilot