What's the best way to get paid for an international job?

Julie West

I recently did a job for a group in Denmark. I billed them through paypal.com. But I really dislike the fees that paypal takes out. (I'm such a penny pincher Laughing

).

Anyway, I'm looking for input from others who've done international jobs. And if there's another good way to get paid, preferably without a fee taken out, please educate me

Thanks in advance,

Julie Very Happy

Joe J Thomas · Posted: Wed May 02, 2007, 20:29 (GMT) Post subject:

Hi Julie,

I recently did a vo for a Brussels company and used PayPal.

It's much easier for the client than drawing checks from a foreign bank.

Guess I don't mind the fees too much - just cost of business...

My 2 cents,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com

Julie West · Posted: Wed May 02, 2007, 20:49 (GMT) Post subject:

Thanks Joe!

You're right it is just the price of business. Thank you Smile

Cira Larkin - Studio 53 · Posted: Wed May 02, 2007, 21:07 (GMT) Post subject:

Joe is right. I have several client in Germany and those wire transfers can not only take forever, but it's easy to make a mistake with the Swift Code and account numbers and crap. It's easiest just to go through PayPal.

Debbie Deutsch · Posted: Wed May 02, 2007, 21:15 (GMT) Post subject:

Stick with paypal, its a secure system. Peace of mind.

Todd Ellis · Posted: Wed May 02, 2007, 21:18 (GMT) Post subject:

Julie - stick with PayPal - but make sure to write-off the fees on your taxes --- either that or pass them along to the customer. I just keep track of them and write them off @ the end of the year.

Michelle Ann Dunphy · Posted: Wed May 02, 2007, 21:55 (GMT) Post subject:

Just jumping in to agree. I hate those fees too, but it's life. It's better than having to wait and making more hassle for the client. Smile

Maggie's Voice · Posted: Sat May 05, 2007, 04:58 (GMT) Post subject: ...

Nikki Saco · Posted: Sat May 05, 2007, 05:17 (GMT) Post subject:

Paypal's great for International jobs. I definitely prefer using it. I digitally deliver work to Europe and Central America and am paid 20 minutes later in US currency. Lovely! Like Todd said, you can add the fees as a business expense. If it will soften the blow, consider the time you save in not having to mess around with wire transfers, international checks, the stress of checking your mail for payments, your time in going to the bank . . . do I have to keep going?

Clara Duarte · Posted: Sat May 05, 2007, 05:26 (GMT) Post subject:

I have been paid for small translation jobs and because they have a fixed fee, if you're paid for instance 10 USD, you'll get only 8 USD because almost 2 USD is the darned fee.

Now I am waiting for a UK agency to pay me (almost 800€) before I transfer my PayPal funds to my bank account, because there's also a fee on transfers below 100€.

Also, I have to change my PayPal real name because it's different from the one I have on my bank account. Why? Because Portuguese names are very long. So in PayPal I am Clara Duarte for instance, and my bank draft says I'm Clara S S Duarte de Figueiredo. If both names don't match I won't get my money and they'll charge extra fees.

So far, those are the only inconvenients.

Jody Ortiz · **Voice123 Team Member** Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 19

On a writing site I work through I bill through it and can set up an account so that they put their money up and on hold before I do the job so that I know they have the money to pay me. Any interest in Voice123 ever creating a way for you to get paid through them?

Joe J Thomas · Posted: Sun May 06, 2007, 05:43 (GMT) Post subject:

Garry O'Neal · Posted: Sat May 12, 2007, 14:53 (GMT) Post subject:

PayPal is definitely the way to go for international clients UNLESS they're in a country that PayPal doesn't serve. I think scammers may zero in on these countries. I heard from someone, supposedly from Jordan (a non-PayPal country), who wanted me to do commercials and sweepers for a radio station there. The station apparently exists because they have a website. A person with the same name as the one who contacted me exists, because she went to college in the States before returning to Jordan (I Googled her). After sporadic e-mails over several months, she decided they're ready, we settled on a price, and decided that a Western Union wire transfer was the way to go. Then she wanted my bank account number to do the transfer. I researched this and Western Union told me that my bank had nothing to do with the transfer. She kept insisting that they did. When I continually refused to give her my bank account number she said that her boss didn't want to pay the extra fees for a wire transfer and "she" was gone. "She" may have been one of those Nigerian Internet scammers for all I know. I saw another lead recently rom someone claiming to be in Jordan, and it looked even fishier.

On the other hand, I had a Latin American client who wanted to buy a couple music tracks of mine. He could not use PayPal. Realizing that any other way of payment would be a hassle for us both, I was going to let him have the tracks for free. He was insistant, though, and ended up sending me American bills tucked inside a CD case. So I got my money AND a cool Latin American CD to boot!

Garry O'Neal
www.neonsound.com