General
We accept most forms of cleared funds.
We prefer payment by cheque (payable to "Chard"), but are happy with cash.
In our showroom we accept debit cards.
We accept credit cards subject to a 3% surcharge.
For high value purchases or gold bullion, we allow a generous week for UK cheque clearance before shipping, for other countries we have to allow longer.
If you would prefer quicker despatch, you may wish to pay by bank transfer (wire) instead.
Please remember to quote the ebay item number when paying.
Our advice would be to print off the "Seller's Payment Status", and enclose it with your payment. This helps to make things idiot-proof at our end.

Canadian Customers
Most of our auctions are conducted in pounds sterling (GBP), Ebay's systems don't have any easy way for us to invoice other customers including Canadians, and as different customers have their own preferred methods of payment (and shipping) we have provided this page as a guide. the following is a list of payment options we suggest, in approximate order of preference.

• Cheques
  If you have a sterling (British Pounds) account at a British bank, this is almost certainly the best way to pay us.
  While we are quite happy to accept personal or company cheques in US dollars drawn on a US bank, the small volume of orders we get from Canada makes it uneconomic for us to accept Canadian Dollar cheques drawn on Canadian banks. If you wish to pay by cheque, please add sufficient to cover our extra banking charges, usually £10 per cheque handling, plus exchange rate costs.
  For larger amounts, bullion purchases or new customers, we reserve the right to clear cheques before despatching orders. You may wish to send a wire transfer, please see below.
• Cash
  We never refuse cash payment. We accept sterling (GBP), US Dollars, Euros, Swiss Francs, although for larger transactions, bank transfers are a practical option. Cash can be posted safely within the UK using Royal Mail's special Delivery service. If you wish to post cash from the USA, we advise you to send it via an insured service. For small amounts, it may be worth risking sending uninsured, and this may be an economic method, but please note you do so at your own risk. We would accept cash payment in Canadian dollars, but it is less convenient for us than for the other currencies mentioned.
• Bank Transfer
  For large transactions, a bank transfer may be convenient. Please ensure that your bank quotes a unique reference, such as your name and the ebay item number. Also please ensure you instruct your bank that you wish to pay ALL charges, which includes those by the receiving bank and its UK agents, in addition to those your bank levies. Over $1,000 we would strongly suggest this method.
• Postal Orders, Money Orders
  Postal orders are acceptable, but are an expensive way to pay. Money orders are also perfectly acceptable, and may be an economical method of sending payment. Please make these in pounds sterling. If drawn on a non-UK bank, you may need to add sufficient to cover the extra bank charges.
• Debit Cards
  We accept debit cards in our showroom, although we do worry about large amounts. We are slightly wary of CNP (Cardholder Not Present) transactions, but if you wish to try paying using your debit card by post, please enclose fully detailed instructions, including all necesary card details, and signature, with your order. You could send this by fax if you do not want to wait for the postal system to deliver your mail. You could also send your instructions by e-mail. Some customers e-mail their details in 2 separate e-mails. The disadvantages of e-mail are that we do not get a signature, and it is possible for your e-mail to go astray, get bounced, or us just to miss spotting it. (We receive over 1,000 e-mails daily, of which about 80% is spam, it often takes hours to filter the spam before we can safely download the remainder).
  We can only process your card payment in pounds sterling (GBP).
• Credit Cards
  We believe credit cards are inflationary, and profiteering by banks, but we do accept them, slightly reluctantly, subject to a surcharge of 3%. This applies only to Visa and Mastercard. For cross-border transactions of moderate size (up to $1,000), credit cards are probably an economic method.
  We do not accept American Express or Diners Club cards at any price.
  We can only process your card payment in pounds sterling (GBP).
• PayPal
  In case you didn't notice, we do not currently accept PayPal. If we did, we would have ticked the "We Accept Paypal" box on the "How to Pay" form.

Simple Speedy Tip
To save you e-mailing us to ask for an exact billing breakdown, then waiting for our reply, you can simply use your preferred payment method, and authorise us to charge the appropriate total. We will then calculate the correct figure and charge it. To protect yourself, you could always stipulate a maximum amount. We will give a brief example of how this could work:
Assume you estimate the total costs including shipping, insurance, and any credit card surcharge comes to between about £80 to £90, write on your instructions "Not exceeding £100". You can do this with a card transaction or on a check.

Telephone Instructions
Although many companies regularly accept card payment by telephone, we prefer not to. It's too easy for us to make a mistake, and it's also too easy for the fraudsters to use a stolen credit card number. Please use one of the other methods suggested above.

Please Avoid
Please avoid sending us dollar cheques, drafts or money orders in US Dollars drawn on a non-US bank, unless you add sufficient to cover the extra processing charges these incur.

Back to our Main Information about Chard for Ebay Buyers page.