Sending $ to China

[skibum]

We want to send some $ to relatives in China for the New Year. My idea is to buy certified checks but I am not sure how easy it is to cash them in China. Any other ideas?

[keelec]

We want to send some $ to relatives in China for the New Year.  My idea is to buy certified checks but I am not sure how easy it is to cash them in China.  Any other ideas?

Check out the FAQ (pinned message).

 

Page 2, Frank listed several links about sending money back and forth from China.

 

------ CK -----

[keelec]

Oh,

 

Whenever I buy something on E-Bay from Europe, I aways send US$ Cash. It just is the easiest way to do it. I put on an 80 cent stamp, put the money inside of my letter, and mail it off. Haven't been burned yet.

 

Oh, as far as online auctions... I am very careful when dealing with sellers outside of USA, Canada, Europe, or Australia.

 

I WOULD NEVER SEND CASH TO RUSSIA. I don't know about China. Also, I end up spending a lot more than 80 cents to send mail there. Factor in the cost of postage and time & risk to mail it if you do not send the money electronically. There may also be additional fees cashing checks.

 

In theory, you can get American Express Money Orders (from your favorite supermarket) which should be good anywhere. But, again, I don't like the Russian Postal System.

 

----- Clifford ------

[Orrin]

The best way to send U.S. $$ to mainland China is by Western Union. I've done it several times, and it takes less than one day. Bank wire transfers can take up to 10 days, or longer.

[Bryan_Qunying]

What about using those new "VISA" cards that you can load up with money? The are more like gift cards in a credit card form. My wife uses a visa card I got for her through our bank in the US and she has no problems with it as long as she goes to one of the "Bank of China" branches. Most of the ATM's there accept VISA and Mastercard.

 

Bryan

[robhon]

Or, jump on an airplane with cash in your pocket and deliver it yourself!

 

If you save up a bunch of things you need to buy, that can be purchased far cheaper in China, you can actually almost pay for your trip! This is what we're figuring on doing with a lot of baby stuff. That little BabyGap t-shirt that costs $22 here, it's about 60 cents there. A few items like that and plane tickets get REALLY cheap.

 

Of course, you may have to have a baby to do this....

[dvs7310]

Open a Paypal account, put money in it. Get a debit card for you and your significant other...sent her copy to her, then she can take out the money at any ATM in China. No expenisve checks or currency exchange to worry about.

[Jatuke]

Western Union is by far the easiest and most accessible.

[warpedbored]

ATM is fine in big cities I suppose but Bing and I have had nothing but headace dealing with the atm machine at the Bank of China in Nanning. Ikobo has been a major pain for a pre paid atm card. They still owe us 150 dollars which Bing cant seem to get out of the machine. I also had a difficult time with my ATM card there. My experience is ATM machines are not that reliable. Western Uniion has worked for me every time. If I take cash to their window at the Safeway store near my house it only costs 12 dollars to send 600 dollars. Much cheaper than using their website.

[robhon]

Western Union is by far the easiest and most accessible.

Hm, this question comes up about once a month on Candle. People have various opinions on which is really the best method. It might be interesting to do a little chart to compare the relative ease and costs associated to getting money to China.

 

Anyone up for helping me create a little spreadsheet? Send me the following information on an actual transaction you've made and I'll create a spreadsheet we can all evaluate.

 

transaction start date

method

amount sent (USD)

charges at origin

date funds received

charges at destination

amount received (RMB)

 

Send me the data by PM or email. You're welcome to proportionately adjust the numbers to protect your privacy. Just make sure you do the math right.

 

I'm leaving tomorrow to go to CQ. I'm doing the cash transaction method because this is what my wife likes me to do.

 

Should be interesting.

[bobmal99]

Have a great time in CQ. Weather should be pretty nice. Just be sure to bring your own gas mask.

[robhon]

Have a great time in CQ.  Weather should be pretty nice.  Just be sure to bring your own gas mask.

And some warm woolies too!!

[Jim - Portland, USA]

Skibum,

 

I noticed you just wanted to send some money to relatives in China for the New Year. As in, "small" amounts of gift money, right? Then you probably don't want to bother with opening up banks accounts, taking out new credit/debit cards for each of them, all that stuff. Indeed bank transfers are the most secure (and reasonably priced for large transfers), but IMHO I think your best bet in Western Union. You might be able to send a paper check, but New Years' is techincally on 1/22 and you want it in their hands around that time, so again, Western Union outta do it. Transfer it all to one person and have him/her divy it up. Any Western Union transfer can be picked up at any post office in China, very conveneint.

 

But not all Western Union transfers are created equal!

 

I recently sent money to China using Western Union's website. A mistake!

 

Rob ... here is the info on that crummy deal:

 

mid-December 2003

westernunion.com

US$300 (principle?)

US$34 (fee)

US$334 (total amount charged)

The next day my sweetie picked up RMB 2460

 

That amounts to an "effective" exchange rate of 7.36

 

But just as Carl said ... it's better to use Western Union via a grocery store!! Carl used Safeway, I checked out Fred Meyer, I think both are part of the Kroger chain of stores?? Anyway, they charge a flat fee of $12 (way better than $34). Although I forgot to ask the exchange rate, duh.

 

I'll be sending more money over there in a few days (Western Union via Fred Meyer), I'll post the details then.

 

-Jim