I am now tired of the international business.

[Paul Verizzo]

Mike, I really feel sorry for you. Unless you are getting enough quality international customers to offset these jerks, don't do it. I cross my fingers when I send something to or from even Canada. Not dishonesty, just a couple more layers to deal with with the border and hand-offs.

One time I sent a package of photographs to a new friend who lives in a small town in the mountains of northern Mexico. Everyone knows everyone. I visited him some months later, he never got them. Photos, of no value, no reason to steal. Fortunately, I ran another set off before leaving.

People don't realize how important a good federal postal system is to being able to conduct business. There's a reason ours (USA) was actually written into the Constitutions as one of the things the government should do. Compare us to Mexico.

The only way I would ever ship to Mexico is one of the big shipping houses, UPS, FedEx, DHL.

 

[Smile]

Is that rate for doing it in person or using a cash point?

That's the price of using self service online banking.

The other alternative is a temp debit/credit card which you can load with funds and avoid fees. There are many ways around it, people have just become lazy and rely on things like Paypal.

There is no such thing here, only banks may issue credit/debit cards.

 

[Smile]

Just checked the prices again:

EU zone bank transfer is now 0,41 Eur
Non EU SHA transfer 13,03 Eur

So at least in EU it's worth using now, better than paypal.

 

[CakeHole]

worth shopping around and always checking before just going with things like Paypal

 

[Smile]

worth shopping around and always checking before just going with things like Paypal

But not everyone want's to give you their bank details, seller or customer.

I was also screwed by U.S. seller company too, I payed by bank transfer and behold, goods were not as described poor quality etc. The goods were 300$, shipping 300$, total ~600$ of scrap metal that I still can't turn into working product.

I also made a mistake by complaining on t-shitforums where peopple were as stupid as the company that sold me the crap. No offense but being afraid to tear down something if pure evidence of stupidity.

I sent complaints, got no reply. Then the company said they see no problems even after I sent them photos showing defects like metal shavings inside electronics, bad quality etc. etc. The thing was made with hack saw etc. To make photos I had to open the thing and company said I void my warranty, but there were no "warranty void" stickers.

So has I payed with paypal at least I could complain to Paypal and get my money back ! Not every customer is a scam, if they are it's not majority so to speak. But if a U.S company does the same then I really don't know.

 

[CakeHole]

If you had paid by Credit Card you could simply report it as a fraudulent charge and get your money back. No arguing with any third party like Paypal needed.

A bank transfer although i recommended that to milking as one method i would never pay for goods with unless you know the seller can be trusted, which in milkings case i think its safe to say nobody here (with the exception of a single idiot troll that pops up) would have any issue paying him in that manner.

The whole point of that suggestion is see he as a seller did not get scammed anymore. The fact you could not get your money back from this company you mention in the US kinda (although not in a good way for you) shows how that would stop the scammers with regards to him being a seller getting screwed over as he described. Once he has their cash they would not be able to play their silly games.

 

[Harvey]

If you know a reputable seller you wouldn´t mind sending money through Western Union or revealing your credit card info, in this case I am not afraid of doing such thing with Mike. I won´t disclose my cc info to a small company it makes you doubt. Most people will only trust well established and huge companies to do so like Am..on, B$HP..to, Ad..ama, etc.

If I get to a site like PC site through Google without even knowing the seller I would doubt the site given many scam/phising sites, then PayPal would be the only method to pay. Is in this case scenario that PayPal gives you some kind of confidence in keeping your money safe, as per say seller shipping a totally different product than the one you ordered, etc.​

 

[Harvey]

@mikling Sorry for all your loss of money.

You should consider your international customers, if they are a small number then you should discard international shipping, being the one running the bussiness will let you know what actions to take. Also consider insurance even if that makes shipping a little more expensive.​

 

[jtoolman]

You might filter ink using syringe filters these filter down to 0.2 micron etc. But usual 4.5micron should be used if ink is pigment, else you can use smaller like 1micron etc.

UV would kill only on surface not below I think so shining into bottle will not work. However if you would pour ink into large flat container that would be possible, again only for dye inks.

When I worked in a Microbiological Research lab ( for the past 30 years ) we had to filter sterilize all of our liquid culture media prior to any use.
Any media containing ANY organic supplement had to be filtered rather than autoclaved as heat would destroy or denature organics.

Filtering is an easy and viable option but the initial setup would run a bit of money.
A good lab grade vacuum pump ( Several hundred $$$ ) and the disposable sterile filter units such as those from "Nalgene" which can run you about $70 a piece for a liter unit. They are not reusable!
We would run all of our filter sterilization under a HEPA filtered bio safety hood.

Doing it on an open bench would negate the point of filter sterilization.

Although for this case should be more than good enough and probably NO ink company would ever go to that extent.

We had to go as low as 0.02um but for possible fungal contamination a 0.45 or 0.8um would be more than sufficient.

Joe

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

The source is not at my location as I finally found one sample in sealed bottles from the supplier.

That's worth repeating. Thank you, Mike.