Wire transfer (1 Viewer)

[Jers28]

Does anyone have experience with ordering chairs from China? I’d like to buy some custom chairs for my main table. I’ve been shopping for months. I’ve looked into the Alibaba.com option and didn’t get good vibes. Not on the chairs, themselves. They straight up told me they couldn’t do the embroidery of my logo as is. They have a 4 color max. I’m not simplifying my logo for them. I’d rather buy chairs without any logo than one that doesn’t match my tables, chips, etc. Plus they got super political and wouldn’t give me a firm quote on shipping. So I gave up on them.

I have church chairs for my other tables and they’re fine, but want something higher end for the “main” table.

I have gone back and forth with this company for weeks now, primarily because English isn’t the other parties first language and time zones. Every question takes days of back and forth to get resolved. I think we have finally worked out all the kinks and I’m ready to place my order. They’ve assured me all my concerns are taken care of and I finally got an invoice so I can place the order. However, there’s no link to pay with any method I’ve ever used. They want me to wire transfer money into their bank in China. Has anyone done this? Is this standard? I don’t want to blindly piss away a couple grand.

I’d welcome any input! Thanks!

 

[Kam]

Watching with interest. This’ll be my next big purchase. I don’t have experience yet so can’t help here.

Friendly note - recommend you blur/remove your address on the pic.

 

[BEANO52]

If these are the Alibaba Chairs then yes.

2 of the home games I've played in have these specifically. I bellieve they did a combined order of 22 chairs (11 apiece) just in case there was an issue. I don't believe there were any issues.

They are FANTASTIC value and very high quality. Would recomend.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/official-home-game-pics-thread.4135/post-2450729

@EnjoyLife

 

[Taghkanic]

High-end chairs... Well, last year I assembled a set of 10 vintage Eames/Herman Miller leather "soft pad" chairs. One is the high-backed version, for my dealer. They tilt, and swivel, and are on casters. And look great.

These are famously comfortable chairs meant to make sitting in an office for 8-12 hours at a time a dream. I sourced most of them from an office liquidator, plus two from a Marketplace seller. It took a lot of looking and haggling.

Average cost: $400 each.

How did I justify spending that much? Much like we justify buying high-and clay chips: because these hold their value—and in fact usually go for much more.

In antiques stores and on auction sites like 1st Dibs, these routinely go for $1,200-$2000 apiece:

https://www.1stdibs.com/id-f_46140692

So when I'm finally done with poker (or my heirs sell these), the bottom line price will be at worst $0 and possibly as much as a gain of $16,000.

Note: I removed the arms on these chairs to make more room at the table. They are stored with the screws, and easily put back.

What I'm really suggesting: Think out if the box. Look beyond "gaming chairs." But something which will retain its value, or even increase, and won't wind up in a landfill in 10 years.

 

[Jers28]

High-end chairs... Well, last year I assembled a set of 10 vintage Eames/Herman Miller leather "soft pad" chairs. One is the high-backed version, for my dealer. They tilt, and swivel, and are on casters. And look great.

These are famously comfortable chairs meant to make sitting in an office for 8-12 hours at a time a dream. I sourced most of them from an office liquidator, plus two from a Marketplace seller. It took a lot of looking and haggling.

Average cost: $400 each.

How did I justify spending that much? Much like we justify buying high-and clay chips: because these hold their value—and in fact usually go for much more.

In antiques stores and on auction sites like 1st Dibs, these routinely go for $1,200-$2000 apiece:

https://www.1stdibs.com/id-f_46140692

So when I'm finally done with poker (or my heirs sell these), the bottom line price will be at worst $0 and possibly as much as a gain of $16,000.

Note: I removed the arms on these chairs to make more room at the table. They are stored with the screws, and easily put back.

What I'm really suggesting: Think out if the box. Look beyond "gaming chairs." But something which will retain its value, or even increase, and won't wind up in a landfill in 10 years.

View attachment 1552439

I appreciate the input. I don’t mind paying a premium for high quality items. I spared no expense in my most recent table build, for example. The Deckmate, for example. My issue is space or lack there of. I already have 3 tables crammed into my home theater and I simply don’t have the extra space.

 

[Jers28]

I’m simply asking if anyone has first hand experience doing a wire to an individual bank instead of paying with more traditional methods, like PayPal or a credit card. I have been shopping for chairs for months. I’m happy with my choice, if the wire thing isn’t a scam.

 

[ekricket]

@justincarothers

 

[Highli99]

Wire payments are pretty customary for international payments. Wires are also expensive and annoying, which is why i don't get why people are not more comfortable with basically free stable coin payments using USDT or USDC. They are an obvious solution for international payments. But not to derail the question...

You can send a wire pretty easily with most online banking. You will need pretty much all the information they helpfully put at the bottom of the invoice. Sending the wire will also cost you about $30, depending on your bank. You may also need to pay a fee for them to receive it, since banks are the worst. However, they will get it the same day, so I guess that is good. Not instantly like crypto, though.

Now, is it a scam? Hard to say. I don't know how to verify that part of it, but perhaps you could Google the entity names you are sending the money to and ask about fraud. That might surface something. Otherwise, you kinda have to pay and pray. Such is the life of an importer. Another thing to consider is tariffs, and I have no effing clue how that part is getting managed, but your purchase is likely above the deminimus threshold, so you may need to be prepared for that. Unless it's a scam in which you'll not have any goods to pay tariff on.

Let us know how it turns out?

 

[Jers28]

Wire payments are pretty customary for international payments. Wires are also expensive and annoying, which is why i don't get why people are not more comfortable with basically free stable coin payments using USDT or USDC. They are an obvious solution for international payments. But not to derail the question...

You can send a wire pretty easily with most online banking. You will need pretty much all the information they helpfully put at the bottom of the invoice. Sending the wire will also cost you about $30, depending on your bank. You may also need to pay a fee for them to receive it, since banks are the worst. However, they will get it the same day, so I guess that is good. Not instantly like crypto, though.

Now, is it a scam? Hard to say. I don't know how to verify that part of it, but perhaps you could Google the entity names you are sending the money to and ask about fraud. That might surface something. Otherwise, you kinda have to pay and pray. Such is the life of an importer. Another thing to consider is tariffs, and I have no effing clue how that part is getting managed, but your purchase is likely above the deminimus threshold, so you may need to be prepared for that. Unless it's a scam in which you'll not have any goods to pay tariff on.

Let us know how it turns out?

I asked about tariffs and he claims that they’re built into the cost, which didn’t sound right, tbh. But, as you pointed out, if it’s a scam, I’m all set! . I appreciate the feedback, sincerely. Sound advice. I’ll see what I can dig up and keep you guys posted.

 

[Kam]

I’ve used Wise for international transfers to Canada/UK, and it’s typically quite a bit cheaper than your bank wire fees. You don’t really get any protection with wires, but it is cheaper.

GL

 

[DrStrange]

Payment by wire transfer is a common payment method for large transactions. This isn't a large transaction, but perhaps the vendor doesn't ever sell in a retailer-like way. Hero should understand that he has little to no recourse if anything goes wrong with the wire or if something goes wrong with the order. Which is a plenty good reason for the seller to deal in wired money rather than use a credit card merchant account.

The wire fee from Hero's side is likely ~$50. The vendor is paying something like ~$15. Perhaps crypto is cheaper if we ignore the learning curve and the costs related to getting the crypto converted back to useful currency. There is an ever-present fear of fraud. That is why the tried-and-true methods are very sticky. Why should the vendor take the risk and expend the effort over $15? (Making the dubious assumption that the crypto transaction plus conversion to local currency has zero costs.)

Importers typically use a third-party freight forwarding service that handles the paperwork and import taxes. Hero isn't doing business this way for good reason - this if far too small a job to afford professional help.

Same sort of problem for getting legal advice. The cost of professional help overwhelms the cost of the order.

Let's just assume hero can afford to blow off the $3,000 if things go wrong (yes, there could be $1,000 in taxes owed before getting to inspect the product.) On the other hand, Hero might get some really fine custom chairs that would have cost several times more money if made in the USA.

Please let us know how it turns out. Pictures too! Creating envy is a good thing. Hero took the risk and deserves to gloat over his loot! -=- DrStrange

 

[Jers28]

Payment by wire transfer is a common payment method for large transactions. This isn't a large transaction, but perhaps the vendor doesn't ever sell in a retailer-like way. Hero should understand that he has little to no recourse if anything goes wrong with the wire or if something goes wrong with the order. Which is a plenty good reason for the seller to deal in wired money rather than use a credit card merchant account.

The wire fee from Hero's side is likely ~$50. The vendor is paying something like ~$15. Perhaps crypto is cheaper if we ignore the learning curve and the costs related to getting the crypto converted back to useful currency. There is an ever-present fear of fraud. That is why the tried-and-true methods are very sticky. Why should the vendor take the risk and expend the effort over $15? (Making the dubious assumption that the crypto transaction plus conversion to local currency has zero costs.)

Importers typically use a third-party freight forwarding service that handles the paperwork and import taxes. Hero isn't doing business this way for good reason - this if far too small a job to afford professional help.

Same sort of problem for getting legal advice. The cost of professional help overwhelms the cost of the order.

Let's just assume hero can afford to blow off the $3,000 if things go wrong (yes, there could be $1,000 in taxes owed before getting to inspect the product.) On the other hand, Hero might get some really fine custom chairs that would have cost several times more money if made in the USA.

Please let us know how it turns out. Pictures too! Creating envy is a good thing. Hero took the risk and deserves to gloat over his loot! -=- DrStrange

Highly informative, well written, thoughtful and entertaining are a just a few of the things that spring to mind from your response. Thank you for taking the time! I definitely understand that there’s inherent risk involved. You gave me some new angles I hadn’t considered, however. I suppose poker players have higher risk tolerance than most, so it boils down to whether or not I want to jam with a 4 to the flush draw with 2 cards to come. Sounds like roughly the same odds. I can live with that, assuming my bankroll can afford the hit if my card doesn’t come. And in this case, it can. Thanks again

 

[Jers28]

Small update…

The dude I was dealing with got ruder and ruder. He basically said to take my business elsewhere when I asked some basic question to get this thing across the finish line. After weeks of back and forth, because every message took a full day to get a response and the language barrier meant one question took 3-4 attempts to get resolved. Like he was harping on the height of my poker table, which I gave him in cms and inches several times for a full week. Anyway, so when he told me I could take my business elsewhere, I did just that.

I sent a message to Francis at Alibaba yesterday morning at around 5am my time or 6pm his time. By last night, I had wired them 50% down, which he insisted, instead of full payment. He gave me a 5% discount for telling him about the Alibaba thread here in the forum. Before I pay the balance, they will send me pics and video of my finished chairs to make sure I’m happy with the custom embroidery. He also urged me to spend a few extra bucks to have the whole thing sent in wooden crates, which I was happy to do. Shorter version, it felt 10 times more above board than the first guy.

I’ll post pics when they share pics with me and when I receive the chairs. As for now, I went from feeling like it was 50/50 at best I’d ever get the chairs I ordered, to like 90/10. Could be stone dead wrong, but seems much stronger.

 

[Eloe2000]

Wire transfers are very common with Alibaba sellers. As are prepayments for custom work.

I have done several significantly sized buys and group buys from Alibaba sellers.

I did have a wire transaction go wrong once which was scary. Eventually I was able to rectify the situation. Just make sure to verify and triple check payment details.

 

[Taghkanic]

I appreciate the input. I don’t mind paying a premium for high quality items. I spared no expense in my most recent table build, for example. The Deckmate, for example. My issue is space or lack there of. I already have 3 tables crammed into my home theater and I simply don’t have the extra space.

Understood. However, I don't know that my chairs take up more room than the ones pictured (especially once the arms were removed). And sorry for the derail, I should have held back since this thread is really about the wire problem not chair choice.

 

[Jers28]

Understood. However, I don't know that my chairs take up more room than the ones pictured (especially once the arms were removed). And sorry for the derail, I should have held back since this thread is really about the wire problem not chair choice.

And I’m happy you like your chairs! I’ve been shopping FB marketplace, furniture stores of all price points, classifieds, etc for months. I’m never closed off to thinking outside the box. I just am not seeing much in secondary markets the PCF community wouldn’t consider absolute garbage. I honestly don’t think these chairs will be in a landfill in ten years. They have videos showing the construction and materials used. Definitely not the trash materials you find in a “gaming chair” from your local Staples. I definitely try to buy and/or build furniture to last. One of my poker tables is 22 years old. Primarily, because I built it myself out of A grade materials. The felt has been replaced more times than I can remember, but the table itself is in just as good of condition today as 22 years ago.

But, yes…my question was whether people had experience with wiring money directly to a Chinese bank, as I definitely had not. Now I do, so fingers crossed it goes well. I’ll still keep my eyes open if other opportunities present themselves. I have 4 tables, after all.

 

[Himewad]

I have done a wire transfer twice. Each time, my bank gave me the side-eye and wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing. Each time, it went through just fine. But it's definitely a little nerve-wracking when you give the final go-ahead to send your money out the door.

 

[JazzyJosh]

Pro tip for wires: Schwab's brokerage account offers free wires. They've got a great interface for trading as well and free ATM fee reimbursement on their checking account so it's worth considering keeping around if you want a good low cost option.


May not be worth opening just to do the wire of course. Would look a little strange to fund an account from nothing then immediately deplete it.

 

[Jers28]

It’s been done for a while now. I’ve already got pics and vids of my completed chairs. They shipped this way on 9/1, so fingers crossed there are no surprises. The chairs looked great.