The excitement for sales success on Amazon is sometimes softened with the realization that you have to pay bank transfer fees that eat away at your profits. However, with an understanding of transfer fees and how they work, you can reduce them.
The following is an overview of general fees for overseas bank transfers for Amazon sellers, along with insights on how to lower costs and increase profits.
Transaction fees on overseas payments, intermediary processing fees and exchange rate fees are among the most common costs for receiving international payments via Amazon. Your actual costs depend on regulations in domestic and transaction-host countries, your bank’s policies and exchange rates.
Amazon sellers in foreign countries may need a U.S. bank account to receive payments. Providers typically need a way to pay their VAT fees to authorities in the European Union.
It’s not possible to reduce all the fees associated with selling on Amazon, but it is possible to reduce transfer fees when getting paid from Amazon. Selecting the right payment processing services is critical to your ability to minimize fees and optimize services.
Ask potential providers about all possible processing fees you might incur when receiving overseas payments as an Amazon seller. A quality provider is transparent about costs and services upfront. Redundancies in a bank’s infrastructure contribute to higher costs. The more intermediaries and stages your payments have to move through, the more fees get tacked on throughout the transfer.
Don’t get so hung up on reducing fees, though, that you lose sight of the importance of a provider that offers excellent services. The following are some key qualities to look for in quality payment processing services:
Speed: Consider that transfer delays create indirect costs in that it takes longer for you to collect payments, thus delaying your ability to pay your bills and to minimize debt interest.
Reliability: It is often worth paying a bit more for a reliable provider. All it takes is one costly experience to override a small savings in per-transaction fees.
Licensing and Regulation: The best payment processing services must meet rigorous regulation standards to earn industry licensing. Proper licensing in payment services signifies that a provider is obligated to follow all regulations in place to protect customers.
Customer Support: Multi-lingual customer support is of vital importance when dealing with an international payment processing services provider. When issues or concerns do arise, you want to talk to someone that speaks your language, understands your message and communicates well.
Look beyond the direct payment processing fees in evaluating providers. Some providers offer a lot of value-added services that are costly when using “cheaper” options. Beneficial add-on services include:
Savvy selection of a payment processing services provider impacts your ability to reduce bank transfer fees on overseas payments as an Amazon eSeller. Payoneer is able to effectively balance affordable fees with numerous value-added services that make it one of the best options for international sellers on Amazon!