the subject today is online payments (and a bit of contribution to the nice forum) :

This is going to sound like an add, but if your tired of not being able to use paypal, there is a LEGAL turnaround. its called moneybookers.com.

i havent used in a few month but i logged there a few days ago and discovered they have an ebay seller section meaning that many ebay sellers can now use it to get payed.

Yes moneybookers is available in Lebanon, after doing some quick research , the service seems to be more trustworthy then paypal and especially more flexible. ( can send money to anyone with an email and a credit card).

i ve seen many ebay sellers with moneybooker option now a days.

Now some might ask how do i get things delivered here, check with aramex and UPS , they have a once in a lifetime subscription for a "mailbox in newyork" system.
Basically once u pay them u obtain a mailbox in new york, from which the courrier will send ur goods to lebanon.

so what u do is 1 -> buy and insert the mailbox given by the courier
2-> u ll get a call or email , which will inform u hat u got ur stuff to NY and then send here.

Things to know , what ever u order except BOOKS ( there are some exceptions etcc..) u have to pay :

[price of good + shipping to NY]
+ [shipping to Lebanon] <--payment to courrier, can get expensive depending on size and weight
+ 10% TVA + 10% customs(for electronics,dont know for the rest)

for the 20% always call the people and ask , they are usually helpful.

IMO if the price difference between the items is less then 30% , its not worth it....

hope u ll find this helpful
AFAIK, Moneybookers doesn't allow credit card payment for Lebanese residents, only wire transfer.
Am I wrong?

The NY mailbox thing is interesting to know.
Thanks
not only can u use ur credit card , but u can also use ur bank account !! :P

the process is simple
submit u card number , date of expiry an the cvc.
it ll take a 3 digit amount fro ur acount : betwee :1.00 and 2.00 dollars ( u ll hav to see at bank how much it took , or thru mini statement if u have an audi card , and an audi machine is close by)
u use that 3 digit number to verify ur card o the website.

my setting : i have both a credit car and a intrnet card set on the website.
also my bank account is set up, if iget payments , i cn decide to send the money dirctly to my bank account.

the system works diferent then paypal :
u upload funds from ur card (2% charge) and then u are able to use those funds how ever u want so always upload to the account : price of item +2%
Hi neonsun, welcome to the forum (seems you're new).
Thanks for your contribution, but please format your posts, it kills the eyes.

(and by the way, it sounds like an ad. You can actually propose this solution for lebanese online buyers without sounding so marketing :) which would look better than now)
neonsun: how you ever tried to withdraw from moneybookers into your bank account? if so, how many days did it take
the website claims MAX 5 to 7 working days but no never actually tried it
it'd be useful if we get input from anyone who sold anything or any service through moneybookers and was able to withdraw normally like paypal does for other countries.
8 months later
Ok I've just opened a support ticket with MoneyBookers to confirm whether we could receive and withdraw money from the account. Will report back with the updates.
Ok here's what the customer support sent me a few minutes ago:
MoneyBookers Customer Support wroteDear Mr. Darwish,

Thank you for your email and for your interest in Moneybookers Merchant Services.

With regards to your query we would like to kindly ask you to find our answers inline:

1. Is it possible to send money across the globe from LEBANON using MoneyBookers?
- Yes, you may send and receive email payments from other Moneybookers members. In case you have a website of your own we could offer you our Merchant Services in order to be able to also receive direct credit and debit card payments on it.

For the purpose, please provide us with a fully operational website, a description of the goods or services you offer, the expected volume of monthly sales, returns and charge backs you process and if you are using any kind of a platform or a shopping cart for your website.

2. Is it possible to use MoneyBookers to shop online from LEBANON?
- Yes you can use your Moneybookers account for shopping online as long as Moneybookers is mentioned as a payment options.

3. Is it possible to receive and withdraw money using MoneyBookers in LEBANON? If so, how?
- The only limitation regarding Moneybookers services is associated with the withdraws of your account. Currently residence of Lebanon cannot withdraw funds to a local bank account, but only to a bank account opened in another country where Moneybookers services are supported. The fee applied to your account per withdrawing in this case will be 3.50 EUR 0per transaction.

4. Is it possible to set up a payment gateway on my website using MoneyBookers and accept payments from LEBANESE residents who have a MoneyBookers account? Does your API accept credit card info as well?
- Please note, that you will be able to receive direct credit and debit card payments on your website by integrating Moneybookers Merchant Gateway and having your account upgraded with a Merchant status.

However, all your clients residence of Lebanon will be asked to create a Moneybookers account during the payment process on your website.

In case you would like to apply for our merchant capabilities activation, please provide us with the already requested information in point 1.

We hope you will find this information useful. We are looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind regards,

Moneybookers Merchant Services
What do you think?
So basically you can buy online but not receive money..
I also use Google checkout (to buy stuff from Android market), u can buy using an internet card but not receive.
for shipping, besides aramex and UPS, there is also myus.com (i use it since 2005..), 60$ subscription per year. of course u should add shipping+VAT+customs (it depends sometimes they charge 10% for electronics other time 20% without any valid reason so be careful ) so it is not worth it if u can find the item in Lebanon (less around 40%)
6 months later
http://www.lebgeeks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8332
Hi,

i now it was discussed a few times here but I wanted to conclude now:

- Moneybookers is available for buying stuff, but you cant receive money
- Google Checkout works too (?)
- Paypal doesnt work


So which models would you chose for your website?

And, is there a payment method, where you can pay from your phone? Like buying a card with a number, call a special nuber and you receive the money? Is something like this available in Lebanon and wide spread?

And what about oldschool "wire/bank transfer" like going to a bank and say: plz send the money to this bank account (or online banking)

Which ones make sense to use in Lebanon and which one would you prefer?

Thank you

jamal
im not talking about creditcards
2 months later
*bump*

please anyone has any experience?
Only Mastercard:
Check www.liqpay.com, You don't need to make an account, you just enter your phone number, they send you the password and you're in, each time a new password is sent.
You can Deposit/Withdraw from/to your Credit card, You need to verify your credit card first like each payment service websites, they simply debit 0-3$ from your credit card, then after you check your credit card statement, you simply enter the amount and you're done.
And you can contact them about adding a payment link from your website. The good thing is that there won't be any Fraud issue.
Well i always use it to exchange my money for Liberty Reserve $. I never had problems with them, but nowadays Visa is accepted in the Russian countries ( forgot the name, something like C.I.S. country ) and Mastercard is accepted Worldwide.

Check www.alertpay.com, A lot of websites started using it like a Payment method, similar to Paypal. You can Withdraw and Deposit, send and receive.

About the phone number payment, some websites uses a phone payment to charge a specific amount, the buyer needs to send a message to a specific number or Make a phone call for a specific number of minutes to match the price of the product or service.
17 days later
a month later
there is Perfectmoney.com it supports deposits and withdrawals from and to lebanon according to their Faqs ... there's only 4 countries not supported .... didn't try it yet though !
2 years later
Dont use Skrill / Moneybookers (Skrill is the same company with a new name).
Bascially they will block your account with your money inside it forever.
Don't take my word for it, you can find many negative reviews online.

More about this below, I've written a long post on that in another thread, but I didn't want to double-post by copy-pasting here, you can check it out here if you want to read more:

http://lebgeeks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=126226#p126226