Dear Marina:

This may help those paying the money, but it doesn't deal with the
extremely high fees many banks charge those receiving such cheques for
paying in foreign cheques. Some European banks are reported to charge a
minimum of US. $50 or even $80 for paying a foreign cheque into the bank
accounts of their own clients.

Certainly when I was on the Executive Council of the International Council
of Museums (ICOM) a few years ago we had to abandon all mail order sales
of ICOM publications from the Secretariat and switch to bookshop sales
agencies because just about everything we published for sale was priced
at less than the $25 minimum paying-in fee charged by the bank for
crediting such foreign payments - even if these were denominated in French
francs - so that all cheques for such payments were literally worthless.



Patrick Boylan

===========================


On Thu, 19 Jul 2001, Areli Marina wrote:

> There seems to be one new alternative for solving the dreaded paying a
> non-US museum for photographs problem. Citibank has started an on-line
> service called www.c2it.com which will send either a foreign currency check
> or a bank transfer directly to a foreign recipient for only US $10 and US $
> 15 respectively. An important catch is that they will mail the check to the
> payee only--they will not mail the check to the sender so that he or she can
> append the photo request forms to the check and then mail out the entire
> package...
>
> I've used them to send money to individuals and it has worked well for me.
> It may be worth a shot, since it's half the price of the average wire
> transfer.
>
>
>
> Areli Marina
> Insitute of Fine Arts, NYU - American Academy in Rome
> [log in to unmask]
>
> In Italy, there has long been an alternative for those frantic times when
> you can't get to your espresso maker: the luscious liquid espresso-filled
> chocolates called Pocket Coffee. Now you can get them in the USA, too. Take
> a look: www.pocketcoffeeshop.com
> Really, the next best thing.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sarah Cloud" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 2:39 PM
> Subject: Redux: Paying for Foreign Photographs
>
>
> > Hello, Museum List,
> >
> > As I conclude my internship and clean out my inbox, I realize that I
> haven't
> > yet recorded the responses to my months-ago query regarding paying for
> > photographs from foreign museums/organizations.
> >
> > Museum-Listers sent me some great ideas, and I'll be saving them for
> future
> > reference--what I gather is that it varies from institution to
> institution,
> > and there's no Best Way to do this.
> >
> > I especially thank Museum-L reader S.F. in the Rhineland, who telephoned
> the
> > troublesome German publishing house and determined that they do not,
> > unfortunately, accept credit cards and that wire transfers are preferred.
> > (I did end up going the route of sending an expensive US$-to-Euros wire
> > transfer, and promptly received some beautiful slides and color
> > reproductions.  Unfortunately, they were too late for my conference; if
> only
> > I'd just sprung for the wire transfer immediately!)
> >
> > I received a few private requests from others who were wondering the same
> > thing, so I'll list the ideas I've gathered here for brainstorming
> purposes:
> >
> > --The Worcester Art Museum asks that those in foreign countries requesting
> > photos either wire the payment to a bank account in US dollars, or send a
> > check/draft in US dollars.
> >
> > --My university advisor and another art history scholar with whom I
> chatted
> > at the conference tend to do  the following:  1.  Save any leftover
> currency
> > you accumulated when you traveled in the country, and just send it as
> cash.
> > 2.  Send a personal check and hope for the best.
> >
> > --This has worked for someone who had a contact in the Czech Republic:  He
> > sends a check in US dollars drawn on his bank, and his contact's bank
> > figures out the exchange in the appropriate currency.
> >
> > --A museum director at another museum notes that personal checks have
> worked
> > for German institutions as well.  However, the Rhenish Museum-L reader
> > mentioned problems cashing US checks at German banks; there can be a fee.
> >
> > --See if the museum/organization accepts credit cards (O, how I wish!
> :-)).
> >
> >
> > --"International Money Orders" in U.S. funds can apparently be cashed
> > anywhere; e-bay users who've made international purchases have used these.
> > They should be available at large commercial banks and possibly the US
> > Postal Service-I'm not sure.  I suspect there'd be a small fee at the bank
> > for cashing these.
> >
> > --A reader in Canada recommends postal money orders, after having had bad
> > luck sending personal checks in foreign (to the recipient) funds.  Postal
> > money orders are cheap and carry insurance.
> >
> > --Try sending traveler's checks (recommended by a Colombian living in the
> > US).  I expect there'd be a small fee at the bank or cambio/exchange for
> > cashing these, too, but it could work well.
> >
> > --If you can't send a wire to the institution, you may have to get a draft
> > in foreign funds from your bank (which can be just as expensive as a wire,
> > unfortunately; anywhere from $25 to $40 from what I've seen).
> >
> > So, basically, with all our modern technology and global connectedness,
> > there's still no One Good Way to do this. :-)
> >
> > Sarah E. Cloud
> > Worcester Art Museum Curatorial Intern
> > [log in to unmask]
> > 508-799-4406 Ex. 3027
> >
> > =========================================================
> > Important Subscriber Information:
> >
> > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
> http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
> information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message
> to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help"
> (without the quotes).
> >
> > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
> [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
> Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
>
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "h
elp" (without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).