Buying seed from the Czech Republic.

[Giles]

A word of caution fellow Forumists, when you are buying some of those wonderful seeds.....
.....it is illegal to send bank notes through the post to The Czech Republic.(even by registered post).
I didn't know this until just recently and had had no problems before sending 20 euros for a few packets.


Given that my bank charges £20 to do a direct money transfer, those seeds are going to prove expensive

[Maggi Young]

I have found that PayPal is a handy way to send money around the world in small doses. Not sure that it works for the Czech Republic,  though 

[mark smyth]

It must only be USA to Cz. I havent had problems in the past sending money

[Tony Willis]

Mark I did not know that sunny Northants was in America,must swat up on my geography.

here is an excerp from the Post Office website

Sending cash abroad
Due to local customs regulations, economic controls and security issues, many countries do not allow cash to be sent through their postal networks.  Royal Mail Cannot accept liability for loss or damage to mail items containing cash which are sent to these destinations. Currently, the following countries all prohibit the sending of cash:

Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Bolivia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, China (excluding Hong Kong and Macao), Comoros, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Laos (People’s Democratic Republic of), Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malawi, Montenegro, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Rwanda, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

[David Nicholson]

As far as I know there are absolutely no restrictions on sending money, either cash or notes of any denomination, to Devon where all donations will be gratefully received. I await my pleasure

[ChrisB]

Typical Yorkshireman eh? 

[mark smyth]

oops I was watching Big Cat Live, preparing a lecture and going through the forum. I thought it was Guff who was asking

[Lesley Cox]

We are not even allowed to send money through the mail WITHIN New Zealand - or lottery tickets or raffle tickets or anything paper that could be WORTH money (we do it though). How stupid. After all, we can send cheques! Since I send each of my grandchildren money for their birthdays (gifts at Christmas) it travels in the form of a banknote, well wrapped in opaque paper. But if lost, normal postal insurance which covers loss of a parcel, for instance, is invalid.

[gote]

Well
I have been sending money to some of the countries mentioned.
I use crisp banknotes hidden in a double postcard in an envelope.
It has always arrived safely. Only a few countries have perfect postal cencorship.
My bank charged me the equivalent of 30$ for sending 100 so I rather take the risk.
I think that we must make a distinction between two cases:
#1. The postal services refuse to take responsibility for valuables lost in the mail
#2. Command-economies trying to keep track of every penny.
Postal little popes (Swedish expression) often try to make #1 look like #2.
It probably makes them feel more important.
Göte
 
 

[Giles]

I gather they x-ray a proportion of incoming mail and will trace 'illegal' items back to their source.
My local PostMistress got quite upset about it, as I gather they get it in the neck too.
Other places you are likely to be sourcing those hard to find beauties, such as The Netherlands and Germany, are not a problem, and
you can send Euros if you use registered post or 'Airsure'.

Yours,
Giles
(Northants......the sunshine state?)

[Hjalmar]

This might be a problem with countries like China, but with Czech republic it seems to me the risk is near zero. I do not believe a bill stuck between two postcards can be seen in an x-ray machine; they will be looking for bombs and such. In any case, the worst thing that can happen is that your money is confiscated. Surely you can't be punished by Czech law for something you did in the UK.

[derekb]

Giles the only time I have come unstuck was using Air sure I have sent bank notes inside birthday cards to nurseries but as I wanted to send 230 Euro to a German Orchid nursery I sent it airsure when it arrived it had been slit open the money taken out and sealed with sellotape, the owner of the nursery sent me photos of it but did not report it just said I had told him it was insured he did not think he needed to. It took me 7 months to get the money back and that was only because I kept on at it.
I would like to say my Wife was German and spent many happy years over there and this person was not a typical German manager.

[gote]

Giles

I assumed that you were an European since you warned us Europeans.

There cannot be any legal restrictions for sending money inside Europe including Switzerland and Norway.

Note that Royal Mail is bundling legal and security issues. This is what I meant in my previous post. Do they imply that Hungarians are steaming up the envelopes? 
 
It is possible to use Western Union for sending money but you must know that the recipient has an outlet nearby and you must have one too.

If you want to send small items. seed, banknotes or whatever. Unless the value is great, the best way is normal first class mail. No insurance, no registering, no declarations. The principle is "Do not call attention to your consignement!"

Göte

[Diane Whitehead]

I send paper money if it is a small enough amount that I don't mind
losing it (currently my limit is $20).

In North America, all paper money is contaminated enough by drugs
that drug-sniffing dogs and machines used at the U.S./Canada
border can detect it.  I wonder if European post offices use these
methods?

It is illegal to transport large amounts of cash without declaring it, and
dogs are used for this purpose also.  I'm not sure whether it is the
regular drug-sniffing dogs that are used, or specialized money-sniffing
ones.  A funny story - the U.S. still uses paper for $1.  A waitress saved
up her tips - mostly in $1 bills, and took them on holiday.  She was stopped
at an airport, suspected of carrying a massive amount of money. 
The dog had indicated a large number of bills, but they were well within
the legal limit.

[akoen]

There is not allow to send money in the Norwegian Post(Mail)system. I taught it was the same everywere.