Hi Kim, how are you?
On 11-Mar-98, Kim Forwood was avidly discussing Re: Registration with Steve
Stacher
 SS>> I agree that the Us Authors do not fully appreciate the
 SS>> difficulty and costs involved with getting funds to the US, and
 SS>> many if not most still do not accept plastic.
 KF> What do you think US authors could do to make it easier for you to
 KF> register, if we were able to appreciate the difficulty of your
 KF> situation?
Some of my comments may seem self serving so I will get the commercial
stuff out of the way. I am a registration site for a number of authors,
currently all but one Europe based. I perform a service and I charge a fee
(not a lot but a fee nonetheless)
I started as the Uk Reg site for Terminate and expanded to handle a number
of other programs, some of which you may have heard of, some of which you
probably haven't.
The most valuable service I provide is the ability to accept payment by
credit card. All authors can accept payment by check, just that they
generally insist the check be in their local currency. Most US banks,
especially, seem to charge outrageous fees to handle checks in a foreign
currency.
For a European resident to obtain a check in $ in many cases is more than
the cost of registration. The risk of lost mail increases with distance and
just as many Zone 1 residents are reluctant to deal with a foreign author,
so too are we reluctant to deal with a US author, generally for the same
reasons. Many authors seem to disappear.
having a local (or reasonably local) facility makes it much easier got the
local populace that wish to register to do so. I mentioned we have an
intra-European method of writing checks in another currency. It is very,
very easy and inexpensive for a Zone 2 resident to register at a Zone 2
site like mine. It's safer to send cash, if that is the only way, and
easier to remit by check.
US authors can enter into agreements with people like me who provide the
service in Zone 2 at reasonable fees. There are also outfits like KAGI
(reasonable) and PSL (not as reasonable imo) who provide a similar service 
at
least for credit card...no help with foreign checks or cash)
If you wish to find out how hard it can be, go try to get a draft in Dutch
Swedish, Irish or Belgian currency from your local bank. See how long it
takes. (I specifically did not mention the names of the currency as the
bank people should be able to sort that out).
It's easier for us, but not much. Most of our banks know what currency is
in use in North America.
Works for me!
Slan,
Steve Stacher Omagh, Co. Tyrone N. Ireland
--- Terminate 5.00/Pro*at [*Factory*]
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