There's a guy in Belgium who has a DVD BoxSet I want to buy, but he doesn't have a paypal account. Anybody have any suggestions as to the best (cheapest, safest) way to send him money to pay for the item? I'm reluctant to simply send cash, even well-concealed, and I've heard bank transfers are pricey. Any thoughts?

i would say a bank transfer .. im not sure how pricey they are .. but i would say that is the safest

Safe, yes, but definitely pricey. My bank just informed me they charge $40 (!) for this service... over 1/3 of the total price of the item I'm trying to buy! And Western Union apparently charges $33 to send money to Belgium, so they're both in the same range.

Send him a gift voucher for Amazon.co.uk .com etc? Lots of shops do gift vouchers.

Either that or send him cash or cheque by recorded airmail but put it in a box so it looks like a normal packet.

Sending money in an envelope is stupid so don't do it.

What about an international money order? I know that money orders are expensive to buy in Europe (unlike in North America where they are very cheap), but would it cost him anything to cash one that you send him from the US? If there is a small bank charge for him to cash it, maybe you could add that to your total?

International money orders can be purchased from any US Post Office (not to be confused with a regular postal money order).

As for wire transfers, the costs can vary greatly. I would first check with a commercial bank, not a savings and loan or credit union - a couple of years ago my credit union wanted to charge $35 while my commercial bank only charged $14.

Tell him to get an Paypal account and you pay him an additional 5% surplus to cover his fees.
Bank transfers from US to Europe are much too expensive and nobody here knows Money Orders.

Another option is to send him cash via registered mail.

I once had received Intl Money Order and there was no charges on my side to cash it but I can only receive Yen!So better and much safer!

I'll second this route. Just bought some chirashi from Japan and the individual whom I conducted the business with mentioned that a USPS Intl Money Order was the easiest tender to deal with. Apparently other bank charges may apply against the payee if other forms of payment are used. He didn't accept credit cards and I don't have a Paypal account, so it was the only method I felt comfortable with without extending any additional costs to him.

So, you may want to just ask the guy.

Nice to see that other people collect chirashi over here too.

FFS .. I just bought a malata DVD player, a Honda Civic EX and some chirashi pieces ... I wish learning the language was as easy as it is to spend money on Japanese product so I could just get it over with and move there to make things simpler.

Anyway .. I wouldn't say "collect" just yet. Just began after I found out about the existance of chirashi. Then again, my first order did involve ten pieces - so as my DVD collection grows .. I'm sure the chirashi will follow.

Some great pieces out there. I can't wait to see my first order arrive .. so I can buy some more :O

BTW Cult .. if you dug 2LDK .. there's a sick piece over at Citaya .. (I can't recall though, it may be on his former site, which is still active - but available for purchase through his new site)