Someone has ordered an item through my shop but not paid as yet. They sent an email expressing they would rather not use PayPal for some reason, I replied and advised it’s the only payment system I can offer them. He has now asked to do a bank transfer, which means I need to give my bank details to a stranger using a Hotmail email account.
Am I correct to be suspicious of this transaction?
I’m fairly new to selling, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Graham.
As far as I know there is no problem with supplying details for a bank transfer - there are no more details than anyone could get off a cheque. I wouldn’t be concerned but others may think otherwise.
I have used bank transfer too, never had any problems :), just be sure to only give your name, account number and sort code, they won’t need any other details to make a payment
I’m with the above replies. A person can’t do anything with your sort code & account number other than transfer money to you. I’ve never had an issue doing that. Some people don’t have or want PayPal for whatever reason & they’re the people who would just normally buy things online as a direct payment using their bank cards. 
Thanks all, I’ve given it some thought, the payment method I offer through Folksy is PayPal, if the buyer was not happy with this he should have not placed the order. I have politely explained this to the buyer, basically take it or leave it. Harsh perhaps, but fair.
To be fair, the buyer probably didn’t realise Paypal was the only payment option before adding items to their basket and being directed to checkout, hence the email.
If you send the buyer a Paypal invoice, they can pay it with any card, they don’t need a Paypal account…
For our photography business we include our bank details on every invoice we send out - and some of our suppliers do this too. I checked with our bank before adding the info and they said there’s no reason why you shouldn’t give out the bank name, account number and sort code.
I’ve also done a few bank transfers and never had any problems. At first I was a little worried but like everyone says they can’t do anything with the sort code and account number.
Thanks all, I appreciate your input.