The other day I wrote a piece about Credit Cards versus PayPal when shopping for replica bags and I got a surprising amount of response to it. So, one of my friends suggested a follow up piece where I talk about Western Union payment and that’s exactly what I’m going to do today. My first question was, “what is Western Union”?

I vaguely remember seeing advertising for them on television but I’d never used them to shop. So, I had to do some research.

Western Union is a really simple way to wire money anywhere in the world. There are no strings attached, it seems. You can use your credit card to load up an account online or you can go to a bank, store, or post office (turns out they’re everywhere!). But keep in mind that Western Union doesn’t work like a bank. You just sent money to another person immediate.

The thing is that I use Western Union only when I have to shop at a reliable website, because I have no guarantee that they will sent me my order. There is nothing I can do if they don’t send me my purchase. That’s why I said that WU doesn’t work like a bank.
Of course that you have some advantages when paying with WU; they can speed up your order (no credit card approval or fraud screening necessary) and many sites offer discounts if you pay with WU.

So, I decided to order a Jimmy Choo Grainy Black Leather Handbag from the 2010 collection of Jimmy Choo handbags using Western Union. I decided to use their website – Westernunion.com. Here’s what I did:

•I got a hold of the retailer with my replica bags order and told them I was going Western Union
•They got back to me next day with the name of the person and that address to which I needed to send money
•I made my payment online at the Western Union site and then filled out a little form on the website including the MTCN number that Western Union gave me.

So, will I buy using Western Union again? Probably not, but that’s because I have a credit card and it is way easier that way! Western Union is a handy way to buy Jimmy Choo handbags like the lovely one I just got, if you are in a hurry!