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BidPay Updated

Mike Battersby

In the December 2003 issue of Risc World (vol 4 issue 4) I looked at using Bidpay to make auction payments.

Typically, in the fast changing world of the Internet, no sooner has the article been written than Bidpay had had a re-vamp.

It now no longer uses the name of "Bidpay", rather it has been renamed Western Union Auction Payments, presumably after months of debate by "corporate identity" specialists. Bidpay was always a service of Western Union bit they have obviously decided to use the parent name which is generally better known from the variety of financial services they offer.

The web URL at www.bidpay.com still works but will re-direct to www.auctionpayments.com so if you're not a quick typist I suggest you stick to the original. If you were expecting the screen shot shown in the previous article you will be surprised to get the one below.

One obvious improvement is that there are separate entry boxes for the amount of the auction and the postage costs. Bidpay had a combined one and if you did not read the instructions carefully you stood the risk of omitting the postage cost from the money order and having to send a second.

Otherwise the site operates in a very similar manner to previously and it is just the design that has changed.

The fees charged are shown below and match the Bidpay one and do include postage by US first class mail.

I have used the new service once and found no difference in operation from Bidpay other than the page designs.

Mike Battersby