High-end-turntables

I recently used a wire transfer to pay AER Speakers in Germany for upgrading my AER BD3 drivers.  It was a transfer of about $3,500.00.  All ended well.  Innocent child that I am I didn't realize this might leave me vulnerable to problems.  If the merchant does not accept credit cards what is a better alternative?

Only PayPal or CC affords any protection for the buyer. But Wise is a supposedly legitimate company that I almost used to change USD into Yen for our son who lives in Tokyo. They act as middleman by doing the currency conversion at a favorable rate and then forwarding the exchanged funds to a designated account in Japan or presumably any of several other countries where they do business.

@terry9 Yah, the idea to suggest to do not buy anything with wire transfer is pretty helpful to my opinion. If you have any other ideas, please feel free to mention. 

I also find it helpful to talk with the people I am buying equipment from, on the phone, with a living person. 

The reason credit cards are so safe is that they have contracted with the business to be able to use their cards and it is the responsibility of the credit card company to make sure they are dealing with an established business. If a business does not take credit cards you can assume there is a problem.

If your bank wired funds to Wise, then Wise should be able to find you or have record of your incoming wire. I would lean on Wise more heavily. Good luck, and sorry this happened to you.