[cosmopragma]

Today I've bought an item from U.K., 780 GBP including shipment.
Paypal charges 3.4 % plus 35 cents for an international non-Euro deal.
This is what the seller has to pay.
On top of that the exchange rate is quite bad.
According to XE.com 780 GBP are equivalent to 1.144,07 EUR today.Paypal charges 1.174,70 EUR.
What?
In the end there are about 6% transaction costs for a simple money transfer from Germany to the U.K.
The problem isn't what they are asking for their service (although it's ridiculously steep).
The problem is they should tell me from the beginning that it costs 6%.
That's cheating.They are treating me like an idiot.
This is my third international deal this week, and the combined costs are more than $150.For simple money transfer.
I feel ripped off and as soon as there is an alternative I will never use Paypal again even if the competitor charges the same (and tells me frankly what it costs).

 

[duderuud]

Paypal's exchenge rate sucks big time, you got that right...

 

[Zorander]

Will the exchange rate be any better if we let our credit company do the conversion? I figured Paypal's exchange rate is not that good, but I'm not so sure if the converse applies to our cc company.

 

[fordgtlover]

Yes, the exchange rate offered by Paypal is poor, but what choice do you have? Have you tried and international money order lately? Paypal offers a service that allows convenient money conversion service and charges an overhead that the market will bare.

 

[Veniogenesis]

Haha so true. It blows indeed.

I've "lost" more than one hundred dollars due to their exchange rate over the past six months. But there is no other choice. They simply have a monopoly on the most everything internet buying related.

 

[saint.panda]

Totally agree. Paypal profits big time from their exchange rates.
For bigger transactions to the US, I just use bank transfer which has a fee of around 10 Euros but much fairer exchange rates. Or moneybookers if the other party has an account.

 

[Afrikane]

They do indeed suck when comes to the Forex rate. With larger transactions I go with a SWIFT transfer and it is much safer and cheaper.

 

[Daroid]

Keep in mind that your bank also charges an extra 1-3% ontop of the exhange rate when peying by Visa or Mastercard. They do so here, but they do not list it anywhere.

I would really investigate this first before blaming paypal. I blamed Google Check Out for doing this too, but in the end it was because of my bank.

 

[Veniogenesis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daroid /img/forum/go_quote.gif Keep in mind that your bank also charges an extra 1-3% ontop of the exhange rate when peying by Visa or Mastercard. They do so here, but they do not list it anywhere. I would really investigate this first before blaming paypal. I blamed Google Check Out for doing this too, but in the end it was because of my bank.

In my specific case it was just PayPal.

But yes, if you don't pay by instant funds (what is already in PayPal), there is an extra charge as usual. Gargh!

 

[krmathis]

I agree that the exchange rates used by PayPal is poor. But there are no many alternatives alternatives when it comes to easy money conversion/transfer to foreign countries.

 

[kin0kin]

First of all, xe.com's rate is only good for reference, those are bulk rate and you will NOT get those rate with small transaction anywhere....if you do not believe this, check the XE rate, then call your bank/CC company and ask them about the rate, and ask why is XE showing a lower rate. If your bank gives you the XE rate, then good for you, but read on...

Paypal charges 2.5% on top of the market rate, and the market rate fluctuates. Credit card charges the market rate + 2.5-5% conversion fee (depending on company). So even if you do get the XE rate, with extra 2.5-5% conversion fee, you are no better/worse than using paypal, not to mention the extra charges you'd incur when you TT the money, pay for MO/Bank draft, time delay, and other inconvenience. Does paypal's rate suck? not really.

 

[omegaman]

They get you on every deal. Every deal I do seems to be in a different currency US or Sterling, They tell you the rate first but its just that easy to use nobody seems to mind !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( Well not quite true or this thread would not be here !!!!!!!!!! )

 

[DanT]

When sending money you can chose many different currency to send in.
I always ask the seller if he prefer that I pay in his currency. (For US and I assume they want USD without asking) They usually do since they don't have to pay the fee for conversion.

Also you have to change the option when you pay so paypal will ask your CC directly in the currency selected and not go through paypal rate conversion.

My CC company have better rate than payal. That what I do.

EDIT: Yea as other said when you exchanges money you have to pay a rate. Either from the bank, An exchange office, or paypal. It's just the question on who do it cheaper.