I'm from the US and I want to buy something from a fellow stacker in Aus. Easiest payment seems to be paypal, however fees are so high, even when sending payment as "gift" to family/friends. Is this all correct? $675 AUD, which trades at $629.60 USD. Paypal wants to charge me $646.56 and doesn't even disclose this (the seller told me they charged currency conversion fee). This is 2.7% fee just to convert USD -> AUD. And when I though sending as "gift" payment was free, it's actually another 1%. I've sent hundreds of payment in the US as gift, and it has always been without fees, not sure why this case there is a fee. Do you guys in Aus have this 1% fee? So in the end, I'm paying about 4% fees for gift payment, or 6% using credit/debit card. It's going to take the seller another week to receive the payment since I don't have the full amount ready in my paypal. What is this trickery? SCAMPAL
exchange rate on FOREX doesn't mean you will get the same rate anywhere else have ever you tried to get FOREX rate on any exchange rate office? have you tried to send AUD from your Bank in US? I bet you would be surprised what exchange rate they would charge you so relax, they are not robbing you.
paypal exchange is ridiculous..one time I bought something and that time aud was way up to the usd but the exchange came to 1:1 thanks to paypal.I complained and they have sent me their policy(page long) but no real explaination...
I have used Western Union for 5 years to send money overseas and never had a problem yet. I know that people knock it but I have never had a problem. There are fees but very reasonable from Aus.
I have two options Go to the bank, exchange money then add the to paypal Get the paypal do this for me Costs are the same, discrepancy with forex is almost the same, and if I take into account time I have to spent going to the bank - paypal is cheaper. So my question remains the same if you have tried to exchange money anywhere else except FOREX? How much did you pay? If you used paypal at the end then all your talks is bullshit - coz you click all the buttons when transferring via paypal. If you think you were robbed and continued using the service it means what? What option to send money did you use then and share with us the best way to save on international money transfer with currency exchange that you used (no no name services, please) As of western union as far as I know one receives currency that was sent, isn't it?
If you're the one using paypal to pay, then there are no fees. It's the seller that will lose ~15% on ebay and paypal fees.