Exchange Rates

[cbinker]

I just recently purchased a product from Canada, and the Exchange rate was $1 USD = $1.0234 CAD, and for some reason PAYPAL was showing:

Exchange rate:
1 U.S. Dollar = 0.997948 Canadian Dollars Net amount:
-$137.81 CAD (equals -$139.29 USD)

Take a close look at your across the boarder purchases, because their calculator is messed up, i am currently setting up a resolution with paypal.

Thanks 

Chris

[surplusdealdude]

Yeah, Paypal charges a fee to exchange your money, just like everybody else in the universe.

You think people work for free?

[cbinker]

that would not be an issue, if they showed the fee some where on the transaction.

[PayPal_Kevin]

Hello cbinker,

PayPal does charge a fee anytime a currency is converted which helps to cover our costs.  The link I have included below will provide you with directions on how to access this information.  I will be happy to pass on your feedback to make this more information more visible.

https://www.paypal.com/helpcenter/main.jsp;jsessionid=ccvhMgSQZSdMDHqB4pv9BXVqP08pM72zT1Zb326wTgTFxm...

Kevin

[aquaman]

i also have this issue on that day,

i transfer USD 3000 to CAD,the exchange rate is USD=0.989443  Canadian  Dollars

it made me confused and emailed to paypal,just got their reply that is all right, nothing wrong.

 today i also transfer USD4000 to CAD

this time time the rate is 1 U.S. Dollar = 1.01014 Canadian Dollars

more confused.

i get to be dubious of paypal's exchange rate now.

[rsb]

I also have this issue. If I go to "My Account > Profile > More Options > Currency Balances", it claims 1 USD = 0.98 CAD.

And no, the exchange rate that's being displayed is different from any fees. If you go to "Send Money" and click on the link for "Send money abroad", you can see exactly what the exchange rate is plus what the fees are. For instance, it says:

You will be sending :1.00 CAD is equal to 1.02 USD
Payment Options      Fee                 Your Total

PayPal Balance        0.00 CAD       1.00 CAD

Bank Account            0.00 CAD       1.00 CAD

Credit Card                0.33 CAD       1.33 CAD

If you click on "See information in USD", it shows:
Payment Options      Fee                 Your Total

PayPal Balance        0.00 USD       1.02 USD

Bank Account            0.00 USD        1.02 USD

Credit Card                0.34 USD       1.36 USD

I don't mind paying the extra 30 something cents per dollar as a fee for using my credit card, or paying a fee to cover the currency exchange service (the site implies that the fees are embedded into the calculator results above), but I do mind the exchange rate ratio being backwards! I sent in an email to the Support team- I'll wait for their response before sending my payment.

[rsb]

Update:

PayPal Support response (which was very quick) was:

Our bank gives us an exchange rate twice a day. We add 2.5% to this rate to come up with the exchange rate we give you. This rate is competitive with rates offered by banks and currency exchanges.

I see I got confused because the currency calculator at "My Account > Profile > More Options > Currency Balances" shows 1 USD = 0.98 CAD, but the calculator from "Send Money > Send money abroad" shows 1 CAD = 1.02 USD (in reverse). I thought the conversion from USD to CAD was somehow being charged extra, but I see now that I don't have the option to see what it costs to convert from CAD to USD, probably because I don't have any CAD in my account. I presume that if I did, that exchange would have a fee as well, so it would look something like 1 CAD = 0.964 USD.

I stand corrected.