Currency Conversion

[aklinz]

UNBELIEVABLE !  Not only does PayPal extort large "user fees" on every transaction, they are currently adding a 8% surcharge on Canadian users !   By this, I mean the fact that PayPal currently values the Canadian dollar at 94 US cents.  EXCUSE ME ????   The bloody Canadian dollar has been at 1.02 (or above that) for over a month !  At what point are you going to "get with the program" and actually adjust your currency values ?  Maybe a year from now ? I will simply refuse to use your fraudulent company from now on ! 

In disgust,

Andrew

P.S.  With policies like these, no wonder why the rest of the world hates Americans !

[brocky99]

Someone mentioned they liked Paypal more before it was owned by eBay..I don't see much difference in paypal policy, but eBay has certainly become a greedy company. Paypal included!

The conversion rates Paypal is offering are off the wall..Updated twice daily my A$$..

Another thing that really gets to me is eBay shows the actual conversion rate. Which leads you to believe your CAD exchange is getting you a better deal now that the CAD is more Valuable then USD etc..

It would be sooooo nice if eBay could calculate the 2.5% exchange fee into the exchanges shown on the ebay item.

I just paid for 3 items that we're in AUD

1st item @ $162.50 AUD ebay has it $159.62 CAD

2nd item @ $170.00 AUD eBay has it $166.99 CAD

3rd item @ $162.50 AUD eBay has it $159.62 CAD

eBays total in CAD is $486.23

Total in AUD for won items $495.00 which equals $487.116 as of 2 seconds ago + 2.5% Paypal fee.

Total in CAD should be $499.29 .............. I PAID $500.85  CAD   not a big difference..

I'm no wizard at math by any means, the numbers look accurate..but like I said, eBay should incorporate the 2.5% fee into it's live exchange.. This way there are no surprises & we might be able to swallow the ripoff a little easier..

[miksee]

@Paypal_Adrian

Just want to clarify some how-to's...

My objective:  To find a cost efficient way to transfer my funds from my USD US bank account to my CAD Canadian bank account.

I have a US Dollar account linked to a USD Paypal.  I now also have a CAD bank account in Canada.  Can I add that bank to my US Paypal Account?

If no.  I assume I have to open a second Paypal account in Canada Paypal and link that to my Canadian CAD bank account.  Is that correct?

Now, if I want to send my USD from my US Paypal to my Canada Paypal then over to my Canadian CAD bank account, what fees will apply and how can I compute the net amount that will enter my Canadian bank account?

Also, how long will the entire transfer process take?

Thanks!

[TiredOFit]

So the Canadian dollar has been par or better by at least 2-3 cents than the American for well over a month now, but you continue to take advantage of us at every transaction. Is there any explination for this? I am paying 8 cents more per dollar on every transaction that I have made for months! It is getting a little sickening!

[rfarnham]

I have the same issue.  C$ is worth U$1.03, but the Paypal says C$ is worth .95 U$.  Ripoff.  Don't you people take enough with your fees?  

[audeo]

Hi there, while I agree with you that the exchange rate offered through paypal is not indicative of the true current exchange rate according to XE.com (0.978 as of this evening), I can't complain that they're taking advantage. I just converted a payment from US to Canadian and got a rate of 0.95 per US dollar, which is only 2 cents off. I chose to do the currency exchange WITHIN paypal before initiating a transfer to my bank account because Scotiabank actually gave me a worse rate than Paypal.

Go figure. Banks are banks, be they brick and mortar or simply online. They'll take their pound of flesh any way they can.

Either way, I still got a (slightly) better rate from paypal than my own bank on the exchange and this has certainly served to teach me to work an extra percentage into my fees to cover the exchange and paypal fee at least.

[ian_parenteau]

Hidden 2.5% Currency Conversion Fees make huge money for financial institutions, including PayPal.

             This is the dirty little banking secret used by every bank, every credit card, and PayPal EVERY TIME there is a currency conversion: They are automatically adding a hidden 2.5% currency conversion fee to your transaction, thus your ACTUAL conversion rate is always 2.5% higher than the rate published anywhere, including the web, newspapers, TV, eBay, etc.  It looks like bait and switch because the fee is hidden.

             What's the exchange rate on that purchase anyone might ask?  $1 CAD to $1 USD is what might be currently published everywhere, including automatic price conversions displayed on eBay, but when it comes time to complete that purchase you are actually charged $1.025 CAD.  

              The same holds true when withdrawing funds from a 'foreign' PayPal balance to your local currency bank account: When the currency exchange is published worldwide at $1 CAD to $1 USD, and you withdraw $1 USD into your Canadian bank account you will only receive 0.975 CAD in your bank account, because PayPal has scooped a hidden 2.5% currency exchange fee.

             You have to search hard for it, but hidden away in PayPal's help it does state: "Payments requiring a currency conversion include a 2.5% fee".  

PayPal is not unique in this as all credit cards and banks also include a hidden 2.5% currency exchange fee every time they perform a currency conversion.

Hope this helps.

Ian

[Jenngerbread]

I wish I had read this string of comments before paying for my most recent transaction on ebay using PayPal. I had to pay US funds for a product sent to me in Canada from Canada, and still got charged the conversion fee, despite the fact that the Canadian dollar has been worth more than the US dollar for some time. I will therefore be closing my PayPal account and have no intention of using it to pay for any such transactions in future. It makes absolutely no sense. Moreover, I feel that there should also be a disclaimer on sites such as ebay to warn customers that if they use PayPal, the Canadian price indicated below the US one is NOT the price they will be charged. Major rip-off all round...

[Luanne]

Hey, I hear what you are all saying (I'm also Canadian and get frustrated with losing money when our dollar is supposedly worth more) but in all fairness to PayPal, I did some research an hour or so when I wanted to know why I lost as much as I did on a conversion to Canadian funds.  It's not just Paypal that gives you less, my own bank in Canada gives me less too and it is hard to swallow but that's bank fees. <sigh>

Here's what Bank of Canada had to say an hour ago about the exchange rate... and it will help us all to undersand this frustrating situation a bit better I hope...  In this example I am checking the conversion rate on $70 USD turned into Canadian funds.

Now notice that there are 2 options:   "nominal rate" and "cash rate."   If you go to the Bank of Canada site, it explains how these 2 differ and I'm copying those screens here too...

So essentially, Bank of Canada itself is telling us that the "nominal rates" that we hear advertised all the time are not the actual rates we pay one we go to do a transaction at a financial institution.  In this case today, I converted $70.00 USD to Canadian (by sending to my Canadian bank account) and received $66.33 CDN.  I was pretty displeased and upset with Paypal at the time but after going and doing this research, I realize this is standard no matter what financial institution you use to convert funds.  In fact, in the example rate from Bank of Canada, a bank could have given me as low as only $65.68 so in actuality, I did not make out as bad with Paypal as I could've.  Bottomline is this:  we will never be getting anything at the "nominal rate" folks, whether on Paypal or at any bank in Canada even.  We always have to allow for the "cash rate."  

I hope my research has helped somebody understand as I know I am less upset about it now.  I think a U.S. account though is probably smart!  For Canadians who don't know this.  RBC has a U.S. bank (430 locations in the U.S.) and you can open a U.S. "access" account through them and transfer back and forth between your Canadian RBC and U.S. RBC accounts online (all in one place.)  You will undoubtedly still be having to work with a "cash rate" on conversion but I found this info very helpful to know as I'm currently contracting to do work in the U.S. and have been researching the question of how best to work payments cross-border. 🙂

Luanne

P.S.  I'd like to tell the moderators here at Paypal that I'm sorry for any misunderstandings and angry words from Canadians over this issue.  I have been on the flipside as someone who spent my youth in the tourist industry and took a lot of abuse from American tourists over exchange issues too so I know how it is and I wouldn't want Canadians to be perceived in the same way as I perceived those people. 😉 lol

[PayPal_Adrian]

Luanne -

Although I know this isn't your first post on the boards, welcome! 

This is the first opportunity I've had to respond to you, and I must say, the work you put into that post is absolutely smashing.  There were some items in there about currency conversion that I had either completely forgotten about or simply wasn't aware of.  Kudos to you for the information, the screenshots, and the work you put into that post!

No apology is necessary (though greatly appreciated).  I know I have a few "tourist" stories myself, whether it's being mistreated by a tourist or being  mistreated while I was a tourist.  I'm sorry to hear that happened to you.

Stop back in and see us again, ok, Luanne? 

Adrian

[Luanne]

Hi Adrian, thank you for the nice words. 🙂

Actually it was my FIRST posting on here as far as I know! lol 🙂

Luanne