Paying refundable deposits in another currency

[stan255]

Hi,

I am looking to purchase a website but I need to do my due diligence on it first. The seller requires a 5,000 euro refundable deposit to release more information on the website such as the URL and financials. My Paypal base currency is in USD.

I have two questions:

1. If I pay the 5,000 euro, will I get the same amount of USD back?

2. If for some reason, the seller decided to take the money and run, can Paypal refund me the money?

Stan

[sharpiemarker]

@stan255 

1. If the payment requires a currency exchange/conversion, in order to use the same rate on the refund, the refund has to occur within 24 hours or 1 day from date of payment. If the refund occurs beyond 24 hours or 1 day from date if payment , the rate on date of refund is used so you may lose some value.

2. If you sent payment as goods and services, then you will have purchase protection. If you funded the payment with a credit card, you may invoke your chargeback rights should the PayPal dispute is not successful.

[stan255]

Thanks for the reply @sharpie.

Other than the currency exchange rate, will Paypal take like a conversion fee (let's say 1%) then another 1% when I receive the deposit back? At the end of the day, I'm down 2% of the deposit.

Stan

[sharpiemarker]

@stan255 

It doesn't say if the conversion spread will be the same or not but it will be included:

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full?locale.x=en_US#buying

Refunds

When you buy something from a seller online using PayPal and the transaction is ultimately refunded, the money will typically be refunded to the original payment method you used for the transaction if you used a debit card, credit card, PayPal Credit, or a balance in your Cash Account or business PayPal account.

If you used a bank account linked to a personal PayPal account as the payment method for the transaction, we will attempt to refund the money to your bank account. If we are unable to do so, we will refund the money to your linked Cash Account if you have one. If you do not have a Cash Account, the money will be waiting for you to claim by using one of the available transfer methods under Receiving Funds, Holding a Balance or Transferring Funds for personal PayPal accounts.

If you used a bank account linked to a business PayPal account as the payment method for the transaction, we will attempt to refund the money to your bank account. If we are unable to do so, we will refund the money to your balance in your business PayPal account.

For purchases you make in a seller’s store location that you paid for using your personal PayPal account and the transaction is ultimately refunded, the money will be refunded to your Cash Account if you have one. If you do not have a Cash Account, the money will be waiting for you to claim by using one of the available transfer methods under Receiving Funds, Holding a Balance or Transferring Funds for personal PayPal accounts.

For purchases you make in a seller’s store location that you paid for using your business PayPal account and the transaction is ultimately refunded, the money will be refunded to your balance in your business PayPal account.

If you used Pay with Rewards to fund your transaction, your refund will be processed back as a dollar amount: depending on your card agreement with your issuer, your issuer may or may not credit your purchase back to your reward balance.

If PayPal performed currency conversion for your transaction and a refund is issued:

• Within 1 days of the date of the original payment, PayPal’s transaction exchange rate (including a currency conversion spread) used at the time of the original payment will apply.
• Beyond 1 days of the date of the original payment, PayPal’s transaction exchange rate (including a currency conversion spread) on the date of the refund will apply.

Money will be refunded in the currency you paid; or if we are unable to refund in the currency you paid, in your primary holding currency; or we are unable to refund in your primary holding currency, then in U.S. dollars.