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Author Topic: PayPal Currency Conversion Fees  (Read 3324 times)

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« on: November 19, 2016, 14:10 »
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PayPal's currency conversion fees are currently 2.5% for me, which adds up to substantial amounts over a year.

Has anyone found a better alternative? I am in the EU. I have been talking to my bank about opening a USD account so that the bank does the conversion (0.5% fee), which would save me lots of $$$, but I have read that PayPal won't send US dollars to other countries without converting to the local currency first. Even if the account is a dollar account.

As far as I can tell, Payoneer and Skrill are the only real alternatives, but they don't seem to offer anything better, or do they?

It would be great to find a currency exchange company that accepts PayPal USD and could convert for maybe a 1-1.5% fee.

Or are we stuck with the PayPal monopoly and incredibly high fees?


« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2016, 14:37 »
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ya i think we are stuck.
with my canadian bank, I can open a USD savings account, which i thought we be good - and then withdraw from paypal to that without currency conversion but as you said ; it doesn't work like that.

if your bank account is located in canada, paypal will only send it money in canadian funds. if you want to withdraw in USD you need to have a bank account in the US with the US format of routing numbers etc on the bottom of the cheque.

if you started getting paper cheques directly from somewhere like SS as your preferred payout method, you could probably skip the conversion fees, i was thinking about doing that when I realized the USD bank account wasn't going to do the trick.

otherwise, just shop online with paypal in USD at US online stores, and then you don't lose to currency conversion but you have to pay import duties instead..

« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2016, 15:09 »
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According to what I've found scouring the web and talking to banks so far it seems to be just as you say.

I could request checks too, but the fees to cash them here can be quite high (probably cheaper than 2.5% though) but the added hassle, delays, and security risks sending checks in the mail makes it not worth it I believe.

It is possible to open a US bank account as a foreigner (I had one before), but I'm afraid there might be taxation problems and the US might think the money needs to be taxed there since it arrives there. Does anyone know for sure?

PayPal is of course extremely convenient, but 2.5-2.7% is just a sizable chunk...


 

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