Quote from: MikLav on September 25, 2009, 16:12

Quote from: leaf on September 25, 2009, 15:53
No, paypal isn't terrible, but I think there must be a better way.  All this exchange of american -> local currency and back again when I buy something in the states is costing too much.

Why not opening a bank account in the US then?

yeah, well that is one solution I considered (and perhaps am still considering).  There would probably be a international bank transfer fee though to get it to Norway.  If I can get US funds out of money bookers and into a Norwegian bank US$ account then I think that will be simplest. 

Quote from: borg on September 25, 2009, 12:23

Quote from: b79 on September 25, 2009, 01:55

Quote from: madelaide on September 24, 2009, 22:09

Quote from: b79 on September 24, 2009, 18:01
to a local bank which does the currency conversion to Pesos, charges me a fee for the transfer.

B79, does the government charge you for these deposits in your bank account? I know our government does, and as far as I know it is not little.

for the transfers there is a USD 3 +IVA (VAT, 21%) fee for a central bank form that I have to fill  that the bank charges me along with their fee (USD40 + IVA) . and then there's the rest of the taxes (that don't discriminate if the income is generated here or abroad)

What!?

40 bucks + tax only for trasfer deposit? 

yep


[sarcasm] we have really nice, efficient and honest banks here....    [/sarcasm]

Quote from: b79 on September 25, 2009, 17:01
[sarcasm] we have really nice, efficient and honest banks here....    [/sarcasm]

I don't know if these high fees are defined by the banks or by the government.   

Quote from: madelaide on September 25, 2009, 22:06

Quote from: b79 on September 25, 2009, 17:01
[sarcasm] we have really nice, efficient and honest banks here....    [/sarcasm]

I don't know if these high fees are defined by the banks or by the government.   

For what I know the bank fee is defined by the bank, (but government regularions have probably some incidence on the final price).
either way, there aren't any nice or honest banks or government here

Quote from: leaf link=topic=8977.msg117051#msg117051
yeah, well that is one solution I considered (and perhaps am still considering).  There would probably be a international bank transfer fee though to get it to Norway.  If I can get US funds out of money bookers and into a Norwegian bank US$ account then I think that will be simplest.  

For bigger amounts, an international wire transfer fee might be less than what MB or PP would charge. My US bank charges $40 for international wire transfer. I think that's less than some $100+ amounts people have calculated for MB or PP.

I am from Singapore and I use Paypal and I think the charges are high too. It is just slightly better than banking a US$ cheque into the bank. The exchange rate is terrible and I hope to look for another solution too. So if someone has a better way, please help.
(Thanks for telling me that PayPal does not allow US$ to be transfered to a US$ account in a foreign country. I was deliberating on opening a US$ account in Singapore and transffering the money from Paypal to the US$ account. Now that is dashed.)

If a foreigner wants to open a US Bank account. Is it easy? Are we allowed? Who knows - if i go to US one of these days, I should try to open one. Which is a good bank? Are there charges? Will we receive interest for putting money in the savings account.

People, Payoneer is solution...

Quote from: borg on September 26, 2009, 07:19
People, Payoneer is solution...

How can I make that judgement? Payoneer won't let you see what the costs are unless you sign up for an account with them. That always makes me suspicious that they're actually quite expensive and/or you're going to be inundated with spam.

What about an international bank? Something like ING (was just remembering those annoying tv commericals here in Canada) Would something like work?

Quote from: gostwyck on September 26, 2009, 10:25

Quote from: borg on September 26, 2009, 07:19
People, Payoneer is solution...

How can I make that judgement? Payoneer won't let you see what the costs are unless you sign up for an account with them. That always makes me suspicious that they're actually quite expensive and/or you're going to be inundated with spam.

I think you are wrong...

Fee outside of US is 2$ + up to 2%...

Everything on fee list is correct....

They can tell you their provisions but they can't tell you ATM bank's provision (exchange rate included), which can be different from bank to bank...
But I think that Mastercard has contract with every partner bank that cost of exchange can be only up to 2 %...
But that is also provision of my bank which let me to have their Mastercard, provision is the same for every Mastercard...

Also you pay 2 $ monthly for account and that is all...

So, you don't transfer money onto  your bank account, your account is Payoneer account...

Ufff, Payoneer have to pay me for their promotion...

Quote from: antoniodalbore on September 25, 2009, 10:01
I get my iStock payments loaded into a Payooner card.
So far it is working fine, never had a problem.

About the fees those are the info got from their website (I  think are specifically relared to the contract iStock have in place with them):



Cheers,

Antonio

I have to pay monthly fees for not using the card? I don't have to pay anything to Paypal for just letting the money sit in there. Do I get any interest for having my money on Payoneer? What if I loose the card? Can someone take my money?

The risk is the same as the loss of any other debit card...

Also you pay monthly or yearly account and card in every other bank, right...

Quote from: borg on September 26, 2009, 14:25
Also you pay monthly or yearly account and card in every other bank, right...

Actually, there are free checking and savings accounts in the US. They may have fees if you perform certain transactions (like international wire transfer), but they dont charge for just having an account.

Payoneer only charges the monthly fee if there is money on your account. So if you withdraw everything the same month as you get the money, the price for one withdrawal would be:

2$ monthly fee
2,15 $ ATM fee
up to 2,2% above market rates, based on the current exchange rates. I don't know what that would mean in real money?

Right now I wouldn't withdraw anything in Norway, since the exchange rate for dollars is at a all time low; 5,8 NOK for one dollar. You would loose more because of this than because of any banking fees.

Quote from: goldenangel on September 27, 2009, 08:44

Quote from: borg on September 26, 2009, 14:25
Also you pay monthly or yearly account and card in every other bank, right...

Actually, there are free checking and savings accounts in the US. They may have fees if you perform certain transactions (like international wire transfer), but they dont charge for just having an account.

As I know, you don't paying to have account but you are paying for using card, Mastercard,Visa, Maestro etc....

P.S.

Gaya makes good point, bad rate is bigger problem than every fees together...

I remember years when I get 8,2 HRK (croatian kuna) for 1$, now is ONLY 4,8HRK.... Disaster!
How can be problem to me 24$ (maximum) per year now...
And Payoneer is certainly one step more in simplicty of use...

Also,in US you can get more goods for 100 $ than here in Croatia, maybe twice more...

Antonio, thanks for posting the Istock Payoneer fees.  Does anyone have the Dreamstime fees or some other Payoneer card so we can compare?

Quote from: Pixart on September 27, 2009, 18:22
Antonio, thanks for posting the Istock Payoneer fees.  Does anyone have the Dreamstime fees or some other Payoneer card so we can compare?

Everything is the same, you can check it on a  Dreamstime site...

Quote from: borg on September 27, 2009, 13:05
As I know, you don't paying to have account but you are paying for using card, Mastercard,Visa, Maestro etc....

There are no fees for just using the card, unless it's an international transaction. Actually, as I have a bad habit of carrying very little cash, I end up using my card even for very small charges like buying a coffee or bread.

I agree that a dollar can buy you more in the US than almost anywhere in Europe, especially when it comes to everyday expenses. It is only housing that makes total cost of living pretty high in some parts of the US.

So paypal introduced additional fees. You can see them at your accout page on the right side "Policy updates". The new fee is for receiving the money. I'm almost certain that the agencies won't cover it and it'll come out of our pocket. However they this should only start on Jan 21, 2010.

When I recieved payment from MP I had to pay a fee for recieving money. With other sites there aren't any fees, at least I didn't have to pay any yet. Anyone else with this problem?

I opened a US bank account (I'm from Canada). It's a bank that has a presence in Canada so I also opened a US currency account in Canada and can transfer back and forth free of charge. The money will stay in the US account until I need it. This way money doesn't get converted into Canadian dollars then again in US dollars when I'm travelling or buying something in the US. There may be a bank in your country that can provide a similar service.

I know this is an old thread, but I was wondering if anyone ever came to a conclusion about this?

Also is there any recent comparison of how the exchange rates vary between Paypal and Payoneer?

Quote from: leaf on September 24, 2009, 12:29
I am getting tired of the extremely poor conversion rate that paypal offers between american and other currencies (2.5% goes to Paypal)

Does anyone have any good solutions?

I have been thinking of opening a Bank account or an account with E*Trade in the states so that I can withdraw the money there and invest it or something else useful.

I can open an American currency account here at my Norwegian bank but Paypal will not transfer american funds to the account.  If i withdraw funds from a Norwegian paypal account, they have to go either to an American bank (US funds) or a Norwegian bank (Norwegian funds). 

I just tried checking out opening an E*trade account in the states which is mostly a stock broker but also has a debit card associated with the account which could be usefull - but I found out they are not longer acceptnig applications from europe. 

Perhaps one of the other online brokers, or perhaps opening an american bank in person some time when I visit there (October)

Any other suggestions?

sounds like it's about time now to also embrace Bitcoin and similar Crypto coins for microstock in order to lower those "fees" (or at least destroy that apparent "reason" for fees there). Also, that would add more speed, better safety, and the ability to send micro payments and not wait for thresholds to be passed etc.

There is actually one up and coming concept out there: they are called coinstock.info and want to do just that -- on top of offering 81% payouts to artists! Still in beta AFAIK though.