Can anyone help me work this out? It seems the fees lack transparency for all these online money services.

I just cashed out some of my stock payments via paypal. They hide all their fees in the exchange rate (no additional fees).

I got 0.7498725 GBP for each USD. So £749.87 for $1000 (relevant because I think some of the other services pay sliding fees depending on the size of the transaction)

Has anyone else in the UK cashed out $1000 or there abouts this AM (07/20/2020) on a different service (Skrill or Payoneer fore example)? I would love some real world comparisons!

Same problem here. A 4% in every cash movement or payment to buy something. In my case euros.

Quote from: trabuco on February 07, 2020, 14:39
Same problem here. A 4% in every cash movement or payment to buy something. In my case euros.

Is that with paypal? They say they take 2.5% for a USD GBP conversion, but they also set rates and choose when to update them so I was hoping for a comparison with the same pair at the same time for similar amounts and different providers. Hope someone can chime in.

I'm hoping somebody did a comparison between all three... fees to get the money, fees for conversion, how good is the conversion, fees for withdrawing, fees for buying goods.

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on February 07, 2020, 15:52

Quote from: trabuco on February 07, 2020, 14:39
Same problem here. A 4% in every cash movement or payment to buy something. In my case euros.

Is that with paypal? They say they take 2.5% for a USD GBP conversion, but they also set rates and choose when to update them so I was hoping for a comparison with the same pair at the same time for similar amounts and different providers. Hope someone can chime in.

Paypal, yes. Phone them today from Spain asking for:

a) Moving money to my bank.
b) Paying in shops in euros from my USD.

4% both, not reflected in my paypal account. I mean, when I buy something I can't see any commission. I have not transfered money yet to the bank.

f. thieves.

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on February 07, 2020, 15:52

Quote from: trabuco on February 07, 2020, 14:39
Same problem here. A 4% in every cash movement or payment to buy something. In my case euros.

Is that with paypal? They say they take 2.5% for a USD GBP conversion, but they also set rates and choose when to update them so I was hoping for a comparison with the same pair at the same time for similar amounts and different providers. Hope someone can chime in.

How much do the others charge for a transaction? Which is best for me at $300-$500 a month converting to Euro? I'm pleased with Paypal but would consider other if they are less expensive.

Be aware of Payoneer.

I used Payoneer for a while. It claimed that I would not be charged for a transaction fee if I bought things directly from my Payoneer MasterCard. But my transactions just didn't match. I was using the US dollar MC to purchase US products.

After I questioned, they admitted that they charged "cross border fee" for my US dollar purchases. Since the company is located in Berlize, virtually every transaction is a cross-border transaction, plus the conversion fee.

I am in Canada and not in EU.

I made a comparison a few years ago and found that there is a 1% difference between Paypal and Payoneer (dollar to EUR).


So I now work this way :
- Shutterstock dollars go to Payoneer account - and they immediately go to my bank account in euros at a better rate than Paypal.  I don't use the Payoneer account for anything else.
- Adobe and Alamy pay in euros on my Paypal account - the money stays there and I use it for all online payments in euros.
- the other (smaller) agencies pay in dollars on my Paypal account - and I use those dollars for US purchases and to pay my retoucher in dollars.


So the only time Paypal is able to deduct their 3 to 4% for conversion is when I run out of dollars and I need the euros for an online dollar purchase.

Paypal used to be 2.5% for USD to EUR but in the course of the years they've upped it to 4% (Preypal). I usually just try to pick a time to convert my USD and GBP to EUR when the exchange rate is favourable. Still lose the egregious 4% to the sharks but it seems less painful when the USD is high against the Euro.

Occasionally, I'll buy something on Ebay UK with my GBP (usually stuff coming from China!!).