PayPal & the Euro.
Posted 02/05/2013 - 10:09
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EU bank transfer probably would have been cheaper, but also slower and less secure for the buyer [+].
Once, money has been passed like this, there is no way for the buyer to get (some of) it back.
PayPal, might be more costly - for both the buyer and the seller.
I agree that some of the charges are a bit excessive [++].
But, in your case, one should rather look at the difference between getting a brick for £380 or getting it with (some) insurance for £393.
Also, be aware of the shipping costs [+++].
[+]
Note, that there might be several options.
But currency conversion from GBP to Euro always might be less favourable than expected.
I once transferred an amount of money in Euro this way and the British bank then used a much worse conversion rate (Euro to GBP) than my German bank would have done.
Additional transaction fees (UK to Germany) also can easily be in the 20 GBP range.
[++]
Currency conversion fee [about 3.5%]:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/cross-border-and-conversion-fees#currencyconversion
Fees for receiving payments from buyers outside your country [about 3.4%]:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/paypal-fees
Transaction fee for cross border payments [about 0.5%]:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/cross-border-and-conversion-fees#crossborder
[+++]
There is no possibility to send a parcel with insurance from Germany to the UK with DHL (DHL express is possible for XXX€).
Some rumors suggest that too many insured packages were lost in the UK by e.g. Parcelforce and Royal Mail.
This could be the reason for this status.
After several telephone calls, I strongly suggest UPS or FedEx for sending packets with valuable articles from/to the UK.
Once, money has been passed like this, there is no way for the buyer to get (some of) it back.
PayPal, might be more costly - for both the buyer and the seller.
I agree that some of the charges are a bit excessive [++].
But, in your case, one should rather look at the difference between getting a brick for £380 or getting it with (some) insurance for £393.
Also, be aware of the shipping costs [+++].
[+]
Note, that there might be several options.
But currency conversion from GBP to Euro always might be less favourable than expected.
I once transferred an amount of money in Euro this way and the British bank then used a much worse conversion rate (Euro to GBP) than my German bank would have done.
Additional transaction fees (UK to Germany) also can easily be in the 20 GBP range.
[++]
Currency conversion fee [about 3.5%]:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/cross-border-and-conversion-fees#currencyconversion
Fees for receiving payments from buyers outside your country [about 3.4%]:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/paypal-fees
Transaction fee for cross border payments [about 0.5%]:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/cross-border-and-conversion-fees#crossborder
[+++]
There is no possibility to send a parcel with insurance from Germany to the UK with DHL (DHL express is possible for XXX€).
Some rumors suggest that too many insured packages were lost in the UK by e.g. Parcelforce and Royal Mail.
This could be the reason for this status.
After several telephone calls, I strongly suggest UPS or FedEx for sending packets with valuable articles from/to the UK.
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424 posts
16 years
Surrey
I purchased an item on EBay which was priced in Euros - 440 to be precise. The conversion was given as approximately £380 and was based on a conversion rate of very close to 1.1812 Euros to the pound. In the event PayPal took £393 from my account. When challenged on this they said it was based on the exchange rate at the time of the transaction, i.e. 1.1418 euros to the pound. I had checked this with Forex within minutes of receiving the receipt and the rate was given as 1.1812 euros to the pound.....so caveat emptor and all that.
And there was me thinking naively that the seller paid the charges on EBay....
(And the item was not worth that much :blush
Roger