Are we paying too much?

[agent_dynamo]

Am I the only one looking atmy fees, and is concerned about the excange rates. Here's what I'm talking about:

When we list something and wind-up selling, Ebay's conversion fees are at about 12%

However, when you go on Paypal, the exchange rate is 10% (so when we want to cash-in our sales, we loose 2%). I mean, we already pay 1.9% in Paypal fees, we pay 0.50$ per withdraw, and we loose 2% du to the conversion rates.

Why is it that when we list something, Ebay charges us at a conversion ratio of 12%, but when we cash-in our money from Paypal our money is worth only 2%?

[phoebescollectables]

The simple solution to your the difference is to open a US based US$ bank account. If you are close to the border, then you can cross and open a personal account at a US bank. You can then withdraw the money from your PayPal account with no exchange and no fee. You then have better control over your exchange rate.

If you don't live near the border, then you can open an RBC Centura US based US$ account.

[wsboyd]

I don't think so; PayPal has repeatedly assured me I CANNOT have my USD deposited to my USD account, as long as it's in Canada.

I WISH I COULD !

[recped]

I WISH I COULD !

You CAN, read phoebes post it must be a US Based account not a Canadian account in US$
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

[moefe]

I found that I had to open a US$ account in the US. I have a US$ account in Canada and Pay pal will not deposit US$ in that account. Go figure

[catseye*]

because it's not a US account. It's a Canadian bank account denominated in US dollars.

not the same thing.

[ricarmic]

Just so you know, it isn't easy to get them to approve an RBC Centura account, I spent the time to try to open all 3 RBC accounts ($C, $US and also $US Centura) to make it work, and of course they eventually declined the $US Centura so it was a waste of time. I believe the reason they zapped the Centura request was that I didn't have a US address too.

[wsboyd]

Um... yes, that's what I said.
I wish I could use my USD Canadian bank account,
not have to re-open an account with a US bank.

I WISH I COULD !

You CAN, read phoebes post it must be a US Based account not a Canadian account in US$

[wsboyd]

Hey, I wonder if PayPay could just cut a USD cheque & mail it to me ?

[whoscloset]

They probably could but they won't.

[alero0]

ricarmic
I believe the reason they zapped the Centura request was that I didn't have a US address too.
I don't understand why they refused your Centura account. I've been using my centura account for 1 1/2 years without any problems and I don't have a US address. Possibly they changed the rules for new requests, but I'd try again.

Harvey

[ricarmic]

RE Centura account, all they told me was that it is meant for snowbirds. Do you remember the "reason" you gave them for having the account? There are specific questions regarding the reason for having the account now. I told them I had occaision to write and receive US cheques and it was a lot better if I had a US account in a US bank.

[alero0]

There are specific questions regarding the reason for having the account now.
I don't remember ever being asked any questions of that sort. Am I understanding you correctly? Paypal is asking you Why you have a US account. How could that possibly be any of their business ??? This is Paypal not the IRS. If you have an account in the US or anywhere else in the world this is your personal business. All they have to be concerned with is if it is a valid account or not and RBC Centura is a valid US bank with branches throughout the US. What exactly are the specific questions?

[ricarmic]

Hi! I'm sorry, I've confused the issue. The questions were from RBC when I was trying to open a CENTURA account, there seems to be more focus from RBC on the reason why one wants a CENTURA account these days.

[alero0]

I guess I was confused too. Why don't you just re apply and tell them that you're planning to take a vacation in Flordia. Just don't tell them that you're using the account for any type of business. Once you have the account they really don't care if you travel to Flordia or not. You'll just be a Centura client like any other American. You will get the odd Snowbird flyer in with your bank statement. It's worth trying again. Once you have the account you can easily transfer funds online between your RBC Canadian account and your Centura account on the same web page.

[my-imzadi]

Like agent_dynamo in the very first post, I too was really getting sick of the exchange rate.

I don't just mean that fact that the Canadian dollar has been strong and therefore our $10 S item is now only worth say $11 CAN compared to $15 CAN from a few years ago...we can't change that, and that has nothing to do with ebay or Paypal.

What I mean is yes, ebay's exchange rate is like 12% and Paypal only gives us like 2% (not sure on the excat numbers but you all know what I mean). I have a US account in my Canadian bank, but PAYPAL WILL NOT ALLOW ME TO TRANSFER MY US PAYPAL MONEY INTO MY US DOLLAR ACCOUNT BECAUSE THE BANK IS LOCATED IN CANADA. It had to be exchanged to Canadian at their crappy crappy rate.

The way I got around this is to go to the US and open a US savings account in a US bank. Now I get all my US Paypal money transferred to my US bank account. Then I write myself a cheque and deposit it into my US bank account on the Canadian side. As a result, I have cut my Paypal losses nearly in half.

Now, I have to wait for the exchange rate to get better, so I can exchange my US money to Canadian and pay myself!

P.S. and by the way, when I opened my US bank account, they too wanted to know why, and what I was doing on ebay and how much of the money I'd be transferring in would be from Paypal. I was polite and answered all their questions, but geez! Who do they think they are? The IRS... national security? What difference does it really make to them...I am putting money in their bank! They should be happy, not suspicious! (But I did get a free gift for opening my account there...a lava lamp! Ooooh-neat)

;)

[recped]

The IRS... national security? What difference does it really make to them

It matters to them because they have to answer to Homeland Security and of course all of (ok most of) Amerika is suffering from extreme paranoia (refer to Dubai Ports World for a good example).

When I opened my US based account I didn't give them a chance to ask why as I started the conversation with "I want to open an account because I need to pay bills for my nephew who is going to school in the USA". Mostly true in fact, he is going to a US school but no way in hell am I paying his bills!
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

[greatwhitecollectables]

If you live in canada just get a credit card from PayPal and use it any where you like or get the cash

[1sickgt]

Great info guys! Ive been wondering how to get around the astronomical paypal conversion fees!

[recped]

PayPal conversion fees are NOT astronomical, at 2.5% they are just slightly higher than what most banks charge and the same as what credit card companies charge.

By the way this is not a "fee" per se, it's called a "spread" and you will encounter this with ANY currecy conversion. The amount of the spread will vary depending on who is doing the converting and more important the amount you are converting.

If you have large amounts of US Dollars to convert you can use the services of xe.com, they will take only a very small spread but it's probably not worth the extra effort unless you are exchanging at least $1000

Ben
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915