How can I recieve CAD from buyer in CAD, and USD from buyer in USD (in other words, no conversion)?

[dualcitizenz]

Dear community,

I am planning on selling some stuff on ebay. I will sell item ABC in Canadian currency, and I will sell item XYZ in US dollars. How can I receive the funds in their original currency  without any conversions? Because I hear that a conversion entails losing a huge percentage (another way ebay or paypal makes more money).

FYI, I'm requiring the buyers to pay with their paypal account, and I've inserted my paypal account email address in the blank.

[femmefan1946]

Unless you have a B&M business that does a lot of transactions in US dollars or are a snowbird with an existing bank account at your US home, this won't do you much good.

But you can open an account at a US bank. This is not easy without a US address but try RBC and TDNorth, both of which are owned by Canadian Banks.

Then you use that account as one of the ways of taking money from your PP account.

The Paypal account takes care of the rest.

If you list in CDN$, and a buyer sees it in Canada, she will pay in Canadian dollars and it will appear in your PP as CDN dollars.

If you list in CDN$, and a buyer sees it in Australia, she will pay in Australian dollars and it will appear in your PP as CDN dollars.

If you list in USD, and a buyer pays in USD, it will appear in your account as USD.

If you list in USD, and a buyer sees it in Australia, she will pay in Australian dollars and it will appear in your PP as US dollars.

When you go to take money out, you can transfer the CDN to a Canadian bank and the USD to your American bank.

Don't confuse a US dollar account in your Canadian Bank with a US bank account.

And frankly, the fees on the US bank account will be high enough that if you are not, as I mentioned earlier, already doing a lot of business in the USA, and by a lot I'm talking tens of thousands monthly, you won't be any further ahead.

So really it's moot.

Now what is important.

Did you know that as a new seller, your customers' cleared payments will be Held by Paypal against your good performance for 21 days? Did you know that you can use that money to buy PP shipping labels? Did you know that you will get from 5% to 18% off PO counter prices on those labels?

And finally, don't sell anything on eBay until you have done enough buying to have a FB of 10. This will give you a reality check on the way the site works as well as an insight into how the eBay customer and sellers really work and what they expect.

[dualcitizenz]

Dear femmefan1946,
Thank you very much for your quick and helpful reply!
I was able to open up bank accounts with US banks (i.e. the branches are located in the USA).
For me, these US-based banks do not charge me any monthly fee. (And nope, I don't do much business in the USA. I just shopped around for checking accounts that have no monthly fees. 🙂 )


Thanks for confirming that Paypal takes care of receiving multiple currencies.

Thank you for your "Do you know" questions. They are so helpful!

One of them was " Did you know that you will get from 5% to 18% off PO counter prices on those labels?" Are they still cheaper than registering for a Small-Business account with CanadaPost (which, I understand, anybody can register for. In other words, you don't need some special small-business licence or certificate. Any person can open up a small--business account to get a cheaper rate).

[maggiebvintage2010]

"FYI, I'm requiring the buyers to pay with their paypal account, and I've inserted my paypal account email address in the blank."

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

[rose-dee]

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@dualcitizenz wrote:

One of them was " Did you know that you will get from 5% to 18% off PO counter prices on those labels?" Are they still cheaper than registering for a Small-Business account with CanadaPost (which, I understand, anybody can register for. In other words, you don't need some special small-business licence or certificate. Any person can open up a small--business account to get a cheaper rate).

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To answer this question, yes, the Paypal rates are cheaper, especially if you use Expedited or Xpresspost -- the savings is considerable, but not for Light/Small Packet (USA/int'l), for which there is no Paypal discount.  For those services, you will save a small amount using your CP small business card at the P.O. (I'm not certain about savings on CP online labels for these two services).  

And yes, anybody and his brother can register for a "Small Business Solutions" account.  Go to the Canada Post website and look for business services.  You will need to provide a business name and address, among other information. 

The only time I've found my CP discount useful is when purchasing supplies directly from CP, or when I have to buy anything (stamps, boxes, packing tape, etc.) at my local P.O., or actually pay at the counter to send a parcel, which happens only on the rarest of occasions if the Paypal labelling feature is down for some reason. 

Here's another "did you know":  Were you aware that you can maintain a balance in both $Cdn and $US in your Paypal account?  If you regularly buy from American suppliers using your Paypal $US balance, then you won't be charged conversion fees if paying in $US.  Same thing if buying from Canadian suppliers selling in $Cdn if you use your $Cdn Paypal balance.  I find a lot of merchants (not just on eBay) now accept Paypal.  You can choose which balance in Paypal to draw the funds for when paying.  

Also, if you set up your eBay billing correctly, you can avoid conversion charges by paying with the appropriate Paypal balance. 

You seemed to be under the impression that Paypal conversion fees are horrendous.  They're not really (I believe they were somewhere around 2.5% last time I looked), and of course those costs are deductible as a business expense on your tax return.  For the very few times I actually have to pay conversion fees, I consider it worth the price for the convenience of "all-in-one-place" service.  Naturally, if you're converting money constantly, it may be more of an issue.  

BTW, is there a compelling reason why you're listing some items in $Cdn and some in $US?  If so, which do you expect will represent the majority of your sales?  This should determine how you choose to set up your eBay billing.  Did you know you can list in $US on eBay.ca/.cafr? 

[momcqueen]

All the advice given to you prior to my coming here to the thread is sound and good but, as an aside, if you are new to ebay, make sure you do some buying first on the account you are going to use to sell. There are a few reasons for this. One is that many buyers will be nervous to purchase from a seller with a zero next to their ID and the ones who aren't nervous about it are the ones you need to worry about. There are a few unethical buyers on ebay who seek those that appear to be new sellers to exploit their inexperience. You may find yourself barraged by unpleasantness that you do not deserve. Another reason to do some buying with this account is to gain both good and bad (although not too many bad) experiences about shopping here which you can use to tailor your own service to buyers. You will quickly learn what works and what does not. 

I had a feedback rating of 120-something as a buyer before I listed my first item as a seller. Even so, there were growing pains for both me as a seller and for my customers. And don't EVER use surface to ship overseas, I cannot stress that enough! 

[pierrelebel]

"How can I receive the funds in their original currency  without any conversions? "

Let's take that one step at the time.

In your PayPal account, all you need to do is open a Cdn$ balance and a US$ balance.  This will allow payments from buyers to be deposited in your PayPal balances in the currency of the listings without conversion.

Now, the difficult question: how to get your US$ money from PayPal into your hands?

Unless you receive large amounts in US$ every month (well over US$1,000), you have little option but to convert your US$ into Cdn$ and pay PayPal 2.5% conversion fee (about the same as charged by most Canadian banks and credit card issuers).

An alternative, if the funds are substantial, is to open a bank account at a bank in the USA.  However, unless you purchase "stuff" in the USA using those funds, you will need to bring those US$ into Canada eventually and convert them, paying the conversion fee at that time.

At the beginning and until you have more experience. KISS. The easiest way to avoid paying conversion is to list everything you offer in Cdn$.  Many Canadian sellers do that.  eBay-Canada actually recommends Canadian sellers do that.

Good Luck