CAD Payments Not Coming out of U.S. PayPal Balance

[jt-libra]

Something different has been happening with my PayPal account lately.

My account is in US funds and, occasionally, when I sell in CAD, then I have funds in both currencies, but my default currency is USD.  Up until now, if I purchased a shipping label or made an online purchase in CAD, the US funds would automatically be converted.  The only exception was purchases from thebay.com.  The payment would not go through until I manually converted sufficient funds to CAD.

Anyway, this past week, two things happened.  I sent a refund in CAD to a U.S. buyer.  I had sufficient funds in my account so I couldn't figure out why the transaction showed as pending in my PayPal account.  Then I realized that they had withdrawn the money from my bank account which meant the buyer has to wait a few days.  I explained to her what had happened.  I thought this was just a fluke.

Then a couple of a days ago, I made two purchases from eBay Sellers, the cost of which was in CAD.  Again, instead of converting and withdrawing the money from my U.S. balance in my PayPal account, they took the money from my bank account.

Does anyone know if something's changed ..... do I have to manually convert U.S. funds every time I make a purchase or send a refund in CAD?

[momcqueen]

This used to be a setting under managing currencies, if I recall.

Paypal has been playing with page design lately so maybe they have been playing with other settings too.

Go into your paypal account and look around to see if you need to check or uncheck a box. Maybe things were reset to default. Perhaps Paypal likes to convert currency since it can charge extra for that. 

[jt-libra]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:

This used to be a setting under managing currencies, if I recall.

Paypal has been playing with page design lately so maybe they have been playing with other settings too.

Go into your paypal account and look around to see if you need to check or uncheck a box. Maybe things were reset to default. Perhaps Paypal likes to convert currency since it can charge extra for that. 

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I looked at my settings, mj, but I don't see anything that could relate to this.  I guess I'll call them.  At least with PayPal, unlike eBay, you can get through quickly, and they're always very helpful .... but they are U.S. oriented so might not be too conversant about CAD currency.

In future, I'll have to be very careful when sending a refund.  A buyer who is already ticked off that they didn't get their item is told that I'll send a refund immediately and then they have to wait a few days for it.  Fortunately, this buyer was very nice though, and very  patient.

[momcqueen]

You're right in that PayPal representatives tend to be better-informed. I'll look at my own PayPal settings when I'm back at my desk (mobile device at present) and let you know if I see anything different than you.

[momcqueen]

I looked and I cannot see what I thought should be there. I remember there being a setting which I can't seem now to find. Maybe it was my imagination. Let us know what paypal tells you, okay?

[jt-libra]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:
You're right in that PayPal representatives tend to be better-informed. I'll look at my own PayPal settings when I'm back at my desk (mobile device at present) and let you know if I see anything different than you.

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Okay .... thanks!

[goldnideas]

I never changed any settings but my US currency gone, now I can see only in CAN.

[momcqueen]

I am suspecting PayPal is playing with settings. Maybe there was a change to the user agreement none of us noticed.

[jt-libra]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:
I am suspecting PayPal is playing with settings. Maybe there was a change to the user agreement none of us noticed.

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Maybe so.  I would advise anyone who uses USD as their default to be careful when they're sending refunds in CAD.  No sense in antagonizing an already ticked off buyer by making them wait several days for their refund.

[lukey9]

I had the same problem last week with a Refund.  So I transferred my Canadian money over to all US money in my account and it went right through this time in PP.  

[momcqueen]

So it looks like we can assume PayPal changed something behind-the-scenes? I deal in CAD sales and have few to no refunds issued so I cannot compare my pat experiences with more recent ones. I do have a memory of some setting box I once checked that said something like 'automatically convert my balance to the currency I require' but I can't find it now.

[momcqueen]

[momcqueen]

This is almost like what I was thinking of but it only applies to Payments Received. I thought there was a page like this for Payments Sent too. 

[jt-libra]

From the PayPal Website:

How can I use PayPal to manage multiple currencies?

You have the option of holding multiple currencies in one account. You can:

• Open a balance in any of our supported currencies.
• Make or accept payments in multiple currencies.
• Convert your balance from one currency to another.
• Close out your balance in any currency.

You can designate a primary currency – that’s the one you use most often for sending and requesting payments. It’s also the currency that defines your sending and withdrawal limits.

When you buy something that’s for sale in a currency you hold, we’ll take money from that currency balance first. If there’s not enough money in that currency, we’ll use your primary currency balance and apply our exchange rate.

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I'm assuming this applies to refunds as well.  The two purchases I made the other day were form Canadian sellers; I paid in CAD but, although I had sufficient funds in my "primary" US currency, the funds came out of my bank account.

I'm going to wait until my next refund/purchase to see whether there are options or selections I need to check off before I proceed.

[momcqueen]

That's how I remember it working the last time I needed to pay for something. It took my CAD balance, and then the three bucks I had in USD balance (not sure why it was even there) and then my bank account funding source.