CAD vs. USD

[coxengines]

$206.41 CAD
$206.46 USD

Today was the first time in a long time that we received less in CAD than the USD we were withdrawing from Paypal.

So much for selling in USD lol!

Were it no so difficult for many Americans to befriend themselves with this, we would list in Euros.

Bernie

[surplusdealdude]

Well, I did hear that the $Cdn was supposed to move into partity and even surpass the USD this year.

Guess they were right.

Although, on the bright side, if you can afford to take the hit on the exchange, Europe's going to get interested in us again.

[jakeeangel]

There's a buying and a selling rate which I'm sure most know. I watched the buying US rate drop today from approximately 1.0549 to 1.0417. Selling US - OUCH!! 1.0006.

[pierrelebel]

"Today was the first time in a long time that we received less in CAD than the USD we were withdrawing from Paypal. "

At first sight, it appears PayPal may have given you the wrong exchange rate. Don't you have a large enough volume to qualify for the lower conversion fee?

[pierrelebel]

For those who missed the announcement nearly two years ago about a lower US$ conversion rate charged by PayPal to Canadian sellers, please check this http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200805011002562.html

[coxengines]

Pierre, we do on one account but not on the other one. The other one is for our off-site store and only about 20% of buyers go through checkout with Paypal.

Bernie

[craftycatsattic]

Ouch. I have been waiting for it to go back up the other way..lol...but eventually bills have to get paid and I have to withdraw.

Thankfully the saving grace for some of us can be that we also source a lot of product from the US and are therefore paying less for product.

I'm doing my year end and have the average monthy closing figures right here in front of me for 2009. These are nominal rates that the banks and paypal take an additional spread off of:

Jan 1.22481905
Feb 1.24477000
Mar 1.26331364
Apr 1.22459524
May 1.14998000
Jun 1.12713182
Jul 1.12170909
Aug 1.08889500
Sep 1.08183810
Oct 1.05605238
Nov 1.05940000
Dec 1.05601429

The dollar right now is about the same as it was in early 2008 (in Feb 2008 the monthy average actually fell below par). We saw a lot of volatility when it jumped in October of 2008 and then declined in May 2009. It sure would be nice to have a looking glass into the future and take advantage of the "swings"!

[surplusdealdude]

I find that the swings are a few percent each way - unless you're trading in hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time, the difference isn't significant.

I'm not going to sweat a few dollars here or there - there are lots of other things to worry about.

[axe_n_gear_music]

Most of my suppliers in the US accept Paypal, so what a great time to stock up!!! BUY BUY BUY!!!
I just leave all the money in there to buy with or until the exchange swings back around in our favour, then will withdraw some of it. I have learned to always keep a cushion of several thousand in there just to play with like that.
I also agree with Surplus, there is more things to worry about than the exchange rate, something that we have no control over.

Cheers,
AXE