eBay

silk-backing · ‎03-10-2016

Ok, I understand currency exchange and the frequency of rate change.

I just bought an item for $150 USD with free shipping.

The ebay listing showed $150 USD and $199.53 CDN, which would be correct at the present rate.

Under "Orders" in my ebay summary the price is listed at $217.75.

The paypal transaction showed $204.51.

How does ebay calculate currency when the listing showed approximately $199.53 and in the Òrders`listing it shows $217.75.

Thats quite a difference

Is this common for paypal to add an additional 2-3% when taking funds from my account?

I can`t see the dollar difference during the course of the day causing an addition 2- 3% increase in paypal charges.

pocomocomputing · ‎03-10-2016

My understanding is that the eBay listing conversion is the exchange rate without the common 2.5% conversion fee most companies charge for converting the currency. PayPal charges 2.5% (or is it 2.75% now), credit cards somewhere around the 2.5%. Some credit cards charge less than 2.5%.

Because the conversion fee varies with the payment method used, eBay shows the conversion without fees or the lowest fees.

My understanding of the way this works.

marnotom! · ‎03-10-2016

@pocomocomputing wrote:

My understanding is that the eBay listing conversion is the exchange rate without the common 2.5% conversion fee most companies charge for converting the currency. PayPal charges 2.5% (or is it 2.75% now), credit cards somewhere around the 2.5%. Some credit cards charge less than 2.5%.

Because the conversion fee varies with the payment method used, eBay shows the conversion without fees or the lowest fees.

My understanding of the way this works.

That's pretty much it. The exchange rate used by eBay for "approximate" conversions in listings is what's called the "mid-market exchange rate". That's the midway point between a currency's market "buy" rate and "sell" rate.

ypdc_dennis · ‎03-11-2016

@silk-backing wrote:
Ok, I understand currency exchange and the frequency of rate change.

I just bought an item for $150 USD with free shipping.
The ebay listing showed $150 USD and $199.53 CDN, which would be correct at the present rate.
Under "Orders" in my ebay summary the price is listed at $217.75.
The paypal transaction showed $204.51.

How does ebay calculate currency when the listing showed approximately $199.53 and in the Òrders`listing it shows $217.75.
Thats quite a difference
Is this common for paypal to add an additional 2-3% when taking funds from my account?
I can`t see the dollar difference during the course of the day causing an addition 2- 3% increase in paypal charges.

In the listing the conversion would be using the current daily exchange rate.

For "orders" I believe eBay uses the exchange rate that was in effect the day the item was listed.

I say this because that's how eBay converts my fees on US$ sales to CA$

For example:

Item I sold on March 7 had the "Final value fee of US $1.50 converted to C $2.09 at a rate of 1.39015 (as of 14-Feb-16)". The eBay exchange rate was 1.33675 for March 7. The day I listed the item was February 14.

Most of the time you don't notice, but with the large swings in the CA/US exchange rates these days it can be very noticeable. Why does eBay do it this way? Probably to make accounting calculations easier (and more reliable), they tie the exchange rate to the item when it's listed.

-.-