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I'm really not understanding the OP's rant. Exchange rates change and that has nothing to do with eBay or Paypal. Paypal has always charged a fair rate. I too prefer the old rates when the exchange rate paid my expenses. Life goes on.
I live off of my Paypal card. I am fortunate to have one. I buy and sell using it. What I no longer have, because of the higher Cdn $, I make up for in volume.
I look at my income minus expenses for net profit. Exchange rates have nothing to do with that. I subscribe to the Georgia Satellites method of assessing how well I am doing: "I got a little change in my pocket going jingle lingle ling".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMFMf9cN64U
""I got a little change in my pocket going jingle lingle ling"."
If that jingling comes from pennies.... you are out of luck! 😞
Paisley, the unforseen event may be the collapse of Alberta. Our $ is propped up, in large part by western raw resources, oil and gas. Alberta oil trades at $30 below WTI. Alberta is staring at large gov't defecits that may not go away. The only real market for western resources is the USA. USA energy production is rising and finding less and less use for Canada.
More and more I hear the phrase "have-not province" associated with Alberta.
I do not use Cdn $ because then you end up with the American prices ending in weird penny amounts. I like to use price pointing and cannot achieve that, in the USA, with Cdn $.
"showing up as $12.89 US$ on the American side"
That is correct
However, when the American buyer receives his credit card statement, that US$12.89 will read US$13.21 (and possibly more) by the time the American credit card issuer adds its currency conversion fee (2.5%).
So, it becomes a simple question: will the seller or the buyer pay the conversion?
Many American buyers may resent being "overcharged", potentially resulting in less than perfect feedback.
While few will complain about a few cents, some may take note of the difference if dollars are involved. Some buyers may feel they have been "ripped off". That is something Canadians know and understand about currency conversion but Americans are largely unaware.
Actually, Paisley, your listing show two prices over on dot com. It has the Cdn $ price in large font and the USA $ price below in a different shade. You have a greater faith in the American consumer than I do.
"your listing show two prices over on dot com"
That is correct.
However, the search results will only show the US$ equivalent, not the original price in Cdn$.
"Unless of course, the loonie starts to fall again - but I don't see that happening in the next two years barring some unforeseen event."
I am not predicting a drop for the Canadian dollar but it is possible to foresee how it could happen within the next year or two.
If the US Congress and Administration cannot stop sequestration at the end of this month (or even if it is postponed again for a few months), nearly one trillion dollars (that is one thousand billions) will be taken out of the US economy. One can expect job creation to slow down for a while. That will hurt Canada. Not only oil and gas from Alberta but the forest industry in BC and QC, the mining industry all over the country, manufacturing in Ontario, tourism, etc... We could be in for really hard time (remember 2008/2009?)
Once the economy goes into a recession, there is not much the federal government can do at this time to stop it.
In the "good old days" the central bank would lower interest rates to generate economic activity. That option is out the window with interest rates already at record lows for several years.
In the "good old days" the government would go into a short term budgetary deficit by adding to spending while tax revenue are dropping but that option is also out the window as the government is still running a huge deficit despite being out of the last recession for four years.
So yes, it is possible to foresee how the Canadian dollar could drop substantially (below US$0.95) given the right circumstances.
Hopefully it will not happen.
I respectfully disagree. A lower dollar would attract investment for the export market. That leads to increased employment. A lower dollar increases the cost of imports. A trade-off.
I "think" that because our currencies have the same name, people equate the value as the same. Not so. It would be better if our money had a different name, such as pounds and shillings. With a different equation, the expectations would be different.
More and more we are becoming the 51st state. This is something Quebec has been trying to point out for the last 50-100 years: "Watch out or we will be over-run and lose our identity".
All the Americans need to do is scrap their ports of entry along our shared border and move them into ship ports and international airports. Make those the gateway into the USA. Just like that, the border would be gone. Then? A buck, is a buck, is a buck.
Be careful what you wish for.
"I bought an item from USA for US$58-. Paypal charge my bank account for around C$63"
Who did the conversion from US$58 to Cdn$ 63? Your bank? PayPal? (I cannot find the transaction on eBay)
What does your bank statement shows for that transaction?
$63 - $55 = $8 which exceeds 13%. That does not seem right as PayPal charges 2.5% conversion fee each time a transaction is converted from one currency to another, just like most credit card issuers and banks.
Whatever the exact amount of conversion you lost because the seller could not deliver should be the responsibility of your seller. I suggest you contact him with all the relevant information and ask him to reimburse you for your out-of-pocket exchange conversion fees caused by his inability to complete the transaction.
Good Luck.
