Using a US Dollar credit card from Canada

[tonnerbeer]

I have a US Dollar account with my Canadian Bank for which I have a US Dollar credit card. Whenever I make a purchase on EBay in US Dollars, the charges to my bank have been converted to Canadian Dollars and then my bank converts the Canadian Dollars back to US Dollars for payment against my US Dollar card.  Fees are charged for each conversion.

How can I prevent the unnecessary conversions.    As an aside, isn't this rather unethical if not illegal?

[marnotom!]

It’s probably not possible to do this for the reasons @reallynicestamps gives, but for 💩 and giggles, you could try adjusting the currency settings on your PayPal account so that your credit card issuer “converts” the currency and not PayPal. You’re probably already going through Checkout on the US site, but I’m just going to throw that point your way just for the sake of more complete information.

As this is a PayPal issue and has nothing to do with eBay—who no longer owns PayPal, BTW—I’d also consider using your credit card directly if that option is available from sellers using Managed Payments. I assume this double-conversion isn’t happening when you make online purchases in US dollars that aren’t processed by PayPal?

Here’s a US thread that links to some info on adjusting PayPal’s currency conversion settings. Keep in mind it’s a few years old and the mechanics may have changed:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Payments/How-to-avoid-Ebay-s-scam-like-currency-exchange-rate/m-p/2846...

[pjcdn2005]

That would be a Paypal issue but my guess would be that it is because Paypal for Canadians only processes funds in Canadian dollars hence the conversion. There are some posters here who might know more about it than I do so I'll page one of them. There are other posters here who might also be able to help but they are the boards often so they should see your question.  

@recped 

[recped]

---

@tonnerbeer wrote:

I have a US Dollar account with my Canadian Bank for which I have a US Dollar credit card. Whenever I make a purchase on EBay in US Dollars, the charges to my bank have been converted to Canadian Dollars and then my bank converts the Canadian Dollars back to US Dollars for payment against my US Dollar card.  Fees are charged for each conversion.

How can I prevent the unnecessary conversions.    As an aside, isn't this rather unethical if not illegal?

---

Can't say for certain but I can make some guesses..........

Probably if you go through checkout on .ca it defaults to CA Dollars, are you making the purchases on .com or .ca?

It's possible PayPal is not recognizing your credit card as being denominated in US Dollars since it is issued by a Canadian bank and not a "real" US card.

[tonnerbeer]

I know what is happening...I just want to know how to make it stop. Contacting EBay directly with the question proved useless - the agent simply redirected me to PayPal (which, of course, is OWNED by EBay). The PayPal resolution center has only a limited number of generic "resolutions" for issues that PayPal will deal with. Unfortunately, my issue is not one of them. I was unable to speak to anyone at PayPal - every attempt landed me at the doorstep of yet another "generic" answer machine. I was not happy with the response from either EBay or PayPal and disappointed with both. This site was the only place where there was any interest.

[reallynicestamps]

It's done because it is legal.

American law since the 1990s has demanded currency exchange be done this way.

It started with money laundering by criminal organizations, and moved from there to terrorists.

I'm not clear on all the ins and outs, but if you have a PP balance in US dollars and move it to your Canadian bank account in US dollars, PP MUST send it to Canada in loonies, and then your Canadian bank can change it back into USD and deposit it.

If you bank with the Royal or TD, you may be able to get a "real" US dollar credit card.

Both banks have American banks. RBCBank and TDNorth.

Snowbirds and businesses use these. I asked a month or so ago about this and the teller at the Royal Bank assured me that the connection is still there.

Ask at your branch about opening an account with one of those.

All your US income can go directly to the American account. You can get an American credit card - VISA .

BUT.

You may be paying US taxes. There are different and often higher fees.

We opened ours when we had an active shop and auction. We have since retired. It was well worth it when we were taking in several hundred thousand US dollars annually.

I tried RBCBank for my tiny eBay business, but found it too expensive and ended it.

[mcrlmn]

Your query infers that this has occurred several times.

Why didn't you contact PayPal and/or your Canadian bank for clarification, and possibly a remedy, upon the first instance?

They have the answers you seek.