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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Valentinian, post: 3994275, member: 44316&quot;]A few weeks ago I figured out that PayPal fees for payments in other currencies are higher than I had thought. I realized that the seller got about 4% fewer euros than I sent, but I hadn&#039;t factored in that I got about 4% fewer euros for my dollars than the mid-market exchange rate. </p><p><br /></p><p>So, I wrote to CoinTalk about it (<a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/an-auction-house-i-will-not-be-buying-from-again.351969/#post-3947723" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/an-auction-house-i-will-not-be-buying-from-again.351969/#post-3947723">here</a>) and now I put up a web page repeating those comments on why I prefer TransferWise (There are other, similar, firms) to PayPal:</p><p><a href="http://augustuscoins.com/TW.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://augustuscoins.com/TW.html" rel="nofollow">http://augustuscoins.com/TW.html</a></p><p>(<a href="http://augustuscoins.com/TW.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://augustuscoins.com/TW.html" rel="nofollow">The text of the page</a> in its entirety is in this CoinTalk post at the end, below the horizontal line ____________ .)</p><p><br /></p><p>If you have used PayPal to pay in some other currency than your own, consider responding to this post after figuring out the actual exchange rate they gave you. Compare it to the published exchange rate for that day, and let us know.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Here is how. Find the amount they took in your currency (say, in dollars) from your account (PayPal tells you). Find the amount you entered to pay (say, in euros). Divide the first by the second to get what you are actually paying for a euro. Compare that to the published value of a euro (google it). Then, reply to this post. Let us know about that hidden fee above and beyond the 4% or so that it obvious.&nbsp; (I give an example below.)</p><p><br /></p><p>My new page is next:</p><p>_______________________________</p><p><br /></p><p>Why you should use TransferWise for payments in currencies other than your own.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="4">PayPal charges a much higher fee than they claim for international sales by sneakily using a poor exchange rate. The seller gets about 4% less than you send, which is the expected fee. But you also pay for euros at a higher rate than the listed &quot;mid-market&quot; exchange rate. So, when I paid in euros Dec. 8, 2019 and the day&#039;s exchange rate was given on websites as $1.106, the actual rate PayPal gave me was $1.154 (dollars subtracted divided by euros I sent). That&#039;s an additional 4% that PayPal takes. </font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">For example, the seller asks 100 euros and accepts PayPal and knows he will only get 96. That looks like 4%. But wait. I buy 100 euros in dollars (at $1.154/euro) so I pay $115.40. $115.40 really buys (in bulk at $1.106/euro) 104.35 euros. So, PayPal gives out 96 and gets in 104.35. That works out to a 8% take. I&#039;ll bet you didn&#039;t think the fees were 8%! </font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">If you are in the US and pay abroad with PayPal, I invite you to compute the ratio of the PayPal deduction from your account in dollars to the number of euros or pounds or CHF sent. Then google the price of that currency that day and see how they compare. Any excess you pay goes into PayPal&#039;s pockets, and that is not counting the fee of about 4% to the seller.</font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">That&#039;s way I now pay abroad with TransferWise (Their site: <a href="https://transferwise.com/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://transferwise.com/" rel="nofollow">https://transferwise.com/</a> . Their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransferWise" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransferWise" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia link</a>). They give a much better rate and much lower fees. By the way, TransferWise incurs no &quot;wiring fee.&quot; Auction firms will remove any charge for that (often 12-20 euros) from your invoice. TransferWise takes a while to set up, but once I have paid a particular firm the second time is very easy. I feel good about giving the seller the full amount and not giving so much to the financial services industry.</font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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