PayPal currency conversion fees... Save me

[biffer123]

I have always used Paypal. I've never had any issues with them and customers love using Paypal, not to mention it's so easy to make auto subscriptions for my business.

However, 80%+ of the payments I receive are in USD. I live in the UK and my bank account receives everything as GBP.

Everytime I withdraw USD from Paypal, they give me a terrible conversion (2.5% PayPal conversion tax). This income is already taxed by Paypal at 3.5%. So I am losing 6% before I've even paid tax on this income.

I have tried to add a US bank account to my PayPal, but as I am a UK resident they don't allow this. It has to be a UK bank account. I have a US bank account through Revolut, but there is no way I can transfer it from Paypal to that account.

Does anyone have any solutions for this? I really want to try and reduce the amount PayPal are taking in currency conversion fees.

 

[tachafine]

Hi,

I saw that there is a Fintech called Transferwise borderless account it can save you money and you'll have no issues using it since you are based in UK

 

[Gogol]

Hi,

I saw that there is a Fintech called Transferwise borderless account it can save you money and you'll have no issues using it since you are based in UK

Transferwise is awesome. I have been receiving money via transferwise for the last 3 years and I live in India.. not UK.


As for sending money via paypal, select the option where paypal doesn't convert the money to your currency while billing. Your bank is the best exchanger 99% of the times.

 

[Klents]

Transferwise

 

[snakeoil]

Can you get an USD account at your bank or any other bank in the UK?

 

[MisterF]

@biffer123 have you looked at Revolut? Payoneer is another option.

 

[bbonnietshaver]

If you use your PayPal balance or a linked bank account, the charges would be 0.5% to 3.3%, depending on the country you are sending the money to. If you use your credit or debit card, the fee would range from 3.9% to 7.4% plus a fixed fee, depending on the country.

 

[KHer0]

In most banks you can open another account with different cureency. This way there wont be any conversions

 

[Aluminium]

Conversion rates fuck me over sometimes, that's why I ask my clients to pay me in CAD whenever possible (but my rates are in USD).

When they just use PayPal to convert it, I lose money twice; through the conversion itself (shitty PayPal rates) and also through the fees.

 

[biffer123]

Hi,

I saw that there is a Fintech called Transferwise borderless account it can save you money and you'll have no issues using it since you are based in UK

Heard of this, would this be a complete replacement of PayPal? I’m quite fond of their automatic subscriptions.

Transferwise is awesome. I have been receiving money via transferwise for the last 3 years and I live in India.. not UK.


As for sending money via paypal, select the option where paypal doesn't convert the money to your currency while billing. Your bank is the best exchanger 99% of the times.

The issue is I cannot withdraw it to my bank account before PayPal convert it themselves as my bank is English :/.

Transferwise

Will have to look into it, but will this completely replace PayPal?

Can you get an USD account at your bank or any other bank in the UK?

I have a USD bank account through Revolut, but PayPal don’t seem to allow me to withdraw to that bank, I think I can only use English bank accounts.

@biffer123 have you looked at Revolut? Payoneer is another option.

I have a Revolut premium account, and a metal card (so cool ), I love Revolut. The issue seems to be I can’t add an American bank account to my PayPal, they’re only allowing English bank accounts to be connected, and then to withdraw the USD they are having to convert it to gbp first. I ideally want to keep the payments originally coming into PayPal for auto subscriptions and client peace of mind, but get them out without losing to currency conversion fee.

If you use your PayPal balance or a linked bank account, the charges would be 0.5% to 3.3%, depending on the country you are sending the money to. If you use your credit or debit card, the fee would range from 3.9% to 7.4% plus a fixed fee, depending on the country.

Not sure what you’re trying to explain here really

In most banks you can open another account with different cureency. This way there wont be any conversions

Issue seems to be that PayPal won’t let me link any other account other than UK bank account

Conversion rates fuck me over sometimes, that's why I ask my clients to pay me in CAD whenever possible (but my rates are in USD).

When they just use PayPal to convert it, I lose money twice; through the conversion itself (shitty PayPal rates) and also through the fees.

Yeah I feel that, hmmm

 

[KHer0]

Its ur bank account exactly like the main one. Just another currency. I use mine with PayPal without any issues.

 

[Gogol]

The issue is I cannot withdraw it to my bank account before PayPal convert it themselves as my bank is English :/.

Neither can I while withdrawing. This is why I tell my clients to send me payments via transferwise. On the other hand, when I send money, I use paypal; with the settings I mentioned in the previous post.

 

[BrandingCat]

Hi,

I saw that there is a Fintech called Transferwise borderless account it can save you money and you'll have no issues using it since you are based in UK

Transferwise is awesome. I have been receiving money via transferwise for the last 3 years and I live in India.. not UK.


As for sending money via paypal, select the option where paypal doesn't convert the money to your currency while billing. Your bank is the best exchanger 99% of the times.

How you guys cashout in USD as a non-US citizen?

 

[Gogol]

How you guys cashout in USD as a non-US citizen?

I do nothing. Transferwise handles the payment. I get the money in the bank, in my local currency. My client can choose the exact amount (in my currency) I will receive. He pays the fees, which I blieve is like $5 for every $1000 (i may be wrong with the fees).

Btw, my bank supports (and loves) usd, so I could easily receive usd if I had no choice.

 

[BrandingCat]

I do nothing. Transferwise handles the payment. I get the money in the bank, in my local currency. My client can choose the exact amount (in my currency) I will receive. He pays the fees, which I blieve is like $5 for every $1000 (i may be wrong with the fees).

Btw, my bank supports (and loves) usd, so I could easily receive usd if I had no choice.

I was wondering how you cash out from PayPal as USD main currency in your bank without double conversion.

I call PayPal and they told me just US citizen can cash out straight from USD to USD.

I have transferwise + local USD bank account, still, I can`t cash out straight in USD without conversion to euros in my case.

It`s like that: USD > Bloody Paypal conversion to Euro > Bloody Paypal conversion to USD > Recieve USD in a bank account; so it`s useless.

I know, makes no sense, same like their policy.

 

[Gogol]

I was wondering how you cash out from PayPal as USD main currency in your bank without double conversion.

I call PayPal and they told me just US citizen can cash out straight from USD to USD.


I have transferwise + local USD bank account, still, I can`t cash out straight in USD without conversion to euros in my case.

It`s like that: USD > Bloody Paypal conversion to Euro > Bloody Paypal conversion to USD > Recieve USD in a bank account; so it`s useless.

I know, makes no sense, same like their policy.

As I mentioned previously, I can't cash in usd if I use paypal. That's why I use transferwise for incoming payments, mostly. The company I work for pays me (used to, actually... From last few months we have an Indian entity paying us) via transferwise. All they need is my banking details. Transferwise does the job of the banker. I am from India btw. Not sure how it works in US. May be have a chat with the support guys from tw. Thy are pretty helpful.

Edit: they pay me in my currency. There's an option for euro/czk to inr in my case. I receive exact amount I bill, in my bank.

 

[HoNeYBiRD]

I was wondering how you cash out from PayPal as USD main currency in your bank without double conversion.

I call PayPal and they told me just US citizen can cash out straight from USD to USD.

I have transferwise + local USD bank account, still, I can`t cash out straight in USD without conversion to euros in my case.

It`s like that: USD > Bloody Paypal conversion to Euro > Bloody Paypal conversion to USD > Recieve USD in a bank account; so it`s useless.

I know, makes no sense, same like their policy.

PayPal uses mid market rates plus around 3% for withdrawals, which involve currency conversion. Banks use mid market rates plus whatever fee they have for international bank transfers, traditional banks, not Transferwise. If you can't spend the money in USD, a currency conversion takes place anyway, so what you lose with PayPal is 3%. 30 bucks per $1k, not exactly the end of the world.

If you're a merchant and you don't accept PayPal, you leave a lot more money on the table than just that 3 percent, which i guess is the price of doing business via PayPal.
Getting 3% of something taken away is still better than keeping 100% of nothing.

The only viable substitute for PayPal is a payment gateway, where you can accept PayPal such as 2CO, although i guess they have fees of their own.

 

[MrRandQm]

Open a USD module with your bank. I have a EUR bank account and opened a 'module' on the same account for USD. It stays in USD until I choose to convert it to EUR.