That'sAllFolks

OK, I bought an item that is a total of 24.99 GBR. It says it is approx. 40.27 in myeBay.

When I go to check out the total says:
PayPal Conversion Rate as of Oct 28, 2012: 1 U.S. Dollar = 0.605324 British Pounds, so the total is $41.29 USD.

OK, now how much is the transaction conversion fee on top of that? I see it mentioned on the site, but don't see any numbers on top of that. Does paypal REQUIRE you to use their conversion (as opposed to your credit card:?.

I have the chance to get out of the purchase ... I wasn't expecting the conversion fees on top of that (I thought they were paid by the seller, for some reason). Anyway, any insight would be helpful.

Troy Stiffler

I'm not aware of any currency conversion fees. You just pay the estimated USD, and that's that.

I've never traveled abroad and had to mess with different currencies. But I have processed tens of thousands of PayPal transactions. I've always just let them do their thing. But I'm not aware of any additional currency conversion fees.

Troy Stiffler

Oh, and I just bought something form the UK last week. It was $90-or-so. I used my PayPal balance to pay, and there weren't any additional charges.

PhantomStranger

Everything I have ever bought using Paypal in foreign currencies has tacked on a conversion fee, though the last time I did it was a few months ago.

adrenaline78

I paid with a credit card and there was a small conversion fee.

Troy Stiffler

Right. To clarify, I'm always sending a "paypal balance" for the payment. Maybe they don't have conversion fees when it's just a balance being moved around. Either that, or they just threw it into the total, and it was too small to notice.

danwiz

Seems that everybody charges a "foreign transaction fee" - I know that American Express does it too.

TheBang

When you are BUYING something in a foreign currency with PayPal, you are given two choices:

1) Have PayPal convert the transaction to USD for you. For this convenience, you get a slightly worse currency conversion rate compared to market rates, but there are no additional "fees" (the fee is built in to your conversion rate). This conversion rate is the same regardless of whether you fund your transaction with your PayPal balance or a credit card.

2) Have PayPal charge the transaction in the native currency to your credit card, and then it will be up to your bank/card issuer's policies on fees for foreign currency transactions. Most credit cards charge a 3% convenience fee for foreign transactions. This is usually more than the PayPal conversion rate (option 1, above).

Capital One is the only major credit card issuer that I know of that charges nothing for foreign transactions. They give you the prevailing bank conversion rate with no hidden fees or charges. I use my Capital One credit card for all my foreign transactions and for when I travel abroad.

Edit: I guess there are some other choices for foreign transaction fee-free credit cards, but Capital One is unique in that none of their cards has this fee.