Ebay always under-estimates currency conversion?
- Thread starter zebra50
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ruffrecords
Well-known member
The 'official' nominal exchange rate at any time is just that - nominal. All banks have a rate at which they sell and buy currency which will be above or below that rate as appropriate so they make some money on any transaction. Ebay and Payapl are no different. It is not something new.
Cheers
ian
Cheers
ian
I get that. But I have done hundreds of international transactions and I can't remember it ever being less than the estimate, always a bit more at checkout.
If it was totally random then it should average out over the years, and we should see both higher and lower.
I'm keeping notes now, to see if I am just paranoid.
If it was totally random then it should average out over the years, and we should see both higher and lower.
I'm keeping notes now, to see if I am just paranoid.
ruffrecords
Well-known member
zebra50 said:
Ah, I see what you mean. That is odd. I think I will keep notes too.
Cheers
Ian
okgb
Well-known member
My bank says , or the C.C. company, that due to the high volume of exchange they are able to give me the best rates
for my out of country purchases ......................never seems particularly good.
ebay /and paypal since they bought them have been bad cop , bad cop
ebay always seems to have a higher than posted exchange rate when charging your fee's
and paypal , a lower than posted when exchanging back to your bank ..............surprise
For me in Canada the rate is often close to the U.S. rate so I simply list anything in my currency - Canadian -
despite ebay telling me I'll get more sales in u.s. currency .
for my out of country purchases ......................never seems particularly good.
ebay /and paypal since they bought them have been bad cop , bad cop
ebay always seems to have a higher than posted exchange rate when charging your fee's
and paypal , a lower than posted when exchanging back to your bank ..............surprise
For me in Canada the rate is often close to the U.S. rate so I simply list anything in my currency - Canadian -
despite ebay telling me I'll get more sales in u.s. currency .
gemini86
Well-known member
Ebay and paypal work hand in hand to steal your money. Any shady business practices from those two should be of no surprise.
deuce42
Well-known member
And Ebay's postal calculator is so horribly off I've been burned having been hit with a postage charge infinitely higher than the sale price of the item. In that case I felt it wasn't right to charge the buyer that. It wasn't the buyer's fault the postage calculator was 80% cheaper than the actual postage price. And moreover, I could only imagine that had the buyer known the actual postage price they probably wouldn't have purchased my item so I couldn't make them pay it.
Agreed on all accounts, Ebay/Paypal are a disgusting outfit with absolutely no ethics whatsoever. Writing this doesn't make me naive and of course every large business gets accused of poor behaviour, but Ebay in particular has no accountability or shame. What really saddens me the most about them is that they will blatantly foster and allow fraud and theft, even when its presented to them with proof of it occurring. In response to the furnished information proving the fraud you've just become a victim of, they will answer that they are taking "appropriate actions" against a seller or buyer but for "privacy reasons" they cant tell you what action they are taking. How very convenient! Especially when one sees the same member trading hundreds more items and clearly nothing has been done to deal with them or their fraud. Sadly as well, the only remedy is to discuss the matter with some poor sod in a call centre somewhere in the Philipines who bears the cruel fate of listening to furious members vent their frustrations for what is truly disgusting Ebay policies. The same policies to which the call centre lacky has absolutely no control over. The poor staff are forced to cop the abuse and defend ebay policy in order to earn a wage when they must surely know they are wrong. I can remember the quiver in the poor call centre guy's voice when I called and I think I was polite compared to calls they must surely get form others who catch them out making excuses they are clearly told to say.
Granted this is not only an ebay issue, a lot of companies do the same, but Ebay continues to turn a blind eye to fraud and maintains it is so powerless to do anything as it merely brings buyers and sellers together. Wait till you become a victim and watch how little ebay will care or how it will take absolutely no responsibility. It will simply state that its powerless to do anything and recommend you undertake your own investigation.
Despite this, the great hypocrisy is that if one ever breaches any of ebay's rules that may encroach on Ebay itself, Ebay will take immediate action and punish the member. Members are swiftly suspended or removed from ebay without warning or without being able to discuss this if they breach any policy that effects the ebay monolith. This of course demonstrates that they are perfectly capable of taking action upon members immediately when they feel like it. It's just when the fraud doesn't effect them that they will fly this victim like " we are powerless to do anything" ruse. The people who make these policies lack any ethics or shame.
In this day and age I totally accept Ebay is a viable and worldwide benchmark way to trade - I still reserve the right to say they are one business in the world that truly make me feel sick. If I ever had the power I'd find the Philippino call centre staff other jobs. I'm aware this last sentence is complete fantasy sadly
Agreed on all accounts, Ebay/Paypal are a disgusting outfit with absolutely no ethics whatsoever. Writing this doesn't make me naive and of course every large business gets accused of poor behaviour, but Ebay in particular has no accountability or shame. What really saddens me the most about them is that they will blatantly foster and allow fraud and theft, even when its presented to them with proof of it occurring. In response to the furnished information proving the fraud you've just become a victim of, they will answer that they are taking "appropriate actions" against a seller or buyer but for "privacy reasons" they cant tell you what action they are taking. How very convenient! Especially when one sees the same member trading hundreds more items and clearly nothing has been done to deal with them or their fraud. Sadly as well, the only remedy is to discuss the matter with some poor sod in a call centre somewhere in the Philipines who bears the cruel fate of listening to furious members vent their frustrations for what is truly disgusting Ebay policies. The same policies to which the call centre lacky has absolutely no control over. The poor staff are forced to cop the abuse and defend ebay policy in order to earn a wage when they must surely know they are wrong. I can remember the quiver in the poor call centre guy's voice when I called and I think I was polite compared to calls they must surely get form others who catch them out making excuses they are clearly told to say.
Granted this is not only an ebay issue, a lot of companies do the same, but Ebay continues to turn a blind eye to fraud and maintains it is so powerless to do anything as it merely brings buyers and sellers together. Wait till you become a victim and watch how little ebay will care or how it will take absolutely no responsibility. It will simply state that its powerless to do anything and recommend you undertake your own investigation.
Despite this, the great hypocrisy is that if one ever breaches any of ebay's rules that may encroach on Ebay itself, Ebay will take immediate action and punish the member. Members are swiftly suspended or removed from ebay without warning or without being able to discuss this if they breach any policy that effects the ebay monolith. This of course demonstrates that they are perfectly capable of taking action upon members immediately when they feel like it. It's just when the fraud doesn't effect them that they will fly this victim like " we are powerless to do anything" ruse. The people who make these policies lack any ethics or shame.
In this day and age I totally accept Ebay is a viable and worldwide benchmark way to trade - I still reserve the right to say they are one business in the world that truly make me feel sick. If I ever had the power I'd find the Philippino call centre staff other jobs. I'm aware this last sentence is complete fantasy sadly
okgb
Well-known member
The best way to deal with ebay , of course is to not deal with ebay
and it has saved me money slowing down on purchases [ always taking a second look
and imagining items being more expensive and less nice , dismissing o.k. deals ]
and it has saved me money slowing down on purchases [ always taking a second look
and imagining items being more expensive and less nice , dismissing o.k. deals ]
Andy Peters
Well-known member
okgb said:
A couple of years ago, I used eBay to sell off a bunch of audio and camera gear that had been sitting. All went well (ok, the non-paying "sale" of an HP-15C calculator was annoying) but for whatever reason, PayPal decided to kite the payment on very last item, a $75 lens. A dozen sales went through in that two week period and THEN they decide to enforce their capricious rules?
Part of it was that they wouldn't release payment until the buyer gave a feedback rating. I wasn't going to give a feedback rating for him (I think they only choices were "neutral" and "good," which is pointless) until he gave ME a rating, so I waited the 21 days, pulled the funds from PayPal, and when the money hit my bank account, I deleted all accounts from PayPal and from eBay, then deleted both of those accounts too.
Good riddance.
-a
My anecdotal experience does not trump anyone else's but I have used paypal in connection with my business and even purchased product from Ebay without disastrous consequences. In case I am the only person here to not have bad experiences.
From observation both paypall and ebay appear to be large prosperous businesses, too large to be living off scamming some new fools to replace the old fools.
I have seen attempted fraud from both paypal customers and CC side. (CC side is kind of like war.)
Most customer fraud is pretty transparent if you pay attention, and double check anything that appears fishy... trust (a little) but verify (a lot).
JR
From observation both paypall and ebay appear to be large prosperous businesses, too large to be living off scamming some new fools to replace the old fools.
I have seen attempted fraud from both paypal customers and CC side. (CC side is kind of like war.)
Most customer fraud is pretty transparent if you pay attention, and double check anything that appears fishy... trust (a little) but verify (a lot).
JR
Pip
Well-known member
I also have not had many problems with PAYBAY either. I have always got the goods and I guess maybe their fees to sell might be high compared to other more direct means but they still offer a lot of protections to the buyer. They are also for my money the easiest way to do international commerce going. Maybe they do charge a little more in some cases for currency exchange. I myself always check what the going rate is and they always seem very close.
The only thing I have to qualify is I am strictly a buyer on ebay I do not sell anything online ever. I just don't need to as I live in a large city and someone is always looking for something. So maybe that is the difference?!
The only thing I have to qualify is I am strictly a buyer on ebay I do not sell anything online ever. I just don't need to as I live in a large city and someone is always looking for something. So maybe that is the difference?!
I should say that I have had an awful lot of good transactions, and only one bad one out of >600, so really better on average than dealing with other web businesses.
But the sellers fees are now scandalous, and I have this creeping paranoia about the estimated exchange rates...
But the sellers fees are now scandalous, and I have this creeping paranoia about the estimated exchange rates...
okgb
Well-known member
Purposeful ? As a company it's no scam just business practice that maximizes their profit,
maybe pretending to be of benefit for the user , user beware !
when someone was trying to scam me on my sale p.p froze the money in my account ,
if margins are not small and you can absorb the approx 15 % cut , the machine is still operating,
But I totally agree , raising the cost of goods and selling past the attractive point , it's getting
less & less worth it to bother , luckily for them there's still millions of people to take advantage of .
So now when people build in the fees and I decline on purchases , I save money , thanks ebay !
maybe pretending to be of benefit for the user , user beware !
when someone was trying to scam me on my sale p.p froze the money in my account ,
if margins are not small and you can absorb the approx 15 % cut , the machine is still operating,
But I totally agree , raising the cost of goods and selling past the attractive point , it's getting
less & less worth it to bother , luckily for them there's still millions of people to take advantage of .
So now when people build in the fees and I decline on purchases , I save money , thanks ebay !
When you are paying with credit/debit card in paypal, you can choose currency exchange by paypal or by your bank.
Paypal always adds 4% fee for exchange currency. When you exchange currency by saldo in paypal (by currency converter) there's 2,5% fee.
Those are informations from my local paypal "help center".
What's funny, i couldn't find those informations at US paypal site.
Paypal always adds 4% fee for exchange currency. When you exchange currency by saldo in paypal (by currency converter) there's 2,5% fee.
Those are informations from my local paypal "help center".
What's funny, i couldn't find those informations at US paypal site.
okgb
Well-known member
I have not seen that option , another problem is while I have a U.S. funds account in my Canadian
credit union , P.P. won't let me withdraw in U.S. funds , costing me two more exchanges unless I leave
the money in the pp account .............
credit union , P.P. won't let me withdraw in U.S. funds , costing me two more exchanges unless I leave
the money in the pp account .............
Paypal announced a small business loan program, where they will loan a small fraction (something like 8-10%) of that Paypal merchant's annual turnover, back to them to expand the business... This is pretty clever on their part since they have a good visibility into how well a merchant is doing, and their cost of funds is squat. I wonder what kind of banking rules regarding reserves against deposits Paypal must meet. Hopefully similar to any other bank.
JR
JR
Sammas
Well-known member
I always select for my credit card company to do the conversion rather than paypal... partly because the CC I have is aimed at international travel, so no additional fees for currency conversion and mastercard published exchange rates.
...one important thing to note is that your credit card company will charge the exchange rate on the day the transaction is processed and finalised. Not on the day you click the "pay" button. Its usually 3 or 4 days after you complete ebay checkout.
...one important thing to note is that your credit card company will charge the exchange rate on the day the transaction is processed and finalised. Not on the day you click the "pay" button. Its usually 3 or 4 days after you complete ebay checkout.
I find it useful to keep most transactions in US dollars when selling since many of the things I purchase are also in that currency. That way there's no conversion involved. You can have multiple currencies with Paypal (unlike most banks).
But I've noticed that new local items often sell for substantially more on Ebay than on the company's own website (there's never a direct link so you have to Google) and that the lowest price on Ebay doesn't necessarily mean the lowest price online. I imagine that the former has something to do with the rising cost of doing business with them...
But I've noticed that new local items often sell for substantially more on Ebay than on the company's own website (there's never a direct link so you have to Google) and that the lowest price on Ebay doesn't necessarily mean the lowest price online. I imagine that the former has something to do with the rising cost of doing business with them...
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