I am sending deposits for self catering cottages with PayPal. It seems the charges are higher than the current bank rate. Is there a better system for paying when credit cards are not accepted?
Posted by
Greeley, co, usa
2415 posts
See if they will do a bank transfer. I just used www.transferwise.com to pay for three places in Germany. Fee amounts to about 1% and a good exchange rate. Much lower fees than when I used my banks 3 years ago.
Posted by
824 posts
When I paid for Italian apartments via PayPal last year, the exchange rate wasn't unreasonable. Keep in mind that the exchange rate you find on-line is the "bank to bank" or "institution to institution" rate, not the retail rate for money exchange. At least PayPal didn't charge a foreign transaction fee on top of their retail exchange rate - as most credit cards were doing at the time.
If you have a credit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees, you can attach it to your PayPal account (for payment purposes) and have the credit card do the money exchange for you.
Posted by
4529 posts
You are going to have trouble finding a much cheaper method than PayPal, and certainly nothing as convenient. Using a credit card via PayPal has much higher fees than transferring money from a bank account in (which is free). You could try a third party wiring service as suggested. I've heard XE.com will convert money very cheaply then cut a paper check and mail it directly where you need it.