What to do with a lot of euros

^^^ No cash. Only checks/electric funds, etc. They won't convert currency.

The easiest thing for BOTH of you is for him to take what you actually spent, in Dollars from the ATM when he is over here and give it to you.

I agree with Lee, you should have him pay you in dollars. But if that is not an option.... do you know anyone going to Europe who wants cash? Some folks (not me, but some folks) prefer to arrive in Europe with a fair amount of Euro. (They come here often posting questions about converting dollars to euros). If you find someone like that in St Louis, I am sure you can work out a deal that will allow the Euro wanter to get a much better rate than they would ever get by converting dollars to euros at a bank AND a much better deal than either you or your friend will get in dollars by converting the Euros. You might want to post an ad on Craigs list or something or see if there is a travel club in the area. Also you could mention your problem to your travel agent who might be able to hook you up with someone looking for Euros. Or maybe you will get lucky and get a PM from someone for St Louis area looking for Euros. What I would NOT do is exchange with a stranger via the mail. (or a dark back alley) Also make sure you know how to detect counterfeit US dollars.

Since you based how many euros he owes you on the current exchange rate, exchanging them at a bank won't lose you any money other than a fee for the service. Be sure he pays you the exchange rate at the time of your trip and not a couple months prior. Holding on to them is a gamble. You'll make no interest and if the rate goes the wrong way, the euros will be worth even less. If it improves you might make some money off it, but there is no way to tell. Holding that much for an as-yet undefined trip is not good financial planning.

Why not have him send an international wire to your account?

Since you based how many euros he owes you on the current exchange rate, exchanging them at a bank won't lose you any money other than a fee for the service. Depends on what you call the current exchange rate. Right now XE (pretty much the "official rate") has an exchange rate of $1 = .70 euro or 1 euro = $1.43. But you can't buy euros or dollars from them. However, if you go to Bank of America you can buy a euro of $1.52 (plus delivery fee) or you can get dollars from them at a rate of $1.38 per euro. So if Sarah uses the $1.43 figure and then goes to a bank to get US dollars she will lose money. That is why I suggest finding someone heading to Europe. Exchanging directly with them at $1.43, is better for the person wanting euros ($1.43 instead of $1.52) or the person wanting dollars ($1.43 instead of $1.38)

Re: xe.com - "But you can't buy euros or dollars from them. " Yes you can, see http://www.xe.com/fx/how.php

Lee has the best answer. Leave his euros in his bank account in Germany and draw dollars out of an ATM when he gets here. She spent dollars, she gets dollars back. No messing with the exchange rate, or holding euros for a future trip, or selling them. Simple.

Hi all - thanks for the ideas. I can ask him about depositing the money in his checking account and withdrawing it in cash here for me. We actually did an international wire transfer a year and a half ago for money matters related to his grad school tuition (he transferred money from his German account to my account) and there is a fee attached to that. I need to look up what it was but the transfer is another good idea.

@ed - well, you have to deposit the cash in your bank account before they'll convert it, but so what?

Unfortunately wire transfers are expensive, we just paid $50 to wire some funds to Germany.

How about paypal? It can be free if it is money owed or personal transfers as opposed to items sold online. Your friend pays you in euros, you get it in dollars.

The wire transfer that we did in Dec. 2009 cost me $20, and I don't know what it cost him. That isn't such a huge amount considering how much he transferred to my account then ($2,880), and it isn't even a lot now ($1,300). I e-mailed him to suggest this or using ATMs here and he hasn't responded yet. Nancy - how does PayPal work from person to person? I'm familiar with it on commercial websites but haven't heard of personal accounts. Neither of us have an account - is it free to set one up?

Kathy- the so what is, that as I read Sarah's question it sounded like he was showing up with cash in the usa.

My friend will withdraw money from ATMs here for me. He has a Targobank bank account which he says was the German branch of Citibank, so if he uses Citibank ATMs there should be no fees. Thanks to everyone for your help!