Getting cash in Venice

Only use an “ATM” attached to a bank during open hours

600 euros= 677 dollars
So you did not get charged an extra 100

You were charged $36
Looks like you paid about 6%-that’s the fee that machine charged

Always use a bank attached bancomat

More
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/need-advice-for-exchanging-us-dollars-for-euros

You are missing the fact that 600 euros is about 672 US dollars.

Your bank charge of 2% was simply the charge for using the card outside the country. The ATM you withdraw from also has a usage charge. But you neglected to account for the currency exchange rate from euros to dollars, which fluctuates minute by minute. Let's go with the exchange rate that cost $677 for your €600. The difference of $46 that makes up your $713 total is the combination of the fees from your bank and the ATM company. That's roughly 6%. Not great, but not huge. When you get home, you might want to look at getting an ATM card that doesnt charge fees.

There didn't seem to be a way to decline the the fee they charged

How did the express the amount of the fee? As a percentage or a fixed amount?

If you thought it was excessive why not cancel the transaction and find another ATM?

Christine's advice to use an ATM attached to a bank is probably the best way to minimize transaction fees

A conversion of 600 euros is around $670–$675 USD or totally dependent on your hometown's currency. So I would suggest you avoid independent ATMs instead. Use an official bank ATM linked with a major Italian bank.

Dont be surprised if a bank ATM also charges a fee for the transaction. Last time we were in Italy, every bancomat we used charged a flat fee of 5€ each time. I understand that is becoming common in other countries as well.

And open an account with a bank that firstly does not charge you any fee for using an ATM for a withdrawal and secondly refunds you for ATM charges from another ATM for using it. Schwab and Fidelity accounts immediately come to mind, and you can find information on them by searching the forums. Also be certain that the ATM is not already converting your withdrawal into USD, as that is an increase in fees that it MUST allow you to decline (it is charging their own exchange rate, increased over the network that this will go through, and keeping the difference).

Which brings up the question: How did you find out the cost was $713? Did you you check your bank account on-line, or did the terminal inform you the cost was $713? If the later, you got hit with DCE (dynamic currency exchange).

There are no banks there, so I’m pretty sure the OP used a Euronet ATM and also used the DCC option that is why he knows he paid $713. It’s just over 5% above the official rate, so not really too bad. When in Venice one should expect to be ripped off, by the restaurants, the shops, the hotels. Everything costs more in Venice, also changing money.

Use the Poste Italiane bancomat. They usually don't charge fees for withdrawing cash.

During my recent wanderings in Venice I found a Banconet ATM somewhere in the south end of the San Marco area and withdrew Euros. My home bank charged $5 Canadian for the transaction.

I'm sure there are banks on Venice for the Venezia residents!

There are plenty of banks in Venice, just not near the post office on Calle larga de l'Ascension (near St. Mark's Square).

There is a Postamat outside the same post office, around the corner on Bocca de Piazza, however. Assuming the OP used the Postamat, it is likely s/he selected the DCC option. The Postamat machines also offer the DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) which is never an option favorable to the withdrawer.

Across the street from the Post Office there is also a Money Exchange shop, although I don't know if that has an ATM of the type managed by Euronet (probably so). It is also possible the OP used the ATM there instead.

Thank you for all the replies, much appreciated. I can't see them on my phone to answer all of the questions to each person, but we did use the bancomat attached to the post Italiane, which according to reviews doesn't charge excessive fees and is better than a bank and not an independent atm, but we were wrong or didn't understand the machine. (not a Euronet - we specifically avoided those after much research.) Do not use this unless you know what you are doing. We had looked at a couple other banks and they were hard to understand and find (thanks to the one person for the condescending question about why we didn't simply decline it, the language it used was quite confusing and we didn't get that it was going to charge us that much). We don't speak Italian and the translations are not clear. Anyway, appreciate much the help with the math. We tried to figure it out but couldn't. Sounds like at least it was only 40 something extra euros. Update for others, we went to Bank Marco this evening and used their ATM and as far as we can tell from the receipt, we were only charged a 5 euro fee, which is completely reasonable. (Plus of course the 2% our bank charges). The ATMs are not as easy as presented in the books (it's not like there is a button that give you two options - one to decline the currency conversion,which obviously we would have and one to accept it). It makes it sound like there is only one way to get cash. I wish I would have gotten screenshots to help others, but at Bank Marco it was slightly more clear. Good to know there are cards that don't charge fees, but we already have 3 different U.S. bank accounts and didn't even consider things like currency conversion fees months in advance and not sure it's worth it to set up more bank accounts for an occasional international trip. Good to know though. I think a list of banks where people have actually used an ATM successfully in Venice and how they did it would be most helpful. I'll add to this as we continue to get more cash.

It would appear that in the first transaction you did select the DCC, which certainly explains the higher than expected cost. Please note the difference between currency conversion and dynamic currency conversion. The first is simply how you get from one type of currency to the other. The second is where your costs escalate. When getting cash at a foreign bank, the first thing is to select English as the transaction language. At some point you will see a screen that asks if you want the conversion to your home currency. THIS is the DCC offer. There will be a button to continue without conversion decline conversion. Hit that. DO NOT hit the continue with conversion/accept conversion button. Here's a link to a video that shows the process: https://youtu.be/8TxJ_37uQ7g?si=zo1kE4wtIteXQM1-

@CJean. Thanks for the video. I'm sure that's what happened, but I watched it and unfortunately the ATMs we went to didn't have clear options like that at all, and there was only one choice. It wasn't phrased as a currency conversion. We did select English (we actually skipped a couple other ATMs since there was not English option at all), but you know how the translations from Italian rarely make sense. I wish I had some screenshots to help others avoid this, but will do some next time (assuming we don't mess this up again).