Exchange rates euro and pounds

Cpu2007

Hello everyone
I apologize in advance if I am using the wrong section .

Basically I would like to know how the exchange rate works.

I have to convert Euro 670 in pounds and it gives me around £556.
But I have tried some local currency exchange places and most of them are giving out 505 or around...so why there is so much difference?
what is the best company to exchange the rate with in the uk ?

I know exchange rates are flexible and changes day after day but is it there anyway to estimate when is the best time to exchange the money?(like the fule prices when it starts going up it keeps going up for days and days so is possible to know that it might start increasing up to 5-10 p within 2 weeks)

hope someone can help me with this.

Cpu2007

any suggestion ?

Nukumai

Cpu2007 wrote: »

I have to convert Euro 670 in pounds and it gives me around £556. But I have tried some local currency exchange places and most of them are giving out 505 or around...so why there is so much difference?

Fundamentally, the rate you were expecting (to get £556) is a wholesale rate - the rate that banks and large corporates etc. are currently prepared to deal at amongst themselves in meaningful volumes. The man in the street will typically find that the best he can do is some 3%-5% away from that rate (to his disadvantage, of course).

There are many reasons for this...some banks advertise that they provide fx for no commission, but the offered rate will reflect this. Also, having actual cash lying about in cash-drawers is inefficient, as it does not provide any interest to the dealer. And so on...there are a good many reasons.

However, you should expect to do better than the £505 you are referring to. I have noticed that even the Tesco travellers' money desk in my local Tesco consistently offers what I think are reasonable cash exchange-rates. In fact, I just compared their EUR/GBP selling rate and it is only around 3% away from the current wholesale rate.

what is the best company to exchange the rate with in the uk ?

Just use any company/bank offering a rate that you are satisfied with (ie. as close to the headline rate as is possible).

I know exchange rates are flexible and changes day after day but is it there anyway to estimate when is the best time to exchange the money?(like the fule prices when it starts going up it keeps going up for days and days so is possible to know that it might start increasing up to 5-10 p within 2 weeks)

The short answer is 'no'.

Anyways...good luck with your transaction.

alanq

Don't forget to check what the Post Office is offering.

dzug1

Nukumai wrote: »

I have noticed that even the Tesco travellers' money desk in my local Tesco consistently offers what I think are reasonable cash exchange-rates. In fact, I just compared their EUR/GBP selling rate and it is only around 3% away from the current wholesale rate.

I think OP is doing it the other way round - and the buying rate nearly everywhere is skewed significantly more from the wholesale rate than the selling rate. At one time it was typically 8% - I haven't looked at it that closely recently though that 505 indicates it still is. Are Tesco that much different for the reverse transaction?

Best bet is to sell privately to a friend

dwsjarcmcd

alanq wrote: »

Don't forget to check what the Post Office is offering.

Just a personal experience on this as a word of caution. I went to buy Euros at the weekend in my local town. The P.O rate was about 1.145 euros to the £.

Local Thompsons travel agent paid 1.177 for the same amount.

I've always found the P.O to be very uncompetitive!

Reaper

Why don't you use the MSE exchange tool. You can get much better rates than those mentioned above:
http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/buy-back/
Best deal is currently £553

Cpu2007

Reaper wrote: »

Why don't you use the MSE exchange tool. You can get much better rates than those mentioned above:
http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/buy-back/
Best deal is currently £553

thank you very much to all of you.
yes while waiting for some replies I have been searching on the forum and came across this link which seems to provide better rates even through delivery
so basically If i want them to delived me the money will I have to send them euro throught post and then get pounds through post?

I am learning a bit about currency exchange just to see if in future i can get a better rate.
I know this is very unpredictable but it's not possible to be sure if is going to increase or decrease but I think if i wait the middle of august to the end the euro rate probably is gonna increase as the demand of euro on holidays will be higher which will make it stronger...
nevertheless since yesterday the price is 2 pennies more

Reaper

It depends which one you go for. The ones with the best rates require you to go into their branches in London. It's all explained on the web site.

Cpu2007

yeah that is true, thank you for the advice it is really helpful.
I have another question and I know is a silly question but I really want to know how this works.
I was looking to use the currency exchange to make money, now I know that in this field everything is unpredictable and that I have a small amount but I really would like to use those Euro 500 and bit by bit make some profit.
All I want to know is what is the best way to do this when the amount available is small and what is the best way when the amount is huge?
the way to get profit out of the currency exchange ,is it still using companies as those mentioned in the link http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/buy-back/
or there are other ways that give more profit when we want to get into this kind of business.
Thank you in advance

Reaper

If you are talking about trading currency then try doing a forum search on "Forex", or better still visit a forum that specialises in it such as this one.

Personally I think its a mugs game but many would disagree with me.