International money wire transfer.

t19ht8a5tard

I have purchased a Rolex watch from a French Jeweller and need to transfer the amount to them. I was wondering if Lloydstsb, my bank, would be the cheapest method, or are there other, cheaper, alternatives? Thanks in advance for any info.

Voyager2002

You will have to ask around: the fees charged by Lloyds will depend upon the sort of account you have with them and whether you are a particularly valued customer (as well as upon the amount involved). However, I would imagine that you would do better with one of the credit cards recommended for travel; or with a money broker; or even with Paypal.

t19ht8a5tard

PayPal? No thanks. They charge 3.7 percent or something like that. And it's always the buyer that has to pay the extra. The company only accepts French credit cards. There is no charge by Lloyds if done at local branch but it's their exchange rate I'm concerned about.

Plxply

t19ht8a5tard wrote: »

PayPal? No thanks. They charge 3.7 percent or something like that. And it's always the buyer that has to pay the extra. The company only accepts French credit cards. There is no charge by Lloyds if done at local branch but it's their exchange rate I'm concerned about.

Paypal charge the merchant not the buyer. However if you wish to make a transfer to a French bank account you'll want to make a SEPA payment. Unfortunately I can't find any information on the charges on their site, some banks don't charge for SEPA transfers whilst others do so I recommend you call them to find out.

Typically your bank will give a decent exchange rate and unless you're transferring thousands it won't make much difference and overcomplicate things if you were to use another transfer method. One provider who has been generating some interest though is XE who seem to provide fairly good rates and a simple service:

http://www.xe.com/xetrade/

baby_frogmella

I'll also recommend xetrade. You open an account online (free), agree a exchange rate (very competitive) and then transfer the equivalent GBP to their Barclays account in London. The electronic fund transfers (EFT) are COMPLETELY FREE whether you're sending 99p or £99k and arrive a couple of days later. Been using xetrade for a while now to buy goods in Germany

al25

baby_frogmella wrote: »

I'll also recommend xetrade. You open an account online (free), agree a exchange rate (very competitive) and then transfer the equivalent GBP to their Barclays account in London. The electronic fund transfers (EFT) are COMPLETELY FREE whether you're sending 99p or £99k and arrive a couple of days later. Been using xetrade for a while now to buy goods in Germany

Xetrade or any other similar forex trader will be the cheapest option, Also you can negotiate the exchange rate.