Payment in Euros - Better to use Bank Account or Credit Card through Paypal?

soolin

Just had a quick look, may have to have a better look later.

My last purchase early yesterday was a US dollar purchase and the statement shows

Exchange rate: 1 British Pound = 1.51333 US Dollars

I've checked it is correct as well and there are no additional costs.

That doesn't seem to be too bad compared to official rates today.

Am I missing something or should I be concerned- going to see if I can find a recent euro purchase...

EDIT: Just had a quick look for a range of exchange rates today and it appears they are all around 1.00 GBP = 1.55715 USD

bxboards

You'd definitely better using a card that uses Visa or Mastercard's rates. Some credit cards charge 2.5% loading, so in that case, there isn't much difference between Paypal and your cards rates.

But I would say if you are using Paypal's conversion rates by default, on average you are paying 2.5% more than you need to per transaction vs. a very good credit or debit card that doesn't load or charge conversion commission.

KxMx

Just did a $16 invoiced payment (chose CC) and had a good look.

I see:

PayPal Conversion Rate as of 4 Jul 2015: 1 British Pound = 1.50961 US Dollars
(hyperlink) Other Conversion options

When I clicked that it offered PayPal's conversion service or that of my card.

Personally i'm happy with the convenience of PP and not waiting 2-3 working days to find out how much it's cost me.

GabbaGabbaHey

KxMx wrote: »

Personally i'm happy with the convenience of PP and not waiting 2-3 working days to find out how much it's cost me.

As this is MoneySavingExpert, and as the credit card payment has always been less than the PayPal amount for me, I have chosen the other option.

KxMx

GabbaGabbaHey wrote: »

As this is MoneySavingExpert, and as the credit card payment has always been less than the PayPal amount for me, I have chosen the other option.

That's your prerogative of course.

But money saving is not just about doing everything for the absolute cheapest, it can be about getting the best value.

For me, waiting 2-3 working days to see how much i've paid, is not best value.

Each to their own

bxboards

KxMx wrote: »

But money saving is not just about doing everything for the absolute cheapest, it can be about getting the best value.:)

How is paying 2.5% more on every transaction getting the best value?

The Visa and Mastercard daily rates are a mouse click away. They are always better than Paypal's own.