How to access PayPal GBP balance?

Carnmore

I have a GBP balance in my EUR PayPal Ireland account which is not accessible without being converted to EUR using PayPal's uncompetitive exchange rate.
I have added my Revolut account, which can receive GBP payments, but PayPal is still converting it to EUR.
I have spoken to PayPal about this and they suggested opening another PayPal account in the UK and make a payment to it using the GBP balance; I've done that but there is a fee charged for GBP transfers!
Is there any way of accessing a GBP PayPal balance without converting it to EUR other than making purchases such as eBay (Amazon don't accept PayPal) ? 
Thanks in advance.

PS is there no way of subscribing to threads for notifications now?

Flyonthewall

Can you transfer it to your bank? There will probably still be a fee from the bank, but it might be lower than what Paypal charge to convert it.

Flyonthewall

Carnmore said:

PS is there no way of subscribing to threads for notifications now?

There is a bookmark button between New Post and the search bar at the top of the page. I assume that's to subscribe to threads, but I don't know. I tried clicking it, but it doesn't say anything.

Carnmore

Flyonthewall said:

Can you transfer it to your bank? There will probably still be a fee from the bank, but it might be lower than what Paypal charge to convert it.

Unfortunately not; the GBP balance is converted in to EUR at point of transfer even if the receiving bank is in the UK

Spoonie_Turtle

Have you tried searching for 'add a currency' for your PayPal account? I cannot for the life of me remember how this is done but it can be done. Whether you can access the balance you already have prior to adding the currency though, I don't know.

Flyonthewall

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Have you tried searching for 'add a currency' for your PayPal account? I cannot for the life of me remember how this is done but it can be done. Whether you can access the balance you already have prior to adding the currency though, I don't know.

Sign in/click on Summary, click the 3 dots next to Paypal balance and select Manage Currencies. On the right it will list the currencies you have and there's a link to add a currency.

A few years ago I had a couple of dollars in my Paypal so set that up, but I can't remember now whether I still had to use the Paypal conversion option to get it GBP or whether I could then transfer it to my bank. Think I ended up using the Paypal conversion option because the only other option was to buy something in dollars. It could have changed since then though.