Foreign Exchange Headache (I'm an Amazon eBook Seller)

Lsierrac on 21/05/2014 - 10:25

Hi! I've started self-publishing on Amazon, and am finding myself getting royally screwed by conversion rates.

My first net payment was $156 USD (this is after the tax withheld amount is deducted). When it came through to my Citibank account, it was $143 AUD. If my calculations are correct (it's possible they could be wrong, maths and numbers are not my forte), I should have received around $20 more! (This is going off Citibank's forex rates)

The conversion rate is not changeable, as Amazon insists that they be the ones who do it, at an undisclosed conversion rate (which annoys me so much… they already take a $1 cut of every single book I sell. They shouldn't be able to double dip and steal 20% of my net profit to their sneaky conversion fees!).

Just wondering if anybody else publishes eBooks on Amazon? How have you dealt with this to lose the least amount possible?

Also, a more general question: Which bank charges the least to deposit a foreign cheque? I'm trying to figure out if receiving a cheque in USD might be better than receiving Wire Payments at a terrible conversion.

Financial

Comments

  • letmecry on 21/05/2014 - 10:46

    That should be correct.
    1 us dollar = 0.93 aud
    Australia dollar is quite weak.

    • rickb on 21/05/2014 - 10:54

      The OP is quite right. You haven't done the math properly. 1 AUS dollar = 0.93 US

      $US156 should convert to $AU169 using today's rates.

      OP - is your Citibank account based in Australia or U.S? Perhaps the $20 discrepancy is due to money wiring fees?

    • dentani on 21/05/2014 - 10:56

      If your conversion rate was true, the AUD would be stronger than the USD.

      At the moment 1 USD is 1.08 AUD, so $156 USD would be approx. $168 AUD.

      edit: ops, slow typer :(

    • Almost Banned on 21/05/2014 - 11:17

      Sorry letmecry - in line with what the others have said you have those conversion rates the wrong way around.
      AU$1 = US$0.923

      • CheapandUsed on 21/05/2014 - 12:22

        I'd agree with nic1. Jump on xe.com and USD$156 = approx AUD$168

        As is mentioned before the USD is stronger than the AUD, therefore the USD buys 'more' AUD

  • [Deactivated] on 21/05/2014 - 11:13
    -1

    Foreign cheques are usually expensive to deposit (cba charges $10) and take weeks to clear as your bank needs to contact the foreign bank. From a funds availability point you're far better off getting funds wired if possible. A quick look at today's St George FX rates shows they're converting USD 100 wire for AUD 95.54, and USD 100 cheque for AUD 95.82. Considering you need to pay to deposit the cheque and you can't move proceeds into an interest account until funds are cleared - this can take 2-8 weeks - I wouldn't move to cheques.

    The amazon conversion sounds about right. Unfortunately USD 156 should not be anywhere near AUD 163 at the moment - that would imply AUD is stronger than USD which would not be correct.

    • pjetson on 21/05/2014 - 12:21

      Doesn't it imply the opposite?

      A week Australian dollar means a US dollar equals more AUS dollars.

      A strong Australian dollar means a US dollar equals fewer AUS dollars.

      Just go to google and type "us$156 in australian dollars" (without the quotes). If you can't believe google, who can you believe? lol.

      • [Deactivated] on 21/05/2014 - 12:52

        Argh.. Google is right!! Should neg my own post lol

        The stuff abt depositing cheques should be correct though -_-.

  • pjetson on 21/05/2014 - 12:23

    Can you open a US$ account somewhere? That way, you'd only get charged currency exchange fees when you wanted to withdraw in AUD$

    • sierrac on 22/05/2014 - 09:28

      Thank you, I'm looking into that now. Looks like it might be pretty complicated

  • akpv on 22/05/2014 - 13:02

    I'd get a US bank account and then use currency fair to transfer over once every so often. Currency fair is fantastic! Highly recommended.

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