eBay Pricing Vs PayPal Charge

picklewizard on 19/04/2017 - 12:37
Last edited 19/04/2017 - 12:38

Hi all,

I've made countless purchases via PayPal, but most are in AUD so I haven't noticed the discrepancy that I have this time.

I purchased an item in USD that eBay said would be ~606AUD at 'current conversion rates'. I know PayPal looove to skim off the top, and to their defence, they did show a price of ~626AUD before I completed checkout.

Upon returning to eBay, the price was again shown as ~606. PayPal have just chucked an extra 20 bucks on there for no good reason other than an inflated conversion rate.

I know the two aren't under the same ownership anymore, but it's still bloody cheeky that there's such a discrepancy.

I feel that I should still expect price parity given it's the only payment method they offer. Should I raise a complaint with them?

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Comments

  • shanakatak on 19/04/2017 - 12:46
    +1

    It goes on current conversion rate, you can set paypal to charge in the correct currency and use your bank/credit card to do the conversion. Preferably one with no transaction and conversion fees like the 28 degrees card.

  • indium on 19/04/2017 - 12:47
    +1

    Has always been that way for prices in overseas currencies, I wouldn't bother complaining but it's worth signing up to citibank so you no longer have to pay the paypal conversion fees

  • Master Bates on 19/04/2017 - 12:48
    +2

    Should have paid in USD with your 28 Degrees Credit Card or Citibank Debit Card…

    • boomramada on 19/04/2017 - 13:00
      +7

      This should be requirements for part of the OzBargain signing process. You must have one of following cards 28 Degrees Credit Card or Citibank Debit Card, and know how to use it.

      • SKiZO on 19/04/2017 - 13:48

        I thought I knew how to use it. I have been using 28 Degrees card for overseas purchases for the past few years having set the default conversion to be performed by 28 degrees.

        To my surprise (and disgust) I happened to notice yesterday that it had changed back to the Paypal conversion being the default. I'm still using the same unexpired card I originally set it up with. Somewhere along the way Paypal has changed this setting hoping that people don't notice. Such a scam.

        So make sure you check your settings regularly.

  • demiurge on 19/04/2017 - 13:19
    +2

    Paypal screws you hard on conversion rate. Use your Citibank debit card as paypal source and make sure you select the option to let the bank do the exchange.

    • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2017 - 14:53

      Right now PayPal is better than our big four, but nowhere near Citibank.

      Bank Sells
      Citibank 0.7445 USD
      PayPal 0.726255 USD
      ANZ 0.7223 USD
      NAB 0.7155 USD
      Commbank 0.7137 USD
      Westpac 0.7111 USD
      • tomclancy on 19/04/2017 - 20:13

        That PayPal conversion rate doesn't include their additional 3.5% conversion fee

        • [Deactivated] on 20/04/2017 - 00:21

          It should, "Estimate based on the most recent conversion rate, including our currency conversion fee."

          Looking at my transactions where PayPal did the conversion, there was no +3.5% on their quoted rate.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2017 - 13:32

    Ebay uses current exchange rates
    PayPal uses their own exchange rates

    • Steptoe on 19/04/2017 - 13:38

      and it is always a deceptively optimistic estimation in ebay.

  • Gabe on 19/04/2017 - 16:21
    +2

    PayPal charges you 3.5% for converting AUD to USD and 4% for all other currencies, on top of this, they have their own currency conversion rates which seem to be slightly under the actual rate displayed on Google/Ebay. At the time of writing this $1AUD is worth 0.73USD via the PayPal currency conversion versus 0.75USD shown on Google/Ebay. Both of these things mean you could be paying 4%+ more than the actual exchange rate. I try to always pay in the currency that I'm being charged in via my Citibank debit card.

    • [Deactivated] on 20/04/2017 - 01:14

      That (simplified) "0.75" rate is an interbank mid-market rate - the mid-point between financial institutions' "buy" and "sell" rates (and it fluctuates through the day). As consumers, we don't get this rate for currency exchange.

      When you buy items priced in USD with your AUD, you sell your AUD to a foreign exchange provider in exchange for USD. The "sell" rate is lower than the "buy" rate (and obviously, lower than the mid-market rate). Because the foreign exchange provider is a business and not a charity, they add a bit on top to cover their costs and get paid for their work.

      As for how much they add on top, our big four banks are like Harvey Norman, PayPal is like The Good Guys, and Citibank is like Officeworks doing a price-match.

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