Hey i want to buy stuff from AliExpress or eBay or bangood aka place that would be selling based on US dollar price.
I have no usd atm.
I wanted to get some knowledge how to get best aud to usd exchange rate, (happy to wait, or pay now)
I don't really wanna buy usd at any lower than (1 AUD= 69 cents) rate
I usually use ING bank debit card to do the currency exchange, i get exact rate as the Google would say at Time of conversion
ING bank gives me same rate as Google, they are often better then Citibank i think
Plus no fees with ING
The current official exchange rate is 1 aud = .66 usd, the closest you can get to the official exchange rate is about 2% so you will need to wait until the official rate rises to 70 cents.
OR you can go through OFX and then you get about 7 pips spread ( 0.07 % )
Basically wanna buy this phone
ulefone armor 3w
From overseas
There was a website called coolicool that were shipping orders without GST back in 2019 they were quick as well for shipping.
I really liked them hope they come back on
It's a AU$343.56 phone. A US$0.02 difference is going to make under $10 difference at the end of the day.
Is your time/effort/additional debit card worth under $10?
People must really not value their time much to bother chasing some of the lower value schemes or savings listed on OzBargain that require you to jump through hoops (must be just for the feeling of satisfaction when getting a small deal or saving)
Even if the phone is at 343 aud, it ends up being (343+shipping)*1.1 AUD you know cause of taxes
If you buy in USD you Can get it cheaper 224 usd or around 337 aud
Yes, true on the GST, which you'll still end up paying.
AliExpress converts to $378.73 shipped inc GST. $337*1.1 = $370.70
You're jumping through hoops trying to save $8 on a phone purchase…
I usually use ING bank debit card to do the currency exchange, i get exact rate as the Google would say at Time of conversion
so whats the problem?
When i wanna buy laptop from usa using eBay auctions or something it makes a big deal.
Plus don't forget the shipping, taxes they increase the value as well
With ING bank you can only do one time transaction you can't actually buy USD rather the goods only
I want to rather buy USD so i can use it at time of.a good Deal
Like buying through PayPal charges fees, and poor exchange rate
This seems ridiculous.
You're still going to incur GST as it comes into the country. Stop trying to dodge that. So all you're looking at is a fee-free card to process the payment, which will not save you much.
No i am not trying to dodge GST, there's no website that ships orders without collecting GST you know.
And i am looking at buying US dollar in bulk like around 600 USD at a decent rate that i can have stored somewhere, like in my HSBC bank, or in my paypal, that i can use anytime to make purchases.
I am not looking at "fee-free card processing payment", cause ING is already great for that no fee
Right so your post is only about buying USD, all mention of the phone etc is useless.
Took us all this long to get that explanation.
AFAIK you can't just buy USD to "store" on a digital medium, you physically buy the cash.
@spackbace: You can buy and store usd in PayPal (only PayPal conversion, so high fees, poor rate)
And
Hsbc bank (convert between different currency accounts)
And probably more that i don't know of
You can buy thru shopback and cashrewards to save 5% cashback (7%) today, one must arrive in 60 days, one in 90. Or Qantas store, get points. Also before byting, chek ptice an aliexpress app, it may be cheaper
try writing to seller to ask for a small discount or coupon, citing exchange rates, and in shipping check for options, some are cheaper
cashrewrads is 7% cashback today only I think
You can also convert aliexpress site to aussie dollars
Poor idea, you get stuck with currency exchange fee by AliExpress, why pay it when ING gives me free exchange and no fee.
Buying in usd is best idea
yes I know about ING, 7% cashback today is the best idea, if you think it will make it within 60 days, otherwise shopback
Get a transferwise account, get their debit card, store whatever currency that you get through transferwise ($US, EU, UK, etc) on the card at whatever rate you get it at, use card on site that charges in $US and it'll deduct it from your $US balance. Or if you're shopping in Europe and have a Euro balance, using the same card it'll auto select to use your Euro funds.
Transferwise can do what you want and offer good exchange rate in my experience.
Have you looked into those services like Transferwise? I know they have a debit card linked to the account.
I don't need a debit card, rather a way to buy and store USD (at a decent rate, during a time when the AUD will rise up again to 70 cents or something)
For purposes of a debit card, ING is the best anyway
Transfer wise seems to offer multiple currency accounts, whats people's experience with currency conversion rates and fees
like
ING vs Trasnferwise ??
https://www.hsbc.com.au/calculators/real-time-exchange-rates…
looked there and it said
HSBC works out cheaper for lower exchange values like under 100 AUD exchange but i obviously am not looking for that low
"
For foreign exchange transactions over A$50,000 please call HSBC Markets Desk on 1300 753 892 to see if we can match a competitor price.
HSBC does not promise or represent that it will be able to match a competitor price and will only match a competitor price at our discretion.
"
How about getting a transferwise debit card?
Otherwise Citibank plus debit usually gives an ok rate?