Hey guys, i'm lookig at buying something from ebay USA but i don't know how the currency exchange works when it comes time to pay. If i win it for 200 US dollars do i just get the rate that day and convert it to aussie dollars (approx $280 Aus) and deposit the 280 Aus dollars into his bank? Or when i go to deposit the money do I just type 200 dollars and it will actually take out $280 Aus cause it is going to an america customer? Whats the procedure once i've won an item that is in US dollars? Thanks.
Never used paypal though Never used paypal. Does it cost extra? Do I need to sign up with a credit card or anything?
Paypal is the way to go....... You don't neceassarily need a credit card to sign up, they also use a savings account. The conversion rate is at the time they remove the money from your account either from the credit card or the debit account. Definately the most secure way to go though
Please use paypal. You also get insurance that way if he doesn't send the item or it's not as described or whatever. Also, you just click "pay with paypal" in ebay and it will tell you the price you will be paying in AUD then you click confirm. It will take it straight out of your savings or credit card (whichever you use) and that's that. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble. And NEVER use western union wire transfer or whatever it's called. That's the fraudsters fav way to get ppl's money (unless you absolutely trust the person your buying off).
100% right. In fact, eBay has gone as far to prohibit the use of Western Union wire transfers for payments due to the ease in which people could be ripped off. Get a Paypal account and it'll do an automatic currency conversion for you. As mentioned, you can link it to a credit card, debit card or savings account. You may already know, but get a good idea of the cost in Aussie dollars at www.xe.com (free currency exchange valuations).
For now, PayPal is probably still the best choice. Since there are other mechanisms out there trying to build a better mouse trap..... per say. There are lots of benefits to getting a PayPal account aside from Ebay use. When purchasing from anyone here or simply sending funds to a friend or family member - you have a accurate record of the transaction. As with any purchase on Ebay or a stranger, there are some safegards and options available if a deal does go south. I view a PayPal account as a floating bank account that always has zero funds in it. One can choose how that floating account can be funded (supplied). As mentioned earlier, the best and quickest is having it tied directly to one of your banking accounts (chequing, savings or whatever). Additionally, you can also have an alternative / back-up funding source to that floating account - like a major credit card (as I do as well). In my case, whenever I make a transaction,....lets say an Ebay purcahase from the US. I'll select that tab, whereupon I will be brought to the PayPal account to login-in and submit my password. The venders name/account that you will be sending your funds will already be placed in it's appropriate box. You will then select the amount and then the curreny type and then can add any other comments specifically for the vender themselves. All of that info will be part of the recorded transaction. You'll also see what the exchange rate is in relation to your funding source. It'll indicate that it will be taking "X" amount of money in AU$ from "X" bank account # for the transaction. You can still decline at this point in time. Once you're happy with the data presented, clicking on send will complete the transaction by taking money out of your bank account placing it in your PayPal account (temporarily) and in turn sending it to the recieving persons PayPal account. There will be a few emails generated after the fact confirming this transaction so that you have plenty of records to indicate your purchase/payment. Establishing a good feedback is also a good thing to strive for. Viewing others Ebay track history (as well as yours) is also availbale to everyone. It has been proven in the past that there are scammers on ebay as well. I reported a band of ten of them last year - so do your research. I'd also recommend that, like yourself, shipping for me is a major concern and to those ends I must always confirm shipping costs even before considering any purchase. Why??? - You'll occasionally find some unreal deals to be had only to realize that when it comes time to pay and they tell you the shipping fees are 3 to 10 times more than what's normal. They suck you in, in the belief that you'll make an impulsive buy and then zap you with unrealistic shipping costs. I strongly believe that there is collusion between certain venders and certain shipping firms which is blatantly obvious but rarely dissproved. Anyway, having a PayPal account has helped me get the parts that I need since acquiring them through older conventional methods don't quite cut it. It's allowed me to purchase items from AU, Hong Kong, Japan, UK, Holland, NZ, Germany, Middle East, US and across Canada. Not to mention, it feels real good when you come out on top on bidding in an auction.
As others have said, if he accepts paypal that is easiest and best. If you try to do a bank transfer you will have to do a telegraphic transfer due to the different currency and international factors, and the bank could whack you a charge of up to $30 to do this. Also, remember to allow for postage costs. Have you asked the seller for a postage quote? Some international postage rates are right up there, and if he will only use UPS, make sure you are sitting down when you read the cost. USPS is much cheaper - as a guide, something about the size of a shoebox, weighing about 1kg, will cost roughly US$25 to post by airmail via UPS, and $70-$90 via USPS. Some scammers will try and rip you on postage - one guy tried to quote me US$160 for an item until I proved to him that the real cost would be about US$70. The USPS website can be very useful at times! If you use this link http://www.usps.com/ and work through the calculate postage tab, you should be able to get some idea of what the actual postage charge should be.
I deal with ebay all the time - and for international payments - it all depends on the exchange rate at the time its processes Paypal is pretty much one of the safiest transfering funds i know and use that most of the time. If you want to find out the daily exchnage rate head to: www.xe.com EE
