Universal Paypal conversion change for all currencies outside of the US

[vaillant]

Nice!

I’m expecting a discount the first time I might shop from you.

[thirdgreenham]

Absolutely!!!

[Captain Canuck]

Not sure if this will solve the specific problem of Captain Canuck, but PayPal apparently deliberately constantly changes and moves the option to apply their own conversion rate or the recipient credit card's one.

This will not solve the conversions problem if the funds are sourced from the account but at least it will solve it if the funds are sourced from the card, so I thought to take the time and assemble a small tutorial, as visually it’s easier to see.

 

Step 1: click on the "my account" gear icon on the top right.

Please note the double currency. My primary PayPal account currency used to be (and still is) USD, but last time I was paid they converted them to EUR, so now I have money in Euro, and each time I pay in dollars they obviously charge me a fee.

 

 

 

Step 2: click on the "payments" tab and then click on "manage pre-approved payments" as shown:

Important: This also shows how to avoid the problem when paying from associated sites (like eBay): by checking "choose a payment method at checkout" you will prevent PayPal from narrowing you to pay with your PayPal balance.

 

 

 

Step 3: This will bring you to the old interface, on this page. Click on "set available funding sources":

 

 

 

Step 4: If you have a linked credit card, you will be shown this page.

Click "options":

 

 

 

Step 5: Here you should see PayPal resetted by default your choice to "Use PayPal's conversion process to complete my transaction using my card's currency".

Which, of course, you do not want. Click "Bill me in the currency listed in the seller's invoice".

And – voilà – you’re done. Now, if the currency is different than your account's, it will be your credit card's rate that will be applied, and not PayPal's.

 

Well hidden, eh?

 

Awesome! Thanks! Got off the phone with PayPal, they said it was a known glitch on their end and not due any transactions on eBay until it is resolved. They also gave me a credit for money I'm out by them automatically doing the conversion.

[vaillant]

Awesome! Thanks! Got off the phone with PayPal, they said it was a known glitch on their end and not due any transactions on eBay until it is resolved. They also gave me a credit for money I'm out by them automatically doing the conversion.

Glad to have been of help.

 

It appears however that yours is a side problem: what I experienced was that when I have been paid for my Sub-Mariner #1 (a $750 purchase), the buyer just sent me the money and PayPal aumatically converted it to EUR, while my primary currency as always been USD. This caused a double annoyance, as they charged me the currency conversion and my credit was now in EUR.

 

They refuse to acknowledge (I wrote them a pair of messages and they replied in a nonsensical way) that these recent changes, if not clearly stated beforehand, have the potential to cause money losses. I also did not want currency in EUR, but alas…

[Captain Canuck]

Awesome! Thanks! Got off the phone with PayPal, they said it was a known glitch on their end and not due any transactions on eBay until it is resolved. They also gave me a credit for money I'm out by them automatically doing the conversion.

Glad to have been of help.

 

It appears however that yours is a side problem: what I experienced was that when I have been paid for my Sub-Mariner #1 (a $750 purchase), the buyer just sent me the money and PayPal aumatically converted it to EUR, while my primary currency as always been USD. This caused a double annoyance, as they charged me the currency conversion and my credit was now in EUR.

 

They refuse to acknowledge (I wrote them a pair of messages and they replied in a nonsensical way) that these recent changes, if not clearly stated beforehand, have the potential to cause money losses. I also did not want currency in EUR, but alas…

They have done that to me as well. Even though my primary currency is USD. They tried to justify it, but wasn't very convincing.

[VintageComics]

Just got my first Paypal payment since starting this thread and sure enough ticket #4789 fixed nothing.

 

It's just a dirty cash grab with a Paypal deception of Biblical proportions.

 

If you're on another chat forum I'd encourage you to share with people.

 

Vaillant's image of the outgoing / incoming funds did help but the sender didn't initially understand what I was asking, so it's not very intuitive.

 

If you want to receive in $US you will either need to invoice the buyer or MAKE SURE they understand that they have to choose their currencies twice - in this case both $US (see RED circles below)

 

 

[vaillant]

I’m not on other forums – with lots of commercial transactions through PayPal that is – but one thing goes for sure: we should keep bringing attention on this topic.

For a start, Roy I would ask you if you can change the thread title into something more immediately recognizable as an "universal" issue… so it will gather more attention here.

 

And yes, you’re right: if invoicing it’s not an option it can be cumbersome, unpractical and time-consuming to explain the problem to the buyer before he/she pays, making sure he selects the currect currency twice, etc.

And this especially goes if you are talking across languages: I just recently had to communicate with a french seller which did not know neither italian nor english, and although we quite managed to do it nicely (thanks to my "back and forth" semi-automatic translation skills developed "on the battlefield"… ) in the end he either did not understand or did not want to have the hassle to "go that extra mile" and invoice me.

 

Happy that my small tutorial helped a bit anyway…

[vaillant]

A good title for the thread could be:

A dirty cash grab with a Paypal deception of Biblical proportions

[VintageComics]

I've changed the title.

 

Your tutorial was terrific.

 

I'm now going to use a 'cut and paste' document with the attached picture of the two red circles to make sure all buyers either understand or defer to me invoicing them.

 

 

[vaillant]

I've changed the title.

 

I'm now going to use a 'cut and paste' document with the attached picture of the two red circles to make sure all buyers either understand or defer to me invoicing them.

 

That seems the most effective way to go as of now.

All entrusted to the goodwill of the seller (and / or purchaser), however.

[Bomber-Bob]

I can vouch for the override, putting USD twice works, however it is moot if the international seller does not alert the buyer what currency he desires. Again, I would like to mention the first time this happened to me the seller rejected my transaction. I put it in again, it worked, but I was 'stuck' with two transactions on my CC for way too long. PP really took their time to issue the refund to the CC.

[VintageComics]

but I was 'stuck' with two transactions on my CC for way too long. PP really took their time to issue the refund to the CC.

 

I found this out too but forgot to mention it.

 

Banks will 'float' your money. It works in their favor.

 

That's why getting the word out and making the double currency choice the new 'normal' will eliminate a lot of problems in the future.

 

This is the 'cut and paste' I plan to use with every transaction:

 

 

I just want you to be aware that Paypal has changed it's format for sending money to accounts outside the US.

 

I want to receive money in $US so the new procedure is to set the outgoing currency (You Send) AS WELL as my receiving currency (Recipient Gets) BOTH to $US - see the two RED circles (see pic below)

 

If you don't understand what I mean, I can send you a Paypal invoice to make sure I receive US funds but will need your email address to do that.

 

If you do understand what I mean, please Paypal $630 to roy.delic@gmail.com with a notation in the subject line stating what you are purchasing.

 

Thanks and LMK.

 

 

 

 

[vaillant]

Looks good, but even better (for us accustomed to work across currencies) to put together an "universal" one, as the problem is there every time you make a transaction across currencies, not only if USD are involved.

[Sqeggs]

I've changed the title.

 

Your tutorial was terrific.

 

I'm now going to use a 'cut and paste' document with the attached picture of the two red circles to make sure all buyers either understand or defer to me invoicing them.

 

 

Still has the "conversation" typo, at least on my screen.

[vaillant]

Let’s just call it "Universal PayPal deceptive tactics" and be done with it.

[VintageComics]

Sorry guys, fixed the typo.

[vaillant]

[FlyingDonut]

Based on what I read above, I refunded the buyer his payment.

 

I then sent the buyer an invoice this time (as opposed to the buyer paying me directly). The invoice was for USD funds. I have my primary currency set to USD. The buyer paid and the payment was just deposited as USD in my PayPal balance.

 

 

The only thing though, is that it looks like they charged me around 3.8% for the transaction as opposed to what I thought it was supposed to be...2.9%? Whatever though. With all the problems I am not going to quibble at an extra % point.

 

There is so much conflicting information though I get the sense that PayPal doesn't even know what is up?

 

International transactions are charged at the 3.9% for USA sellers receiving money from international customers. We are charged 2.9% for US transactions only

 

Rest in peace, friend.