posted on March 30, 2006 11:57:12 AM
I’m tired of the confiscatory transfer fees and lousy conversion rates when I wire money overseas thru my bank. XE.com appears to be cost effective and offer good rates. Have any of you used them? Any problems? Were you satisfied? Thanks.
posted on March 30, 2006 02:10:14 PM
Hiya ArtNouveau:
We have their CURRENCY CONVERTER on our "ME" page -- pretty compleat...
Their CURRENCY SERVICES seem extensive, but rather complicated (?) for simple feeBay transactions??
Since BIDPAY went belly-up, I've been doing the nifty BANK-TO-BANK WIRE TRANSFER thingy lately (if PayPal ain't an option) and have been pleasantly surprised by the ease of use...
My bank (COMPASS) charges $12, which I happily pass on to my customers...NOBODY complained yet...
PLUS, it appears that BIDPAY will be back in the saddle again this summer, so, that puts things back on track as before they went splat...
PS: sorry, I read yer post too quickly and now see yer talking about SENDING moola to ELBONIA?? As Miss Emily Latella:"Nevermind..."
"I think we are welcomed. But it was not a peaceful welcome."
—Philadelphia, Dec. 12, 2005, on the reception of American forces in Iraq
[ edited by tOMWiii on Mar 30, 2006 02:11 PM ]
posted on March 30, 2006 02:55:05 PM
Most of my banks don't charge for Intl wires (SWIFT to be precise) provided I select Shared fees where each party pays their own fees (if any). I also use domestic transfers in most countries to collect payments so usually no fees. Outgoing domestic e-payments are usually free in most countries. Any paper international payments I negotiate through a very large international bank for free - they have branches in most countries.
posted on March 30, 2006 03:55:29 PM
Jeeze, free transfers??? Where in the world do you guys bank? I have to wire several thousand pounds to the UK. Wells Fargo charges over $50 just for the wire, on top of their spectacularly awful dollar to pound conversion rate. The other option is my credit union, who don’t seem to even know where the UK is.
It’s a lengthy process, but I just signed up with XE.
posted on March 30, 2006 04:07:03 PM
Agit has accounts oversees where transfers are much more common and fee free which is not the situation in the US ans anyone who has ever had to make an international transfer well knows.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
posted on March 30, 2006 06:00:06 PMI have to wire several thousand pounds to the UK.
Cheapest option for you might be AuctionChex - check some of the threads here for details.
There are some decent foreign banks in NY that offer dirt cheap transfers to Europe - no need to be a customer, but you'll need ID if you want to do a walk-in transfer. Same goes for Chicago and San Francisco, otherwise it's pretty bleak banking-wise in the USA...
posted on March 30, 2006 08:51:24 PM
CAN YOU MAKE A PAYMENT WITH A CREDIT CARD.? I make payments to European countries like Britain or Germany. and others and the usa.all the time. the people i deal with can accept payment by credit cards over the phone. Works well for me. Most business that i know are able to accept payment this way.
posted on March 31, 2006 07:48:57 AM
All the European auction houses I’ve dealt with charge anywhere from 3 to 5 percent to accept a credit card, which is prohibitive. Some only take a wire transfer. To my knowledge, none accept PayPal.
posted on April 1, 2006 01:58:42 AM
Easiest I've found for European auction houses like Christies is bank transfer. All will charge you a fee for credit cards, but no additional fees for bank transfers. Most have their SWIFT or BIC + IBAN details on the invoice so it's really easy to do a transfer. Any decent bank can arrange it.
I just completed two wires using XE totaling over $13500 and the savings were considerable. My bank and a local exchange company offered a dollar to pound conversion rate of $1.90. XE charged $1.78, saving me over $800.
In spite of XE.com’s claim that sign-up takes 3 days, it took seven. This included filling out numerous forms, taking and uploading jpeg photos of my ID to their website (fax came out dark), a phone interview, and a one-time trip to my bank to have something signed.
The wire took an additional 8 days but that included 5 days for XE to withdraw the money from my account via EFT and then somehow confirm it. I could have wired it to them faster but that would have cost around $40 and another trip to my bank to arrange the wire. Instead I electronically transferred money into the usually bare bank account I use for PayPal, and XE took the agreed upon amount. Then they wired the funds to the UK. Their wire fee is around $18 -- not bad.
The savings were substantial and, once set up, I like the convenience of being able to do this all from my home (or anyplace I can get to a computer). If you think you might have to send a wire, I recommend the service. Just sign up well in advance because their process is lengthy.
posted on April 13, 2006 03:18:47 PM
Thanks for the update!
I suspect all the paperwork you faced was due to the Patriot Act as I know it's easier to sign up in other countries. Any way looks like a decent bare bones service - ideal for us cheapskates on Vendio
posted on April 13, 2006 05:06:53 PM
Artnouveau,
for that kind of money 13k,look into some of those money centre banks such as WellS Fargo,Bank of America-they have internet banking for their corporate clients,you can purchase foreign exchange online real time and lock in the rate within a few minutes when the market is open,you can save all your recipients in your account,search for your banks ,it is all done online ,your fund will be subtracted from your bank account and wired after midnight.
You will get much better exchange rate as these are the rates they offer to their best corporate multi national clients as they move money around the world daily in millions.
They also do not charge a wiretransfer fee if you are buying foreign exchange as this is where they make their profit between the bid and ask price.
PS.
If you prefer a draft instead of wiretransfer,they will fex exp overnite the draft to you free.
/ lets all stop whining !! /
[ edited by hwahwa on Apr 13, 2006 05:11 PM ]
posted on April 13, 2006 08:33:53 PM
hwahwa,
Other than having to wire or EFT them the money, what you described is almost exactly what XE offers. As you enter your order, you watch their rate change every minute. When I placed my wires (one was for $11K and the other for about $2.5K), the middle-spot rate was 1.74 dollars per GBP. They charged me 1.78 so it’s pretty clear they work on some razor thin margins. (Their rate is actually quoted to six decimal places and I’m rounding here for simplicity.)
XE wires money to your recipient for a fee ($18 if I recall) but will instead send a draft for free if you chose. I don’t know if they will FEDEX it for an additional fee, but I don't think so.
I have in fact wired amounts like this through Wells Fargo, where I really do have a corporate account, and through Union Bank of California. Neither could be bothered. Wells Fargo was one of the banks that quoted 1.90 dollars per GBP plus, their wire fee is confiscatory. It seemed that $11K is a big wire for XE but is not enough to get Wells Fargo’s attention.
posted on April 14, 2006 05:30:44 PM
I know Bank of America will fed exp the draft overnite to YOU,not your client .
If XE.COM is charging just 18 dollars,thats good news for retail customers,but how do they pay their bills??
/ lets all stop whining !! /
posted on April 14, 2006 07:50:09 PM
They middle rate was 1.74 and they charged me 1.78 . Middle-spot is roughly 1/2 way between their cost and mine. Assuming their cost was 1.70, their markup would be .08 and .08 x $13500 = $1080. Not exactly chump change. The wire transfer is just a computer batch job and costs them next to nothing. Do this all day and it’s real money.
They seem to be just a currency exchange company and not a bank.
posted on April 15, 2006 07:18:05 AM
I just visited XE.COM,they are based in Canada and began operations in 1993.
It seems they do more business with South Africa,probably this is how they get started.
Yes,they are not a bank,but a discount foreign exchange broker.
They mention ETF (ACH) as one method of sending them the payment to buy foreign exchange,I am wondering being in Canada,can they access any bank in any country via this method??(Excluding the list of countries they dont do business with like Nigeria,Libya,Syria etc).
[ edited by tOMWiii on Mar 30, 2006 02:11 PM ]