Australians who use PayPal - what's your experience been like?

[cheyennewriter]

I’ve only used Payoneer and the fees aren’t the best, so I’ve been taking a look at PayPal. Are there are any hidden conversion fees Australians should be worried about?

[sue_mcl]

This is too funny! I was going to write almost the opposite post and ask about payoneer! I generally find paypal awesome, there isn’t a conversion fee as such, just the exchange rate not being the best (but not terrible). Usually the money is in my account later in the day or the next day (business days). I bank with ING and BankWest (which is CommBank) and the time to account is pretty similar with both. The only time I hate paypal is when I transfer funds on Friday morning thinking they’ll be in there for the weekend and they don’t land in my account until Monday. Sometimes its OK, sometimes not - haven’t yet worked out the magic formula for the same day funds haha.

What are the fees and clearance times with payoneer?

[cheyennewriter]

This is too funny! I was going to write almost the opposite post and ask about payoneer! I generally find paypal awesome, there isn’t a conversion fee as such, just the exchange rate not being the best (but not terrible). Usually the money is in my account later in the day or the next day (business days). I bank with ING and BankWest (which is CommBank) and the time to account is pretty similar with both. The only time I hate paypal is when I transfer funds on Friday morning thinking they’ll be in there for the weekend and they don’t land in my account until Monday. Sometimes its OK, sometimes not - haven’t yet worked out the magic formula for the same day funds haha.

What are the fees and clearance times with payoneer?

Payoneer charges $3 US to transfer from Fiverr and then a conversion fee of 2.00% but I’ve noticed a chunk of money missing with my last transfer. My bank told me the fee for getting U.S dollars sent to my account and it isn’t all that high, and maybe I’m just missing something, but I feel like there’s a fee I’m not looking at. I don’t know if it’s Fiverr (who still haven’t given me an update), Payoneer, or my bank, but either way, I don’t think Payoneer is worth it at all considering how much money was missing the last time.

The clearance time differs each time. It used to be 2-3 days but the last time it was only 1 day.

[miiila]

This is too funny! I was going to write almost the opposite post and ask about payoneer! I generally find paypal awesome, there isn’t a conversion fee as such, just the exchange rate not being the best (but not terrible). Usually the money is in my account later in the day or the next day (business days). I bank with ING and BankWest (which is CommBank) and the time to account is pretty similar with both. The only time I hate paypal is when I transfer funds on Friday morning thinking they’ll be in there for the weekend and they don’t land in my account until Monday. Sometimes its OK, sometimes not - haven’t yet worked out the magic formula for the same day funds haha.

What are the fees and clearance times with payoneer?

there isn’t a conversion fee as such, just the exchange rate not being the best (but not terrible).

I’m not Australian, but I’d double check that, we pay 2.5% conversion fee here in Germany, and I’m pretty sure I’ve read that you pay that/a fee everywhere.

From PP’s user agreement, so maybe you aren’t aware of that fee because it’s not obvious for you, maybe that’s why the rate seems “not the best”.

8.2. Currency Conversion

If a transaction involves a currency conversion by PayPal, it will be converted at the exchange rate we set for the relevant currency exchange. This is the " Base Exchange Rate ".

The Base Exchange Rate is based on rates available in the wholesale currency markets, or if required by law or regulation, at the relevant government reference rate(s), on the conversion date or the prior business day.

We then add a Currency Conversion Fee (as set out in clause A3.1.1. of Schedule 1 (Table of Fees)) to the Base Exchange Rate to form the final foreign exchange rate applied to your transaction. In some cases (see clauses 4.7. and 4.8.) this final foreign exchange rate may be applied immediately and without notice to you. .

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You should be able to check your rate like this:

1. Click the menu to the right of your PayPal balance.
2. Click Manage currencies.
3. Enter the required information under Currency Exchange and click Calculate .
4. The exchange rate is displayed, and you can review it before you complete your payment.

[fonthaunt]

This is too funny! I was going to write almost the opposite post and ask about payoneer! I generally find paypal awesome, there isn’t a conversion fee as such, just the exchange rate not being the best (but not terrible). Usually the money is in my account later in the day or the next day (business days). I bank with ING and BankWest (which is CommBank) and the time to account is pretty similar with both. The only time I hate paypal is when I transfer funds on Friday morning thinking they’ll be in there for the weekend and they don’t land in my account until Monday. Sometimes its OK, sometimes not - haven’t yet worked out the magic formula for the same day funds haha.

What are the fees and clearance times with payoneer?

The only time I hate paypal is when I transfer funds on Friday morning thinking they’ll be in there for the weekend

I don’t know for sure if PayPal has this in Australia, but in USA you can get an upgrade to a business account and they issue you a debit card. It’s very handy if you need to pay a bill or buy some groceries directly from PayPal and you don’t have time to wait around and see if it’s a fast-clearance day! Here it also gives you some percentage of cashback on some purchases and it seems safer than using bank debit cards. You can shut it off 24/7 or set a maximum amount to be spent. I used to have one for my kid so I could set the limit to what she might need for a specific event.

(Of course, if they don’t have this in Australia, this information is all terrible, so I know of some houses for sale near me and I would love to have new neighbors!)

[emeraldawnn]

The only time I hate paypal is when I transfer funds on Friday morning thinking they’ll be in there for the weekend

I don’t know for sure if PayPal has this in Australia, but in USA you can get an upgrade to a business account and they issue you a debit card. It’s very handy if you need to pay a bill or buy some groceries directly from PayPal and you don’t have time to wait around and see if it’s a fast-clearance day! Here it also gives you some percentage of cashback on some purchases and it seems safer than using bank debit cards. You can shut it off 24/7 or set a maximum amount to be spent. I used to have one for my kid so I could set the limit to what she might need for a specific event.

(Of course, if they don’t have this in Australia, this information is all terrible, so I know of some houses for sale near me and I would love to have new neighbors!)

I absolutely love my business debit card… I use it for practically everything. No more waiting for money to be transferred back into my bank account or anything. Of course, it just means one more account for me to manage on top of all my others.