What's the deal with PayPal?

I trust there are many advocates and fans of PayPal but my very 1st experience has been anything but pleased.

Today, I received the fund in US$ from the guy in USA who bought my MDX-D300. It turned out that I am not able to withdraw the full amount to my US$ account in Singapore. I had misunderstood that the limit of SG$800 per month was only applicable for withdrawal into a credit card account but it applied to a banking account as well (my mistake). What really got me was, PayPal would not allow me to withdraw the money in US$ into my US$ account in Singapore. The customer service lady (poor girl, I gave her hell) told me that to withdraw the money in US$, I need to have a US$ account in the USA! So in my case, they will convert the US$ into SG$ at the rate of 1.33xx when the prevailing rate this afternoon was 1.356xx. I would accept the rate if it was 1.345xx. This is pure daylight robbery!

Answers I beg to know:

1. PayPal per the customer service lady is not a bank but what the heck are they doing with the money they held in balance? Some institution must be benefitting from these monies.

2. It takes 5 to 7 working days to transfer the money from PayPal to the banking account so what happen to the money during the period? Same scenario as (1)

3. Why the rigidity of converting received currency into local currency? PayPal claims to be abiding to local banking law in limiting withdrawal amount but why such big discrepancy in exchange rate?

I really have to get this off my chest!

Welcome to the world of Paypal (Ebay). Their policies favor the buyer above the seller (eventhough Paypal service fees are paid by the seller) and monies are held from release to the seller to make profit for Paypal, and now it seems they have found a way to do the same with exchange rates. Having had my problems with Ebay sales, even when both seller and buyer agreed on the canceled transaction, Paypal policies kept the monies on hold and weeks before release. My experience has me think twice before putting anything for sale using Paypal. Ask for a supervisor next time, the poor service person has no power to make any policy exceptions.

Bo

What in my experience is Paypal currency convert always hieght that the bank. If i compare PayPal and TT, I need to pay about usd100 extra if i using PayPal.

Having dealt with currencies around the world through pay-pal I find their exchange rate aweful. Not even close to the "official" rate. Add on charges and hold backs and they are a crap company to deal through. The good thing is they are accepted in many places and is is very convenient. Their must be a great profit center for e-bay but they are becoming way too expensive for anything over a couple of hundred dollars. Wish there was another way to pay, but with the banks srewing everyone I don't see any chance of improvement soon.

Yes, their exchange rates are terrible. I recently sold some camera gear, and while the buyer paid 3% to cover the fees, the exchange rate was so bad that I had to eat another 4%, giving Paypal 7% of my sale. Yes, it's highway robbery. Unfortunately it's often the only option when dealing with international transactions.

I trust there are many advocates and fans of PayPal but my very 1st experience has been anything but pleased.

 

Today, I received the fund in US$ from the guy in USA who bought my MDX-D300. It turned out that I am not able to withdraw the full amount to my US$ account in Singapore. I had misunderstood that the limit of SG$800 per month was only applicable for withdrawal into a credit card account but it applied to a banking account as well (my mistake). What really got me was, PayPal would not allow me to withdraw the money in US$ into my US$ account in Singapore. The customer service lady (poor girl, I gave her hell) told me that to withdraw the money in US$, I need to have a US$ account in the USA! So in my case, they will convert the US$ into SG$ at the rate of 1.33xx when the prevailing rate this afternoon was 1.356xx. I would accept the rate if it was 1.345xx. This is pure daylight robbery!

 

Answers I beg to know:

 

1. PayPal per the customer service lady is not a bank but what the heck are they doing with the money they held in balance? Some institution must be benefitting from these monies.

2. It takes 5 to 7 working days to transfer the money from PayPal to the banking account so what happen to the money during the period? Same scenario as (1)

3. Why the rigidity of converting received currency into local currency? PayPal claims to be abiding to local banking law in limiting withdrawal amount but why such big discrepancy in exchange rate?

 

I really have to get this off my chest!

You did have other options to get paid. You could have asked for a cashier's check or a certified check or a bank transfer, but then you assume a bit of risk or a bit more work on your part. If you have friends in the states, you can ask them to accept payment then pay you if you don't like the exchange rate. The only advantage of paypal is a bit more safety than a check (not much) and a lot less hassle for you since you don't have to do anything but wait for the money to appear.

Bill

Bill - depending on the value raising a check drawn on a US bank from my neck of the woods in Europe is very expensive.

Last time I had to raise one it cost me about $40 and when it was drawn the receiver got hit again as it was some kind of out of state check that the bank did not like the look of.

All in all it is very messy.

To be honest I am a bit surprised that the credit card companies do not have an angle in play on this - there must be revenue in it given the charges that PayPal make.

Paul C

P.S. I am not a fan of paypal but you can at least predict the charges up front.

You did have other options to get paid. You could have asked for a cashier's check or a certified check or a bank transfer, but then you assume a bit of risk or a bit more work on your part. If you have friends in the states, you can ask them to accept payment then pay you if you don't like the exchange rate. The only advantage of paypal is a bit more safety than a check (not much) and a lot less hassle for you since you don't have to do anything but wait for the money to appear.

 

Bill

Yes I know there are other options for the transaction and the previous time I sold my TTL Converter to a guy in Germany, he paid by TT was good for both parties. This time round, the buyer was more comfortable with PayPal than TT which I understand. I had read about the charges of PayPal b4 the transaction and accepted it. But the period to withdraw the fund and the exchange rate! OMG I have been sodomised!

Yes the banks have s___d us but, with no malice intended, who guaranty monies held at PayPal? This I don't think the FED will bill us out.

I hate ebay.

I hate paypal.

I closed my ebay and payapl accounts forever.