Greg asked:
> I need to pay for a vintage bike item that's in Europe via Euros - any
> recommendations as to where to exchange US dollars for Euros? I can do it
> locally, but I'm guessing it will cost me about $15 in fees, and wondering
if
> perhaps there is a better way. International Money Orders in Foreign
currency
> have also cost me about $15 in the past....
>
> It'll be great when *everyone* takes PayPal - I just sent a payment to
> Slovakia this evening via PayPal, and received one from Taiwan....
$15 is a fair amount to pay for commissions and the sending of money, so on big items it is hard to do any better. If the item is small and worth a relatively small amount of money, I usually propose to the seller to accept US $ in cash. I simply put it in an envelope and mail the cash. Never lost anything yet. I always add in about 8% to cover exchange rate fluctuations and the hassle of changing the cash. In Europe the banks charge a straight commission and/or a charge of about 1-5% to exchange the money. It is my experience that they usually want about 3%. Here in the US, the service charges are higher than elsewhere when the bank is even ready to exchange the money. I have seen many a bank refuse to even get involved in any foreign currency exchange, or only upon pre-booking.
Steven Maasland Moorestown, NJ
PS: personally, I simply pay from my Italian bank account.
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