Was doing some research on the net and most of them told me not to use paypal exchange rate as it is higher so I decided to go with bank exchange rate instead. Upon paying for the goods from ebay, I realized bank exchange rate was significantly higher and I was shocked. Anyway, anyone has experience to share whether to use paypal or bank exchange rate? Mine is CIMB debit card btw.

Thanks bro, really appreciate it, I guess I should change my main card to Public bank back.

Hmmm I am not sure how did they count. Bought an 18usd goods from ebay. Paypal charges me rm75. something after conversion. Using Public Bank however causes me an extra rm3 which was around rm
78.something. I always thought bank rates are better?

Hmm, that's strange. Do you mind sharing what bank you are using? Cards type do not influence it right? Still wondering where does the extra cost comes from.

Dont think its covered by Ebay buer protection bro

Look at pb website for the card type and the visa calculator, actual exchange rate should be still lower than paypal. Need to clarify with PB already.

But more expensive than paypal when paypal is already expensive lol. Yours are debit?

Yeap just try to use PB Bank again, still way more expensive than paypal rate.

Bought something at 11.5 usd. Paypal rate was 4.15 plus so total up around 47 plus. Using PB debit card cost me rm50. It seems small, but it adds up quickly.

This post has been edited by sean6219: Mar 23 2016, 09:54 PM

Debit or credit? Did you compare the rates of paypal with bank? Judging from current situation, might be best to use paypal rate. I keep having these hidden charges and bank keep saying the rates might be different.

Same I am using PB debit cause it doesnt have CBF.

Yeah, bank rates are cheaper theoretically when you calculate it yourself, somehow it will be way more expensive that what you have calculated, even more than paypal. My previous purchase has an extra charge of 8%, which is f*****g a lot if you ask me. Asked them and they gave me a reply and somehow this sentence might explain everything.

The exchange rate may differ from the rate in effect on the date of the transaction due to market fluctuations. Such rate imposed shall be final and conclusive and the Cardmember shall bear all exchange risks, losses, commission and other bank charges which may thereby be incurred.

Kindly note that the final exchange rate will be confirmed upon settlement of the transaction from Merchant's Banker, not based on the day the amount was transacted to the card.

I called Paypal as well, and they say if they do not process the currency exchange, they cant charge anything. It seems like bank or the Visa/Mastercard has some hidden charges we are not well aware of So for now I have to settle with paypal rate.

Forget to add on. If you already set your processing method to bank, even in new ebay checkout, you are still using that option even though you cant change it. Dont believe me? Switch your ebay to ebay Malaysia and you will be using the paypal website to checkout instead. The rate stated is given by paypal not by your bank, since paypal cannot show the rates set by your banks. That is why it is higher than the rate you see on ebay/paypal because you are using bank rate that you have set earlier, not the paypal rate.

How do you know its 8% surcharge? Where did you get that info from? I calculate from it la, but dint know where is the 8% comes from.

Yeah do let me know. Switching the site to ebay Malaysia brings us back to the old method, which will direct us to paypal page unllike the current US one.

I have been thinking. Could it be the extra charges come from GST? If yes, then they finally implement it, which means using bank rate is no longer favorable.

LOL, we already know this, the problem is why bank rate which is supposingly better than paypal rate ended up charging us more compared to paypal rate? Not to be mean, but you should read everything.

Yeah, I suspect is the *admin* fees. Because I did my calculations myself, including following the rate on that particular day, if no extra charges, definitely way cheaper than PayPal. Well it only happened recently and not to those old buyers, so sure got something d.