Got about £150 of gear in my basket from Rosebikes and was wondering if its best to pay via paypal or with my visa debit? Is there any charge/exchange rate with either and if so which is likely to be best?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/buying-from-zee-germans

Clear as mud then. Spoke to my bank and i lost the will to live with all the fees that apply and i have no doubt paypal are not going to give a good rate. I reckon i will add a tenner on top of £150 and i reckon i will be fairly close.

Any difference is likely to be less than the cost of a pint, presumambly that’s way less than the amount you’re saving by buying from the Germans anyway so why the angst?

pick Paypal, the conversion will show you how much you’re going to pay in £ up front so decide if that’s a price you’re happy with or not and click buy.

That revolut app looks to give the rates you expect, think I’ll use that in future.

Pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, but if not there are plenty of credit cards out there that don’t charge you a fee for foreign transactions, especially not within the EU. I originally got one because they are great for going on holiday where you can pay in Euros for example and just check the exchange rate on the VISA website for that day. Now I find I use it more for online purchases where paying in Euros saves me a few quid over the GBP conversion carried out by paypal, the host website or whatever.

Have a look on money supermarket or such like. Very handy things…

I have a feeling there is a bank which offers good rates and no fees then buying in Euros.

If you end up buying a lot of stuff in Euros then I imagine it would be worth your time to set one up. 🙂

I paid via PayPal from a debit card, paypal exchange rate then bank exchange rate then bank charged a transaction fee!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Transaction and currency fees aside, I’d always directly use a proper credit card when buying online from anywhere. The extra protection a credit card gives is invaluable. Particularly when there’s a problem, as it’s not your money, its the credit card company’s!

I’ve always bought from Rose Bikes using good old real money. Is GBP not an option for you?

Bigbloke thats exactly what i was about to do so thanks for that warning. I dont own a credit card,never have and never will so thats not an option. I will just suck up the bank charges.

Paypal rate usually isn’t too bad. Having tried paypal and a foreign funds transfer through my bank, I know which route I’d go in future. Paypal was less hassle and less costly in additional fees…

Can you use Transferwise? They are cheap and fast.