Think Twice before Purchasing from out of country and using Paypal

[saintgrass2013]

I purchased an item from someone in Canada and paid thru Paypal.  The seller cancelled order because they didn't have in stock, and refunded my money.  Paypal kept 5% of my refund saying that the Canadian conversion rate dropped within 2 days of my purchase.  Wow!!  Paypal is so corrupt it's mind boggling how they get away with it.  Desperate pigs.  So I will never buy again from other countries, or use Paypal.  I'll Pay with credit card and dispute the charge from now on.  

[simba6]

Yep it's little known you are trading in international currency markets and can be "bit" by the exchange rate. Only here unlike options or futures, you can only lose. You don't get a profit if it goes the other way.

[ittybitnot]

 Paypal kept 5% of my refund saying that the Canadian conversion rate dropped 

@saintgrass2013 

That is odd.  We have always known that PayPal's "conversion rate" was designed to be basically unfavorable to discourage certain practices, but never had heard of this.   I wonder if they would have given you back MORE had the currency conversion/dollar value changed in the other direction?  Rhetorical question to be sure. 

What was the time frame i.e. days from when you paid and subsequently refunded?  

Thanks for the information. 

[globexk]

We had a similar problem but we were the seller and the buyer requested cancellation. The item was for $200. They paid Australian dollars and the we got refunded $188 eight days later. We couldn't believe the exchange rate would differ that much. We noticed the refund took a long time, eight days. We called Paypal.  Of course the customer service didn't know why it took eight days. The Paypal Irish call center girl got real rude asking us "you received a refund, right?". I wonder what the experience has been with managed payments.

[ittybitnot]

 I wonder what the experience has been with managed payments.

@globexk   

I have not heard of any complaints of this nature by users of Managed Payments.  It is certainly something to keep in mind in addition to the issue with PayPal as explained by the OP (as a buyer) .  Managed Payment SELLERS are not informed as to the payment method the buyer used. 

[chrispass918]

I don’t even buy from out of country so I wouldn’t even think about it 

[friskya]

In fairness, your credit card company would have done the same. Transactions are calculated on the exchange rate on the day of the transaction. If the rate change had been in your favor, you might have gotten a slightly larger refund than what you originally paid. 

[downunder-61]

Some also charge a 'conversion fee' in addition to the rate of exchange