Buying Euros to wire.

[Jim Bremner]

Who has the best deal? My bank wants 7 cents on top of the exchange rate.

[slodave]

Have you looked at Western Union? There are also places online.

Not sure which is the best, though.

[LakeCleElum]

Options:

PayPal - Send it as a gift
USAA Account - Don't have to be Military to open an account
My bank (US Bank) charges a straight $30 per wire; no percentage.

[Rick Lee]

I just did my second Euro transaction on Craigslist yesterday. The poor lady had bought Euros for $1.56 and when she got back to the US could only get $1.18 for them. She was asking $1.40, but I told her I'd pay the current rate of $1.30 and she agreed. I should have lowballed her more. Try to find someone like that and then have a friend in Europe wire them the money and reimburse your friend later. Wire transfers are very common in Europe and usually have no fees.

[Jim Bremner]

57k Euro?

[Rick Lee]

That's a lot of money. Are you buying a car? At that price, I'd go with any bank that will charge a flat fee instead of tacking on a percentage.

[Jim Bremner]

product.

[jwasbury]

Agree with Rick that you should check with banks and explain your situation.

If you have an online brokerage account, its also likely that they might offer you fx trading capability (etrade does, for instance).

[red-beard]

We wire money internationally all the time. I've been charged wire transfees, but never a percentage on top. Who are you using?

[Jim Bremner]

Citibank I caculated euro @ 1.297 to the USD and they want to exchange at 1.37

[Geary]

Call Bank of the West for a better exchange rate.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Jim Bremner

Citibank I caculated euro @ 1.297 to the USD and they want to exchange at 1.37

No, that's $1.37 for one Euro. You have it reversed. 57k Euros is around $74,100.

I used an online currency converter that averages the buy/sell price and I told the seller on CL I was willing to pay $1.30 per.

Don't let a bank mess with you on this. Check their math. I once went to a small local bank to buy Deutsch Marks and the lady had the conversion reversed. I kept explaining her mistake and she insisted on showing me that day's WSJ page that showed the prices. I repeated that the price was correct, just not her conversion math. I finally had to go find an ex-GF who was a boss at that bank and ask her to make things right, which she did.

[Jim Bremner]

Yes, Rick Lee I need 57.490 in euros. I do not want to pay 79,330 for this I want to be closer to $76461. Jim

[red-beard]

In Italian or Romanian, Ci is pronounced chi.

Wow, you're being effed! I thought Wells Fargo was bad on somethings...

Are you taking cash in hand or are you wiring the money? I simply say:

"Wire $74,449.55 to xxxx" - exchange rate is showing 1.295 USD to the Euro. Why are you "buying" Euros first?

[Jim Bremner]

I asked how much to wire 57,490 euro and they came back at 79,330

[red-beard]

I would call some other banks. That is wrong. They are jacking you!

[on2wheels52]

Originally Posted by Jim Bremner

I asked how much to wire 57,490 euro and they came back at 79,330

Almost $5000? I guess times are tough in the banking industry.
The last time I went to europe I thought I had a deal worked out with a local bank to 'buy' some euros (only about 10% of what you're looking to get). A big suprise when it came time to make the exchange. It was too late to try another venue, it ended up cheaper using a credit card and taking the hit on their exchange rate. While there, I was fortunate to make some greenbacks change hands also; don't leave home without some.
Jim

[red-beard]

I have never used this, but, maybe you should check it out.

XE Trade - How it works

[Jim Bremner]

Red-Beard,

DUDE !!!!!

I owe you a beer or two!

XE-Trade is $71,802.30
I'm signing up!

That's 1.3105 on a 1.2924 euro to usd! My bank wanted 1.371xxx

[Jim Bremner]

Fidelity Trading will wire and convert for 1%!!!!! plus I can sign docs etc 2.5 miles from home. $6k savings and easy.