Paypal for me has always been a bit uptight about their conversion. Like you said, for paypal usually is about 3-4% more expensive in comparison to an exact yen to dollar conversion. Of course I'm using both google conversion and yahoo finance as my source and paypal is a bastard about it.
My last big order was when 87yen = 1$. Pretty much my order a few months ago was 95yen = 1$. I could have saved 12% if I have waited a few months, but what ever.
Humm.. if Japonica takes the transaction as a service, their overall rate seems lower w/o s/h than cresent & goody. Wouldn't a "service" be more expensive than a purchased goods?
weird...
My last big order was when 87yen = 1$. Pretty much my order a few months ago was 95yen = 1$. I could have saved 12% if I have waited a few months, but what ever.
Humm.. if Japonica takes the transaction as a service, their overall rate seems lower w/o s/h than cresent & goody. Wouldn't a "service" be more expensive than a purchased goods?
weird...
The Paypal exchange fee is 2.5% (https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-pop-fees-outside). The 3-4% is the goods fee, which is in addition to that.
All "service" means is you're paying for someone to do something, not buying something from someone. Service transactions on Paypal have no fee (except for conversion), which is why Japonica is cheaper for more expensive items. (I havn't used it yet so I can't speak to their service, though. I think Shuugo has.)
All "service" means is you're paying for someone to do something, not buying something from someone. Service transactions on Paypal have no fee (except for conversion), which is why Japonica is cheaper for more expensive items. (I havn't used it yet so I can't speak to their service, though. I think Shuugo has.)
I think service transactions have a fee, too, when you're sending to a business account, but not when sending to a personal account. Hmm...
If I remember correctly, businesses' accounts do take a percentage out as service fee or what ever and like you said, personal doesn't since most of our accounts are mostly just buyer's accounts only.
I made a quick bid with Japonica to see how it worked out. Didn't win the item so there's not much to say, but two impressions:
- His Paypal account said "verified buyers: 9". 9?
- He made an error in the deposit invoice and asked for the ~3% Paypal fee; I pointed it out and he went "oops, you're right" and recomputed without it. Maybe a simple mistake, but not a great first impression.
So, nothing horrible, but a little cautious.
Also, refunding a deposit on Paypal does refund the currency conversion fee too, which I was wondering about.
- His Paypal account said "verified buyers: 9". 9?
- He made an error in the deposit invoice and asked for the ~3% Paypal fee; I pointed it out and he went "oops, you're right" and recomputed without it. Maybe a simple mistake, but not a great first impression.
So, nothing horrible, but a little cautious.
Also, refunding a deposit on Paypal does refund the currency conversion fee too, which I was wondering about.
An error? I could overlook that for the first time. But I wouldn't be so caring the second time around.
(Err, who locked this thread?)
(I locked some of the old ones, so probably me.)
[Edit: also strange, your spoiler appears to be broken]
test
[Edit: also strange, your spoiler appears to be broken]
test
locked topics take away energy to read them.
lock only "no value to read" topics IMO.
(spoiler)
lock only "no value to read" topics IMO.
(spoiler)
Let's not drag this into another topic, but I do see a lot of locked threads. Basically most threads past page 3 is locked. I so see irrelevant threads, but I do feel some of the older threads can be reused.
spoiler
Not exactly a deputy topic, but close enough; a random graph of costs for larger shipments (data taken from here, yen vs. kg, listing only insured shipping methods to the US and Europe):
I guess if you're planning a trip and you want to buy a lot of stuff, shipping surface mail isn't bad if you don't mind waiting a few weeks. Bulk would still be expensive with a deputy since you're still paying a fee per-item, though.
I guess if you're planning a trip and you want to buy a lot of stuff, shipping surface mail isn't bad if you don't mind waiting a few weeks. Bulk would still be expensive with a deputy since you're still paying a fee per-item, though.
Unfortunately, that graph scale is too large for the average buyer. Few probably buy more than 3-5 kilos in one shipment.
The entire point was larger shipments, eg. if you're flying to Japan and want to get a bunch of stuff home without pushing your luggage overweight.
True, airline extra baggage fee are ridiculous. Also, pack all the heaviest stuff into carry-on, as carry-on is limited only by size, not weight (or at least they fail to specify any restrictions and I've never seen them weigh carry-on).
I reuploaded the missing graph. I didn't update or recheck it for any pricing changes since it was made.
Is the yen total the s/h cost or the total value of the purchase, peto?
petopeto
Deputy services
This is the total extra cost in USD, on top of the price of the item, at the exchange rate now.
This doesn't reflect shipping costs, which can differ widely depending on how things are packed. And, of course, this doesn't reflect service. I havn't heard horror stories about any of these, at least.
Of course, any of these could be totally wrong. If you're buying something expensive, do the math yourself, or ask them for quotes.
more details
More details, and why this is tricky:
The direct exchange rate right now is ¥99.3/$1. Paypal's rate is currently ¥97/$1, which includes a currency conversion fee. If you pay a deputy in yen over Paypal, that's the rate you get.
Goody is paid in yen, as goods. I'm not sure how Paypal's rates work when you're out of the US taking payments from inside the US (I can't find a description of that), but the rate for international payments *into* the US is 3-4%, which lines up with what Goody says (4%). Whatever it is, it's built into their commission.
Crescent takes payments as goods, in USD (not yen). That means the international goods fee (again, probably 3-4%), but no currency conversion fee; once Crescent gets the payment, they convert it themselves. The actual rate they're using is listed on their webpage; currently (in this graph), it's ¥93/$1.
Japonica takes payment in yen, but treat their transactions as "services"; eg. you're paying the total cost to them as the cost of the service of buying the item and shipping it to you. Crescent and Goody treat it as "goods"; just buying an item. Transactions for services through Paypal only pay the currency conversion fee, not the extra 3-4% goods fee. So, paying as goods costs you a lot more, especially as the item cost goes up.
(Which is right? I don't care--that's between the deputy service and Paypal. I just pay as I'm instructed.)