topic Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment in Selling

Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

theroseyreview — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 06:31:11 GMT

For the first time I have been hot with a foreign transaction fee on my monthly ebay payment.

I checked back through my payments and this has never happened before.

I use a Westpac Mastercard to pay ebay fees. Although I use my Paypal balance also and I notice that the charge is in Australian dollars so no foreign fee should apply.

Called Westpac, they claim that ebay has changed their banking.

However, when I look back through my invoices, nothing seems to have changed.

Is this just Westpac being difficuly or has anyone else been charged this fee?

I don't see how a foreign fee could apply if it is in Australian dollars???

Anyone have any suggestions?

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 06:38:14 GMT

I thought ebay's bank was 'always' OS.

A forex fee out of the blue is creepy.

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

twyngwyn — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 06:41:05 GMT

Ring them!!

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

theroseyreview — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 06:42:05 GMT

Their bank has not changed. Not in the 10 years I have been dealing with them.

Has anyone else been charged a forex fee this month?

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

collect247 — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 06:52:11 GMT

If you pay your ebay fees and they come out of PayPal then the name has changed to eBay Marketplaces GmbH

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 07:20:48 GMT

No forex on my accounts but they are all paid via PayPal balance.

Maybe the Mastercard use is the culprit.

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

kopenhagen5 — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 07:55:33 GMT

It is a problem eBay have admitted to.

A charge for foreign payment.

I will see if I can find the other thread on this -

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Selling/Sellers-Check-your-banking-institution-for-International-Fees/m-p/2166899#M172418

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

dazzledayz — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 03:36:18 GMT

You can see what you owe on the Seller Hub Overview page.

Just make sure you have that amount in your PayPal account before the due date and you will avoid these additional fees.

I simply do not understand why you are being charged extra if you are using PayPal as the invoice payment method.

PayPal is an Australian entity so transfers to them from your Australian Bank should not attract additional charges.

Has anyone been charged Forex fees on an eBay purchase paid thru PayPal where part or all of the funds were drawn from your bank account?

Has anyone received an explanation from eBay as to why this is happening?

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

pointblankauto — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 04:01:06 GMT

I am having this same issue since June 2018... Ebay fees paid via Paypal, sourced from a credit card. Never in 10 years have i had foreign transaction fees, but now i do. Something is wrong.

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

dazzledayz — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 04:46:45 GMT

@pointblankauto wrote:
I am having this same issue since June 2018... Ebay fees paid via Paypal, sourced from a credit card. Never in 10 years have i had foreign transaction fees, but now i do. Something is wrong.

Yes, there is obviously a problem since eBay changed their billing entity on 1st June.

The thing is, both the new and old entities are based in Switzerland (I asume for tax reasons).

There should have been no change at all in fee structures.

Take my advice given above and make sure you have enough funds in your PP account to cover your bill before the due date and you WILL avoid these fees.

I always work this way and am not being charged so it should work for you.

I have no explanation as to why a transfer to PayPal Australia from your Australian bank account or credit card should attract Foreign Exchange fees as the PayPal we deal with is definitely an Australian company.

What it does with the funds after it receives them is up to them and NOT your bank.

Perhaps you need to complain to PayPal and ask for a refund of the Forex fees you paid as it's likely a change they've made to the way they describe the payment to your bank is the root cause.

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

elovie-oz — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 22:53:08 GMT

Not only Westpac. My PayPal account was link to my NAB and I was charged the fee, so I called NAB and they were happy to revert it.
Then I changed it to St George and also got charged the fee.
Something is not right..!

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

dazzledayz — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 23:54:28 GMT

@elovie-oz wrote:
Not only Westpac. My PayPal account was link to my NAB and I was charged the fee, so I called NAB and they were happy to revert it.
Then I changed it to St George and also got charged the fee.
Something is not right..!

You need to speak to your branch accountant or manager to get an explanation of why a foreign transfer is being applied to an Australian entity.

PayPal is registered in Australia and transfers to it should not incur this sort of fee.

I've never had to pay it but I fund my fees directly from my PayPal account ie I always leave enough in the account to meet the eBay bill.

What's the amount involved; is it 10% of the total ie a part of the ATO gst grab on foreign purchases?

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

porcelain_dolls_by_me — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 07:53:00 GMT

Ebay processes their billing overseas and as such, and this has only been introduced recently, banks are charging their 3% FX fee on such transactions.

Even though the billing amount is AUD denominated, as the charge emanates from overseas the fee is charged. For heavy eBay sellers this can amount to a fair slug every month.

Yet another way the banks have found to rip off the consumer.

Way around the problem is to direct the monthly billing to a card that does not charge international transaction fees. There are several on issue - we use 28 Degrees.

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

davewil1964 — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 08:10:24 GMT

The easiest way is to pay from Paypal funds. No FX fees there, either.

As most sellers get paid through Paypal, it is not hard to leave enough in the account to cover upcoming fees.

I have a credit (debit, actually) card attached to my main account, because I had to when I opened my store, but I've never used it to pay fees. Which is good, as it got hacked last year and the replacement one has a different number.

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

digital*ghost — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 09:26:59 GMT

For those who have an account, ING charges no foreign transaction fees.

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

philrodger — Sun, 24 Feb 2019 05:49:57 GMT

I made an overses purchase on ebay, I chose not to use PayPal but rather my own credit card because the exchange rate is better and I purchased in US dollars.

Imagine my surprise to find I have been charged at the PayPal rate. I contacted ebay (a miracle in itself) and they said that although I elected not to use PayPal they process the charge through PayPal anyway and use their own exchange rate, not that of my Mastercard.

To ad insult to injury I was sent a purchase summary which said that I had been charged at the Mastercard rate when that simply was not true.

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

bwid0505 — Sun, 28 Jul 2019 03:09:08 GMT

I have just found that I was being charged a Foreign fee too for the membership fee.

I contacted my bank (Westpac) and was told the transaction was processed outside Australia in Switzeland.

I contacted Ebay and was told I was the first person to report this issue.

I suggest you to contact your bank and Ebay.

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

lyndal1838 — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 01:28:23 GMT

Unless a seller can accept your card through their merchant facility all credit card payments are processed through paypal. Nothing new there!

Re: Foreign Transaction Fee on Ebay Monthly Payment

minimum_56 — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 02:45:46 GMT

See this post from last year...

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Selling/Sellers-Check-your-banking-institution-for-International-Fees/m-p/2166899#M172418

I also had the same thing happening.

My ebay fees were paid by Paypal & if there was insufficient funds in Paypal the default was credit card (CBA)

I ended up changing the billing to credit card payment & the International fees disappeared.