Price fluctuations?

[gwynni-2008]

I live in Australia - within the last hour, I bought a CD from a seller in Germany. The price listed (in Euro) exchanged to $AU13.35, but when I go to checkout it's jumped up to $14.08! But when I go back to the listing, the remaining copies still have the same $13.85 price?

The same thing happened a few days ago with a US seller, the DVDs I bought exchanged to $AU34.43 each, but when I went to checkout I was charged $36.13 each! I went back to the original listings and sure enough they were still $34.43

Now, I'm not complaining about the sellers because I don't believe they are responsible for this price confusion. But why can't I get the proper price on the listing? Is eBay using two different exchange rates? A dollar or two might not seem like much, but it's about principle. To buy at one price but get charged another is misleading and makes me feel cheated! imagine if you had placed a large order - the price difference between listing and checkout could be quite a shock. And you don't find out until AFTER you have commited to buy so you can't back out.

Once again, please don't take this as an attack on the sellers, because I doubt it is their fault - the price jump is IMMEDIATE, not when they invoice.

Please also note, that the postage charges on both of these orders was free, so that wouldn't be affecting the price.

[*tippy*toes*]

First off I will tell you that it is NOT the sellers fault at all. They have no control over exchange rates. The reason it is costing you more when you go to pay is, PayPal is converting your dollars into the foreign currency. That is not a free service. The fee they charge for doing that is added into the final price you pay. If you got your bank to do it, it would cost a LOT more.

Also, exchange rates can fluctuate throughout the day. Now is not a good time for us to be buying offshore because the dollar is carp.

The amount you see in the listing is just an estimate of what it might cost, not an exact amount. It says it somewhere there. I think from memory the word "approximately" is there, which means it's just that, approximate, not exact and written in stone.

[lyndal1838]

A Tippy has explained....when you go to pay for the item the paypal conversion fee has been built into the exchange rate.

If you want to find out what you are going to pay you can go into paypal and check it out before you buy.  There is a section where you can find out the price of the item as estimated by ebay and another where you can find out the total amount you will pay through paypal with the conversion fees built in to the exchange rate.

[kopenhagen5]

Correct tippy, converted prices in listings state "approximately"

[phorum_junkie*]

There is also the fact that Paypal change their rate several times a day, as do the banks, but ebay quotes the rate once a day. Ebay cannot quote the exact exchange rate Paypal will use as it is not always the case that people are using Paypal, many sellers have merchant accounts and accept card payments direct. In each case and at different times the rate can vary so ebay make it very clear it is an approximate rate.

[gwynni-2008]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I realise now that I actually explained my situation slightly incorrectly (I meant my 'Purchase History' page, not the actual checkout - checkout reverts to seller's currency, not the AUD 'exchange') and I should have checked my banking transaction amounts before 'ranting', but your responses have cleared up my confusion. Thumbs up to you all!

[davidc4430]

it is good that you took the time to question how the price of an item at face value isnt the actual price you pay. most buyers decide straight off its the seller ripping me off, i'll give them a negative that'll teach them. when its not the seller at all.  thank you for showing there are buyers willing to understand.

[the_pooze]

Sounds like the conversions being managed by the shopkeeper I encountered on a recent holiday to Cambodia.

Item was clearly displayed as $10 US ($1 US = 4000 Cambodian Riel)

Wanted to get rid of an accumulation of Riel so said I'd be paying in Riel, at which the shopkeep declared the price to be 50,000 Riel ($12.50 US).

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" I thought and then asked the chap what it would be if I paid in Aus dollars whereupon he assured me it would be $10 Aus ($7 US).

So, that chap is CLEARLY running the PayPal currency exchange.

[davewil1964]

No, he knows that foreign currencies are more likely to retain their value tomorrow or next week.