PayPal fee question?

First of all, the difference between verified and unverified is important to take note of. An account becomes verified when PayPal sends an undisclosed amount (less than $1) to the account, which is then reported back to PayPal by the owner of the account. If the amounts match, the account becomes verified.

If you’re sending money to an unverified account, you’re essentially taking it on faith that the recipient is neither lying nor mistaken.

The fees are explained on this page including the currency conversion aspect, but you have to be logged in to view it.

Premier accounts are for members who will have a high transaction volume, need to accept credit card payments, or would like access to our special features not offered with Personal accounts. Premier accounts include all the benefits of Personal accounts, as well as our special features.

Business accounts allow you to do business under a company or group name, accept all payment types for low fees, and accept payment from customers without PayPal accounts. Business accounts include all of the benefits of Premier accounts, as well as our special features.

Sweden – Send and receive payments in this country. Withdraw from your PayPal account to your in-country bank account or to a U.S. bank account.

Premier/Business account: Receive payments funded by PayPal Balance, PayPal Instant Transfer, PayPal eCheck, Credit Card, Debit Card, or Buyer Credit…
If your transaction involves a currency conversion, it will be completed at a retail foreign exchange rate determined by PayPal, which is adjusted regularly based on market conditions. This exchange rate includes a 2.5% spread above the wholesale exchange rate at which PayPal obtains foreign currency, and the spread is retained by PayPal. The specific exchange rate that applies to your multiple currency transaction will be displayed at the time of the transaction.

$1000 USD = 7,930.89 SEK

PayPal exchange rate:1 USD = 7.93089 SEK

Fees—$0.00 USD – $3,000.00 USD = 2.9% + $0.30 USD

Basically, to receive $1000 USD in your Swedish PayPal account it will end up costing you $29.30 USD if you have a Premier/Business account. If I did all the math right lol

Frankly, if you get your bank’s IBAN number there is no reason they shouldn’t be able to wire you the amount.

PayPal has horrible conversion rates, horrible fees, and you’re constantly at risk that either your or the sender’s account will be frozen for an undetermined amount of time.

Trust me, I know. I own a translation company and pay people all over the world. Over time, we have accumulated so many issues with PayPal it is horrific.

I strongly advise against them. Foreign wire at most US banks is between $25 and $45, you’re better of letting your customer deduct the wire fee. Intl. wires only take one day too, provided you use IBAN instead of SWIFT.

PS
You get your hands on cash faster that way too, because despite the PayPal transfer being instant, you still have to transfer the funds back to your bank, which may take up to 7 days in Sweden.

Thanks for the heads up all of you. Interesting comments TaoSan! I used PayPal last time and it ended up costing me quite a lot, so I am afraid using it again for such amounts. I did call BankOfAmerica and asked about a wire transfer, but got different answers everywhere it seems. I guess you have to walk in to a bank office in the states and make a “manual wire transfer” then using the IBAN code. Will check the options on that.