Payment for private Condo. PayPal?

[Goofey's Girl]

Hi
Wonder if anyone an help. I have found a Condo on Vista Cay that I like.
Owner has been very helpful with answering questions and it looks nice.
I have asked how we would pay.
His reply is i can pay with check (us dollars) or via paypal with credit card (but there is a 3% fee for that).

Not sure what he means by cheque (us dollars)
Does he mean it would have to be an American account which obviously I don't have?

I do have PayPal so could do that however whilst I understand the 3% fee I am worried how PayPal would calculate the rate. I am a little worried that I might end up paying more than I expected. Is there a way of knowing how much they will charge me in pounds before I make the payment.

Thank you.

 

[Goofey's Girl]

Sorry I may have not made it clear. He is asking for the amount in dollars. $200 now and 899 in July. I appreciate the rate will change but when I pay the 200 now is there a way of knowing how much that will be using PayPal. Just worried the rate might be a rip off.

 

[Tink78]

Sorry to jump on your post, I can't help with payment but just wanted to say that we are staying at Vista Cay this October.
When are you going?
I'm so excited as I haven't found many people who have stayed there.
Have you been before?

 

[irisheyes123]

Sorry can't help you with PayPal but you can go into your bank and get a bank draft is US $ so that would be a cheque.

 

[Goofey's Girl]

Thanks will look at that.

 

[MrRomance]

Whatever way you do it you're probably going to get hit with fees. Paypal has fees, and your bank will probably charge you a flat fee for a cheque in dollars. I think your best bet is to use a credit card because at least that way you have a level of protection.

 

[Goofey's Girl]

Thanks after reading up the fees seem ok and PayPal have a currency conversion tool so I can work it out before payment is made. The rate was slightly better than the rate on a currency conversion app I have on my phone so I know I am not being ripped off.
Thanks again.

 

[irisheyes123]

I know here in Ireland when we get a bank draft we get about 2 cent above the offered exchange rate and they charge us €1.90 for the draft. I get my dollars for my USA back account this way because I get more $$ for my money .

 

[Sencybil]

Thanks for posting this, I was wondering the same thing, as considering a condo in Clearwater.

Do you get charged 3% and 0.5%?

Thanks

Sencybil.

 

[Goofey's Girl]

I got stung either way. For my deposit the condo owner asked me to pay $206 he said the 6 was to cover his PayPal fee but then PayPal charged me the 3.25% on that. It was only a few pounds but I may look into a check for the remaining $899 that I need to pay in July.

I was happy to pay the deposit by PayPal as I wanted the confirmation that it was definitely ours. I have spent days trying to find somewhere and the relief was worth the extra few dollars. The time it might have taken to sort a cheque which I have never done before may have meant I lost the condo. I had previously got quotes for two villas and in the space of less than a week lost them as someone paid the reserve. The holiday has been a quick decision and we are going in three months.

 

[Goofey's Girl]

Further to that I queried it with the condo owner who stated he was under the impression PayPal should not have charged me only him so maybe I did the transaction incorrectly.
Either way it was only a few pounds but if you are using PayPal I would just check on PayPal carefully.

 

[Sencybil]

I think the condo owner gets charged simply as a receiver of payment - just like a seller on e-bay who gets paid this way. If you were in the US you wouldn't have a fee - its because its a currency transaction. So pretty sure you didn't do anything wrong!

Sencybil xx

 

[Goofey's Girl]

After sorting this out I thought I would add this to the end as I didn't want anyone confused over PayPal.

The owner of the condo had asked for 3% to be added so instead of putting $200 deposit he asked me to send $206. This was fine. He later showed me his charges from PayPal and they were more than this so it was totally fair.

PayPal did not charge me any fees at all. However the conversion rate wasn't as good as I had expected which is why I thought they had charged me something. They hadn't.

Didn't want anyone worrying about PayPal fees.

 

[Sencybil]

Thanks for adding this - very helpful!

Sencybil xx