Paypal Idiots Guide

[Wentworth]

I registered for a Paypal account about 18 months in a hurry to book a hotel and haven't used it since. I didn't really understand then and am not much the wiser now.

I've heard others using it to transfer money to Thailand. I emailed the Paypal Help Desk but I am more confused than ever now.

I would like to transfer money from a UK account to my Thai account, somehow. I don't have a Thai credit card(heard this might help) but might possibly be eligible as I'm getting married shortly(again, no idea of the rules for this).

Can anyone tell me if it's possible and the basics of how to do it.

[bluesofa]

I registered for a Paypal account about 18 months in a hurry to book a hotel and haven't used it since. I didn't really understand then and am not much the wiser now.

I've heard others using it to transfer money to Thailand. I emailed the Paypal Help Desk but I am more confused than ever now.

I would like to transfer money from a UK account to my Thai account, somehow. I don't have a Thai credit card(heard this might help) but might possibly be eligible as I'm getting married shortly(again, no idea of the rules for this).

Can anyone tell me if it's possible and the basics of how to do it.

You need to link your Thai bank account to your Paypal account.

Then when you have money in your paypal account you can transfer it to your Thai account online.

How you get the money into your paypal account is another matter, maybe link a UK debit/credit card to your paypal account?

The more tricky thing is getting your Thai account accepted by Paypal, but it can be done, I've done it twice now.

Hope this helps.

[mommysboy]

I registered for a Paypal account about 18 months in a hurry to book a hotel and haven't used it since. I didn't really understand then and am not much the wiser now.

I've heard others using it to transfer money to Thailand. I emailed the Paypal Help Desk but I am more confused than ever now.

I would like to transfer money from a UK account to my Thai account, somehow. I don't have a Thai credit card(heard this might help) but might possibly be eligible as I'm getting married shortly(again, no idea of the rules for this).

Can anyone tell me if it's possible and the basics of how to do it.

You need to link your Thai bank account to your Paypal account.

Then when you have money in your paypal account you can transfer it to your Thai account online.

How you get the money into your paypal account is another matter, maybe link a UK debit/credit card to your paypal account?

The more tricky thing is getting your Thai account accepted by Paypal, but it can be done, I've done it twice now.

Hope this helps.

As far as I'm aware you can only upload funds from a Thai bank account in to a Thai paypal account, you might then be able to upload from a debit card but since the card is registered in the UK I guess that might raise a flag.

To upload funds from a Uk bank account you'd need to open an account registered at a UK address. It's simple to do but you'd need to go through a verification process and could only be done quickly if you had internet banking, because you'd need to enter a couple of codes sent by Paypal. They might also do a telephone check too, although this can be circumvented.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

I'm confused why don't you just wire from your UK bank to your LOS bank? Why have Paypal end up with a piece of the transfer?

[NHJ]

this is not possible, this would be seen as money laundering by their stupid rules, not to mention the 400 pips difference in the actual exchange rate for almost any currency.

use a wire transfer, this has and will always be the cheapest option.

[Heng]

I'm confused why don't you just wire from your UK bank to your LOS bank? Why have Paypal end up with a piece of the transfer?

I'd imagine because there are tens of millions of folks who make more transactions in the $100-$500 (where Paypal's 3-4% spread "seems" reasonable) range than the $1,000-$10,000+ range (where the $20-$30 fees -and sometimes no fees at all- are more palatable).

But no one wants to start a thread on *how to get the $70 for the pack of Red Bull t-shirts I sold on eBay so I can pay my guest house bill transferred to Thailand.*

[Wentworth]

Thanks for the help. At the moment I transfer from my UK account using SWIFT, but my UK internet bank charges a minimum of 26 GBP(about THB 1400) for a 3,000 GBP transfer. On top of that the Thai banking agent can and has made an additional charge in the past which can amount to the same or even higher than the UK bank charge. I asked the UK bank about this and they said it's in the rules but you just don't know if they(Thais) will charge it or not, it's not amount specific just seems to be at their whim.

I am enquiring about trying to use paypal as I wanted to know if it was possible and what the charges are, to compare to the present method. Like most people I just want to find the cheapest and most convenient way to transfer.

[bluesofa]

Thanks for the help. At the moment I transfer from my UK account using SWIFT, but my UK internet bank charges a minimum of 26 GBP(about THB 1400) for a 3,000 GBP transfer. On top of that the Thai banking agent can and has made an additional charge in the past which can amount to the same or even higher than the UK bank charge. I asked the UK bank about this and they said it's in the rules but you just don't know if they(Thais) will charge it or not, it's not amount specific just seems to be at their whim.

I am enquiring about trying to use paypal as I wanted to know if it was possible and what the charges are, to compare to the present method. Like most people I just want to find the cheapest and most convenient way to transfer.

With my Paypal account, when I transfer money to my Thai account, as long as it's over 5,000 Baht Paypal don't charge.

SCB don't charge either for this credit to my account.

Whether it costs you to get it INTO your Paypal account could be another matter...

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

I'm confused why don't you just wire from your UK bank to your LOS bank? Why have Paypal end up with a piece of the transfer?

I'd imagine because there are tens of millions of folks who make more transactions in the $100-$500 (where Paypal's 3-4% spread "seems" reasonable) range than the $1,000-$10,000+ range (where the $20-$30 fees -and sometimes no fees at all- are more palatable).

But no one wants to start a thread on *how to get the $70 for the pack of Red Bull t-shirts I sold on eBay so I can pay my guest house bill transferred to Thailand.*

Thanks for the response Heng. Makes sense.

[Heng]

Haven't had any serious problems with Paypal myself, but for those who don't have solid physical address and phone number credentials, I'd advise steering clear. They have plenty of itchy red flags that can go up at any time (understandable since plenty of people use Paypal to commit fraud), and you will often need utility bills, etc. to show as proof that you are a real person with a real contact address. I've had my account temporarily frozen 5-6 times ('your account shows unusually large inflows, outflows, unauthorized charge is suspected, etc. etc.) now in about 10 years, nothing IMO that would raise an eyebrow at a real world bricks and mortar financial institution... had an account with them since they were X.com, and in every instance I had to fax my Texas DL, phone bill, and credit card statement showing address before they would lift it. Plenty of stories on the net of folks who were missing credentials, or worse yet made up some of their user info and thus were never able to lift their Paypal account 'freeze.'

[Samuian]

Thanks for the help. At the moment I transfer from my UK account using SWIFT, but my UK internet bank charges a minimum of 26 GBP(about THB 1400) for a 3,000 GBP transfer. On top of that the Thai banking agent can and has made an additional charge in the past which can amount to the same or even higher than the UK bank charge. I asked the UK bank about this and they said it's in the rules but you just don't know if they(Thais) will charge it or not, it's not amount specific just seems to be at their whim.

I am enquiring about trying to use paypal as I wanted to know if it was possible and what the charges are, to compare to the present method. Like most people I just want to find the cheapest and most convenient way to transfer.

Well which Thai-Bank and why don't you ask them/website how much transfer charge applies for xxxxx.xx sum transfer... ?

then you might know first hand!

just a thought..

[thaitero]

Like most people I just want to find the cheapest and most convenient way to transfer.

For "small" amounts i have heard people using http://www.moneybookers.com/

I do not have account myself there but i have heard you can add bank accounts from different countries, cheaper to transfer etc

[dave111223]

1) Create a Thai Paypal account linked to your Thai bank account

2) Create a UK paypal account linked to your UK bank.

3) Send XX amount of money from the UK account to the Thai account - MAKE SURE YOU SEND IT FROM YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AS AN "ECHECK" (not from a credit/debit card or any kind of instant payment). eChecks have a maximum fee amount of $5 no matter how much money the echeck is worth.

4) eCheck will take a week to clear

5) Withdraw the money to your Thai bank account

6) Money will take another week or so to arrive

Total cost..$5

Total time 2-3 weeks.

Note you will probably get about 1baht less than the real exchange rate.

Edited June 2, 2009 by dave111223

[johnson36]

To send money from one PayPal account to another is Free when you use your PayPal balance or your bank account linked to your PayPal account, there is a charge for credit or debit card payments.

You have to send it as a personal payment not a purchase.

To receive the money in a PayPal account from another PayPal account is Free.

This is from PayPals website:

What are the fees for receiving money?

Receiving a personal payment (e.g. a gift from family) is free if the sender uses their PayPal balance or their bank as a funding source. If they use a credit or debit card there will be a small fee. The sender can decide to pay this or pass it on to you.

If you are receiving a business payment (e.g. when selling items on eBay) then you will be charged a fee. For more information on fees, go to the ‘Fees’ link at the bottom of any PayPal page.

https://www.paypal.com/helpcenter/main.jsp;...erInstance=9005

To withdraw the money into a Uk bank account is free, I am not sure if there is any charge withdraw to a Thai bank.

Edited June 2, 2009 by johnson36