avalon

You can also purchase International Money Orders at any post office.

alihutch

"I hope more owners use Paypal in the future. After that I only chose those that did, or those who did not want a deposit."

It might be even better if US banks looked outside their own borders and learnt how a lot of the rest of the world works.

uhoh_busted

It conflicts with US Banking standards and practices of Greed. Interest rates are low, so the only way to make profits is to charge fees. Gouging the customer is considered patriotic, and we should be grateful they let us take care of our money.

Carlux

'LFB I wish I could use Paypal but I receive so many scams from supposed Paypal that I couldn't know which one is genuine.'

Coco - we have used PayPal for a number of years now and don't have any problem. (We also get scams from Orange and from various banks and just ignore them all). You just get to know what you are dealing with. I request and receive payment through Paypal, occasionally send a refund, and that's all. So if it isn't a payment I've requested, it's pretty clear that I shouldn't respond.

Because we deal almost exclusively with North American/Australian/New Zealand travellers, we know how difficult it is for them, and finally gave up trying to deal with foreign banks, especially American ones.
Even though PayPal charges us almost 4%, it's worth it not to have to worry about all this.

For the OP, you should be able to get a bank draft/check in Euros from your bank. They may not be used to it, but they should do it. They will have a correspondent bank in Europe, who will clear the cheque. The difficulty is that unless your bank uses the same French correspondent bank, the recipient will normally have to pay a fee of 20 Euros or more, and may want you to cover that. (For instance, we sometimes receive bank drafts from Royal Bank of Canada, whose only correspondent bank in Europe is in Germany. Since there is no central clearing house in Europe, despite the Euro, the draft has to be sent to Germany and back. Needless to say there is a charge for this. And if we receive a deposit and final payment in two separate payments, the charge can be 40-50 Euros.

caroline_edinburgh

Carlux, the OP is in Europe. So I discussed the best method which works here.

annhig

Caroline - DH has now sorted this out via on-line banking. it took him ages to find out what the fee would be - and even now we only THINK that it's £10. but we really want to be in Paimpol for the Sea Shanty Festival, the rest of the town is full, and we've got a good deal at this B&B, so even if it's £20, we're prepared to put up with that.

it is disgraceful though that for a few key strokes, they can charge us so much.

I am seriously thinking about how we can set up a euro a/c somewhere within the eurozone, as we have a number of guests for whom that would be useful; we could then use the a/c for our european holidays. Ideas on that, anyone?

Peter_S_Aus

Anne, I note that you've solved the problem with your bank. When we've needed to pay a deposit on an apartment, we've been able to buy a bank cheque denominated in USD - but it would have been as easy if it had been euro.

I think the fee for the cheque was about $20 or something like that.

Cash in the mail - I'd probably have done that!

caroline_edinburgh

Indeed, Ann - when you are doing it all yourself online it should be free, shouldn't it ! Or at least just enough to cover the interchange fee between banks.

Not sure about the ease of setting up a eurozone account. Some countries are probbaly stricter than others, but when DH worked in Dublin for a while it took him ages to get an account set up with AIB : he had an address there but still had to make at least one extra visit to Irewland especially to go to the bank. (And they do actually have an office in Edinburgh !) Or maybe it's just that AIB were useless

pantsabunch

I booked a riad in Marrakesh and they required one night's deposit up front. I did this online through Western Union Money Transfer. The riad owner picked the money up the next day from Western Union's office in Marrakesh. It wasn't that expensive to do...£5.00 or £6.00.

Dr_DoGood

Regarding a Euro account - check your highstreet; I'm pretty sure that several, if not many, of the major banks offer a Euro Account service - of course paying sterling into it isn't a clever idea as they'll take a bite (sorry, fee) for the conversion but if you've a ready supply of euros being paid in that'll not be an issue. Similarly though it does mean you'll have to spend it as Euros to avoid a conversion fee when you want to get your hands on it.
Lets face it, the banks will always get theirs no matter what, (and, as we saw in 2008-9, they get billions of ours too.)

Dr D.

Christina

Businesses aren't run as charities, they have to maintain and run websites, it isn't free. If you think it is no cost, set up your own bank.

annhig

well, i don't know who rattled your tree, Christina.

i'm not suggesting it should be free but £20? or even £10? for something that in all likelihood cost them about 50p.

anyway the deed is now done. let's hope for smooth crossings and sunny weather.

spaarne

annhig,
Try the ABN-AMRO bank in NL. You might be able to set up an account there. http://tinyurl.com/3g5ko55.

Underhill

A while back someone suggested opening a special ATM account at one's own bank, putting in the amount needed, and then sending the card and password to whoever wanted a deposit. The person can then withdraw the money in his/her own currency, and no extortionate fees would be involved.

That struck me as a pretty good idea, especially in the case of a large deposit.

cocofromdijon

It was Susanna's idea and here is the whole thread : http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-overseas.cfm

annhig

thanks to everyone for all the ideas and to coco for posting the link, to that thread, which I just skimmed through.

one problem that may not apply in the US is that opening a/cs in the UK can be a PITA, due to our rigorous anti-money laundering regulations. they want your inside leg measurement, date of last period, the works. [i exaggerate, but only slightly].

given that we have a source of €s from our German renters, and want to pay in €s, would be much easier to have a € account. I had a wander round the net last night but only came up with accounts aimed at big businesses with big fees to match, which is what I'm trying to avoid.

I will persist but it may take some time - don't hold your breath!

chapla

After being charged $50 by my bank to send money for an apt in Madrid I have used paypal for the past 5 years with absolutely no problem. I have never received any fake paypal emails

annhig

chapla - that's fine if the renter uses paypal. many [like us] don't.

though if i can't find a reasonably priced euro a/c it may turn out to be the best solution.

spaarne

<i>
annhig on Jun 4, 11 at 12:10pm
I had a wander round the net last night but only came up with accounts aimed at big businesses with big fees to match, which is what I'm trying to avoid. </i>

Did you try the link to ABN-AMRO? I keep a few hundred euros parked over there.

annhig

spaarne, yes I did and thank you for posting it. I thought that I had already posted the result of my investigations on that site, but that must have been in a different life!

sadly the account is only available for expats living in the Netherlands - and they want a personal visit. so that counts us out.

nice idea though!