Help please with PayPal USD to buy gift cards

[LawrenceFamily]

I have the same problem OP

We've just rented out some DVC points and the money has been received as USD.

The account is GBP primary so when I want to withdraw the funds, it's working out at around $1.29 / £ which is extortionate.

So we want to just withdraw the dollars to our UK bank account and let the bank do the conversion for us (likely to be around 1.22).

It's essentially £150 more for us to withdraw it the way Paypal want us to as you get different conversion fees etc.

The picture highlights the error i'm getting...

Is this the same issue you had OP? Have you managed to resolve it?

[Clarabe]

This is exactly the same error message I am getting. Unfortunately not resolved. I have a complaint in to resolve and am still awaiting an answer. I am going to call them again in the morning and will let you know if I get anywhere. It’s so frustrating that it isn’t working

[LawrenceFamily]

Originally Posted by Clarabe

This is exactly the same error message I am getting. Unfortunately not resolved. I have a complaint in to resolve and am still awaiting an answer. I am going to call them again in the morning and will let you know if I get anywhere. It’s so frustrating that it isn’t working

See more...

Very frustrating - I'll give them a call too - hopefully between us both we'll be able to get to the bottom of it.

On a separate note (perhaps a question for Br'er Bear), this is the first time i've used Paypal and the first time i've rented out DVC points. Am I right in thinking that if I'm able to make my account a USD primary one, I can then withdraw the funds to my UK bank account and I will not incur any fees and the bank will just convert the money to GBP at todays exchange rate? I imagine the bank may charge a small conversion fee but wont be the same as the charges Paypal look to be charging!

[Br'er Bear]

Originally Posted by LawrenceFamily

Very frustrating - I'll give them a call too - hopefully between us both we'll be able to get to the bottom of it.

On a separate note (perhaps a question for Br'er Bear), this is the first time i've used Paypal and the first time i've rented out DVC points. Am I right in thinking that if I'm able to make my account a USD primary one, I can then withdraw the funds to my UK bank account and I will not incur any fees and the bank will just convert the money to GBP at todays exchange rate? I imagine the bank may charge a small conversion fee but wont be the same as the charges Paypal look to be charging!

See more...

Hi,

I've never tried it that way before so didn't know the answer but a google search indicates that you can't withdraw USD into a UK sterling account without PayPal first converting it to GBP.
forums.moneysavingexpert...gbp-in-uk-bank

Anyway I gave it a try by requesting a withdrawal of $100 to be paid into my UK bank account and this is what it stated...

Review your withdrawal
Withdrawal amount USD 100

From: PayPal balance $xx.xx USD available
To: Bank. Current account ••••65**
Estimated arrival: in minutes
Withdrawal amount £77.20 GBP
Converted from $100.00 USD
Conversion rate: $1.00 USD = £0.772005 GBP
Fee Free
You’ll get £77.20 GBP

So an exchange rate of $1.29533 to £1.00

Once you set up your USD account as Primary then the only way to save on the exchange rate difference is either by transferring it directly to a US dollar bank account or by buying Disney gift cards through Target and then applying those gift cards towards your dues and/or your spending at WDW.

Sorry there's no good news but hope you can at least get your USD set up as your Prmary account when you call.

Stay Safe.

Br'er Bear

[Br'er Bear]

Originally Posted by Clarabe

This is exactly the same error message I am getting. Unfortunately not resolved. I have a complaint in to resolve and am still awaiting an answer. I am going to call them again in the morning and will let you know if I get anywhere. It’s so frustrating that it isn’t working

See more...

Sorry to hear PayPal haven't been able to sort it out, obviously there should be a fix as it works for me.

But if it can't be sorted out soon then please consider my earlier post of a test run by sending you $1 via PP family and friends so to first check if I am charge a fee.

If there's no fee then I send the $1 and we can then see if you receive it in your USD account or GBP account.

I'm hoping it will turn up in your USD account and if it does then fingers crossed there shouldn't be any fees.

If there is a fee or it turns up in your GBP account then just decline my transfer and the $1 will be returned to me in full.

But if there's no fee then send the $1 back to me so we can check if you are charge a fee to send or I'm charged a fee to receive.

While that will help in understanding how PayPal works it could also help if there's no fees to pay in the following way.

You transfer $25 to my PP account, I purchase a $25 gift card from Target and regift it to you.

If that works without fees then we'll be happy to continue purchasing more gift cards and regifting to you so you can credit those towards your dues.

Obviously any personal details should only be sent in a Dibb private message but I think everything else should be posted on this thread so to be totally open and transpartent.

Here's the email we received from Target when we first tested out PayPal and buying Disney egift cards, this shows we can send the egift card on to you so we don't actually see the egift card numbers.

You have an eGift from Target. Enjoy

Hi Mr XXX XXXXXX,

Thank you for ordering $25.00 Disney eGift from Target.com (order #1051833******) on 04/04/2019

You can either send this eCard to someone else as a gift or redeem it yourself.

To get started just click on the link below.

View, gift or get help with your purchase.

Thank you for shopping at Target.

Team Target

Anyway, that's something to consider if PayPal can't sort it out and totally understand if you rather not try this.


All the very best...

Br'er Bear

[nothingless]

Originally Posted by LawrenceFamily

Very frustrating - I'll give them a call too - hopefully between us both we'll be able to get to the bottom of it.

On a separate note (perhaps a question for Br'er Bear), this is the first time i've used Paypal and the first time i've rented out DVC points. Am I right in thinking that if I'm able to make my account a USD primary one, I can then withdraw the funds to my UK bank account and I will not incur any fees and the bank will just convert the money to GBP at todays exchange rate? I imagine the bank may charge a small conversion fee but wont be the same as the charges Paypal look to be charging!

See more...

Yeah no, you can't do that. PayPal absolutely WANT to charge you the conversion fee, so you'd have to change it to GBP there first before you can withdraw it.

We had some USD in Paypal as well, and on our previous Disney trip, did what Br'r Bear suggested and we bought Disney Giftcards with it through Target. We then used these for all food and souvenirs in the park, so it saved us using our own credit cards. Worked out MUCH better that way than withdrawing the USD and spending on our own credit cards.

[LawrenceFamily]

Originally Posted by nothingless

Yeah no, you can't do that. PayPal absolutely WANT to charge you the conversion fee, so you'd have to change it to GBP there first before you can withdraw it.

We had some USD in Paypal as well, and on our previous Disney trip, did what Br'r Bear suggested and we bought Disney Giftcards with it through Target. We then used these for all food and souvenirs in the park, so it saved us using our own credit cards. Worked out MUCH better that way than withdrawing the USD and spending on our own credit cards.

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Thanks for that - it wouldn't be bad if I was transferring $10 or something, but we've used David's to rent out a years worth of points so we'd be missing out on £160 if we just transferred back via paypal.

That's a disgraceful amount to charge someone just on exchange rate and charges - there should be a cap per transaction in my opinion (like £10 max).

Clarabe - did you have any luck with changing your primary currency? I tried to call Paypal a couple of times and it's said that due to Covid-19, their customer services team is closed!

[Br'er Bear]

Originally Posted by LawrenceFamily

Thanks for that - it wouldn't be bad if I was transferring $10 or something, but we've used David's to rent out a years worth of points so we'd be missing out on £160 if we just transferred back via paypal.

That's a disgraceful amount to charge someone just on exchange rate and charges - there should be a cap per transaction in my opinion (like £10 max).

Clarabe - did you have any luck with changing your primary currency? I tried to call Paypal a couple of times and it's said that due to Covid-19, their customer services team is closed!

See more...

Hi LawrenceFamily,

Hopefully, Clarabe's complaint will be resolve soon, but if not and you're also considering buying Disney gift cards to pay towards your dues then we'll be happy to trial a transfer as per our previous post #15.

Stay Safe

Br'er Bear

[Clarabe]

Hi,

Just by way of an update I got no where with PayPal. Even my complaint will not be dealt with until Covid has passed apparently. However Br’er Bear excellent suggestion prompted me to open a PayPal account for my husband. I transferred $1 to him for which neither of us were charged. I then made his primary currency into dollars with no problem. Once I had made sure this worked I transferred the rest of the dollars to him, ordered the gift cards no problem and have just loaded them to my DVC account. So thanks Br’er Bear so much for your post.
No idea still why it doesn’t work on my account but at least there is a work around now.

Thanks
Clare

[Br'er Bear]

Originally Posted by Clarabe

Hi,

Just by way of an update I got no where with PayPal. Even my complaint will not be dealt with until Covid has passed apparently. However Br’er Bear excellent suggestion prompted me to open a PayPal account for my husband. I transferred $1 to him for which neither of us were charged. I then made his primary currency into dollars with no problem. Once I had made sure this worked I transferred the rest of the dollars to him, ordered the gift cards no problem and have just loaded them to my DVC account. So thanks Br’er Bear so much for your post.
No idea still why it doesn’t work on my account but at least there is a work around now.

Thanks
Clare

See more...

Hi Clare,

That's fantastic news and opening up a second account was such a simple workaround.

And good to know there's no fees to pay when transferring USD to USD in this country.

When (if) PayPal eventually gets around to sorting out your problem then can you please update this post.

All the very best and stay safe.

Br'er Bear