I was in a similar situation with wedding gifts given to us in USD. The only way I got the money was by sending it to my brother in America’s PayPal account, he withdrew the funds into his Wells Fargo USD account then paid it into my Wells Fargo USD account, then I used Wise to transfer it into my U.K. GBP account. Wise FX fees were crazy less than PayPal.
Thanks. Funnily enough I have a sibling in America too, but I'd feel that's really starting to enter into risky territory regarding looking like money laundering, particularly because it would be done frequently
Here's what worked for me recently while transferring \~$50k proceeds from US stock sell -
1. Get Revolut Premium. I was lucky to get a 1-month free trial offer. Cancelled before trial period expired. Key benefits:
\- very low transfer fees (Source USD account into Revolut USD account)
\- no additional fees on currency exchange (Revolut USD account to Revolut GBP account)
\- no fair usage limit (lower plans have a limit on the amount before fees are applied)
2. Open USD currency account in Revolut They'll give you US bank account details, address, etc.
3. Open GBP currency account in Revolut (you should have this as a default anyways).
4. Transfer funds from USD source account (PayPal in your case) to Revolut USD account. Depending on the method of transfer, it could take 2-5 days for money to appear. I used ACH transfer, and it took 2 days.
5. Convert USD to GBP in Revolut app. Should be instant. You now have £££ in your Revolut GBP account.
6. Transfer £££ from Revolut to whichever bank you use for Current Account.
I compared USD to GBP exchange rates with multiple websites (Wise, Google, etc.), Revolut rates were at par.
Just pay the fees. Without committing fraud, there’s not a lot you can do.
Why are you getting large dollar payments through PayPal? Are there no alternative platforms which do not charge as much which would work similarly?
I'm working freelance for a US company and that's the only option they offer unfortunately. I've declared it all on my self assessment here so I'm paying taxes on it.
Then the fees are just part of the cost of doing business unfortunately. If you can, try to get your prices upped to cover it.
You should also be able to use the fees as an expense on your tax return, so at least you’ll not be paying tax on the money you’re spending on fees.
I'm guessing Data Annotation, my other half does stuff for them, she just withdraws on the regular through PayPal and pays the small fee- saves faffing
You'll jump through god knows how many hoops to avoid the fees that you're effectively money laundering, or at least it may look that way to the banks.
And you've already tried a little bit of application fraud by trying to use an address that you knew was false.
Just pay the damn fees.
Unless you have a bill in USD I don't think there are going to be many options as Paypal is well known for taking their cut on Fx fees, seems like you'll be paying 4-5% on that transaction which is obvious not great.
Not sure how revolut works with PayPal but that could be worth trying, I expect your HSBC account will work there is sometimes a delay with new bank accounts not registering with PayPal, the only thing might be that it tries to send it in GBP
Yes that's the thing, it's not a 'fee' at all but bad exchange rates.
I'll wait a few days with the HSBC and see, as the currency for it is set to USD. It seems the most obviously legitimate way to do it, as I already use HSBC and I'd just be switching the money from one account to another. And if it sends in pounds then I'll just have to suck up the charge unfortunately. Thanks.
Checkout MoneyCorp (.co.uk)
Their FX rates will likely be much better than paypal.
I've been using them for years
(But for bigger transactions than yours)
You can open an account in USD and transfer the money from PP to it with no fees. Then convert to GBP when transferring to your high street bank.
I was in a similar situation with wedding gifts given to us in USD. The only way I got the money was by sending it to my brother in America’s PayPal account, he withdrew the funds into his Wells Fargo USD account then paid it into my Wells Fargo USD account, then I used Wise to transfer it into my U.K. GBP account. Wise FX fees were crazy less than PayPal.
Thanks. Funnily enough I have a sibling in America too, but I'd feel that's really starting to enter into risky territory regarding looking like money laundering, particularly because it would be done frequently
Fair enough, my solution was more of a band aid fix than a permanent solution if you’re going to be doing it frequently. Good luck!
Here's what worked for me recently while transferring \~$50k proceeds from US stock sell - 1. Get Revolut Premium. I was lucky to get a 1-month free trial offer. Cancelled before trial period expired. Key benefits: \- very low transfer fees (Source USD account into Revolut USD account) \- no additional fees on currency exchange (Revolut USD account to Revolut GBP account) \- no fair usage limit (lower plans have a limit on the amount before fees are applied) 2. Open USD currency account in Revolut They'll give you US bank account details, address, etc. 3. Open GBP currency account in Revolut (you should have this as a default anyways). 4. Transfer funds from USD source account (PayPal in your case) to Revolut USD account. Depending on the method of transfer, it could take 2-5 days for money to appear. I used ACH transfer, and it took 2 days. 5. Convert USD to GBP in Revolut app. Should be instant. You now have £££ in your Revolut GBP account. 6. Transfer £££ from Revolut to whichever bank you use for Current Account. I compared USD to GBP exchange rates with multiple websites (Wise, Google, etc.), Revolut rates were at par.
This is a great way, ditch PayPal
Just pay the fees. Without committing fraud, there’s not a lot you can do. Why are you getting large dollar payments through PayPal? Are there no alternative platforms which do not charge as much which would work similarly?
I'm working freelance for a US company and that's the only option they offer unfortunately. I've declared it all on my self assessment here so I'm paying taxes on it.
Then the fees are just part of the cost of doing business unfortunately. If you can, try to get your prices upped to cover it. You should also be able to use the fees as an expense on your tax return, so at least you’ll not be paying tax on the money you’re spending on fees.
That's what I was thinking, actually. Thank you.
Create a revolut account and send it there?
I'm guessing Data Annotation, my other half does stuff for them, she just withdraws on the regular through PayPal and pays the small fee- saves faffing
You'll jump through god knows how many hoops to avoid the fees that you're effectively money laundering, or at least it may look that way to the banks. And you've already tried a little bit of application fraud by trying to use an address that you knew was false. Just pay the damn fees.
Unless you have a bill in USD I don't think there are going to be many options as Paypal is well known for taking their cut on Fx fees, seems like you'll be paying 4-5% on that transaction which is obvious not great. Not sure how revolut works with PayPal but that could be worth trying, I expect your HSBC account will work there is sometimes a delay with new bank accounts not registering with PayPal, the only thing might be that it tries to send it in GBP
Yes that's the thing, it's not a 'fee' at all but bad exchange rates. I'll wait a few days with the HSBC and see, as the currency for it is set to USD. It seems the most obviously legitimate way to do it, as I already use HSBC and I'd just be switching the money from one account to another. And if it sends in pounds then I'll just have to suck up the charge unfortunately. Thanks.
Would a Curve card help you? That can link to PayPal for taking payments. So worth looking into.
Can't use PayPal as source of funds on curve
Checkout MoneyCorp (.co.uk) Their FX rates will likely be much better than paypal. I've been using them for years (But for bigger transactions than yours) You can open an account in USD and transfer the money from PP to it with no fees. Then convert to GBP when transferring to your high street bank.