Knowledge Base: International Exchange Rates (buying & selling)

[mechanicaljen]

Probably worth mentioning.

Yesterday, I went to purchase a Western Union international wire transfer. I ran the exchange rate. Yesterday and today... 1 Dollar = 0.74 Euro, according to Google.

The gal behind the counter asks me how much money I'd like to send, in dollars. I needed to send 314 Euros. So...math tells us that 314/.74 = $424.32. So, I asked for $426 to be wired, but in Euros. So, she punched it all in, adding in fees on top of that. All's well right?

I get my receipt. They had wired 299 Euros. Turns out, they had used an exchange rate of 1 Dollar = 0.70 Euro. I tried to explain this to the cashier, and she entirely blanked out.

Since this is for a model purchase. I *needed* to send 314 Euros. But I didn’t necessarily want to pay another fee, to send just a few dollars. Happily, it was hashed out – but using the 0.70 exchange rate.

So, it is my fault for not verifying what exchange rate Western Union was using. Do not count on their rate being the same as what a quick Google search will bring up. But, perhaps this info will help one you folks avoid a time sink.