Buying Abroad; GBP to Euro payment options?

yodave

yodave

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Hi,

I'm based in the UK, and about to pay for a boat in Europe.

The boat is a trade-in, and therefore owned by the broker.

I don't want to use BACS or send over a cheque from my bank, as the rate isn't wonderful [and the payment is large enough to make a small difference in the exchange rate meaningful].

I don't know much about travellers cheques, and their usage. However, in an attempt to get a half-decent rate, I was wondering what the pros and cons of going to my local Thomas Cook, and sending a Euro traveller's cheque over are.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
 
yodave said:
Hi,

I'm based in the UK, and about to pay for a boat in Europe.

The boat is a trade-in, and therefore owned by the broker.

I don't want to use BACS or send over a cheque from my bank, as the rate isn't wonderful [and the payment is large enough to make a small difference in the exchange rate meaningful].

I don't know much about travellers cheques, and their usage. However, in an attempt to get a half-decent rate, I was wondering what the pros and cons of going to my local Thomas Cook, and sending a Euro traveller's cheque over are.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Can't help with the Traveller's Cheque question, but we were faced with the same problem recently and used a specialist FX dealer to get a better rate than our bank offered, and the dealer made the payment direct to the builder's bank. So:

Our bank > FX dealer > Builder's bank > Builder

I won't suggest the name of the dealer we used, because there are plenty out there, they're all much of a muchness, and you can Google them up. Look for FSA approved. Try several. Let them know you're shopping around for the best deal.

We also got a guarantee from the builder's bank that if the builder defaulted on delivery our money would be refunded. Cost a few quid, but worth it for peace of mind.
 
yodave said:
Hi,

I'm based in the UK, and about to pay for a boat in Europe.

The boat is a trade-in, and therefore owned by the broker.

I don't want to use BACS or send over a cheque from my bank, as the rate isn't wonderful [and the payment is large enough to make a small difference in the exchange rate meaningful].

I don't know much about travellers cheques, and their usage. However, in an attempt to get a half-decent rate, I was wondering what the pros and cons of going to my local Thomas Cook, and sending a Euro traveller's cheque over are.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
Click to expand...
That sounds like a very good way to get a poor rate. If the amount is more than a few thousand £, I would definitely use www.xe.com.

It only takes a few minutes to set up an account (it might take half a day or a day for the account to be authorised) and then you can do your trade.

The rate is far better than you will get through any banking or over-the-counter rate, and the cost of a transaction is typically about US$15-25.

The way it works - you request your trade (buying EUR with GBP, and specify amounts). You get a rate which is valid for 30 seconds. Don't like it? Refresh the rate and see if it changes. It might go up or down, or stay the same. When you see the rate you like, book the trade.

You will get an e-mail giving the details of the account to send your GBP to. I suspect it will be an account in England, so you could make an electronic transfer, possibly at no or minimal cost to you. Once they receive the funds, they will transfer the EUR into the account you have designated. (It is this second wire transfer that costs the $15-$25, and the second transfer can take a day or two)

I have used this service many times, and always been happy with it. No connection other than satisfied customer.

Edit - I had some comfort when I learned that the service operates out of, and is regulated by, Canada. If that doesn't give you comfort, consider this - of large western countries, the Canadian banks were the only ones that didn't need any government support or bailouts - because of the way they were regulated.
 
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Don't even think about Travellers Cheques. They're not designed for this sort of transaction and cost a fortune. In addition, in most of Europe, business will not accept the cheques for payment, you'll have to go to a bank to get them cashed. You pay for your UK bank to issue them to you and then pay again to get them cashed overseas and you also don't get a good rate of exchange when you buy them in the first place. Their only advantage is that you cen get your money back if you're unlucky enough to have them stolen or loose them in some other way. Not worth it, IMHO.

Best way is to use a specialst company as advised above.
 
I agree with the previous posts - I can't see how travellers cheques would be beneficial...

I have used Moneycorp before and would happily recommend them. Be sure to shop around though and compare the rates.

Good luck!
 
bbg said:
That sounds like a very good way to get a poor rate. If the amount is more than a few thousand £, I would definitely use www.xe.com.
Click to expand...


+1


Forex markets are the most liquid in the world and the rates and commissions charged by standard retail outlets is nothing short of daylight robbery. Specialist brokers like XE go someway to correcting for that, and are commonly used by expats for regular transfers between accounts as well as big one-off purchases like boats, villas in the sun, etc.

Incidentally, last time I did a forex transaction using Paypal (paying a US citizen in dollars for renting an apartment in Key West) I was surprised at how cheap/competitive the rate was.
 
+1 for an FX company.

When I closed my USD account I used Baydon Hill and was very happy with them. As with all the ones that I looked at, they charged no commission and the rate was very attractive. A couple of days after making the deal (on the telephone - they called me after I requested it online) the money was in my UK account; exact to the penny.

Incidently, at the same time as I made the BH account, I attempted to make an account with XE but they faffed around so much that I made the deal with BH while the rate was still good. Maybe I was unlucky with them (I had heard a lot of positive comments about them previously), but it might be an idea to make a couple of accounts; they're free after all. This will also enable you to haggle. :cool:
 
Some FX specialists will sell you a forward as well so you can buy your euros in advance of your completion date if the rate is good. I did this when I bought my boat where payment was due in February and I bought a forward in the previous November at what turned out to be the second best rate during the period. Of course it is a bit of a gamble, but at least it gives you certainty. Euro seems to weakening a bit now (or sterling strengthening) so might be a good time to deal.
 
yodave said:
Hi,

I'm based in the UK, and about to pay for a boat in Europe.

The boat is a trade-in, and therefore owned by the broker.

I don't want to use BACS or send over a cheque from my bank, as the rate isn't wonderful [and the payment is large enough to make a small difference in the exchange rate meaningful].

I don't know much about travellers cheques, and their usage. However, in an attempt to get a half-decent rate, I was wondering what the pros and cons of going to my local Thomas Cook, and sending a Euro traveller's cheque over are.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Definitely use a money exchange broker, not all will handle personal transfers.
We use Travelex, FXSolutions and HIFX for our company transfers and play one off against the other, rates are negotiable to a certain extent. It's certainly worth getting a spot rate from 2 or 3 companies before you commit, when you get the best rate go back to the others and see if they will better it, they often will.
Its worth getting a fixed rate deal if the transaction is to be made in the future, the pound is strong against the € at the moment and you might think it worth locking into that rate, it doesn't cost very much.

With any Forex company, you will need to get through the money laundering identity checks before you can do any transactions, so get going with that regardless of who you plan to use then you can always get a deal on the phone when the time is right.
 
We bought in Germany using Moneycorp a while ago. More recently I have used NoBanx successfully for a smaller transaction (for NZ dollars but they do euros too I think).
 
No one has mentioned debit or credit cards. Some are horrendous for forex (e.g. 2.75% fee plus bad exchange rates), others are very good. It just depends which you have.

There is always a good analysis on the best cards on moneysavingexpert.com.

Check with the broker. If they can process a card payment and you have one of the good cards, then this is a good way to go.

Many of the earlier FX co suggestions will require you to have a Euro account so that they can pay the money in. I presume all would charge a SWIFT fee (the system for payments in foreign currencies) for transferring the money.
 
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Twister_Ken said:
Our bank > FX dealer > Builder's bank > Builder
Click to expand...

Ken, does that mean that you bought directly from the factory or a foreign dealer/agent?

I considered buying from a foreign dealer for our last boat and in retrospect wished we had.

If you did how are warantee issues dealt with and where was the boat delivered?

PM me if you would prefer.

Many thanks.
 
Sailfree said:
Ken, does that mean that you bought directly from the factory or a foreign dealer/agent?

I considered buying from a foreign dealer for our last boat and in retrospect wished we had.

If you did how are warantee issues dealt with and where was the boat delivered?

PM me if you would prefer.

Many thanks.
Click to expand...
Sure Ken will come back with his own experience, but the Scandinavian builders (and others I am sure) work differently. When you buy one of their boats your contract is direct with the builder and the UK "dealer" is in fact a commission agent who is paid directly by the builder.

This, of course is very different from most of the mass builders where the dealer buys the boat and sells to you. They work the same in all countries and there are times when it might be worth buying from a dealer in another country. At one time it was popular to buy in France when dealers had stock boats and the exchange rate was favourable, but most of the builders control their dealers with common prices so there is little advantage to do it now. The only case where it might be an advantage is if you are going to use the boat say in the Med - I bought my Bavaria from the Greek dealer. However, many of the UK dealers such as Ancasta offer (presumably with factory support) delivery in the Med.

With regard to warranty I expect the builder will offer the same warranty, but subcontract to your local dealer - so I guess you would not be top of his list as he did not supply the boat! So, unless there is a huge financial advanyage in buying elsewhere, probably better to buy locally as you are still going to have to deal with the local dealer.
 
Thank you

Apologies for the delay in responding to the answers above; I was overseas finishing off the deal and signing the paperwork.

It seems obvious that travellers cheques get a thumbs down, and online fx get a big thumbs up. I'll get on to opening an account or two over the weekend, and hopefully the pound won't plummet in the meantime.

Thank you to each and every contributor for your opinion and advice.

David
 
Very strong support for XETrade (part of XE.Com)

I have used them for several boat purchases now, over many years. Just this week, it took 2 days from me transfering the money to them in GBP to the money appearing in the recipient's Euro account.

Most importantly, the seem to offer the best exchange rate - by far - with no commissions. They appear to be massive and global, which does mean some additional checks when setting up your account i.e. to comply with various regulations etc.
 
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