thomann "Non-Sterling Transaction Fee"

Fazer

i bought something from WWW.THOMANN.DE a few days ago and the total was £243, and thats my receipt says.
thats including free shipping etc.

i just checked my credit card account and i see that i also got charged a separate payment for £7 "Non-Sterling Transaction Fee"

the website is the uk version, says thomann uk in the page title etc, the total price was listed in £, they billed me in £

it seems rather sneaky to be charging me a currency conversion fee if they are not going to be telling me about it beforehand and adding it to the total.

i've sorted it out with the credit card company, but anyone else had this?

fretmeister

Isn't that your credit card charging it?

I never get that with a debit card.

bertie

fretmeister said:

Isn't that your credit card charging it?

this

Phil_aka_Pip

It isn't Thomann's fault. Blame your bank. I get it with Santander (admittedly usually between £1.50 - £2) for using the debit card to buy outside of the UK. I usually don't care because what I'm buying is tax deductible anyway. BTW Thomann usually quotes my price in euros and the £ price I pay depends on the exchange rate at the time when they do the transaction.

Fazer

is that a normal charge to be put on to the buyer, rather than the seller paying it?
it was thomann uk with the prices in £ etc

Fazer

perhaps im just used to using paypal for these kind of things, where the conversion fee is charged to the seller

bertie

Fazer said:

is that a normal charge to be put on to the buyer, rather than the seller paying it?

yep

fretmeister

Fazer said:

is that a normal charge to be put on to the buyer, rather than the seller paying it?
it was thomann uk with the prices in £ etc

Thomann prices are in Euro with a guide to the Sterling price underneath it.

Thomann have no influence on how a buyer decides to pay, or from what country. Why should they pay any transaction fee?

It is your responsibility as a buyer to get the money to them. In simple terms you pay for any service you need to deliver the money to them.

Evilmags

Thomann have the option to charge you in sterling if they want. Most EU banks offer that as do Visa and Mastercard. A UK bank should charge 2 quid for non sterling transactions.

geepers0677

I've always used paypal with Thomann, no additional charges and it is a pretty slick service. Their website is so much better than their catalogue!

Mick

Fazer said

it seems rather sneaky to be charging me a currency conversion fee if they are not going to be telling me about it beforehand and adding it to the total.

i've sorted it out with the credit card company, but anyone else had this?

It's in their FAQ http://www.thomann.de/gb/faq_2_3708.html

Grunfeld

Fazer said:

i just checked my credit card account and i see that i also got charged a separate payment for £7 "Non-Sterling Transaction Fee"

i've sorted it out with the credit card company, but anyone else had this?

A few months ago my credit card started including on my statements but their explanation was that the transaction fee used to be included in the total price for the goods.  So basically, things were not costing more now, it's just that the goods and the fee are now being itemised separately.

No idea if they were talking bollocks or not.  But I've since used PayPal whenever possible.

EricTheWeary

fretmeister;45716" said:

Isn't that your credit card charging it?

I never get that with a debit card.

I think it depends on your debit card. Lloyds one will charge it for example as I understand it.Banks usually advise you not to use a debit card online as you are more open to fraud than with a credit card.
If you regularly buy from abroad or use a credit card abroad worth checking somewhere like money saving expert which card has no charges for these types of transactions.

ToneControl

Thomann charge you in Euros, but show you the £ equivalent

you need to get a dedicated holiday and thomann credit card, that does not charge currency transaction charges. Still, the £ total is always a tiny bit more than the predicted cost, but just a tiny amount

see money saving expert  http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

Santander Zero card does this ok

benmurray85

its the same if you go to a travel agents and purchase euros/any other currency using your debit card. It;s your bank charring for the currency conversion.

Iamnobody

If you pay with PayPal you won't automatically benefit from the best conversion rate by the way.

Check your credit/debit card rate on sites like this:

http://www.visaeurope.com/en/cardholders/exchange_rates.aspx

You might be better paying in the currency of the country you are buying from and let your credit/debit do the conversion rather than PayPal.

ToneControl

Iamnobody said:

If you pay with PayPal you won't automatically benefit from the best conversion rate by the way.

Check your credit/debit card rate on sites like this:

http://www.visaeurope.com/en/cardholders/exchange_rates.aspx

You might be better paying in the currency of the country you are buying from and let your credit/debit do the conversion rather than PayPal.

you will, especially if you use a card that doesn't charge a currency conversion fee, well worth getting one