How convert a little amount of USD from paypal to banknote in Germany with minimal overhead?

Question

It would be a small amount, only about $200, and only a single transaction.
In Germany, I have EUR bank accounts.
The trivial way would be this:

I send the USD from paypal into my EUR account. Here I lose the conversion + transfer costs.
Getting the money from an ATM as EUR banknotes. It might have additional costs, but these are avoidable. If I use the ATM of my own bank, it is free.
Going with the notes to a currency exchange, and getting the $ notes from it. They use terrible rates (30% between the buy & sell prices are not uncommon).

All together, I could even count with a huge loss. Particularly the USD->EUR->USD is something what I find unneeded.
Probably I could open an USD account, too, but doing this for a single transaction seems overkill for me.
Is there a better way to do this?

Lawrence · Answer

Yes. Find someone who wants to do the opposite FX transaction (you have USD and want EUR, they have EUR and want USD, or vice versa), and swap the currencies with them. This works whenever you have one currency, they have another currency, and you are happy to trade. You’d pick the mid-range rate, and both parties avoid commercial fees.
Travellers often have small amounts of leftover currency. Try asking around at your workplace if your immediate circle of friends can’t help. But be careful about personal security - don’t announce on social media that you’ll be leaving your house empty over Christmas, for example.
Outside of that, you’ll need to use the avenues you’ve already explored.

How convert a little amount of USD from paypal to banknote in Germany with minimal overhead?

One Answer

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question