PayPal fees 2024

PayPal is a huge global online shopping and digital payment provider, with a presence in almost every country in the world.

Thanks to its convenience, many people use it when making purchases abroad, transferring money overseas, or receiving payments from other countries.

However, PayPal's handling fees can be high compared to other providers. If you want to reduce the cost of spending and sending money overseas, there are other alternatives such as Wise that might offer cheaper and more transparent fees.

In this article we’ll explain everything you need to know about PayPal fees, how they compare to alternative providers, and we’ll share some useful tips to help you avoid some of the fees that PayPal charges.

PayPal fees: an overview

If you’re spending online with a retailer based here in India there’s no fee as long as no currency conversion is needed.

If you’re sending a payment domestically in INR, there are also options available to let you avoid PayPal fees entirely. Simply pay with your PayPal balance or a linked bank account if you’re sending a domestic transfer.

Where PayPal fees become unavoidable - and on the high side - is when you’re converting currencies or moving money across borders. Here’s what you’ll pay in this case:

The exact charges you pay when using PayPal may vary depending on how your account is set up, and your location. Check your account terms and conditions to learn more before you get started.

Once you add up all the PayPal fees that apply to your international transaction, you may be surprised by how much it pushes up your overall costs. We’ll dive into this a little more later - and look at a comparison with alternative providers  like Wise, which may present a cheaper alternative for your payment.

PayPal currency conversion fee

PayPal adds a 4% markup fee to the conversion rate used to switch your rupees to the currency you need whenever you send a payment overseas or shop with an international retailer.

What this means is that PayPal takes the wholesale or mid-market exchange rates on the day of conversion or the previous business day, and adds this markup to calculate the rate used for your transaction. This makes it difficult for the user to see the full costs of the transfer, whether these are charged to their own bank account or to that of the beneficiary.

You can check the PayPal exchange rate of the day by following these steps:

• Go to "Wallet"

• Open the menu to the right of any currency balance and select "Convert Currency"

• Select the desired currency and click "Next"

• Enter the remittance amount to check the exchange rate

When sending money with a credit card or a debit card, you can choose to use the card issuer's exchange rate. However, it is impossible to know the exchange rate used at the time of remittance immediately, and the exchange rate used at that time cannot be checked until the bank issues the monthly statement.

PayPal transaction fees

The transaction fee applies when you sell products and services in-store or online.

There are different rates for each type of transaction. You might also hear this fee described as a payment processing fee, or seller fee. The exact fees you pay will depend on whether the transaction is considered domestic or international, and the payment method.

There are lots of different ways to get paid as a seller with PayPal, so you’ll need to check out the full details online if you’re looking to compare all the alternatives - but here are the standard PayPal transaction fees for some of the most popular types of payment method:

Information correct at time of writing, 3 February 2023

* Micropayments are smaller payments, often less than 5 USD, but this may vary by country. Check with PayPal in India to confirm.

** Includes methods like Alipay, EPS and PayU. See the PayPal site for a list of approved micropayment services

PayPal withdrawal fees

Once you have money in your PayPal account you may want to withdraw it to your regular Indian bank account or card. There may be a fee for this service, depending on exactly how you want to process the withdrawal. Here are the PayPal India withdrawal fees for consumer accounts:

The options available and the fees you’ll pay vary if you have a PayPal merchant account and want to make a withdrawal. Here’s what you need to know:

Other PayPal fees

In addition to the fees mentioned in the table above, PayPal also applies optional fees to business accounts for online card payment and services, like Dispute Fees or Return Fees.

• Dispute Fees - a fee charged on a buyer dispute claim or chargeback on a transaction, varies by currency of the transaction and volume

• Return Fees - a 250 INR fee charged when a customer withdrawal or transfer out of PayPal fails due to incorrect bank account of delivery information

PayPal international transfer fees

While you can use PayPal to pay online purchases, they don’t offer international money transfers to other individuals, for instance sending money from India to a relative in the US. However, specialist international money transfer services like Wise allow you to send money from India to individuals all over the world.

Wise offers transfers to more than 40 countries, and more than 20 currencies from a linked bank account. With no hidden fees, Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate to convert from INR to other currencies and the money often arrives instantly, or within one day.

Let’s look at some of the fees that Wise charges for different payments:

*Fees and rates correct at time of research - 14 February 2023

Wise is very transparent in terms of the fees and percentages that they charge and you will always know what you will pay before you complete the transaction. They also use the mid-market exchange rate to calculate currency conversions, with no exchange markup. The Wise help centre is available 24/7 if you need support.

How to avoid PayPal fees?

Let’s look at some tips on how to help lower the cost when using PayPal to shop internationally.

• Try to avoid using your credit or debit card with PayPal where possible as this often means extra fees to pay

• Look at your PayPal currency conversion options carefully - the charge varies depending on the transaction type, so you may find it’s cheaper to switch currency within your account before making your payment for example

• PayPal merchant transaction fees vary according to the way your customers pay - check out which works best for your business as you may be able to minimise fees here

Conclusion: is PayPal a good deal?

PayPal is easy for both business customers and personal customers to use. It’s also extremely commonly used and globally accepted.

If you’re a merchant or business customer, the benefits of offering PayPal payments may outweigh the fees you pay. But if you’re making or receiving regular international transactions, you may want to compare PayPal to a few other providers which could offer lower fees and better exchange rates, with just as convenient and quick a service.

While PayPal may be a good option to pay or receive payment for purchases online, they do not allow you to transfer money to individuals. If you’d like to transfer money abroad, you may want to consider a specialist international money transfer provider like Wise.

On our Exiap comparison page, you’ll find the best deals to send your money abroad depending on the currency and amount that you need to exchange.