accept a payment, different choices

[netti]

Hi there. This is my first time on this forum and I wonder if anyone could give me some advice. I have recently opened a shop on etsy and all prizes are listed in US Dollars. I have had my first 2 sales, and received an email from paypal informing me I needed to accept payment. so I went into my paupal account and clicked on accept, which then gave me 3 choices. 1. accept the amount converted from $ into £

                2. accept it as $

                3. refuse

I went for the first choice and had the money put into my account.

I then noticed that the amount is not the same as the current exchange rate. Does paypal get a percentage by converting it into £. would i be better of accepting payment in $.

Also, is it due to the different currency that I need to accept payment rather than it going straight into my paypal account, as it does when i sell on ebay?

[PayPal_Siobhán]

Hi there netti, 

Yes, if you do not hold the currency balance in your PayPal account you will be asked to accept the payment.

The exchange rate applied to your transactions will be displayed to you before you complete the payment.

Keep in mind that some of the rates quoted in the newspaper or online news sources are the inter-bank rates that are available only to the largest international banks purchasing currencies in large quantities. A more applicable comparison for consumers is the exchange rates quoted at airports or other consumer currency exchange shops.

Siobhan