Business International business

What is the PayPal cross border fee?

Panna Kemenes

23.11.22 (updated more than 1 year ago)

Read time 2 minutes

PayPal has various fees, which can make international transactions confusing. The PayPal cross border fee is one of these.

If you’ve been wondering how much the PayPal transaction fee for cross-border payments is, and how to avoid it, then this quick guide will help.

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📝 Table of Contents
What is the PayPal cross border fee? How much is the PayPal cross border fee? How can you avoid the PayPal cross border fee?

What is the PayPal cross border fee?

PayPal charges a range of different fees for different transactions. Many of these fees apply when sending or receiving international transactions.

The PayPal cross border fee is applied every time an international transaction is made. It is applied on both personal and purchase payments.¹

PayPal cross border transaction fees cover the cost involved with processing payments between countries, and with different currencies.

This PayPal transaction fee for cross-border payments is usually paid only by the sender or receiver of the payment - not both.¹

How much is the PayPal cross border fee for sellers?

As a seller, you’ll incur fees every time you receive an international purchase payment.

Specifically, you’ll be charged the standard domestic fee plus a cross border fee, and an additional fixed fee.² On top of this, a PayPal cross border conversion fee will also be applied.³

PayPal’s standard domestic fee for receiving payment for goods and services is 2.99%.²
The percentage-based cross border fee for PayPal international transactions is 1.5%.²
The fixed fee varies depending on the currency.

Here’s a quick overview of PayPal’s fixed fees for some popular currencies:

Currency	Fixed fee
EUR	0.39 EUR
GBP	0.39 GBP
CAD	0.59 CAD
MXN	9.00 MXN
AUD	0.59 AUD²

🔍 So, how much would it cost to receive 100 EUR from Germany, at the current exchange rate?

2.94 USD domestic fee (2.99%) + 1.47 USD cross border fee (1.5%) + 0. 38 USD fixed fee + 2.95 USD currency conversion fee = 7.75 USD

This means you'll receive 90.64 USD.

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💡 You can also use the PayPal cross border fee calculator to figure out the costs of receiving international payments.

How can you avoid the PayPal cross border fee?

PayPal cross border fees can end up costing your business a lot. But PayPal isn’t the only option.

With Wise Business, you can receive international payments without paying any cross border fees.

Wise is not a bank, but a smart online banking alternative. Wise Business is a safe and easy way to manage international business transactions. With the account, you can get account details for up to 10 different currencies, allowing you to receive international payments like a local - free of cross border fees.

You’ll only need to pay a one-time fee to get account details for AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, HUF, NZD, RON, SGD, TRY and USD.

On top of this, once the payment is in your Wise Business account, you can convert these to USD, or your preferred currency, at the real mid-market rate.

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You can also connect Wise Business with several platforms to make receiving payments easier.

For example, If you sell on multiple Amazon marketplaces, you can withdraw your different currency earnings directly into your Wise account. This way, you’ll avoid paying high currency conversion fees.

Sources:

PayPal cross border fees

Fees | Merchant and Business | PayPal US

PayPal Help Center Article - Merchant fees

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

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We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.