How do I minimize exchange rate spread costs when shopping online?
I get my income in euros. I need to pay for stuff in USD because I use shops like Dealextreme where the base currency is USD. I have a Visa Debit card (so not a real Visa) since I am a student but have stable income streams monthly. I get the following spread-costs with my card:
Dealextreme, 9.59%, when paying in euros - the payment is in euros and the base currency is USD [1]
Dealextreme, 2.06%, when paying in USD - the payment and the base currency are both USD [2]
I get the current course of one euro in USD from Google.
The spread-cost, 2.06%, is huge. I would like to get it even smaller.
Which credit-card minimizes the given spread-cost even more?
2. Is there any other ways to minimize the given spread-cost even more?
I did not use Paypal in buying my merchandise. I am not sure about Paypal's spread-cost, but it's probably worse than paying directly with the given credit card.
Appendix
[1]
>>> 24.10/18.74
1.2860192102454644
>>> de = 24.10/18.74 # one euro in USD when paying with euros
>>> right = 1.4155
>>> diff = right - de
>>> ave = (right + de)/2
>>> diff / ave
0.09585775978455527
[2]
>>> 24.10/17.38
1.3866513233601843
>>> de = 24.10/17.38 # one euro in USD when paying with dollars
>>> right = 1.4155
>>> diff = right - de
>>> ave = (right + de)/2
>>> diff / ave
0.020590377399905716
(1)1 Comments
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Simply, pay in the same currency as registered in the market - normally the native currency is the cheapest and options are with 2.5% spread cost.
If you cannot do it, simply pay the standard 2.5% spread cost directly to your bank or to the shop if possible.
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