Paying for trailer from the US

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by peter

Message from "The Wife" - We found the easiest way when we were having our Escape built was to use our Mastercard to make payments along the way

Do they still allow this? I thought they limited credit card payments. After all, Visa and MC charge them 3 per cent or so on the transaction.

[peter]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Do they still allow this? I thought they limited credit card payments. After all, Visa and MC charge them 3 per cent or so on the transaction.

I don’t know if Escape still allows this but it would be worth asking. It sure worked well for us.

[StillCampin]

The limitation I've worked under is a $3000 cdn limit per order. For me that would be the original $2500 order fee and potentially the remaining balance at orientation after my sending several personal checks.

[gbaglo]

And, the credit card companies charge even more if premium 'points' cards are used.

[cpaharley2008]

Yes, I remember the change back in 2013, there was an individual who had put a substantial down payment via cc and then wanted to back out and Escape got hit with some major fees.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I find this very hard to believe.
TD Bank, for instance, has many branches and businesses in the USA and is headquartered in Toronto, Ont. Canada. US investment houses transfer millions of dollars a second across the world.
Curious where you found this "fact".

Your Canadian banks are not subject to our Federal Reserve System which all US banks are. There are certain clearing banks, Wells Fargo being one that are used for foreign transactions.

[Tam2004]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I find this very hard to believe.
TD Bank, for instance, has many branches and businesses in the USA and is headquartered in Toronto, Ont. Canada. US investment houses transfer millions of dollars a second across the world.
Curious where you found this "fact".

Banks sure thrive on people not knowing! There is a SWIFT network that banks join (used to be TELEX). This is the way that governments work to handle issues like money laundering. So, when you use your bank to do money transfers, they should be using the SWIFT network, unless they use a service like Transferwise also. The SWIFT network will pass through that system and the last I knew Wells Fargo had the contract to clear international transfers from your bank. At the time I saved so many hundreds of dollars, I wrote up the actual numbers and had the documents. But, since most Escape owners have time to send a check (we didn't) it doesn't need to be an issue for most purchasers who want to just send a check. And as far as I could tell, I changed few minds. What you don't know, really can hurt you. Ask your bank if they use the SWIFT network for international bank transfers. I put my order through. Had all the actual printed documents. Cancelled it - and put through the order on transfer wise and saved hundreds of dollars though I couldn't see how. My bank was only charging $30 for the transfer!! My bank explained it was due to international bank transfers having to go through Wells Fargo. My comments were that USAA mentioned by other Escape owner was doing good by its military members by using a system outside of the SWIFT system with layers of extra costs to those using it. BTW - I learned about the Transferwise system from another Escape owner. Thank goodness.

[brightday]

I made the down payment with a credit card two weeks ago, and Bank of America charged $57.61 for the transaction. I just Googled "credit card international transaction fees" to find that Quicksilver One from Capital One doesn't charge these fees. It makes sense to apply for and use this one - unless other fees would attach?

[cpaharley2008]

There are several credit card companies that do not charge foreign transaction fees....and several that do!

[Hawkeye Ed]

Save several hundred dollars when you pay for your Escape trailer.

There are several ways to exchange your US dollars (USD) to the Canadian dollars (CDN) that you’ll need to pay your outstanding Escape balance. When you understand how exchange rates work, you’ll be able to pick the best way to pay, perhaps saving $500-600 in the process.

Escape Trailers, being a Canadian company, uses a Canadian bank (TD Canada Trust) to hold deposits in Canadian dollars. If you pay Escape with US dollars, their bank coverts the funds to Canadian dollars before depositing them. Check the bank’s web site to calculate about how much you’ll need to pay for your trailer if you send Escape a check in USD and let their bank do the conversion.

Here are TD Canada Trust’s exchange rates for today, found at:

<https://www.tdcanadatrust.com/customer-service/todays-rates/rates.jsp#>

US Exchange Rate
Client Buys (Pays CDN): 1.3572
Clent Sells (Receives CDN): 1.2870
Our rates as of Tue Dec 10 14:30:00 EST 2019

Today at TD Canada Trust, exchanging (selling) a US dollar for a Canadian dollar gets you $1.28 CDN. But notice that if you were to ask the bank to exchange $CDN back to $USD, the bank charges you $1.36CDN for every US dollar you buy. See how the banks make a lot of money on currency exchange? That eight cents difference adds up fast in exchanges of thousands of dollars.

There is no “real” currency exchange rate. In the world's currency markets, traders decide the rates at which they are willing to "buy" or "sell" a specific currency based on supply and demand. The published exchange rate (the ones you find on independent sources such as Google, XE and Yahoo Finance) is simply the mid-market rate, the constantly-changing midpoint between the prices at which currencies are bought and sold.

Perhaps your own US bank or brokerage firm is willing to exchange your $USD for $CDN so you can send Escape a check in Canadian dollars. But don’t be fooled by claims of “no transfer fee” or “low fee” or similar language that makes you think you’re getting a good deal. By hiding the real charge in the exchange rate offered, most providers make huge profits at your expense, and you're none the wiser. Be wise, calculate an offered rate yourself by comparing the cost in USD compared to the CDN you receive. Unfortunately, you’ll probably be given a rate that’s four or five percent away from the mid-market rate; that’s $1,200 to $1,500 on a $30,000 exchange. You’ll probably want to look around to find a better rate than that for sure.

To save money, many people use dedicated money transfer services like XE, OFX, CurrenciesDirect, CurrencyTransfer, or TransferWise. I chose to check out TransferWise. As part of my inquiry I contacted Meagan Rocheleau, Escape's finance officer <accounting@excapetrailer.com>.

Every Escape buyer will probably work with Ms. Rocheleau when paying for their trailer. She was prompt, helpful and informed. She calculated what I would owe in US dollars if that’s how I wanted to pay and I was appalled by the poor exchange rate Escape’s bank uses. Not surprisingly, she said Escape has a number of customers who are choosing to use TransferWise. She gave me Escape's bank information and accounting numbers I’d need to use TransferWise.

I logged on to TransferWise, created an account, uploaded pictures of my drivers license, set up a transfer to Escape for the balance of my account, and was given the amount my bank would need to wire to TransferWise. I went to my bank with the instructions I printed from the TransferWise web site and had them wire TransferWise the funds for a $10 fee.

TransferWise used the same exchange rate, 1.3231, as the mid-market rate that I verified online with other sources. TransferWise did charge a fee of $166.67, substantially more than the “free” or “$25 low fee” that some banks tout. But, bottom line, even with the $166.67 TransferWise fee I paid about $563 less than I would have by letting Escape’s bank (or my own) convert the funds using its own exchange rate.

When TransferWise receives the wire transfer, they’ll send it to Escape’s bank in Canadian dollars. I’ll update this post when Escape acknowledges receipt of the funds and mention any concerns or fees. But I thought folks would like to learn about my experience and learn more about how to save money on foreign currency transfers.

I’m looking forward to seeing other folks’ experiences who have US dollars and need to pay for their Escape.

[cpaharley2008]

With current prices show in US dollars it no longer is an issue. Just mail a check in US dollars for the amount due. Be sure and put double postage on envelope.

[Hawkeye Ed]

A poster points out that Escape’s web site now shows prices in both US and Canadian dollars. For instance, the base price of a 2020 5.0TA is shown as both $29,995 USD and $37,495 CAD.

But referring to my original post, look at the exchange rate penalty you pay by sending Escape a check in US dollars rather than paying in Canadian dollars using a money transfer service that charges a set fee for currency conversion rather than hiding a much larger penalty in the exchange rate.

As I mentioned in my earlier post today, the mid-market exchange rate today is $1.00 USD equals $1.32 CDN. At that exchange rate the $29,995 USD price quoted above for a 5.0TA is equivalent to $39,593 CAD, not the $37,495 CAD price advertised on the Escape site. That’s a difference of $2,098 CAD, reflecting the lower exchange rate ($1.00 USD equals $1.25 CDN) that Escape has to use because of the poor exchange rate that their bank gives them and the economic uncertainty of fluctuating exchange rates.

My original point still stands: If you can find a money transfer service that will exchange, for a small fee, your USD for CAD at close to the mid-market rate, why not save a thousand bucks or more? Sure, we all have plenty of money to be able to afford a nice new Escape trailer, but a buck is still a buck.

[John in Santa Cruz]

just be careful that your state does charge you taxes based on *their* interpretation of the exchange rate instead of yours.

[Lanark Camper]

I think this is the only area that Escape has fallen down in customer service.

From what I understand a large percentage of their sales are to the USA. They deal with TD bank in Canada. While TD America is a different company it is easy for a Canadian to open a bank account in the US with them. Then a phone a call will transfer money between the US and Can accounts. I have a US funds account with TD Canada and a US funds credit card. I use them when I travel in the US. I get better exchange rates and can do the exchange when i think the rate better. The US funds sit in the account until I am going to the US. When I was spending 5 months in the US I also kept a TD America bank account. They all appear in the TD web banking app but you can only transfer money between accounts in the same country on your computer.


Escape should have a TD America account so US customers can simply transfer money there to pay for a trailer. Escape must buy a lot of their materials from US companies. They could pay them from this account.


It would save everyone foreign exchange commissions and make the purchase so much easier.


Bob

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

Originally Posted by HawkeyeEZ

A poster points out that Escape’s web site now shows prices in both US and Canadian dollars. For instance, the base price of a 2020 5.0TA is shown as both $29,995 USD and $37,495 CAD.

But referring to my original post, look at the exchange rate penalty you pay by sending Escape a check in US dollars rather than paying in Canadian dollars using a money transfer service that charges a set fee for currency conversion rather than hiding a much larger penalty in the exchange rate.

As I mentioned in my earlier post today, the mid-market exchange rate today is $1.00 USD equals $1.32 CDN. At that exchange rate the $29,995 USD price quoted above for a 5.0TA is equivalent to $39,593 CAD, not the $37,495 CAD price advertised on the Escape site. That’s a difference of $2,098 CAD, reflecting the lower exchange rate ($1.00 USD equals $1.25 CDN) that Escape has to use because of the poor exchange rate that their bank gives them and the economic uncertainty of fluctuating exchange rates.

My original point still stands: If you can find a money transfer service that will exchange, for a small fee, your USD for CAD at close to the mid-market rate, why not save a thousand bucks or more? Sure, we all have plenty of money to be able to afford a nice new Escape trailer, but a buck is still a buck.

I have done some shopping on exchange rates. I ended up opening Tiaa world market account. you can buy Canadian dollar's and hold them. I purchased 3 days ago . They do charge less than 1% on the exchange . The other day i bought some and ended up with exchanged at rate 1.319598. when it time they will wire transfer the Cad funds to escape for $30.00 fee. This has been the best deal i have found. Plus i have control over the funds . I sure there is lots of ways to do this. right now escape will accept payment in both cad or us funds.

[Tam2004]

I am so glad that you have stepped in with this information. When we bought our Escape trailer over a year ago, I ended up using Transferwise and since I had almost completed my transaction through my credit union, that same day, I was able to KNOW I saved close $800. I tried to tell the community about this, but got a lot of push back of frank disbelief. Save yourself money and grief and use Transferwise. It is good the Escape Team has stepped up on this.

[Hawkeye Ed]

Two days ago in Post 170 I said I'd report back about my experience using TransferWise, a money transfer service that charged me a $166.67 fee to exchange about $30,000 US dollars to Canadian dollars and send it to Escape Trailer.

Just now I received an updated build sheet from Escape’s finance officer showing that all the money was received and my balance is now paid in full.

It’s been less that 48 hours since I went to my credit union and had them wire the funds to TransferWise. I’d say that’s pretty fast service! The bottom line is that even with the fee I paid about $563 less than I would have if I’d paid Escape with a US dollar check and let Escape’s bank apply its poor exchange rate before depositing my money into Escape’s account.

I understand that different people have different risk levels and some may want to not use money transfer services. That’s fine. I just wanted to share my experience with people who are interested in it. Escape has a number of customers who are choosing to use TransferWise and I count myself satisfied among them.

[cpaharley2008]

I'm confused. You owed Escape $29,995 US or $37,495 CAD for base price only. You found a better bank rate where your $29,995 could purchase $39,293 or approximately $2000 CAD higher. So you sent $30,000US and received $2,000 additional options for the extra $2000 your bank credited you? So your build sheet showed you owed $39,293 CAD and you paid that with $30,000US? So Escape Trailers had to eat the additional $2,000 options? This is the .07 cent differential times 30,000 or 2,000...or did you send $28,500US and received credit for $37,495? Then it becomes a $1,500 difference

[Hawkeye Ed]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I'm confused. You owed Escape $29,995 US or $37,495 CAD for base price only. You found a better bank rate where your $29,995 could purchase $39,293 or approximately $2000 CAD higher. So you sent $30,000US and received $2,000 additional options for the extra $2000 your bank credited you? So your build sheet showed you owed $39,293 CAD and you paid that with $30,000US? So Escape Trailers had to eat the additional $2,000 options? This is the .07 cent differential times 30,000 or 2,000...or did you send $28,500US and received credit for $37,495? Then it becomes a $1,500 difference

Hi Jim,

I'm a bit embarrassed to set out all the financial details about our trailer purchase in this public forum. But since the details seems so important, here they are.

The total cost of our 5.0TA is $42,495 CDN. As is common, we paid a $2500 CDN down payment with a credit card to confirm the order.

That left a balance of $39,995 CDN. Being helpful, the Escape finance officer estimated our remaining balance to be about $30,958.28 USD if we paid Escape directly with US funds. It’s important to understand that before Escape can have US funds deposited into their account, their bank exchanges the USD for CDN dollars at a rate set by the bank. So $30,958.28 USD is what the Escape finance officer estimated I would have to pay for their bank to exchange and then deposit $39,995 CDN into Escape's bank account.

I thought it was worthwhile to explore less expensive alternatives. Since Escape has a number of customers who use the TransferWise money transfer service, I thought I’d check it out. TransferWise said they’d deposit the $39,995 CDN balance into Escape’s checking account if I sent them $30,394.92 USD, which included TransferWise’s $166.67 USD fee. That seemed like a good deal to me since it would save me $563.36 USD. ($30,958.28 USD - $30,394.92 USD = $563.36 USD)

In effect, TransferWise exchanged $30,394.92 USD to the $39,995 CDN I owed Escape for a fee of $166.67 USD. Escape’s bank (and my own bank, too) wanted hundreds more than $30,394.92 USD to deposit the $39,995 CDN I owed into Escape's bank account.

Don’t worry about Escape. They’re not “eating” anything. It’s their bank that loses the chance to make too much money exchanging my USD for CDN before depositing CDN into Escape’s bank account. Escape gets the same amount of Canadian dollars deposited into their account no matter who makes the currency exchange. More and more people are learning how much that banks are ripping people off with their lousy exchange rates and are then using alternative means (money transfer services, international brokerage accounts, etc.) to accomplish currency exchanges at more reasonable costs.

Jim, I’m happy to discuss whatever questions you might still have. May I suggest that you send me a private message if you’d like to discuss this with me further.

Ed

[cpaharley2008]

Thank you Ed, I understand now, now you incubation stage and pick up. We thoroughly enjoyed our pick up trips to Chilliwack, my significant other got hooked on Belgium waffles from BW next door.