We used TransferWise to Pay

[Greg A]

Good points Hawkeye. If you use an exchange service you also want to have the ability to bid for your exchange rate rather than just accept what their offering that day. That is how we worked the account with XE.com and then when and if they accepted our bid the money was converted at that rate and a check cut and mailed to ETI in Canadien $$ for no charge.
Just accepting what a service or bank is offering can result in lost dollars.

[GaryandEllen]

Originally Posted by Greg A

Just accepting what a service or bank is offering can result in lost dollars.

I agree too. I like that TransferWise did use the published rate, no surprises. And not elevated. Was straightforward and transparent. The bank couldn't even tell me what their rate was. Just knew that the bottom line was wayyyy too much.

[gbaglo]

The exchange rate varies by the minute / second.
Where did they get the "published" rate?

[GaryandEllen]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

The exchange rate varies by the minute / second.
Where did they get the "published" rate?

Not sure what you mean. If you look up the exchange rate, TransferWise used the one we saw and locked it in. The point of my post was just to give a thumbs up to this service, based on our personal experience. I was just trying to be helpful to those who might have wondered if it was easy or not or if there were any surprises or difficulties. I think I did a good job of explaining the process as we experienced it. I can't really add anything else. There are many ways to pay and people can choose to pay the way they want.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by GaryandEllen

Not sure what you mean. If you look up the exchange rate, TransferWise used the one we saw and locked it in.

So, I'm guessing they used their exchange rate ( which makes sense ). Banks all have their own rate. It's like selling a used car. A dealer is free to sell at any price they choose. Bank of Canada's published rate is explained below.
Exchange Rates - Bank of Canada
Jan 1, 2020 - All Bank of Canada exchange rates are indicative rates only, obtained from averages of aggregated price quotes from financial institutions.


The Bank of Canada is a government institution.
The Bank of Canada is the nation's central bank. Its principal role is "to promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada," as defined in the Bank of Canada Act. The Bank’s four main areas of responsibility are:

• Monetary policy: The Bank influences the supply of money circulating in the economy, using its monetary policy framework to keep inflation low and stable.
• Financial system: The Bank promotes safe, sound and efficient financial systems, within Canada and internationally, and conducts transactions in financial markets in support of these objectives.
• Currency: The Bank designs, issues and distributes Canada’s bank notes.
• Funds management: The Bank is the "fiscal agent" for the Government of Canada, managing its public debt programs and foreign exchange reserves.

[ritacasita]

Despite reading this entire thread a couple of times, this whole exchange rate thing with ETI is pretty confusing to me but I need to pay them here in a couple of weeks so trying to figure this out.

My 2020 trailer was optioned, quoted, and is invoiced to me on the bill of sale in US dollars. My question is, why do I need to care about the exchange rate. Doesn't ETI, when they quote in dollars, take the burden of a loss or glee from a gain in exchange rate.

My plan is to do a $30 wire transfer in US dollars from my CU to their bank. What am I missing here? JP

[GaryandEllen]

Originally Posted by ritacasita

My 2020 trailer was optioned, quoted, and is invoiced to me on the bill of sale in US dollars. My question is, why do I need to care about the exchange rate.JP

Our invoice was in Canadian funds, not US. So, I'm guessing this doesn't apply for your transaction.

[ritacasita]

I don't know for sure but I'm under the impression that 2020 is the first year they've billed in your choice of currency? Or maybe I dreamed that?? LOL

[Hawkeye Ed]

Not to worry if you don’t want the trouble of dealing with the details of exchange rates between US dollars and CAD dollars. Escape is now quoting prices in both US dollars and CAD dollars and it's perfectly fine for US folks to pay in US dollars if that works for them.

But if you’re interested in saving significant money with a little knowledge and some extra effort, here's more detail about exchange rates and currency exchange:

Today (8Jan2020), Escape lists the base price of a 5.0TA at both $29,995 USD and $37,495 CAD on their web site. Comparing the CAD price to the USD price reveals that Escape considers a USD to be equivalent to $1.25 CAD, leaving it up to the buyer to choose which currency to use.

For a real life example, someone who buys a well-optioned 5.0TA with a final price of $45,000 CAD could also choose to pay ETI $36,000 USD according to ETI’s exchange rate used on their web site ($1 USD = $1.25 CAD). It appears that ETI has set this exchange rate based a) on the exchange rate used by their bank, TD Canada Trust, <https://www.tdcanadatrust.com/customer-service/todays-rates/rates.jsp#>, and b) on the risk ETI accepts that always-fluctuating bank exchange rates may significantly change between the time ETI quotes a price in USD and the time when ETI actually receives the USD to be deposited in CAD at whatever then-current exchange rate is used by TD Canada Trust.

So, you ask how you can get a better deal if you only have US dollars? The answer is for you to convert your USD to CAD at a better rate than that offered by ETI and then pay for the trailer with those CAD dollars.

This forum thread and the one referred to in one of my previous posts describe how some of us have used a currency exchange such as TransferWise or XE to handle the currency exchange at a favorable rate.

For example, I just checked the TransferWise web site and found that today TransferWise uses an exchange rate of $1 USD = $1.33 CAD. At that rate, you could have $45,000 CAD for $33,835 USD plus a TransferWise fee of less than $200. That’s a savings of about $2,000 on the example $45,000 CAD 5.0TA I mentioned above. In short, you’re spending about $34,000 with TransferWise to get the $45,000 CAD used to pay in Canadian funds instead of paying ETI the $36,000 USD according to ETI’s exchange rate used on their web site ($1 USD = $1.25 CAD).

I know this seems complicated. I thought so when I first considered it. But besides saving myself some significant money, I had the satisfaction of fighting back at the bankers and currency brokers around the world who are making billions of dollars off regular folks like us because we don’t understand how currency exchange works. Think about doing it yourself, too.

Ed

[Gary252]

Transferwise:
Just paid the balance for our new 5.0 TA which we will pick up in May and head to the rally.
Payment was very easy. Initiated wire transfer of $35k USD to Transferwise/Wells Fargo from my credit union, which there was no charge being a domestic transfer on Wednesday, Feb 5th. Had to call Transferwise support as I pushed a wrong button when I was initiating transfer. Support was very good, fixed problem immediately. Wire transfer completed to Wells on Feb. 6th. Transfer initiated to Escape from Wells on Feb 7th. Received email of transfer being complete to over the weekend to Escape on Monday, Feb 10th. Just received verification from Escape that funds were received and they now owe me $3.01 CAD. COOL!
Exchange rate was $1.33 CAD to $1.00 USD.
Transferwise fee was $189.87
No charge for credit union transfer to Wells Fargo.
All in all, very easy and stress free, even with my mistake.

Terri & Gary Moore