AliExpress Cash Advance Charge

[niajef]

@MoreLumens

@niajef

@MoreLumens

Ain’t PayPal always have worse exchange rates vs. card companies etc.?
I haven’t used PP for ages because of that, it’s always the most expensive option.

i think they meant using CC through paypal, in which case you can choose to have it charge in the original USD, and then your CC will do the exchange.

I see. So is it same as using card linked to PP except using debit and not credit?

basically, ya, you choose pp, but then once you’re there, you choose to pay by cc, instead of taking it out of pp fund, or owing pp and then pay later by debit.

[pennzy]

Can’t say. I don’t have a debit card.

[indenial]

@niajef

@indenial

@niajef

@pennzy

I used a direct credit card for my last AliExpress order. Just checked my statement and no cash advance charge . Seems strange that Ali purchases only get reported wrong through PayPal credit card charges, not direct CC charges.

same, i been using cc direct, no weird charges, i think the problem lies with paypal, maybe when used via paypal, AE charges them advance fees

When you gentleman paid directly with your CC, what’s the name listed on your account statement as the “merchant”? Alipay Singapore, or the name of the specific merchant who actually sold you the goods, or someone else?

“aliexpress.com”

There you go! It think it’s Alipay Singapore that’s the likely culprit. Thanks!

[phouton]

Yup, I had this issue too. Paypal + credit card + Alipay = cash advance charge problem.

All three components are required. If avoiding any one of them, there is no problem. In short, skip Paypal.

My credit card statements shows “PAYPAL *ALIPAYSINGA AL SGP” for the problem charge.

Luckily my credit card company reversed the cash advance interest charges when I called them. They said they’ve been getting a lot of complaints about it lately. They claimed it was due to some recent policy change at Paypal, and to contact Paypal about it or just avoid using Paypal. But they did not give a clear explanation of the root cause.

And a side note: yes Paypal overcharges for currency conversions. It is always better to change Paypal’s setting to charge the billed currency directly and let the credit card company do the conversion. Typically credit card companies charge 2.5% for conversion, and apparently Paypal charges more. Unfortunately this switch has to be done manually for every purchase in a different currency, since Paypal does not give a way to permanently change it and they always select themselves for the conversion to “conveniently” charge you in your own currency.