Cannot Pay in US Dollars

[Douglis Maximus]

I get paid in US dollars (USD) and I have a USD bank account with a USD VISA credit card.

After a phone call to Linden and support ticket, Linden tells me they must charge Canadian dollars (CAD) to my credit card because my address is Canadian.  Linden says it is impossible to charge USD to my USD credit card.

I just  dissected my latest charge from Linden...  They charged me the normal USD price, then they added 28% fair exchange rate plus 10% service charge for a total of 38% extra for CAD.  Now my USD VISA has charged me another 3% service charge to convert the Linden CAD charge back to USD.  

The result is I end up paying at least 13% extra because Linden refuses to charge USD to my USD VISA.

I pay monthly land tier, premium membership and I buy Linden$ on this credit card, so it amounts to a lot of money in a year.

Hopefully Linden will somehow reinstate the ability to pay them in USD. 

Normally, US companies insist on charging USD to all credit cards, regardless of where the credit card is located.

 

 

 

 

[Fionalein]

Why don't you use paypal then? They seem to have no problem charging me US dollars on that service.

Edited April 23, 2018 by Fionalein

[Douglis Maximus]

Thanks for the suggestion Fionalein.  Its complicated... I cannot use Paypal to pay for personal stuff because my Paypal account is in my name and used for my business.  I have lots of USD cash in Paypal but my business accountant and the Canadian taxman would have a fit if I was redirecting my business revenue stream toward personal use.  Paypal does not allow two accounts under the same name.   I need to keep personal finances entirely separate from business. That's why I have a personal USD credit card.  This credit card works great for all my US purchases, except for Linden.  

[LittleMe Jewell]

2 hours ago, Douglis Maximus said:

Thanks for the suggestion Fionalein.  Its complicated... I cannot use Paypal to pay for personal stuff because my Paypal account is in my name and used for my business.  I have lots of USD cash in Paypal but my business accountant and the Canadian taxman would have a fit if I was redirecting my business revenue stream toward personal use.  Paypal does not allow two accounts under the same name.   I need to keep personal finances entirely separate from business. That's why I have a personal USD credit card.  This credit card works great for all my US purchases, except for Linden.  

Have you specifically talked to PayPal about this.  Once upon a time, you were allowed to have a personal account and a business account as long as they each had their own separate email and financial specifications.

[Douglis Maximus]

Thanks LittleMe, but I was not able to have two accounts on Paypal with the same name and address when I tried ten years ago.  Maybe I should try again.

Paypal insists on exchanging all my USD over to CAD before they will send me the money.  They refuse to transfer USD to my USD bank account.

I would rather pay Linden 10% extra than having to endure dealing with Paypal complications lol.

Its very simple if Linden would allow me to pay USD like all other US companies.  There is something strange about the Linden system that is not like other companies. Linden's insistence to make me pay in CAD gives them excuse to add 10% service charge, even though I have the ability and desire to pay them in USD.

[Coffee Pancake]

Well, then the answer is obvious. Second Life is now a vital part of your business.

[bigmoe Whitfield]

On 4/23/2018 at 5:30 PM, CoffeeDujour said:

Well, then the answer is obvious. Second Life is now a vital part of your business.

it is that simple and it can be written off as a business expense, as a vacation/relaxation expense.   or used to be able to be, what my tax preparer told me years ago.

[Phoebe Avro]

Open another bank account or use a personal account you already have  and link it to a new paypal account!

Edited April 27, 2018 by Phoebe Avro

[Ethan Paslong]

somehow i don't understand it... my paypal ánd visa are in Euro's, and take or deposit everyhing in any currency... no extra fees except when i want to transfer money from paypal to my bank. Never had issues from LL .

I only had to add a second currency to the paypal account, so it uses both.

[Douglis Maximus]

Ethan it may appear there are "no extra fees" but there are.  The extra fees are burying into a fake exchange rate.  The "fair" exchange rate is shown at xe.com.  The exchange rate used by banks and credit cards is usually about 3% different than this fair exchange rate.  The last time Linden converted my charge to CAD, their exchange rate was 10% different than the fair exchange rate shown on XE.   If you take 100 Euros to your bank and and  change it to USD, then back to Euros, you will be left with ~ 94 Euros.  The missing 6 Euros is the hidden fees you paid.

I understand the banks need to be paid for their work and these hidden fees are a fact of life.  But I am simply attempting to keep everything in USD so there are no hidden fees at all.

 

[Ethan Paslong]

15 minutes ago, Douglis Maximus said:

Ethan it may appear there are "no extra fees" but there are.  The extra fees are burying into a fake exchange rate.  The "fair" exchange rate is shown at xe.com.  The exchange rate used by banks and credit cards is usually about 3% different than this fair exchange rate.  The last time Linden converted my charge to CAD, their exchange rate was 10% different than the fair exchange rate shown on XE.   If you take 100 Euros to your bank and and  change it to USD, then back to Euros, you will be left with ~ 94 Euros.  The missing 6 Euros is the hidden fees you paid.

I understand the banks need to be paid for their work and these hidden fees are a fact of life.  But I am simply attempting to keep everything in USD so there are no hidden fees at all.

 

yes i get the problem, but LL never exchanges for me, they only get, or send USD because my paypal has two currencies, and paypal only exchanges when i transfer it to my bank

[Callum Meriman]

You could try Skrill.