I am with you there, I get shafted with the exchange rate also, not to mention they also changed the way you can send money to people, (they charge you a nice fee there too)
The old marketplace I used to get the money into PP instantly also, now i wait up to 7 days, then another 5 to withdraw to my bank.
In this day of technology it's ridiculous that the amount of time is this long, the only valid reason I can think of is that they are using our money for that time to invest in something to make even more money off us.
Just imagine, the access to millions and millions of money that isnt yours, and how much money you can make for yourself if what you do with it is hidden lol
Anyway that is my theory.
The service bites.