exchange rate (post office)

hello

does anyone know the exchange rate or how they base the rate at the post office in japan?

i have a transaction with a japanese seller but the item arrived damaged. to refund me my money they would like to pay me back by a international postal money order (ipmo). thanks to the search function on this site and usps i found that japan has ipmo that are cashable in the US and can be sent in US dollars (please correct me if i am wrong).

i originally paid via paypal (pp). to me, it would be fastest and easier to refund through paypal (might also be cheaper since the pp cross-border transaction fee is 3.9% + 40 yen and the post office ipmo fee is 780 yen(?)). but i am not against a money order; am not that difficult of a buyer. to suggest them consider refunding through pp, i am curious about how different the exchange rate must be for pp vs the post office, since everyone pulls from different places. does anyone know if the exchange rate is better for those in japan at the post office or paypal?

thanks in advance for any help!

The exchange rates at the post office are the closest to actual rate that I've seen, so I would just check it out on www.xe.com and it should be about the same.

Anyway, I'm not sure what the seller is thinking but I believe that it is in everyones favor to refund through paypal. I just sent a refund myself and paypal will reimburse all sellers fees as well as the refunded amount so it would end up being the cheapest way for him.

With an IPMO he will have to pay the fee (about 1500 yen if I remember correctly) and then he can specify the amount in USD that he wants to send and they will charge him the appropriate amount in yen.

Cashing an IPMO can be a pain in the US as the banks are not accostomed to doing it, and some want to charge really high processing fees (almost $40 at one bank per $700 IPMO). I've found the cheapest way to cash them is to take them to the US post office and cash them for US money orders. Then deposit those into your bank. It's complicated but saves you money.

Anyway, you should find out why the seller is reluctant to refund through paypal as that saves him considerable money and you considerable hassle.

To anyone in US who uses IPMO:

As the name suggests it is something you take to the POST OFFICE, never, never to the bank. "Postal money order" is different from US money orders that you can cash at banks or even supermarket service counters.

As long as you use post office to cash the IPMO, IPMO is the easiest way for the recipient to receive money :)

thank you so much for the help. it really helped!

i just realized i was a complete ditz. paypal only charges the cross border transaction fee to those "receiving payment!" so those sending are not affected.
hopefully it is understandable. paypal (and ebay since they are owned by the same) are not always fully clear and it is easy to get confused after reading the help section and the legal agreements (both logged in and not, and for US and Japan).

ak and yllwsmrf- you are both very wise!

after reading responses i did a search on paypal and read/learned about refunds. getting back fees is a good reason for them to consider! plus, its just easier on me ^_^

wow, the fee is so high for ipmo buyers in japan!

thanks for the info on the exchange rate. that means that paypal is about 2.5% less than the Japanese post office.

also, thank you for your concern and advice on cashing the ipmo. i am well aware that it is best to cash at the post office. when i did search on this site about ipmo, ran across many responses saying so (many were by you ak! ^_^). i had searched usps.com (US post office website) too and it said ipmo from japan can be cashed at the post office but they must be sent in US dollar amounts (otherwise they will not accept).

anyways, even though i confused myself, i am still interested in any info if any would like to share. its great to learn more!

thanks again!

To catbert,

Thanks for writing.

The reason why I write again and again about IMPO is, because I have seen many cases of disputes among cross-border purchases precisely because of the different definitions of and people's familiarity with "money order," "(domestic) postal money order," and "international postal money order" between US and Japan.

I've read about disputes between, let's say, ebay sellers in Japan and buyers in the US - where the sellers could not cash the money order sent in by US because they were not IPMO - and other cases where sellers in US received IPMO from Japanese buyers and mistakenly took it to a bank, subsequently getting upset about the fees :( I know that IPMO are quite useful, you just have to be familiar with exactly where they can be cashed, etc., so when I see some post about IPMO, I cannot help pitching in :)

From the US side, whenever sending a money order, you need to clearly state INTERNATIONAL POSTAL MONEY ORDER, when you get the money order, it should be clearly printed saying it is an International Postal Money Order.

There are 2 types, one for domestic use, and international ones, sometimes the clerk (not really their fault) maybe not used to handling international ones, so it is important to make sure it is a international postal money order.

----

On the flip side if you are receiving a International Postal Money Order from Japan, yes it can be in USD for the USPS to exchange it.

If the US Post tells you they can't change International Postal Money Orders, tell them they are wrong and tell them to look in their "INTERNATIONAL MAIL MANUAL"
Under section 370 SUPPLEMENTAL SERVICES

Section 371 International Postal Money Orders

Section 371.51 Valid Postal Money Orders

and finally section 371.53 Japanese Money Orders