Cheapest way to buy software?

[Fudge 0]

2 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

That's an option. How do you find out beforehand if a particular credit / debit card won't attract these charges especially with overseas sellers?

I got mine searching for the best deal on travel money for a holiday. It came up on a comparison site / money saving website and worked out better than cash. Works also got onlinen purchases so I've kept it! 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,933]

8 minutes ago, Fudge said:

I got mine searching for the best deal on travel money for a holiday. It came up on a comparison site / money saving website and worked out better than cash. Works also got onlinen purchases so I've kept it! 

Thanks. Moneysavingexpert I’m guessing. Just checked their site for best credit cards with zero fees and that card was first out.

Will apply for one tomorrow purely for flight sim purchases. Thanks. 👍😁🇬🇧

[Bob Scott 7,716]

It's something of a sleight-of-hand.  You have to consider the exchange rate and the fees together, and the exchange rate itself changes hourly or daily.  I checked on several credit cards and both had much better exchange rates than PayPal (cross-checked back to the posting dates with the interbank rate history for that date), one has a 1% international currency fee, the other 2%.  Pay-Pal's exchange rates were so poor it was more expensive than either credit card even with the separate fees.

Regards

[Ray Proudfoot 8,933]

Bob,

I agree exchange rates are equally important and for quite a while now we Brits have been suffering a double-whammy. Poor exchange rates plus this currency surcharge. There was a time when the UKP was close to two USD. What bargains there would have been then!

Even 2.5 years ago it was 1.50 USD to the UKP. Now it’s down to 1.28. Same for the rates with the Euro.

My credit card company is charging me 3% which is a disgrace. I’m going to stop using it for FS purchases and apply for the one Fudge mentioned. Zero currency surcharges and no interest if paid off in full each month.

I’ll avoid PayPal like the plague too. Pal? Hmmm, hardly. 🤨

[Adrian123 1,015]

I don't understand much of the situation in Brittan. Does this Brexit thing help or hurt your situation Ray? I spend much time in Austria and seems the Euro works pretty well, but I'm just and observer.

[Riah069 157]

Spare a thought for us Aussies. We are currently 0.68 US or 0.60 EU and 052 UKP. Buying anything at those conversion rates just plainly sucks. Last thing a bought last year was a virpil joystick and only the base and stick and set me back well over $650. VERY sad.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Riah069

[Ray Proudfoot 8,933]

2 minutes ago, Adrian123 said:

I don't understand much of the situation in Brittan. Does this Brexit thing help or hurt your situation Ray? I spend much time in Austria and seems the Euro works pretty well, but I'm just and observer.

I’d rather not discuss Brexit if you don’t mind. It polarises opinion like nothing else and should I give an opinion which another Brit disagrees with the conversation could go south very quickly. It really is that divisive.

Brexit isn’t really about the Euro Anyway. It’s much more.

[Adrian123 1,015]

But it is about money?

[Ray Proudfoot 8,933]

2 minutes ago, Riah069 said:

Spare a thought for us Aussies. We are currently 0.68 US or 0.60 EU and 052 UKP. Buying anything at those conversion rates just plainly sucks. Last thing a bought last year was a virpil joystick and only the base and stick and set me back well over $650. VERY sad.

Mike, I can understand why the UKP is struggling given the political situation  over the last few years but I thought the Australian economy was in decent shape. Is it govt policy to keep the currency weak?

[Ray Proudfoot 8,933]

Just now, Adrian123 said:

But it is about money?

Are you asking a question?

[vc10man 732]

28 minutes ago, w6kd said:

much better exchange rates than PayPal

 

29 minutes ago, w6kd said:

ay-Pal's exchange rates were so poor it was more expensive than either credit card even with the separate fees

Been saying that for ages which is why in my first post to Ray I suggested give them a wide berth like the dreaded lurgy! Took me some finding as they want to hide this, but I found a link to their currency site and that told me all I needed to know.

[Riah069 157]

Yeah i don't know Ray. A few years back we were on parity with the US dollar which i had never seen in my lifetime. And i can tell you i never bought so much at that time. It was glorious. But now a days i have to look and think VERY hard before literally buying anything from over seas. High end FS addons i just don't look at anymore the prices are so off the scale.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,933]

@Riah069, there’s always someone worse off than ourselves. My sympathies. Having a weak currency is great for tourism but it doesn’t help the population.

[Chock 17,769]

1 hour ago, Adrian123 said:

But it is about money?

Pretty much everything in politics is about money, one way or another; either who gets it, or who does not, so the UK leaving the EU is no exception to that.

But as Ray says, Brexit is a very divisive subject for us Brits, not least because it has been handled very badly by our politicians, so it is probably best avoided as a topic on a forum lest things descend southwards in terms of civility, as they almost certainly would. 🤣

[skelsey 765]

5 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I've just checked on SimMarket. Credit Card, PayPal and a couple of other options but no way of paying by debit card.

Eh? Unless something has changed significantly since I last purchased from any of the vendors discussed I have always used either a debit card or occasionally PayPal for all of my flight sim purchases (and frankly about 99% of my other purchases!), including from Simmarket and PMDG!