buying coins from europe using credit card and has to be paid in euro

[natipco]

I have never bought coins from a shop in Europe. They require payment in euro. If I pay with credit card, when I load cart and pay, it shows in euro, but how do I know how much this is in U.S. Currency. Will there be any problems with customs.. The item will be about 6000 euro.   What are the problems, etc. with buying from Europe

[morezone]

Moved to the discussion section where members with this experience might be able to help.

The cost in US$ will depend on the card you are using.  You can check daily rates on the MasterCard and Visa sites.  Your card issuer may also impose a foreign currency fee.  You will need to check your card issuer's T&Cs and fee schedule.  If you want an approx rate, you can always use XE.com.

I do not know if taxes are applicable for US imports of precious metals.  Other members can help here.

[MickB]

12 minutes ago, natipco said:

I have never bought coins from a shop in Europe. They require payment in euro. If I pay with credit card, when I load cart and pay, it shows in euro, but how do I know how much this is in U.S. Currency. Will there be any problems with customs.. The item will be about 6000 euro.   What are the problems, etc. with buying from Europe

You can use a Wise card, formerly known as Transfer wise. Convert your dollars into Euros on the app. You get a cheaper exchange rate than a bank. 

[SilverPlatinum]

Customs only look at what the shop has declared as value of those coins then do their own currency conversion (close to the exchange rate).

Some shops/dealers declare the actual value of the coins, some declare the face value, and some declare the value as gift.

It really depends on the shop/dealer......

[sixgun]

On 04/11/2022 at 14:24, MickB said:

You can use a Wise card, formerly known as Transfer wise. Convert your dollars into Euros on the app. You get a cheaper exchange rate than a bank. 

From memory, i don't think you have to do anything - you don't need to pre-exchange your currency. if you have USD in your wise account, these will automatically get exchanged into EUR.

[sixgun]

On 04/11/2022 at 14:08, natipco said:

I have never bought coins from a shop in Europe. They require payment in euro. If I pay with credit card, when I load cart and pay, it shows in euro, but how do I know how much this is in U.S. Currency. Will there be any problems with customs.. The item will be about 6000 euro.   What are the problems, etc. with buying from Europe

i use wise.com
6000€ is $6,016.22 right now on wise.com
When i have bought coins from Germany using GBP i have done a bank transfer using wise.com to the dealer's bank account. i have sent GBP from a UK bank account to Wise and i have had them exchanged into EUR and into various European bank accounts. 
You could get a Wise debit card - it costs a few dollars to buy one but you could send USD to your Wise account and then spend then as EUR with the European dealer(s).

The dealer will declare the contents and value. i have not heard of anyone getting hit by the US customs.

[MickB]

2 hours ago, sixgun said:

From memory, i don't think you have to do anything - you don't need to pre-exchange your currency. if you have USD in your wise account, these will automatically get exchanged into EUR.

I transferred 100 Euros to top up my Croatian Kuna's and they charged me a small fee. Saves paying the exchange rate at the till, which usually is higher. 

[LawrenceChard]

2 hours ago, MickB said:

I transferred 100 Euros to top up my Croatian Kuna's and they charged me a small fee. Saves paying the exchange rate at the till, which usually is higher. 

And what was the actual mid exchange rate on the day, as compared with the exchange rate you were charged?

😎

[MickB]

49 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

And what was the actual mid exchange rate on the day, as compared with the exchange rate you were charged?

😎

Can't remember now but this is a better rate. 

[Silverlocks]

On 05/11/2022 at 20:36, LawrenceChard said:

And what was the actual mid exchange rate on the day, as compared with the exchange rate you were charged?

😎

I've used Wise and one or two other 3rd party services to send money to the fam in Indonesia and they always give substantially better retail F/X rates than you get from the banks or forex companies.  HSBCs retail F/X spreads are well into the realms of taking the piss.

[MickB]

3 hours ago, Silverlocks said:

I've used Wise and one or two other 3rd party services to send money to the fam in Indonesia and they always give substantially better retail F/X rates than you get from the banks or forex companies.  HSBCs retail F/X spreads are well into the realms of taking the piss.

HSBC are crooks. My missus got stung years ago paying a speeding fine in Germany for me. Biggest crooks out there. 

[Silverlocks]

2 hours ago, MickB said:

HSBC are crooks. My missus got stung years ago paying a speeding fine in Germany for me. Biggest crooks out there. 

The rest of the banks and Bro de Change companies are just as bad.  Even Western Union gave better rates with online transfers.