PayPal?

[HanabiKo83]

Would it work/be cheap to send money from a Japanese bank account to an American bank account through PayPal? For example, if I were to post an auction for something of no value and have a family member bid and win the auction and send it to my bank account in America, would that be possible to do at a cheap rate? I'm not in Japan yet, but I've been kind of worried about spending too much money on constantly transferring money to the US.

Josh

[bdmp]

I have had the exact same idea, but I haven't tried it . I am going to need to soon so I'll tell you if I can do it. I have bought something from my friend in the states and we used pay pal to do it. so you don't even have to set up a auction thing. Just "pay" your father.

[U99A]

When you pay for something wih paypal, isnt it thorough a credit card?

If thats the case, how could you send money home wih paypal?

[HanabiKo83]

You CAN use a credit card (wouldn't make much sense to do it that way though), OR you can transfer funds with your debit/checking account.

[bd1215]

spending too much money on constantly transferring money to the US.

The cheapest way from Japan would be transfer by postal checking account.If you are in the US, ask your post office what kind of account would be best for recieving money from Japan. Using paypal is possible, but the recieving side has to pay for the transfer a certain %ige. And paypal can withhold money without reason. Read the small print.

[aha yes]

Besides having to pay PayPal a percentage each time you usse it, another thing that could potentially cost you is that if you transfer enough "payments" through PayPal to become liable for tax on the income, you or your family could end up owing Uncle Sam. Of course, maybe the IRS wouldn't notice if you didn't claim it, but if they did notice or by chance audited you, the transactions are well documented on the Internet.

Anyway, what Japanese banks work with PayPal?

Suggestion 1: Try not to send money 'constantly'. If you can, save up in a Japanese account and transfer larger sums once or twice a year.

Suggestion 2: Set up online banking with one of the big banks, like Bank of America -- they don't charge a fee for receiving money INTO the account from certain banks they have special arrangements with, including UFJ. UFJ has a telebanking service that charges 3500yen for any amount of money to be transferred OUT OF the account into BoA. So that way you only pay a fee on one side. 3500yen can be cheaper than other methods where the fees depend on how much you send.

bd1215,
What's the charge for postal checking transfers?