Ive just joined airbnb and am trying to figure out the best way to get paid as well. As is noted here and in another similar thread, converting US$ to Rands and then paying hefty international bank fees doesnt seem to offer much promise in terms of making some money out of hosting. I was curious to know if anyone had tried the PayPal option. That is to say using FnB to link ones account to the paypal account for payouts. According to some information I found on FnB's information page regarding setting up paypal to link to your local SA account (even non FnB) the costs involved are as follows:
What will it cost?
- FNB charges 1.5% of the ZAR amount per Top Up or Withdraw transaction
- FNB will quote a ZAR/USD exchange rate for each Top Up or Withdraw transaction
- No PayPal™ set up costs
- PayPal™ charges between 2.4% to 3.4% + USD 0.30 per transaction
- PayPal™ currency conversion fees may apply at 2.5% above the prevailing exchange rate
- For more information on PayPal™ costs visit www.paypal.com/za
So after airbnb have taken their 3%US$ cut, paypal will take another approx 3%US$ cut and finally FnB will take a 1.5%ZAR cut:
so on R500 this should mean you land up with roughly R460....which seems better than going the international bank transfer route
How do I withdraw money from a PayPal™ account
FNB provides a 'Withdraw' service that allows you to transfer (withdraw) funds from your PayPal™ account into your South African bank account. Simply login to Online Banking and select the 'PayPal™ Services' menu option.
Once you have registered for the service, you can transfer funds (US dollars) from your PayPal™ account to your South African bank account in rands.
NB: Remember that according to South African Reserve Bank exchange control regulations, all funds received into your PayPal™ account must be withdrawn within 30 days of receipt.
When completing the FNB 'Withdraw' service you will be required to disclose the purpose of your transaction and provide contact information to ensure that you comply with all South African Reserve Bank regulations as this is a cross border payment.
....
So I dont know if this if feasible or not.
Does anybody out there have any experience with going this route?
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks
Jo