Tip: Foreign currency, buying from overseas

Kenjutsu · Post by **Kenjutsu** » 21 Jul 2008, 14:02

Recently, I bought an upgrade to ConvertXtoDVD. The default currency is euro. I decided to first see what the exchange rate on the other available currencies would be, before buying. I used XE for the conversion, and found that (at that time) to buy in euros, would work out to about R282. Of all the other currencies, the Australian dollar worked out the cheapest at about R227.

Website · Post by **hamin_aus** » 21 Jul 2008, 14:09

Nice tip!

VinceThePrince · Post by **VinceThePrince** » 21 Jul 2008, 15:49

jamin_za wrote:Nice tip!

+1

I am always buying online, this will save me hundreds...

*edit: spelling

Hex_Rated · Post by **Hex_Rated** » 21 Jul 2008, 16:53

At first I thought this was about how to buy foreign currency and thought someone was going to get a warning / banned. IIRC foreign currency (notes) can't be bought directly, eg it's illegal to buy and keep $5,000 and sell it when the rand drops and then wait till we do a bit better and then buy dollars. You are permitted to do it through some exchanges / investment groups but you can't do it directly.

If you did this with large sums in Zim, you'd probably be a multiquadrillion / quintillionaire / sextillion aire... And the next day, it would be worth 2c.

Nice tip on the Oz dollar BTW. Are they stronger than the USD yet? I know the Canadian dollar is 1:1 with the USD now.

Ike · Post by **Ike** » 21 Jul 2008, 18:08

Hex_Rated wrote:At first I thought this was about how to buy foreign currency and thought someone was going to get a warning / banned. IIRC foreign currency (notes) can't be bought directly, eg it's illegal to buy and keep $5,000 and sell it when the rand drops and then wait till we do a bit better and then buy dollars. You are permitted to do it through some exchanges / investment groups but you can't do it directly.

If you did this with large sums in Zim, you'd probably be a multiquadrillion / quintillionaire / sextillion aire... And the next day, it would be worth 2c.

Nice tip on the Oz dollar BTW. Are they stronger than the USD yet? I know the Canadian dollar is 1:1 with the USD now.

since when? I have several currencies in our safe. The bank actually sells it to you...

Hex_Rated · Post by **Hex_Rated** » 21 Jul 2008, 18:26

Ike wrote:
Hex_Rated wrote:At first I thought this was about how to buy foreign currency and thought someone was going to get a warning / banned. IIRC foreign currency (notes) can't be bought directly, eg it's illegal to buy and keep $5,000 and sell it when the rand drops and then wait till we do a bit better and then buy dollars. You are permitted to do it through some exchanges / investment groups but you can't do it directly.

If you did this with large sums in Zim, you'd probably be a multiquadrillion / quintillionaire / sextillion aire... And the next day, it would be worth 2c.

Nice tip on the Oz dollar BTW. Are they stronger than the USD yet? I know the Canadian dollar is 1:1 with the USD now.
since when? I have several currencies in our safe. The bank actually sells it to you...

http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&pw ... ng&spell=1

But I think the bank is fine, they probably sell it at higher prices and buy it at lower prices then the exchange rate and deal with it through forex. Unless they've changed the law, it's illegal to do it through any unofficial means or unlicensed currency dealers.

My dad told me this a few years ago and two of his degrees are BCom Economics + MBA (graduated cum laude) so I think he knows what he's talking about. He still kept over $1000 cash in our safe from one of his recent trip and said it's strictly speaking illegal to do that, you aren't allowed to keep it, you must convert it back to rands. Don't know if it's changed but I'm sure keeping $100,000 in notes would be frowned upon by the law.

Kenjutsu · Post by **Kenjutsu** » 21 Jul 2008, 23:01

Hex_Rated wrote:If you did this with large sums in Zim, you'd probably be a multiquadrillion / quintillionaire / sextillion aire... And the next day, it would be worth 2c.

That is why all Zim notes have an expiration date. They are only valid until a certain date.

Hex_Rated wrote:Nice tip on the Oz dollar BTW. Are they stronger than the USD yet? I know the Canadian dollar is 1:1 with the USD now.

Just be careful with the Oz dollar. Today at one stage the US$ worked out cheaper compared to the AUD (by about R30) for the one product I checked.

DAE_JA_VOO · Post by **DAE_JA_VOO** » 21 Jul 2008, 23:09

Ike wrote: since when? I have several currencies in our safe. The bank actually sells it to you...

Hmmm. Interesting. I always thought you needed a plane ticket to show what the currency was for.

Friggs · Post by **Friggs** » 21 Jul 2008, 23:38

DAE_JA_VOO wrote:
Ike wrote: since when? I have several currencies in our safe. The bank actually sells it to you...
Hmmm. Interesting. I always thought you needed a plane ticket to show what the currency was for.

I'm sure it states it in your passport...

Just checked, it states:

SA Passport wrote:2. Unused amounts must be resold to your banker in South Africa

It's under "Foreign travel allowance" so not 100% sure but what else could that mean? When I went to buy currency to go over to Ireland a year or so ago I had to produce my passport and ticket otherwise they wouldn't sell it to me.

Hex_Rated · Post by **Hex_Rated** » 21 Jul 2008, 23:55

I think if it was legal it would wreak havoc on the economies of countries. Not sure how it works but my guess is it would falsely devalue or overvalue currency.

DAE_JA_VOO · Post by **DAE_JA_VOO** » 22 Jul 2008, 00:22

Friggs wrote:It's under "Foreign travel allowance" so not 100% sure but what else could that mean? When I went to buy currency to go over to Ireland a year or so ago I had to produce my passport and ticket otherwise they wouldn't sell it to me.

Yeah, exactly. It was like that when i went to London as well. They refused to sell to me unless i showed them my passport and ticket.

Hex_Rated wrote:I think if it was legal it would wreak havoc on the economies of countries. Not sure how it works but my guess is it would falsely devalue or overvalue currency.

Exactly what i was thinking.

Ike, what bank are you part of dude?

lancelot · Post by **lancelot** » 22 Jul 2008, 09:14

You cannot obtain foreign currency from any Institution in South Africa unless you have Reserve bank clearance. A valid passport and return air ticket is acceptable, your overseas allowance varies but it may be as high as R750000. This is what may be taken out in one year if you are returning to SA. Emigration allowances vary, that is why many people do not tell the authorities that they are leaving permanently.
Trading in foreign currency is still illegal in SA, although small credit card transactions are overlooked.
Money that you have left from a previous trip should be resold but most people do not. They keep it for the next trip.
Not many sites offer the kind of currency transactions that Kenjutsu mentioned.