Does Paypal have the authority to charge for currency conversion?
<p>Paypal charges somewhere around 4% to convert US dollars to Aussie dollars when they pay me. What is this fee for? All conversions are computerised now. I have written them and they don't respond. To me, it's theft.</p>

<p>The <em>most minimal</em> elements of theft are:</p>

<ol>
<li>An unauthorised taking or use of another's property; and</li>
<li>An intent to permanently deprive that person of that property or its use</li>
</ol>

<p>You've authorised the fee as per the terms of service that you agreed to. If you didn't read the terms of service, you are deemed to have read it.</p>

<p>As the first element is not satisifed, no, it's not theft.</p>

<p>As to what that fee is for, it's not really a question of law, but because they're a business and they are entitled to recover the costs of providing products or services and make a profit when you use their products or services, I fairly confidently would say that they're charging you to recover the costs of providing you their products and services as well as to make a profit from your use of their products and services. But again, not a question of law.</p>

<p>Not really, just about every currency exchange company does this. After all, how would they make money?</p>

<p>The story around this is that you are being charged for a service. You're paying them for the completion of a service, where they convert the currency of the money for you. Similar things can include being charged for delivery when buying things online, or having a real estate agent have commission from the sale of a house.</p>

<p>So no, it's not theft.</p>

<p>You agreed that they could charge for this when you accepted their <a href="https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/ua/cfsgpds-full#int_18_Fees_and_charges" rel="nofollow">terms of service</a> (fees and charges).</p>

conversion currency