Sending money from US to Germany

July 18, 2007 8:28 PM

A german friend of mine needs to send me ~US$300. What is a simple and inexpensive way for her to send me the money from Germany to the US? Speed is not important.
posted by kickingtheground to Work & Money (14 answers total)

international postal money orders worked for me, Japan -> US. Purchased at the post office.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 8:30 PM on July 18, 2007 [2 favorites]

Maybe PayPal? I don't know if there are fees associated with international transactions or not.
posted by bolognius maximus at 8:44 PM on July 18, 2007

Can you set up a Google Checkout account (no transaction fees, for now) and have her pay with a credit card?
posted by thejoshu at 9:25 PM on July 18, 2007

Cash in a registered envelope. I've had many Europeans pay me this way.
posted by ssg at 9:28 PM on July 18, 2007

Best answer: I do this with Paypal regularly without hassle.

They pay in their own currency, and I withdraw in US$. If everyone is cognizant of the exchange rates or if you've pre-arranged values in other currencies it's just like a domestic transaction.
posted by foobario at 10:05 PM on July 18, 2007

Can't she just go to her bank and make an transaction there? I've done that (admittedly in the opposite direction, from Australia to Germany). She needs to know your bank details, and there will be a transaction fee (here it was $A30 (<$US20), nothing exorbitant), but it's very easy.
posted by kisch mokusch at 10:28 PM on July 18, 2007

When I was in high school on a study program in Germany, my Mom sent me $300 via FedEx inside a newspaper. Worked like a charm.
posted by web-goddess at 2:46 AM on July 19, 2007

Ask your bank if they accept cheques drawn in euros.

I've sent personal cheques drawn in dollars to Europe and had them cashed, no problem. My bank is HSBC, don't recall the charge, but clearly not high enough to sear my memory.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:51 AM on July 19, 2007

If you can't send hard cash, paypal seems to be the cheapest and easiest way for transactions under $1000. Over $1000 you can usually do it cheaper via wire transfer through your bank (fixed fee at my bank is $35 - $45, depending where you are, where paypal is a % of the transaction)
posted by cmicali at 6:00 AM on July 19, 2007

A personal cheque?
posted by chunking express at 8:08 AM on July 19, 2007

hawala?
posted by Thug at 8:19 AM on July 19, 2007

amex traveller's checks should be easily obtainable for someone in germany. wire transfers are very common over there as well, so that shouldn't be a big issue, though your bank will charge you for the incoming here (cause america lives in the sixties).

paypal ... errr ... it will probably work but those guys freak me out. they tend to hold money every now and then for no reason.
posted by krautland at 11:28 AM on July 19, 2007

chunking: A personal cheque from Germany will be in Euros and US banks will charge a fair bit on the exchange rate, that is if the tellers at bank can figure out how to exchange from Euro's to Dollars.

Years ago my brother send me a Irish money order for £100 (this is way before the Euro) and the local bank charged about $20 for the transaction, with $20~=£15, quite the ripoff.

I think an International Money Order in US Dollars send via certified Post is the best way. They are available from Banks or Post Offices; a minor fee to purchase and no fee to deposit. Just make sure it's in US Dollars!

Paypal sounds like the quickest method, but I agree with krautland about them.
posted by zaphod at 6:54 PM on July 19, 2007

You can find some advice at http://movingmoney.net about how to avoid paying more than you need to when converting/sending money.
posted by dbateman at 1:17 AM on September 9, 2007