Stupid Australian $

[SofaMan]

As of today, it's lost 29% of its value since July. I suppose parity with the US$ was too good to last.

Apparently, in uncertain economic times, money markets retreat into 'safe harbour' currencies, like the Yen. the A$, apparently, is not one of these, since we have a commodity-based economy.

Just by way of comparison, the Aussie $ has lost more of its value that the Mexican peso and the Brazilian real.

:mad:

[Vector Sigma 13]

So much for the dollar for dollar by Christmas eh? I really enjoyed all those indulgences from Robot Kingdom while the $AU was worth something. On the plus side my exchange rate calculator is getting a good work out.

[loophole]

no more Amazon orders for me :(

[kup]

no more Amazon orders for me :(

same here

[Kyle]

This is not good for me as a seller at a fair. My prices can no longer be as attractive... :o

[1orion2many]

:)You'll have to put on your best smile to attract the customers Kyle:D.

[Kyle]

Or... as someone suggested last time, have a stripper on my table... :o

[STL]

The word is that the AUD is trading far below what it should atm and that its more of a function of the global hysteria. Basically people are drawing it out of Australia and putting it into more safe places like Japan though that hasn't really helped their cause much either.

[Pulse]

Oh that's ok... :) (The figures I want in the upcoming months aren't that expensive anyway... ;))

[GoktimusPrime]

...all at a time with all these new TFs coming out in Japan. *sniff.sob.sniff* :~(

Still not as bad as 2000 though... collecting Car Robot and the first wave of Takara reissues was financially excruciating with the AUD's poor performance during that year. :/

Our tourism/hospitality and export industries should be smiling atm though.

[STL]

Our tourism/hospitality and export industries should be smiling atm though.

If the market is at all inclined to take a holiday at this time...

EDIT:

66c in early morning trade. Fellow collectors, I believe, we are proverbially $#@!ed.

[lcz128]

man... I think I may sit on an RK order for the time being <_<

[sifun]

We should tell Robotkingdom to trade in aussie dollars.

[i_amtrunks]

Our tourism/hospitality and export industries should be smiling atm though.

American and Euopean based travellers don't have the money to travel, since their markets have taken a bigger hit than ours. However the Asia based Travellers will be laughing!

US$0.65 is still better than the US$0.50 we had back at the turn of the millennium, don't know about Transformers but it was still slightly cheaper to buy DBZ stuff from the US back then! :D

However my plans to order stuff from overseas for Chrissy presents this year is going down the gurgler... Since Paypal takes so long to clear payments, my Alt Wheeljack ended up costing me about $15 extra than it did when I actually bought it.

[jaydisc]

Since Paypal takes so long to clear payments, my Alt Wheeljack ended up costing me about $15 extra than it did when I actually bought it.

Just FYI, in case you haven't been following some of the other Paypal threads, you can avoid this delay simply by attaching a credit card (or Visa/MC debit card), even if you don't use it.

[i_amtrunks]

Just FYI, in case you haven't been following some of the other Paypal threads, you can avoid this delay simply by attaching a credit card (or Visa/MC debit card), even if you don't use it.

Interesting... my bank card also doubles as a credit card now... thanks for the heads up!

[dirge]

The dollar has sunk to 2000's exchange rate against the yen. As someone who buys more TFs from Japan than the USA, I'm not happy. As Sofaman said, the yen is considered a "safe" currency.. ironically the Japanese economy has been sluggish for years while ours is still doing relatively well.

The RBA's rate drop will accelerate this slide, at least until panicked speculators realise that our economy is doing a lot better than those of countries who removed all their banking regulations (USA, Iceland..)

[jaydisc]

Interesting... my bank card also doubles as a credit card now... thanks for the heads up!

That's exactly what I have. Unbeknownst to Paypal, my "credit card" and "bank account" are really the same thing. That way, when I pay, I use the "credit" card and I get my bank's better conversion rate, Visa protections, Paypal loses 2-3% (bonus! :D) and when I collect, I just put it back into my bank account.

[k.wong23]

That's exactly what I have. Unbeknownst to Paypal, my "credit card" and "bank account" are really the same thing. That way, when I pay, I use the "credit" card and I get my bank's better conversion rate, Visa protections, Paypal loses 2-3% (bonus! :D) and when I collect, I just put it back into my bank account.

Eh? jay so if you pay at robotkingdom, you go through paypal->credit card?

Or you just purely use your 'credit' card at RK?

reason being is that my order the other day from RK (0.72USD/AUD) paypal wouldn't let me instant bank transfer even though I have my bank(credit) card linked. Ended up using an echeque which used a rate of 0.71USD/AUD:mad:

[jaydisc]

Eh? jay so if you pay at robotkingdom, you go through paypal->credit card?

Or you just purely use your 'credit' card at RK?

reason being is that my order the other day from RK (0.72USD/AUD) paypal wouldn't let me instant bank transfer even though I have my bank(credit) card linked. Ended up using an echeque which used a rate of 0.71USD/AUD:mad:

I use credit card through Paypal. Didn't know you could use card direct. Pretty sure you can't. Also, I change the conversion options (doable after choosing credit card as funding source) to let my card do the conversion which is best because Paypal gouges conversion rates.

[k.wong23]

I use credit card through Paypal. Didn't know you could use card direct. Pretty sure you can't. Also, I change the conversion options (doable after choosing credit card as funding source) to let my card do the conversion which is best because Paypal gouges conversion rates.

Thanks for the tip will have to have a look at it next time I make a payment on paypal :)

However isn't there a fee that is paid for a non AUD transaction on a credit card?

[iceburn]

k.wong..that depends on your credit card bank/company you're with

[Golden Phoenix]

However isn't there a fee that is paid for a non AUD transaction on a credit card?

I have one of those Visa debit cards. I can use it as a credit card but it takes it straight out of my bank account. In any transaction where it isn't AU$, it adds 2% onto it. It's not too bad, just a little under what paypal adds, but you get the added bonus of paypal not getting anything.


We should tell Robotkingdom to trade in aussie dollars.

Well we collectively order enough from them, maybe they could do like an Ozformer discount or something

[1orion2many]

Or... as someone suggested last time, have a stripper on my table... :o

:confused:UUmmmm I don't know if you dancing around naked will attract anymore customers:p:D.

[Zippo]

Under 60c US here in New Zealand. Making my purchases in the weekend at HTS more expensive as I don't get charged until 4-5 days after purchase (i.e now)

Though the Ausatralian dollar is getting back to what it should be (87c) compared to what it was a few months ago at 79c.

[STL]

It would appear that rationality finally struck the Aussie dollar again. Let's see where it goes by the time we wake tmrw.

[llamatron]

It would appear that rationality finally struck the Aussie dollar again. Let's see where it goes by the time we wake tmrw.

It's back up over 70c as I type this.:D

[Kyle]

It's back up over 70c as I type this.:D

Whew... :p

[griffin]

Not any more. It's back down to 67c. :(

The yen is even worse to the AU$, with us losing almost half the value of our currency to it (from about 110y 2 months ago to 66y now).

[griffin]

Looking at this website that archives exchange rates:
http://www.gocurrency.com/index.htm
exactly 3 months ago (July 10th) to now (Oct 10th)

US$ 0.96 - 0.67 (down 29 or 30.2%)
£ 0.48 - 0.39 (down 9 or 18.75%)
¥ 103 - 66 (down 37 or 35.9%)
EU€ 0.60 - 0.49 (down 11 or 18.3%)
NZ$ 1.27 - 1.12 (down 0.15 or 11.8%)

We're even weakening to the NZ$, how pathetic does that make the AU$ if a 'more troubled economy' like NZ is doing better than we are on the cross-rates.
Every currency I checked had the AU$ dropping by 10-30% in the last 3 months, suggesting that it was either overvalued before (July was the peak) or now just unwanted.
Hell, even Zimbabwe is probably doing better than us...

[Sky Shadow]

Hell, even Zimbabwe is probably doing better than us...

I laughed when I read that. But then again... in July an Australian Dollar would have bought you $27,947 Zimbabwe. And today $1 AU = $177 Zimbabwe.

So in three months we're at 76% of where we were compared to the US$. And Zimbabwe have had something like a 23,886% improvement.

Sigh.

[griffin]

Ah, but about a month ago, Zimbabwe re-pegged their currency by cutting off 2 or 3 zeros, which makes it look like a huge improvement, when infact it is still fairly flat.

[jaydisc]

Thanks for the tip will have to have a look at it next time I make a payment on paypal :)

However isn't there a fee that is paid for a non AUD transaction on a credit card?

Every bank charges for currency conversion. There are just different ways in which you see this charge. NAB used to separate it out on the statement. Bendigo just silently tacks on 2%. Not really silent, it's disclosed in the product disclosure statement, it's just not itemized on your bill.

When I had a NAB savings account and went to a USA ATM, they'd gouge me with a straight AUD 4 Overseas ATM usage fee. But I've not seen any flat fee like that for an overseas/foreign currency credit card transaction.

I find this fee is easy to factor in to the conversions you get from RK or somewhere else. Just add 2%. The converter I use (http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic) as an option to do that (in the pulldown called interbank rate + 2%) which is why I use it. Of course, it's easy to multiple by 1.02 anyway.

Never do your estimate based on a straight conversion rate you see at xe.com or elsewhere. You have to factor in the bank's cut.

[Sky Shadow]

Ah, but about a month ago, Zimbabwe re-pegged their currency by cutting off 2 or 3 zeros, which makes it look like a huge improvement, when infact it is still fairly flat.

Okay, that makes more sense. It looks like they cut off about ten zeroes... the former Zimbabwean $10 billion seems to now be worth ZW$1.

[dirge]

Okay, that makes more sense. It looks like they cut off about ten zeroes... the former Zimbabwean $10 billion seems to now be worth ZW$1.

Yes, 10 zeros. Not that it'll help much - inflation there is still running at about 200 _million_ percent... :eek:

[Pulse]

That may be so, but how many countries can lay claim to having a 10 million dollar note (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-508840/Zimbabwe-bank-issues-10million--wont-buy-hamburger-Harare.html)? :D

[GoktimusPrime]

Beats carrying a "wheelbarrow of pesos" as my economics teacher used to say. :)

[JuzMel]

Been reading AU Yahoo finance everyday to see which day the AUD is better so I can pay for my Henkei seekers and what I read today is "SO NOT GOOD". :(



Mr Carr said the Australian dollar was likely to trade between $US0.6500 and 0.7000 for the rest of 2008, before dropping to $US0.6000 by the middle of 2009.


Source Here (http://au.biz.yahoo.com/081016/2/202bh.html)

This means "paying lots more" for RK orders from now on. :(

[STL]

You never know really, Mel. The fact is, we were predicted to trade at the lower end of 70c over a year ago but that never happened either until this unprecedented crash. There really are just too many variables out there and no one knows for sure.

[DigDug]

I got gipped with the drop in the international exchange buying the Henkei Thundercracker and Skywarp and I still have yet to pay for city commander :( but the memory of 50c value in USD is still too fresh...

Buying in USD seems really expensive now but things could get a lot worse!

[Firecracker]

It really sucks for me... I bought all my TFs from the States. Sigh, Deluxes for $14AUD shipped a piece... no more. :( My Purchases have slowed down considerably. Retail prices here I cannot justify paying, or afford. Hopefully it creeps back upto the 80c mark before Alternity Convoy & Megatron are released.

[STL]

It really sucks for me... I bought all my TFs from the States. Sigh, Deluxes for $14AUD shipped a piece... no more. :( My Purchases have slowed down considerably. Retail prices here I cannot justify paying, or afford. Hopefully it creeps back upto the 80c mark before Alternity Convoy & Megatron are released.

I know what you mean. I had a US board guy who I thought would be my long term contact for new stuff too but that fell apart as soon as the AUD crashed and burned. :( :( :(

[autobreadticon]

66c . GG

[Adzma]

If this keeps up, I may have to put my collecting on indefinate hiatus. 66 US cents is just ridiculous.

[GoktimusPrime]

...still not as bad as 2000 when the AUD dropped below 50 USc. :/

[kup]

Its still manageable.

I have slowed down in my imports but not stopped collecting. The only thing really being affected is my purchase of vintage and G1 figures. I can handle the new releases such as Henkei much better because their releases are spaced out monthly with projected release schedules. When it comes to G1 and others, it was pretty much about chance, you never knew what you would find while scanning Ebay and some of the toys can reach $100 or more. It was something that was impossible to plan as it was based on opportunity.

[Pulse]

66c . GG

:(

I don't think I'll be shipping my loot until my very last pre-ordered fig becomes available... *sigh*

[dirge]

I'm so glad I went nuts and finished off G1 (and grabbed some BotCon stuff) while the dollar was over 90c. I dipped into savings quite a bit - but my theory of doing so while the rate was so high was spot on.

Now I just have to again save the $3000 or so I blew...

[griffin]

The one good thing about the financial troubles in America at the moment, is that we should see more stuff on ebay go cheaply, at least, the more obscure stuff.

[blackie]

The one good thing about the financial troubles in America at the moment, is that we should see more stuff on ebay go cheaply, at least, the more obscure stuff.

that was my theory, more people need to sell off their collections, sad for them, means bargains for me :P

[gamblor916]

It's sliding to $0.60 now :(

[sanbot]

I'm really starting to believe that everytime I go on holidays the A$ is not good. Its like the TF Gods are telling me that its not my time yet.

And seeing all this Jap TF goodness but feeling helpless to spend on them is something you just don't want to wish upon any of your fellow TF fans. :(

And now the A$ has sunk below 0.60!!!! Crikey! 30% less TF purchases here I come.

On a slightly related question, are TF's considered cheaper in Hiroshima the say in Osaka and Tokyo?

[Zippo]

The upshot of the US$ and most others failing, is that the Australian dollar is also getting weaker against the New Zealand dollar. Meaning it doesn't cost me as much to import things from Australia as it was a few months ago.

Looking towards Australia as a possible source of Japanese toy goodness..

[jgon2098]

One of my recent purchases on the bay was 1500usd. this translated into 2300 aud.

I think that pretty much puts everything into perspective.

2 months ago, when the dollar was almost par, I would've probably at most shelved out 1600 AUD. which basically mean i shelved out an extra 700 just cause of the stupid bloody exchange rate.

Fortunately, I made the payment around the 0.7 mark, which is basically the highest its been since it first initially dropped to 0.65.

[MV75]

I thought that the NZ $ was at like 2 cents by now. :D

[Zippo]

I thought that the NZ $ was at like 2 cents by now. :D


Why you little ..

[Pulse]

hee hee :D




Man, this dipping dollar hasn't curtailed my TF spending habits at all... :o

[Adzma]

Well I have to say, I'm not looking forward to MP-2 and 7's releases. They'll probably set me back by at least $400, and considering I'm earning a casual retail worker wage, that hurts. :(

[i_amtrunks]

What does the Aussie market need to do to recover?

it's not like we are dying completely like the UK Market, and thus deserve to be punished, our market is still going somewhat strong in contrast to Europe and the US.

[kup]

We can't do anything. The dollar is going down simply because investors are running away to currencies which they percieve as more stable and safer such as the Yen.

[STL]

What does the Aussie market need to do to recover?

it's not like we are dying completely like the UK Market, and thus deserve to be punished, our market is still going somewhat strong in contrast to Europe and the US.

I don't think it's up to us to determine our exchange rate. We're the 4th most traded currency in the world but that's a function of how attractive it is to invest in us. But many of the reasons for investing in us have dried up so we're seeing less money flowing in b/c of global weakness and hence less demand for our $. This may be a matter of years before we even recover in terms of our currency.

The UK is in a rescession and the US is. Europe is faltering as you've noted and that leads to a very pessimistic outlook. I regret now not taking up law offers and going down the finance route next year. If there's a global rescession, the finance market will be hit hardest and there will be flow on effects to Australia. My original reason for following finance was b/c I figured there were international opportunities for me b/c the company I'm joining has branches in Europe and Asia.

But yeah, I don't imagine things getting better any time soon. Basically, as a collector I'm just going to bite the bullet and accept that my $ won't go as far. What's important is to keep my job and not waste money on holidays/overseas expenditures that I can live without. That will mean we've got more to spend. The $ I fear might keep collapsing b/c each bit of new bad news that hits sees it taking a pounding and people are expecting worse news to come out of Europe. Combine that with hysteria, our $ will take a severe beating as people flock to the safer currencies that hold value which in many cases will be Yen.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/27/2401710.htm?section=business

[griffin]

Unfortunately, I don't see our currency recovering any time soon. I think it will stay where it is while the major western economies remain in flat growth or recession, because our currency is pegged to raw materials/resources (like iron ore and gold). While the major economies stop importing chinese steel (which mostly uses our iron ore) and any of our raw materials, our exports go down and our currency has less value. It's good for anyone still exporting, even at lesser amounts, because they get more AU$ back per unit sent out, but as the sheer quantity of exports drops, others won't be as interested in investing here and in our currency until our exports start going up again.
Which could be up to a year away according to some estimates on how long the British and American recessions will be.

[Golden Phoenix]

I heard that one economist in the UK said that the AU$ was the whipping boy of the world crisis. Now we know how Waspinator (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Waspinator)feels...

[Gutsman Heavy]

Why universe hate Australia?

[MV75]

Why do people say yen is safe? It's currently in the toilet too.

[Tober]

Why universe hate Australia?

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj230/AUST_Tober/lhcorey_narrowweb__300x3780.jpg

[i_amtrunks]

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj230/AUST_Tober/lhcorey_narrowweb__300x3780.jpg

huh, and here I was thinking it had something to do with this idiot:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f285/i_amtrunks/moron.jpg

This pic really needs to be lol-catted...

[dirge]

Why universe hate Australia?

Because currency traders (who are largely speculative) are panicking. They're moving money around in a frenzy.


Why do people say yen is safe? It's currently in the toilet too.

See above.

It's all driven by fear, not reason. The Yen is seen as safe, so lots of currency traders are moving into the Yen, away from currencies such as AUD & CAD. They're acting like sheep too in that as the flow of money starts and the rate starts to move, more and more rush to cut their losses.

The irony is that a high Yen is _bad_ for an export driven economy like Japan, which is _still_ trying to drag itself out of a long period of stagnation. Japan doesn't do a whole lot of importing, so a high Yen isn't really that useful to Japan.

[Tober]

huh, and here I was thinking it had something to do with this idiot:

He came to mind first too, but at least he is OUT now, so I went topical celebrity trash instead.

[iceburn]

Yen is _bad

hey..don't talk bad about my fiancee okay :D

[STL]

Oh god, Tober! That was hilarious! :D :D :D


Why do people say yen is safe? It's currently in the toilet too.

The Yen is safe in the regard that it is an economy with a solid base. It's growth has stagnated and its government constantly struggles to find ways to increase growth in the country. Low interest rates are maintained b/c the government is trying to prevent savings and getting people to spend/stimulate demand. The problem though is that what was happening recently was that people borrowed at 1% (I kid u not, Japanese interest rates are that low!) in Japanese Yen and then converted it to AUD and earned a healthy 7% odd in Australia courtesy of those interest rate hikes. This meant that in the good times of years past people actually sold the Yen to invest in Australia creating demand for the AUD helping it to appreciate against the Yen (as it did). The bubble though has burst and people are moving as fast as possible to liquidate any assets in profit territory and then repaying their loans denominated in Yen which means they're selling AUDs. Hence why we are the "whipping boys" at the moment

Trust me, the Japanese do not want this problem. B/c as Dirge says the more their currency appreciates the more problems it causes for the Japanese in terms of exports. I wouldn't be surprised if the Reserve Bank and hte Bank of Japan (Japan's equivalent of hte Reserve Bank) have intervened in the past few days since last Thurs/Friday to provide liquidity in the crisis so that neither currency the AUD nor the Yen appreciate or depreciate too much b/c of this hysteria as people rush to sell AUD and buy Yen - overdemand in the latter and oversupply in the former. I haven't thought it thru but it should run something like that.

I had a chat w/ a former associate of mine and he was telling me that volatitliy figures that his firm is measuring are off the scale for hte AUD at the moment. No one honestly has a clue where hte currency is headed in this market and anyone telling you that it will settle to a level in the next few months is full of baloney. According to him and the numbers based on expectations for mining sector, interest rates and inflation, it realistically should settle at 67c but the markets are not performing normally and it'd take a fool to say he knows where were headed. Fundamentals mean nothing in all this.

[jgon2098]

man.. i was just gonna make payment on an item lot, then i realised todays drop meant i'm a few bucks off. dammit!!!

[TheDirtyDigger]

Just paid through paypal for something....


Exchange rate: 1 Australian Dollar = 0.595744 US Dollars

[jgon2098]

Just paid through paypal for something....

mate.... i'm just about to pay something as well... 220 USD,,,= 360 AUD... omg... i told the seller to wait a bit to come back.... i cant believe this...

[STL]

It's a bit better now. 62.8c so makes the Paypal rate at about 60.3c. But not flash.

[llamatron]

Back when the dollar was in the 90's I should have purchased $1000 worth of pre-orders from BBTS and then cancelled them all and kept the store credit.

[Borgeman]

Back when the dollar was in the 90's I should have purchased $1000 worth of pre-orders from BBTS and then cancelled them all and kept the store credit.


dont we love hindsight :P

George

[STL]

It's up 0.64c today! That's surprising given that people were expecting it to take an absolute battering and even fall thru 60c but I guess things r just a day to day proposition at the moment.

[Pulse]

It's up 0.64c today! That's surprising given that people were expecting it to take an absolute battering and even fall thru 60c but I guess things r just a day to day proposition at the moment.

I'm sure the Roller Coaster will resume its normal course tomorrow... :rolleyes:

[jgon2098]

Just made payment for a 220 USD item... 360 AUD FTL!!! 2 month ago I would have paid maybe 235 AUD at the most when it was almost on par at 0.95.

[MV75]

Yea don't worry, up 900 today, crash 1000 tomorrow. :D

[Adzma]

Just made payment for a 220 USD item... 360 AUD FTL!!! 2 month ago I would have paid maybe 235 AUD at the most when it was almost on par at 0.95.
*Puts arm around jgon's shoulder* We know, we're sad too. :( There are a few things I want to import at the moment, but I can't bring myself to do it because I know that if I buy them now, the dollar will go through some form of miracle recovery causing me to lose a lot of money, but if I don't it'll just keep dropping to taunt me. It plots against us I tell you!

[jgon2098]

*Puts arm around jgon's shoulder* We know, we're sad too. :( There are a few things I want to import at the moment, but I can't bring myself to do it because I know that if I buy them now, the dollar will go through some form of miracle recovery causing me to lose a lot of money, but if I don't it'll just keep dropping to taunt me. It plots against us I tell you!

Yeah mate I really wanted to wait it out, I personally feel it'll come back, but then again it may not.

I ended up paying because, well it was an offer package I couldnt refuse...

MISB G1 Snarler, MIB G1 Grotusque with insert, MOSC G1 Goldbug, G1 Divebomb box with postage included...

The misb snarler was already enough for the 220, the rest, well their basically just throw ins... i'l take em!!!

[Golden Phoenix]

There are a few things I want to import at the moment, but I can't bring myself to do it because I know that if I buy them now, the dollar will go through some form of miracle recovery causing me to lose a lot of money, but if I don't it'll just keep dropping to taunt me.

Your jinxing us.
You should buy them so the dollar goes up for the rest of us. Take one for the team!

[k.wong23]

Mmm may order soon tonight then!! :D

[Adzma]

Your jinxing us.
You should buy them so the dollar goes up for the rest of us. Take one for the team!
Well, maybe if everybody chips in. ;)

[Tiby]

This has started making buying from Australia all that more attractive again.

[blackie]

This has started making buying from Australia all that more attractive again.

now if only there was good stuff here....

[STL]

Hrm... our markets were more circumspect today so it depends on what happens on wall street over the next few days. If they're positive, then we can expect a big immediate surge but I think Aussie and Asian investors have gotten a lot wiser in the last few days and not followed Wall Street's lead straight away. Better to see where it all pans out rather than just rushing blindly. Hopefully that's good news the AUD yet

[griffin]

This has started making buying from Australia all that more attractive again.

We need an Aussie TFs exclusive to flog off to the yanks... :D
Hmmm, those special edition classics will do. :)

[STL]

whoa, early morning trade we are just below 0.67 USD :eek:

I wonder if I need to pay for anything atm...

EDIT:

And we are at 0.67! Man, wouldn't love to be in the job of forecasting currency? Those guys have no clue at all...

[i_amtrunks]

And we are at 0.67! Man, wouldn't love to be in the job of forecasting currency? Those guys have no clue at all...

And thats half the problem with the stock exchange/international currency markets.

No-one really has a clue, they all just guess.

[k.wong23]

Hehe yes so good!! May have to make an order today for SURE

[jgon2098]

DAMMIT!!!!!!!! why didnt i wait... i lost like a 100 bucks. doh!!

[kup]

Awesome! I hope it keeps climbing because I want to buy Carnivac and I have missed out on a few rare complete auctions due to the bad dollar.

I am also holding out from buying some combiner accessories that I need as well as Reprolabels.

[jgon2098]

Awesome! I hope it keeps climbing because I want to buy Carnivac and I have missed out on a few rare complete auctions due to the bad dollar.

I am also holding out from buying some combiner accessories that I need as well as Reprolabels.

are we taking about the carnivac been sold by sonofayoda on the us bay? I have him on my msn, if you want to make a reasonable offer to avoid the market volatility, let me know, I might be able to talk the price down abit for you.

[griffin]

I'm thinking of making some upcoming purchases before next tuesday. Our reserve bank will have its monthly meet, and if they cut interest rates, our dollar will drop. If they keep interest rates on hold because of our unusually high inflation rate, I'd expect our dollar to drop as well, but not by as much, because our economy would be considered too unstable and unpredictable to invest in at this time.
I think the dollar has climbed a little in the last week because of the details coming out of China, with their growth still expected to be at a phenominal 9% in the next year, which will still require our raw materials to fuel. That should make our economy more bankable over the next year, as long as China's figures are not inflated or doctored, and hold at that level as expected.
But it just takes one bit of bad news to thow the global markets in a spin again.

[Tober]

Where are you getting that from? I'm getting 66ish...

[autobreadticon]

oops read wrong, wow bad,...

[Tober]

ok, good :cool:

[jaydisc]

Lookin' good today!!! Currently at .666!

\m/>.<\m/

[Tober]

1 Australian dollar = 0.6758 U.S. dollars

Hopefully this trend will continue and the rapid dropping of the Yen will become fashionable too. ;)

[sanbot]

Don't get too excited boys and gals. As much as its important to stay positive, I highly doubt the A$ is going to increase significantly anytime soon.

With commodity prices, interest rates and global (lack of) growth on the decline, its not looking promising for a country that is so dependent on other countries to be doing well in order for the A$ to do well.

[Tober]

Yeah, apparently the rise is due to the further decline of the USD, our market is actually down again today. :(

So what I don't get is that given that Japan are so dependant of export why is the Yen so high? :confused:

[GoktimusPrime]

The Japanese economy is suffering from having such a high Yen though. I heard on ABC news radio that they've hit their biggest slump in exports in the past seven years and that banks are reducing interest. But I do hope that the yen will decrease... it would be beneficial for the Japanese economy as well as for us who frequently purchase Japanese imports.

[sanbot]

Yeah, apparently the rise is due to the further decline of the USD, our market is actually down again today. :(

So what I don't get is that given that Japan are so dependant of export why is the Yen so high? :confused:

The thing about Japan is that i) their economy is highly self sufficient (not relying too heavily on other economies coz they produce pretty much all their own products) and ii) they are a highly "cashed" up country which rarely borrows money (partly due to the first point). These two factors cause the YEN to stay so strong even when every other countries currency goes down the crapper.

And whilst exports are an integral part of Japan's economy, you must remember that they themselves purchase their own products and services.

[kup]

The thing about Japan is that i) their economy is highly self sufficient (not relying too heavily on other economies coz they produce pretty much all their own products) and ii) they are a highly "cashed" up country which rarely borrows money (partly due to the first point). These two factors cause the YEN to stay so strong even when every other countries currency goes down the crapper.

And whilst exports are an integral part of Japan's economy, you must remember that they themselves purchase their own products and services.

Damn you Japanese efficiency and financial long term responsibility! *shakes fist*

[JuzMel]

Lookin' good today!!! Currently at .666!

\m/>.<\m/
Yeah bugger for me though! :( I just paid for my SC Kit and BT yesterday at 1.56 and today is at 1.52. I could have saved me $5! Arggghh...

[GoktimusPrime]

The thing about Japan is that i) their economy is highly self sufficient (not relying too heavily on other economies coz they produce pretty much all their own products)
Perhaps we should start exporting Iruka (http://www.page.sannet.ne.jp/ikenoue/type1/iruka/img/majide.JPG) to the Japanese. ;) :p

(j/ks ppls... jkz)

[roller]

maybe we could make a mint by selling G1 Stalkers to Americans, he wasnt released there and i always see at least 3 at every toy fare in NSW or WA

[Golden Phoenix]

The thing about Japan is that i) their economy is highly self sufficient (not relying too heavily on other economies coz they produce pretty much all their own products) and ii) they are a highly "cashed" up country which rarely borrows money (partly due to the first point). These two factors cause the YEN to stay so strong even when every other countries currency goes down the crapper.

And whilst exports are an integral part of Japan's economy, you must remember that they themselves purchase their own products and services.

It is a shame that we can't be like that <_<

[roller]

when i was in parliament i did advocate an "Isolationist period"

not like the American one, like the Japanese one, complete cutting off from the world for a few years.

[Lint]

when i was in parliament i did advocate an "Isolationist period"

not like the American one, like the Japanese one, complete cutting off from the world for a few years.

Oh no! We'll need TF bootleggers!

[Stompy]

Must. Resist. Ordering. New Animated waves. From. BBTS.

Although I was glad to have imported close to 100% of what I missed out on when I started collecting when our dollar was at Allspark power. Right now it's just a few energons short to give me enough transforming power to convert my AUD into USD.

[Golden Phoenix]

when i was in parliament i did advocate an "Isolationist period"

not like the American one, like the Japanese one, complete cutting off from the world for a few years.

You were in Parliament. wow, who would of thought.

ROLLER FOR PM!

I do agree sort of with that though. I wouldn't cut ourselves off entirely, but Exports and Imports should be more of a thing on the side. Not relied on, and set up so suddenly stopping exports would have almost no negative effect. It really would have protected us form the American's problems.

[dirge]

You were in Parliament. wow, who would of thought.


Yeah, but he was escorted out within minutes :D

Oh, and I'm still mad at the ¥.

[k.wong23]

Trading at 69c ladies!!

[MV75]

Cool. Shouldn't we have trailbreaker now?

[kup]

Cool. Shouldn't we have trailbreaker now?

I have noticed that toys come out when the dollar dives. I guess its part of their evil plan :p

[k.wong23]

oh yeah baby stil rising...too bad nothing much to buy except to pre-order MP grimlock!

[STL]

Trading at 69c ladies!!

Hey, hey, Whipped! Only I serve out the deprecating stuff here! :mad: ;) :p

I'm very surprised, hopefully it continues.

[blackie]

71c :D
gogogogo 85

[GoktimusPrime]

The AUD needs a cheer squad!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/luckystar_collage.jpg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz8laViiexc)

[Golden Phoenix]

The AUD needs a cheer squad!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/luckystar_collage.jpg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz8laViiexc)

You can do it Dollar, You can do it Dollar
Get to 85c, so you can go much fartha

[kup]

Good. If this trend continues I may continue importing G1s.

[STL]

The irony of all this I find is that no one truly has an idea where the AUD is going. Lots of speculation by experts but no one ever really knows. It's a nice little blessing and hopefully it stays there. This was about the rate I was buying at when I first started out so I'm pretty comfortable with it though not as happy.

[GoktimusPrime]

The irony of all this I find is that no one truly has an idea where the AUD is going. Lots of speculation by experts but no one ever really knows.
Well if I could accurately predict the future I would stop working and play Lotto, Powerball and TAB every week and amass the world's biggest TF collection in a mansion shaped like Iacon. :D

[canofwhoopass_87]

Been overseas for a month now and just checked out www.xe.com ...we're back up to 0.72c for every usd! 10c more than when I left Melbourne. Hopefully when I get back it will miraculously return to it's former 0.95c value.

[Golden Phoenix]

Hopefully when I get back it will miraculously return to it's former 0.95c value.

Haha!
Pull the othere leg will ya

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah... I'll be happy if the AUD returns to 76-80USc. Compared the the behemoth that is the United States economy, even in recession, the Australian economy just isn't worth 95USc

[Hereticpoo]

OMG i just paid for my MP GRIMLOCK Pre-Order.

$240 AUD Inc shipping to Perth! :eek:Paypall gave me 0.63c for the AUD.

I'm feel sick......MP Grimlock is officially the most expensive TOY (Including Macross!) that I have ever purchased. At least thats my whole years acquistitions done! :D

The AUD is sliding like a freefalling, greased housebrick. I blame the dam AUS media. They got everyone too scared to buy a coffee in the morning.

Side note;

*Sigh* I suppose fear keeps the masses compliant. Terrorists, Religion, Sex Offender's, Video Games, Sharks, and the Financial Crisis.

Be scared people, or the media advertisers won't have a market.

[kup]

Yeah I was pretty shocked too when a couple of Galvatron accessories that I ordered ended up being AU$65 in total!

[Lord_Zed]

OMG i just paid for my MP GRIMLOCK Pre-Order.

$240 AUD Inc shipping to Perth! :eek:Paypall gave me 0.63c for the AUD.

I'm feel sick......MP Grimlock is officially the most expensive TOY (Including Macross!) that I have ever purchased. At least thats my whole years acquistitions done! :D

The AUD is sliding like a freefalling, greased housebrick. I blame the dam AUS media. They got everyone too scared to buy a coffee in the morning.

Side note;

*Sigh* I suppose fear keeps the masses compliant. Terrorists, Religion, Sex Offender's, Video Games, Sharks, and the Financial Crisis.

Be scared people, or the media advertisers won't have a market.

I'd guess you weren't buying toys from Japan 6 or so years ago when things were much the same. Sigh!

[griffin]

It is weird. The AU$ was climbing slowly up to US72c, and then this week it just dropped down to US66c, and expected to drop further before recovering middle of the year. Since the dollar can gain or loose that much in a short space of time, and has done so a few times in the last few months, I think it is foolish for economists to try to predict where it will be at any future time. Even I was expecting that it would at least hold itself in the US70c bracket for a while, but the 10% loss in the last week has me lost as to its direction (which helps decide when best to import toys).

[1orion2many]

:confused:I thought we had a pretty strong economy:confused:, why does our dollar go down everytime the U.S economy is up the duff?? Surely if you have the economy that is performing better you should have the steadier currency:confused:. This has never ever made any sense to me and you can say whatever you want until the cows come home, you still wouldn't be able to convince me that it will ever make any sense:confused::confused:.

[Kyle]

*crying like a baby*

[sideswipes brother]

When i first started buying TF's just before Takara started releasing the TFC series and 3000 yen was about 60-65 bucks a pop and that was from HLJ which was much cheaper than BBTS or some other place from the states.

[SofaMan]

:confused:I thought we had a pretty strong economy:confused:, why does our dollar go down everytime the U.S economy is up the duff?? Surely if you have the economy that is performing better you should have the steadier currency:confused:. This has never ever made any sense to me and you can say whatever you want until the cows come home, you still wouldn't be able to convince me that it will ever make any sense:confused::confused:.

It depends on what your currency is based on.

As Australia's is a commodity-based economy, and commodities tend to be very volatile, any time there is economic volatility it hits our currency quite hard.

The Yen and the US$ are perceived as being more stable, "safe harbour" currencies, as their economies are less inherently volatile. For the US this is mainly due to the chicanery that went on at the Bretton Woods conference after the Great Depression, where the US essentially set things up so they could just keep printing and borrowing money and no-one would ever call in the debts.

[Golden Phoenix]

OMG i just paid for my MP GRIMLOCK Pre-Order.

$240 AUD Inc shipping to Perth! :eek:Paypall gave me 0.63c for the AUD.

I'm feel sick......MP Grimlock is officially the most expensive TOY (Including Macross!) that I have ever purchased. At least thats my whole years acquistitions done! :D

The AUD is sliding like a freefalling, greased housebrick. I blame the dam AUS media. They got everyone too scared to buy a coffee in the morning.

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/jimmey-11/Cartoons/petergriffin.gif


The Yen and the US$ are perceived as being more stable, "safe harbour" currencies, as their economies are less inherently volatile.

I am under the impression that the Japanese Yen is a very safe and strong because they have a very self reliant economy

[Lord_Zed]

I am under the impression that the Japanese Yen is a very safe and strong because they have a very self reliant economy

That's true I think, though like America they have yet to come up with a concrete plan to save the country from recession.

And yes this is like the old days when stuff from Japan, and also Amercia for that matter was like luxury goods for us Aussies, for a while there the luxury goods were cheaper than our regular local ones, but alas nothing lasts forever.

[GoktimusPrime]

Their economy is also heavily reliant on exports which are suffering under the inflated yen.

[kup]

The good news is that the dollar has been making its way back overnight (if slowly). I am waiting to see what happens tomorrow before I make payment on an ebay auction I won yesterday.

[MV75]

I am under the impression that the Japanese Yen is a very safe and strong because they have a very self reliant economy

The Japanese have to import everything to then manufacture it into items. They are very very dependant on imports and would collapse without them. Self reliant is a joke phrase to use with them. Heck, they even ran out of butter of all things last year.

The strongness of the yen is unsustainable under current government practices.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_asset_price_bubble

As for us, it's all media driven. I'm at the "gates" to retail and building every day and there is no shortage of spending going on at all. People are buying more than ever.

[Lord_Zed]

Yeah I heard the Japanese government was pushing a plant to lower the value of the Yen as part of thier economy resuce plan, but there's be no concensus just like America and most of the world for matter. Everyone says something has to be done but no one can agree on what.

[GoktimusPrime]

The Japanese have to import everything to then manufacture it into items. They are very very dependant on imports and would collapse without them. Self reliant is a joke phrase to use with them. Heck, they even ran out of butter of all things last year.
The Japanese economy is strong because suckers like us sell them raw materials which they manufacture into finished products and sell back to us at multiple times the value of the materials that the bought! :p :D The Australian economy is too reliant on primary industries IMHO.

[Golden Phoenix]

The Japanese have to import everything to then manufacture it into items. They are very very dependant on imports and would collapse without them. Self reliant is a joke phrase to use with them. Heck, they even ran out of butter of all things last year.

The strongness of the yen is unsustainable under current government practices.

Ah. Thanks.
Funny that they ran out of butter.

Saw this and couldn't stop laughing
http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/contents-of-toilet.gif

[MV75]

The Japanese economy is strong because suckers like us sell them raw materials which they manufacture into finished products and sell back to us at multiple times the value of the materials that the bought! :p :D The Australian economy is too reliant on primary industries IMHO.

Their economy is not strong, an economy based economy is doomed to failure. They don't produce anything without the reliance upon imports. We produce materials/goods that the world needs, japan doesn't. Having a primary industry that you can sell to the world without reliance upon that world to produce the materials/goods is a great thing.

Also, we are the world leaders at alternative energy research amongst other intellectual properties in the medical fields. Just a shame they sell out to the californians.

Plus we have a strong service based side to our economy as well.

Either way, China/India is the future.

[GoktimusPrime]

Golden Phoenix: There's something I'd like to say, but I'd be violating the board rule about no political discussions. :p

MV75: But investors perceive it as a strong economy and reliable currency and that's enough to keep pumping the value of the JPY, even if it's not really "worth it."


Also, we are the world leaders at alternative energy research amongst other intellectual properties in the medical fields. Just a shame they sell out to the californians.
That's pretty much what I'm saying is the weakness of our economy - we keep letting foreigners take our profits. (-_-)

[Golden Phoenix]

Golden Phoenix: There's something I'd like to say, but I'd be violating the board rule about no political discussions. :p


PM me if you want.
If it is a problem, I do say a lot of things in jest, so if I offended you, or anyone, I'm sorry. Just ask and I'll remove whatever it is. I won't take it personally
If it is a joke, I'm always up for a laugh

[STL]

As for us, it's all media driven. I'm at the "gates" to retail and building every day and there is no shortage of spending going on at all. People are buying more than ever.

Have to completely disagree with you. I have friends who are accountants for the top accountancy firms in Australia. Their figures reveal the truth. I agree that the media does create a frenzy but it's naive to think that at this point there are more people buying than ever. Retail sales will be hit very hard in coming months and given the worse is still to come, there will be a nasty vicious cycle that will take its toll on the economy.

With more rate cuts, that makes me expect the AUD to drop a bit more. I'm not sure how much but if we reach US rate levels, our AUD could flop a great deal.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

1 $AUS = almost 63 (62.8) Yen atm... best I've seen it in months.

Either us Ozzies are getting lucky here or the Japanese economy is going Titanic even faster than ours...

[i_amtrunks]

1 $AUS = almost 63 (62.8) Yen atm... best I've seen it in months.

Either us Ozzies are getting lucky here or the Japanese economy is going Titanic even faster than ours...

The Yen is skydiving without a parachute at the moment, lowest it's been in a quarter of a century and it's not looking good for them in the short time.

[autobreadticon]

The JP Yen is making me smile :)

[Tober]

Japanese exports are down 46% this year. News (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/25/business/AS-Japan-Markets.php)

Although the drop in the yen is good news to us importers I wouldn't necessarily got to chirpy over their deteriorating economy, TAKARA merged with rival TOMY a few years ago due to shared financial strains.

Our dollar is currently at a five+ year low... :(

[Adzma]

Our dollar has managed to crawl its way back up to 70 US cents today, the last time that happened was January 7th and then it dropped back to the early 60s, overnight I might add. :rolleyes: Stupid thing better maintain itself this time.

[Mr_K]

Also to note is that the current rate of exchange between us to the Pound is 0.4751 which is rather good, and that against the Yen (for those in the Grimlock orders) it is now up to 67.08 and when I put through my case order it was only 63, so shipping shouldn't be too bad :D

[Golden Phoenix]

Our dollar has managed to crawl its way back up to 70 US cents today, the last time that happened was January 7th and then it dropped back to the early 60s, overnight I might add. :rolleyes: Stupid thing better maintain itself this time.

SHHHH. Don't jinx us

[JuzMel]

Yippie! Hope it keeps crawling its way back up! :D

[GoktimusPrime]

Ode: the Japanese economy's been going down the crapper for quite some time. They're in one of their worst economic slumps in the past 7 years. In spite of this the Japanese Yen is still very strong because so many investors see it as a 'safe currency.' Bad news for Japanese exporters though who (along with us) would be praying for a fall in the JPY! :)

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

:( I know, I know, I have a few economist friends from uni who explained it to me a while back. Figured all those beautiful Henkei made it worth mentioning after ages of 59 JPY/AU$ though. On that note...
Almost 70 yen/dollar, woohoo!:D I wants me some Cyclonus luvvin'...

[autobreadticon]

I reckon it can go above 72 USc , if Obama add. rescue plans starts injecting more funds into US Financial insitutions

[Adzma]

SHHHH. Don't jinx us
Too late, we're back to 69. :(

[G1Optimal]

Too late, we're back to 69. :(

It could be worse...
I remember it being around 47-49 cents sometime around the 90's

[Adzma]

It's true that it could be worse but that doesn't mean I have to like our current situation. *Howls at the moon* 98 US cents...

[STL]

I doubt the dollar can sustain heights above 70c. There's still a lot of bad news ahead and any turn around would be optimistic at best. One of the other problems is that the solution being touted by the US is a mere derivative of a policy already floated last year by the old administration. The irony of that is if nobody gave it much credibility last time, why now? Some questions that really need to be answered there.

Secondly, there's a large interest rate differential at the moment between Australia and other countries which is virtually zero. The forwards market is factoring in rate cuts already in Australia. The only reason our interest rates didn't go down last time was b/c the Reserve Bank, wisely I might add, thought it'd be best to hold back interest rates b/c if it exhausted all of its monetary polcy options early, it wouldn't have anything to fall back onto.

So yeah, I don't think its sustainable. Unless of course, the US is already on its comeback which a few prominent US investors are suggesting. Personally, I think they're over optimisitic. There's still questions about a lot of fair value valuations on balance sheets as well. If there are write downs, again, not a good sign.

[GoktimusPrime]

I think the Australian dollar could sustain around 70-something USc but not much more than that.

[Adzma]

Well I certainly expect we won't be at 90 US cents for quite a few years from now. :(

[STL]

Well, well, well, 0.7142 USD tonight. Very interesting. Sustainable I still think not.

I was at a Societe Generale lunch today and the suggestion, which I agreed with, is that the Australian dollars appreciation is not sustainable. And if it is, that raises larger problems in the domestic economy b/c of our trade flows

[sanbot]

I think its simple.

World economy not good = AUD not good
World economy good = AUD good

This sudden rise in AUD is going to be short lived.

[MV75]

72 cents. Whoo.

[STL]

Just wanted to share that as part of the work I do for my company, we project that the AUD will close in on 80c within the third quarter of this year. It's our expectation is that levels of risk aversion should increase and coupled with interest rate differentials as well as an anticipated Asian-led recovery this will spike demand for our resources and hence reinforce the underlying strength of the AUD. Talking with contacts from other large firms, there seems to be a lot of agreement that north is the direction for the AUD.

So we're expecting good times ahead O/S buying so perhaps if you have that large acquisition you want O/S wait till about September/October.

'Course, don't take my word for it. Analysts didn't predict the Financial Crisis, so they're not always right but still figured that I'd share some insight/reasoning that I've been coming across.

[blackie]

Just wanted to share that as part of the work I do for my company, we project that the AUD will close in on 80c within the third quarter of this year. It's our expectation is that levels of risk aversion should increase and coupled with interest rate differentials as well as an anticipated Asian-led recovery this will spike demand for our resources and hence reinforce the underlying strength of the AUD. Talking with contacts from other large firms, there seems to be a lot of agreement that north is the direction for the AUD.

So we're expecting good times ahead O/S buying so perhaps if you have that large acquisition you want O/S wanted till about September/October.

'Course, don't take my word for it. Analysts didn't predict the Financial Crisis, so they're not always right but still figured that I'd share some insight/reasoning that I've been coming across.

and i was thinking of buing a car round about then... maybe i should just buy a POS and get a fort max.....hmm decisions decisions :P

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

We're up to about 75 yen to the dollar.

[MV75]

76cents. Whoo. :)

Should be more like $2 though with the us bankrupt.

I still wonder how a country that's tanked and being gutted of some of its largest manufacturing is still so strong.....

[Tober]

It almost made it to 77 too...

They are essentially in debt to themselves arn't they?

[STL]

76cents. Whoo. :)

Should be more like $2 though with the us bankrupt.

I still wonder how a country that's tanked and being gutted of some of its largest manufacturing is still so strong.....

But it's still about demand and supply and quite frankly the demand for the AUD has never been as strong as the demand for the US. And unless we have a population explosion it never will.

Realistically, the only way the AUD appreciates is on the back of commodities and trade flows, not on its inherent strength or the relative weakness of another economy.

The current exchange rate is a bit too early and too high in my estimation. I suspect that it should drop back down to low-mid 70s and maintaining that level for some time. We're still expecting interest rates to bottom out at some point and it doesn't appear they have. Not to mention the budget should prove very interesting too as to where the economy sits in the coming year and the years thereafter.

[Adzma]

Just saw today that our dollar is now buying 80 US cents. Lets keep our fingers crossed that it goes even higher. :)

[kup]

If it reaches the levels of last year, I may go crazy buying the rest of what I need to complete G1.

The only heavy hitter in terms of cost that I have left to get is Monstructor while a medium one is Computron.

[Blink90210]

Wasn't there talk of parity at one stage? In any case, I might think about loading up on USD once again.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

:( I bought a whole bunch of yen a few weeks back because 71 yen was looking good (and for then it was quite good too)...now it's up to almost 80. Boy does my timing suck.

[GoktimusPrime]

Last night I was watching the financial news on the TV in the post-natal ward with a friend who'd come to visit - and they said that the AUD was up to 0.82USD. We both threw our hands in the air and cheered! :D Here's hoping it stays that way when Encore Bruticus comes out <touch wood> <cross fingers>

[Tober]

It was almost at 83c yesterday and now it's dropped back down to just over 80 :(

From 80 to 77 Yen too :( :(

What happened? And I hope it doesnt continue to slide again.

[iceburn]

Swine flu!! :D

[jgon2098]

It was almost at 83c yesterday and now it's dropped back down to just over 80 :(

From 80 to 77 Yen too :( :(

What happened? And I hope it doesnt continue to slide again.

*&^#!! I should have paid yesterday...

[blackie]

*&^#!! I should have paid yesterday...

paypals rate is a day behind isnt it?

[liegeprime]

paypals rate is a day behind isnt it?

Paypal rate are not as per "official" exchange rates, they are 2 cents lower.. Ive learned that when I paid for certain stuff and checked on the Am shows for the rate. They always have 2 cents lower for some shitty reason.:(:confused::mad:

[kup]

Paypal rate are not as per "official" exchange rates, they are 2 cents lower.. Ive learned that when I paid for certain stuff and checked on the Am shows for the rate. They always have 2 cents lower for some shitty reason.:(:confused::mad:

That's how you pay their fees for using their services.

[jaydisc]

No one uses official rates. Everyone marks it up. PayPal's markup is 2.5%.

[liegeprime]

No one uses official rates. Everyone marks it up. PayPal's markup is 2.5%.

Hrrrmph just like the banks... always with hidden charges:mad::(

[Paulbot]

It was almost at 83c yesterday and now it's dropped back down to just over 80 :(

From 80 to 77 Yen too :( :(

What happened? And I hope it doesnt continue to slide again.

Over 80, just as we are all leaving the US and coming home! Sigh!

[AllHailBlackout]

Hey with all this chatter about global economies and currency conversion rates, anyone here an economics expert? I don't know too much about it so I don't get too involved. My simple equation is - wait for stability NOT try to buy in times of volatility if I'm looking for a sharp change in exchange rates. Better yet, wait for the odd sale in K-mart. lol

[griffin]

Paypal rate are not as per "official" exchange rates, they are 2 cents lower.. Ive learned that when I paid for certain stuff and checked on the Am shows for the rate. They always have 2 cents lower for some sh*tty reason.:(:confused::mad:

No currency exchange medium will use the official rate, or else how are they to make any money for their service. Some charge a fee, but all would charge a few percent in their favour to make sure they cover any immediate rate changes.

It's just up to the consumer to shop around for the best conversion rate, if you have a choice.

[dirge]

The "official" rate which you'll find on websites/TV news, etc, will usually represent the midpoint of the buy/sell rates. If you were to head to a bureau-de-change and look at these two rates, the market rate quoted by a website will be more or less in between them.

The reasons that the rates aren't the same:

1) Profit (obviously).

2) In the case of cash traders, to cover _themselves_ against the fact the rates can move against them by the time they get that cash exchanged into their local currency/bank account. Which is why you'll usually find Visa/Telegraphic Transfer rates are closer to the market rate than the cash rate - because they don't need to worry about that extra premium since there isn't the lag in getting the cash out of their hands while the market keeps moving around. The Visa/TT transactions see your bank or PayPal (or whoever) dip into the market in real time to buy the currency electronically.

[kup]

Watchout, the Australian Dollar has dropped dramatically in just a couple of days. from .92 it is now .88 and falling

[5FDP]

Glad I made my last Ebay purchase for the year a couple of days ago. It's a shame Animated Arcee isn't up for pre-order yet... it could get quite expensive and scalpers will be taking advantage of the low Aussie dollar.

[mknell]

Glad I made my last Ebay purchase for the year a couple of days ago. It's a shame Animated Arcee isn't up for pre-order yet... it could get quite expensive and scalpers will be taking advantage of the low Aussie dollar.

Looks like they already are

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Transformers-Animated-2008-Arcee-Misb-Rare-in-hand_W0QQitemZ220527850839QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_De faultDomain_0?hash=item33587bf557