International service fee for Kobo purchases?

[hedwig]

Hi everyone,
This is the first I've heard of Kobo.
Do I understand correctly from your posts that it is possible to purchase ebooks from Kobo without a US billing address?

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Foreign currency conversion will ALWAYS incur a fee. Some companies charge an explicit fee; others do so in the form of a less favourable exchange rate. But there will always be a charge one way or the other.

This particular fee isn't for currency conversion, it's for international transactions regardless of the currency used. Many companies started charging them within the past couple of years. In this particular case, Kobo is a Canadian company doing business in the US, but they process all their transactions through a Canadian bank, hence the fee.

If I'm not mistaken, all Visa transactions have the fee, but whether (or how much of it) is covered by the issuing bank or the customer varies depending on the issuer. Don't know about MC or Amex because I don't use either of those.

[LadyLou]

Originally Posted by hedwig

Hi everyone,
This is the first I've heard of Kobo.
Do I understand correctly from your posts that it is possible to purchase ebooks from Kobo without a US billing address?

Hi, I am in the UK and purchased a book from KOBO yesterday with a UK debit card - no extra charges showing yet.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by LadyLou

Hi, I am in the UK and purchased a book from KOBO yesterday with a UK debit card - no extra charges showing yet.

My charges didnt show up right away. There was about a day or two lag before they showed. They are dated for the same day, however.

[Fabienne]

Kobo charges CND and my bank account is in euro, consequence : my bank charges me conversion fees, just like any other purchase in a currency that is not euro.
That's the rules...
The problem is that Kobo only lets you buy books one by one, meaning each book will generate one transaction, and one set of fees... since the fees include usually a fixed part + %, to have as many fees as books is really sad ...

however Kobo is the only ebook store that i have found, where i can buy books
- for my sony reader
- in english
- without using a US-address-credit-card (or UK address in UK e-stores...)
because i don't have those cards and cannot have one because i'm definitely resident elsewhere ..... which means i'm not welcomed to buy from US/UK stores
so thank you to Canadians for allowing us non-english countries residents to buy books in english

[MrsJoseph]

That's my issue - KOBO is not charging me a fee, my bank is. Kobo does not charge me CND because their US site is all in USD. My bank is charging me this fee simply because Kobo is owned by a non-US company, not due to the exchange rate. I have gotten several of these fees lately and they are a percentage of the amount sold.

[EowynCarter]

Just bought a book on kobo.
So nice, it's been a long time since I was able to buy a book and say "I am living in france".
Just for that, kobo rocks IMHO !

As for fees, the payment clearly says : 7,59 €. My bank should not be adding fees for a payment in euro.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by Fabienne

The problem is that Kobo only lets you buy books one by one, meaning each book will generate one transaction, and one set of fees... since the fees include usually a fixed part + %, to have as many fees as books is really sad ...

Well, now you can pay for your Kobo purchases with Kobo eGift Cards or Chapters.ca Gift Cards, which while it doesn't solve the international service fee problem, will at least cut it down to one single transaction instead of a lot of little ones where the charges add up.

[bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

As taming pointed out, it is your credit card policy and nothing to do with Kobo. The actual purchase is exactly as described and paid in your local currency (and probably free of any otherwise attachable local taxes). Your credit card company is choosing to make YOU bear what it sees as "additional fees" for handling your business.

Exactly. But now Kobo is "forcing" their pricing in your supposed home currency. I live in France, so all their pricing is now in euros when I access the site. This puts me in a tough situation, because I have a US credit card which I pay through my US bank account and which I use for my e-book purchases.

I've put in a question to Kobo customer service asking if I can have my account denominated in US dollars, and the answer was no. (I suspect their software is the culprit, though they refer back to the Agency agreement and geographical restrictions.) I can accept the geographical restrictions and the need to charge VAT based on the tax rules here in Europe, but being quoted prices in US$ was one of the big advantages of dealing with Kobo.

Just bought something from the Kobo site to see what is going to happen. What I'm afraid of is that I'll be charged a conversion fee because they are making the charge in euros on my US credit card. If I use my French credit card, I'll get hit with a "foreign transaction fee" even if the charge is done in euros because it comes from outside the EU.

One of these days someone will figure out that the business model for e-books has got to change...

[LadyLou]

I live in the UK but travel often to the US, but now no longer have a US Bank facility. However, not sure if this would work: I have a pre-paid US Dollar Card which is issued by a British Bank so has my address as home address. As this is pre-paid I try and top it up when the exchange rate goes in my favour, but I wonder if this would work without fees, basically from any Country as it is issued at your home address but in differing currencies? When I spend on the card there are no fees whatsoever in US$.

[bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Just bought a book on kobo.
So nice, it's been a long time since I was able to buy a book and say "I am living in france".
Just for that, kobo rocks IMHO !

As for fees, the payment clearly says : 7,59 €. My bank should not be adding fees for a payment in euro.

Will be interested to see how it works out for you. I one time had the bank hit me for the "foreign transaction fee" because I had bought airline tickets on British Airways through a French travel agency with the purchase denominated in euros. (I fought it and got it back, BTW.)

I think the rule is that they can't add fees for any transaction coming from within the EU, but they can for a charge in euros coming from outside the EU. That's how it was explained to me, anyhow.

Let us know how you fare with this one. I'm still waiting to see my recent Kobo purchase hit my US credit card statement. Though I have yet to get an e-mail acknowledgment from Kobo of the sale, so perhaps they are pondering the issue themselves. Normally I get an automatic e-mail with the amount they are going to charge on the credit card.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by bevdeforges

Exactly. But now Kobo is "forcing" their pricing in your supposed home currency. I live in France, so all their pricing is now in euros when I access the site. This puts me in a tough situation, because I have a US credit card which I pay through my US bank account and which I use for my e-book purchases.

I've put in a question to Kobo customer service asking if I can have my account denominated in US dollars, and the answer was no. (I suspect their software is the culprit, though they refer back to the Agency agreement and geographical restrictions.) I can accept the geographical restrictions and the need to charge VAT based on the tax rules here in Europe, but being quoted prices in US$ was one of the big advantages of dealing with Kobo.

Just bought something from the Kobo site to see what is going to happen. What I'm afraid of is that I'll be charged a conversion fee because they are making the charge in euros on my US credit card. If I use my French credit card, I'll get hit with a "foreign transaction fee" even if the charge is done in euros because it comes from outside the EU.

One of these days someone will figure out that the business model for e-books has got to change...

Wht do you mean by "forcing?" It's not truly in the currency they list?

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

That's my issue - KOBO is not charging me a fee, my bank is. Kobo does not charge me CND because their US site is all in USD. My bank is charging me this fee simply because Kobo is owned by a non-US company, not due to the exchange rate. I have gotten several of these fees lately and they are a percentage of the amount sold.

No, the Kobo site is not in USD. If you're in the US it shows as USD if you're in Canada it shows as Canadian. I don't know about for other countries but I imagine that it would show in that country's currency.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by bevdeforges

Will be interested to see how it works out for you. I one time had the bank hit me for the "foreign transaction fee" because I had bought airline tickets on British Airways through a French travel agency with the purchase denominated in euros. (I fought it and got it back, BTW.)

I think the rule is that they can't add fees for any transaction coming from within the EU, but they can for a charge in euros coming from outside the EU. That's how it was explained to me, anyhow.

Let us know how you fare with this one. I'm still waiting to see my recent Kobo purchase hit my US credit card statement. Though I have yet to get an e-mail acknowledgment from Kobo of the sale, so perhaps they are pondering the issue themselves. Normally I get an automatic e-mail with the amount they are going to charge on the credit card.

Logitel net finally updated.
In addition to the expected amount, 1.20 Euros fees. Check with your bank what fees they asks for non euro area payment.
This is indeed misleading. With payment written in Euros, you don't except bank fees.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Logitel net finally updated.
In addition to the expected amount, 1.20 Euros fees. Check with your bank what fees they asks for non euro area payment.
This is indeed misleading. With payment written in Euros, you don't except bank fees.

So that is what is happening! Kobo is listing prices in the currenty of the consumer - but is actually charging in Canadian.