Anyone else getting charged a Foreign Transaction Fee when ordering from Abe Books?

[madfloridian]

I order a lot from them, and recently under each book on my credit card is a 14 cent Foreign Transaction Fee. I wrote them about it and got back this form mail. Must be a real problem for them.

Thank you for contacting AbeBooks Customer Support about this credit card charge.

Some banks or credit card companies charge a Foreign Transaction Fee for merchants located outside of the USA. As AbeBooks is a Canadian company, some banks apply this fee to purchases made by buyers outside of Canada or to bookseller monthly fees charged by AbeBooks. Other banks use independent third party credit card processing companies that charge this fee.

Your financial institution could also be applying a similar cross-border assessment fee.

AbeBooks only charges the amount shown during the checkout and in our e-mail notifications.

We're collecting information about this fee from customer reports to try to lobby the companies to reverse the fees. We encourage you to contact your card-issuing bank to learn more about the fee or to file a complaint.

To find out more about these fees, the following links may be helpful:

http://www.travelfinances.com/Services/Foreign-Transaction-Fees-Explained.htm

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/foreign-transaction-conversion-fees-1276.php

I hope you'll continue to support independent booksellers by shopping on AbeBooks.com. If I can provide you with any further information after you've talked to your bank, please let me know.

Sincerely,

AbeBooks Customer Support
www.abebooks.com

I get some very good buys on books from them, and I only buy from US booksellers. But since Abe Books is in Canada, the fees apply. I am assuming my Bank of America Visa is the one doing it.

Any one else?

[KT2000]

1. Those notification of change

things the credit card companies send out have the info on foreign transaction fees - always going up.

[pitohui]

2. yes BOA has started breaking out foreign transaction fees separately

i prefer having the fee put separately, rather than just burying it in the total price -- in years gone by i was simply left to scratch my head and wonder why i had a different price on the credit card from the price on my foreign receipt

a fee of 12 cents, 14 cents etc. is not going to break me and by putting it separately i know where the extra fee is coming from

in your case the fee is coming from the bank not from the bookseller and i don't know why it would ever be reversed, since there is definitely a transaction cost from from canadian dollar to usa dollar and vice versa

it's too bad we don't have a universal currency in the americas but bush fucked us out of any chance of that, latin america was starting to dollarize but now it won't happen, in fact, ecuador, which already dollarized, intends to switch to the south american currency when it's implemented -- 8 years of total breakdown of communications between usa and the majority of the other american nations has put paid to any chance of the US dollar ever becoming a universal currency that can be used without fees

canada was always going to be a follower not a leader on this and we will prob. always have foreign transaction fees, because of having diff monetary, between canada and usa for our lifetimes

meanwhile the europeans have quietly gone ahead to show us how to do it right...with the euro

[madfloridian]

3. Have to decide, I guess.

First, I did not know Abe Books was located outside of the US. Never thought about it. I only order from booksellers in the US, in fact I make it a search term.

I have been looking around at other sellers online and haven't found anything comparable to what I get with Abe Books.

SO until I do, I guess I will keep ordering through them.

[LWolf]

4. You can order from Powell's in Portland.

I do. Free shipping if your order is $50 or more, so I wait until I can spend a whole $50.

I actually spend less ordering from them online than I do when I get the chance to visit in person. The city of books is a dangerous place for the bibliophile, lol.

http://www.powells.com/

[madfloridian]

5. Here's search page from Abe's Book and why I get good deals.

Yes the shipping is more than the book but it averages about 4 or 5 dollars a book with shipping. I have had the very best luck with the quality of the books....most like new.

I read a lot of Randy Wayne White's books about Florida, and this page is a good example of a hardback book with dust cover.

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=randy+wayne+white&bi=h&bx=off&dj=on&ds=30&n=200000237&sortby=17&sts=t&x=58&y=13

I did a search at Powell's but would need more time there.

I get such outstanding quality from the booksellers at Abes that I am tempted to keep paying the fee.

[LWolf]

6. I've bought from Abes as well.

Not frequently, but usually when I'm looking for a specific out-of-print title. If I can't find it at Powell's, I can usually find it through Abes.

[jinalshah21]

7. Foreign Transaction Fee

Hey Madfloridian,

I got Foreign Transaction Fee charged by BANK OF AMERICA.
I used my credit card to buy the VOIP Service from www.rebtel.com
Even though this company has charged me the service in DOLLARS, how can BANK OF AMERICA charge me the FTF on this...?

You won;t believe this but, I bought the same service from REBTEL.com during the month of January 2009, on that transaction BANK OF AMERICA did not charge any FTF.

THEN WHY NOW...?
I Made this purchase on 8/24/09...and they applied 3% of Transaction FEE on my Purchase....i.e $0.30 on $10.00 Purchase.

Please do let me know, if you find out any solution to this.