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This is not financial advice, which I have no ability to provide!
Given the fact that the vast majority of high-value products like kits and engines are produced in the USA, it really hurts when you have to exchange into US dollars to buy. The exchange rate is punishing right now. However, there is another cost which many don’t appreciate: banks and foreign exchanges will typically quote you the “mid-market rate”, but you don’t get that. The bank will typically tack on another 2% or so. I think they call it the “overnight exchange rate”. Even Aerosport Power, a Canadian company charges in US dollars, which is fair ,since many of their costs float according to parts costs charged in USD. If you pay them in Canadian dollars, they charge the equivalent of the overnight rate as well!
I found a company called Knightsbridge FX which will substantially discount that rate. I think everyone should know about this service. As stated above, you make your own decision after assessing any risks. I have no affiliation and no capacity to provide financial advice whatsoever. I’m simply a customer. I used Knightsbridge FX for the purchase of an exhaust system from Vetterman as a trial, and when it was successful, I used them again to buy my engine from Bob Barrows. Successful and painless again! I wish I had known about them when I bought my QB Patrol kit, and especially when I paid for tuition for two of my kids to attend university in Europe. I could have saved ten grand over the course of those exchanges.
The way it works is you sign up to be a client. When you want to buy something in foreign funds you ask for a quote. You can negotiate this. You fill out all the normal wire transfer info, instructions and disclosures for cross-border transfer of money along with a wire transfer to Knightsbridge for the agreed amount. Your bank charges for this except if you are a BMO customer in which case you can make them a payee for E-transfer. (I wasn’t, so I just used wire transfers at fifty bucks per). In a few days your vendor receives a wire transfer from Knightsbridge.
They provide other currencies as well. I don’t know if they provide services beyond Canada, but it seems like if it exists here, it probably exists elsewhere in the Commonwealth. It might be worth an investigation if you are in Oz or NZ and planning a kit or engine purchase.
The web site link is https://www.knightsbridgefx.com. I hope this helps someone else save money.
Given the fact that the vast majority of high-value products like kits and engines are produced in the USA, it really hurts when you have to exchange into US dollars to buy. The exchange rate is punishing right now. However, there is another cost which many don’t appreciate: banks and foreign exchanges will typically quote you the “mid-market rate”, but you don’t get that. The bank will typically tack on another 2% or so. I think they call it the “overnight exchange rate”. Even Aerosport Power, a Canadian company charges in US dollars, which is fair ,since many of their costs float according to parts costs charged in USD. If you pay them in Canadian dollars, they charge the equivalent of the overnight rate as well!
I found a company called Knightsbridge FX which will substantially discount that rate. I think everyone should know about this service. As stated above, you make your own decision after assessing any risks. I have no affiliation and no capacity to provide financial advice whatsoever. I’m simply a customer. I used Knightsbridge FX for the purchase of an exhaust system from Vetterman as a trial, and when it was successful, I used them again to buy my engine from Bob Barrows. Successful and painless again! I wish I had known about them when I bought my QB Patrol kit, and especially when I paid for tuition for two of my kids to attend university in Europe. I could have saved ten grand over the course of those exchanges.
The way it works is you sign up to be a client. When you want to buy something in foreign funds you ask for a quote. You can negotiate this. You fill out all the normal wire transfer info, instructions and disclosures for cross-border transfer of money along with a wire transfer to Knightsbridge for the agreed amount. Your bank charges for this except if you are a BMO customer in which case you can make them a payee for E-transfer. (I wasn’t, so I just used wire transfers at fifty bucks per). In a few days your vendor receives a wire transfer from Knightsbridge.
They provide other currencies as well. I don’t know if they provide services beyond Canada, but it seems like if it exists here, it probably exists elsewhere in the Commonwealth. It might be worth an investigation if you are in Oz or NZ and planning a kit or engine purchase.
The web site link is https://www.knightsbridgefx.com. I hope this helps someone else save money.
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