Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

Dearer than most oter places, I should think.

Do US post offices do free exchange, or anything like that?

Nobody does free exchanges here that I know of...If anyone else has an answer I am sure the will chime in.

A tip from virtualtourist.com:

"At the rear of the Royal Palace on Dam Sq walk a few yards down the street that leads to Ann Franks House. On the left you will see The Post Office. They give a much better rate and very low commission charges. Just take a ticket and wait till your number shows. English is spoken by the tellers. When I changes 250 English Pounds recently I got an extra 55e from the post office , compared with what the Change kiosks were offering.!!!!"

This is just across the Singel (follow the tram tracks) on the left. From another site it says that this post office is...

"Open 9am-6pm on Monday -Wednesday and on Friday ; From 9am - 8pm on Thursday and from 10am -1.30pm on Saturday. Closed on Sunday."

From Centraal Station you can take the 13 or 17 tram to Magna Plaza and walk the 3 short blocks (or pass it and walk 4 blocks back form Westermarkt stop). The #14 tram from across town will take you here as well.

- Ingo

Good old Post Office

Many Americans are not aware of the multiple roles that the Post Office plays in other countries. The US Postal Service is strictly a mail service with a minor sideline in passport applications. It never provided telegraph, telephone, or banking services.

I had forgotten about the PO for money exchange, having used the American Express office on Damrak for so long. I got a rude awakening in Sept 2006 when my wife and I went to the Amex office to change money and found an empty building. It had closed three months earlier.

- Ingo

Ingo wrote:Many Americans are not aware of the multiple roles that the Post Office plays in other countries.

jeez, even after standing there and trying to figure out which line I needed to take a number for, I didn't realize they did money exchanges too. Too stoned those days we were mass postcard sending.

Can you get cash with an ATM card at the PO for a lower exchange rate or is it strictly cash dollars for euros transactions?

Does anyone know which bank it is that sets the exchange rate for a transaction? Your bank or the bank that owns the ATM you made the transaction at?

What I've come to learn from reading various stuff on the net is that the daily euros to dollars conversion rate is for like big banks (think mortgage lending rates vs. prime) so when I convert using my google tool it's showing the big bank exchange rate... my further understanding is that the post office in the netherlands is privatized-- so are you sure you were getting the best possible "little guy" rate that day? Seems to me that apples to apples, the states prices in general are much more reasonable for almost all goods and services-- except, of course, for the reason why WE'RE going to the Dam-- the excellent coffee...
Problem is, we'll probably never know UNLESS one of us, on the same day buys 500 at Traveldex at a US airport, buys 500 at one of the 2 banks at schipol, and then goes to an ATM AND the dam post for 2 more transactions...
me, I'm at the screw it point and will buy the 100 euro tip pack at AAA and then take my atm cards to the dam (MAKE SURE YOU NOTIFY YOUR CARD ISSUERS PRIOR TO LEAVING-- so the cards are not locked by the bank) and take my chances... also read somewhere (check out ricksteves.com for general travel tips) that your atm card needs to have funds in the checking portion... cheers.
But if some fellow yank determines the best bang for your buck for the euro exchange, I'm sure you'll let us know...

There is the official exchange rate, which is set every day, doesn't really matter who sets it, you'll never see it. Lets say on a given day it is 1.40 dollars per Euro. This is (more or less) what a bank must pay on the open market to buy Euros with dollars on that day. Next there is the bank exchange rate. This is set so that the bank always profits from each exchange. (Banks are in business to make money.) The bank may set this at something like 1.50 dollars per Euro. This means that the bank makes 0.10 US cents profit per Euro.

But when the bank goes to sell the dollars (in a day ot two), the rate has actually changed to 1.37 dollars per Euro, so they only make 0.03 per Euro gross profit. The bank has calculated that the cost of changing money (salaries, office space, air con, etc.) is 1.254% so they are making 0.046 cents per Euro net profit in this transaction. This is enough profit to keep them doing this. Their real profit lies in credit cards and home loans, or something.

Exchange companies make all their profits from exchanges, so they are more likely to set their spread broader so that they never lose money. In the above example,the exchange company might sell at 1.55 or even 1.60 dollar per Euro to ensure that they can convert their dollars back to Euros at a god rate in the next couple of days.

So....this means that the best rate comes from whichever entity cares the least about making a good profit from exchange. Government entities usually care the least. Exchange is a service for citizens and visitors and does not need to do more that barely break even. Next best are entities that make their profits elsewhere, like banks. They provide money exchange as a courtesy, not as a profit generator. Next are exchange companies, who must make a profit from every transaction. The worst are shops and hotels, who provide exchange only as a convenience and who loathe losing money on it, so they set a rate which is horrible, to cover the risk that the rate will change against them over the several days it may take to gather cash and take it to a bank.

In Amsterdam, I do not know what company manages the privatized Post Office exchange, but I would hope that it is a bank, and therefore gives the best rate you can possibly get as an individual.

(Edit: Sorry about the economics lecture. i promise I won't post from A'dam. I'm even worse when I'm stoned. Seriously. I cannot smoke and internet. It's sad. )

VERY WELL WRITTEN AND AWESOME INFO..SO IT SEEMS TO ME IT'S BETTER TO GET THE EUROS FROM A LOCAL BANK THAN GETTING THEM ABROAD.AS WITH ALOT OF THINGS I GUESS YOU NEED TO PICK A GOOD TIME WHEN THE DOLLAR IS STRONGER..

travelling high wrote:VERY WELL WRITTEN AND AWESOME INFO..SO IT SEEMS TO ME IT'S BETTER TO GET THE EUROS FROM A LOCAL BANK THAN GETTING THEM ABROAD.AS WITH ALOT OF THINGS I GUESS YOU NEED TO PICK A GOOD TIME WHEN THE DOLLAR IS STRONGER..

In about 1.5 years the $ will be stonger

Ingo... I wanna blaze with you! You're the man. We can philosophize as we sit in the Grey Area

travelling high wrote:VERY WELL WRITTEN AND AWESOME INFO..SO IT SEEMS TO ME IT'S BETTER TO GET THE EUROS FROM A LOCAL BANK THAN GETTING THEM ABROAD.AS WITH ALOT OF THINGS I GUESS YOU NEED TO PICK A GOOD TIME WHEN THE DOLLAR IS STRONGER..

Only if your local bank gives you a good rate for buying Euros in the US. This link shows the cost of one Euro in dollars at the current market rate (1.36 dollars per Euro at this instant):

http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/conve ... it=Convert

Most places will charge you around 0.10 more, so 1.46 dollars per Euro, so they cover their costs and make a profit. They will buy back Euros at 0.10 less. So, ask your local bank how many dollars they will charge you for a Euro. If it's less than 0.10 more than the rate that day, go for it. (But ask about fees and extra costs. If they give you a good rate, but charge 2% fee, the net rate could suck.) You may find it's much better to just use your debit card at an ATM in Amsterdam.

If you want to, you can really go insane trying to find the best deal. Personally, having done the general research, I've decided to just go to the Post Office when I arrive and change money there. After that, I've got a list of ATM addresses that accept my debit card. I checked with my bank, and they do not charge a fee for using my debit card and give me a rate only a few cents (4-5) more than the market rate rather than 10 cents more, so it's the best deal I can get.

- Ingo

pippin65 wrote:Ingo... I wanna blaze with you! You're the man. We can philosophize as we sit in the Grey Area

::bows to pippin65::

Looks like we'll miss. I'm in town Aug 30 - Sep 4 and you arrive later. Perhaps another trip, eh?

your atm card needs to have funds in the checking portion... cheers.

Yes, excellent point. Your savings account and any lines of credit attached to your checking account will not be "visible" at non-U.S. ATMs, in my experience also.

It's easy enough to go online and transfer funds into your checking account, if you are set up to do so.