How To "Withdraw" From Your Paypal Account Free of Charge in the Philippines

Take note of the quotation in"withdraw". By that, I mean covert your Paypal money to cash without going through the hassle of going to the bank and paying transaction fees of around $5 or PhP250.

First things first. I don't have an active Paypal account yet. So why the hell am I posting this? I don't know if anybody has thought of it but it would sure help people with and without Paypal.

I wanted to buy from an international seller. Of the payment options given by the seller, Paypal was the only option available for me. Since I don't have a Paypal account, I have to look for somebody trustworthy enough (trustworthiness: one important factor) who I can pay to make the payments on my behalf. Luckily I have a friend who has enough funds on his account. He made the payment and I paid him in peso using the current conversion rate. I sat beside him as he transferred the funds just to be sure.

It's a win-win situation. I get to buy stuff via Paypal without the hassle of having my own account and verifying it. My friend gets to convert his Paypal funds to cash without any fees!

I wonder why people haven't thought of this as a business. This could be an added service to internet shops, don't you think?

BEWARE: CHEAP HOUSE AND LOT FOR SALE IN SANTA (STA) ROSA LAGUNA GOLDEN CITY

There are a lot of foreclosed house-and-lots in Golden City Santa Rosa, Laguna and these are being sold at  cheap prices. Buyers should be aware that Golden City gets flooded with a slightly heavy rain. Floods yearly can reach to up about knee high and waist high during the typhoon Ondoy. You may buy a house at a cheap price but consider the yearly cost of damages to property. One shouldn't buy a refrigerator every year, right?

With all that flooding one would think that water supply should not be a problem. Distribution of potable water is also a long time problem in the subdivision. Nobody uses the water from the faucet to cook their food, and if your a long time resident, you'll be stupid to drink directly from the tap. There are black soil-like particles coming out of the faucet. The water from the artisan well is safer.

So if you're looking for a house, look somewhere else. I am.

Banco De Oro Interbranch Charge

Banco De Oro banks in Metro Manila charges PhP50 when depositing to provincial account. I found out about this when I deposit to my brother's account in Sta. Rosa Laguna. The deposit was made in a Quezon City branch. Upon withdrawal, my brother will have to "pay" at least PhP10 since the nearest BDO atm is a long drive away, he opts to use another bank's atm. The PhP10 charge can be reasonable but I don't know about the PhP50 charge.

There was no charge in depositing on a BDO Mandaluyong account (his wife's) even if the transaction was made in a QC branch. A regular consumer like me would see this as senseless. Why charge for one transaction and not for the other? Are they not supposed to be centralized?

Apparently there are other banks having the same practice. I have no first-hand info on these banks but one can check this forum (even though there are a lot of digression in the forum).

This should be one criteria in which bank we choose to save our money. I'm lucky I don't have a BDO account! Unfortunately, my relative do. It makes me think that I should let them open an account in another bank.