Cheapest way of buying sterling?

[Deano]

Hi. I need to change about€ 5000 cash to sterling. Does anyone know the cheapest way to do this?

Thanks

 

[tonyrtsmith]

Having to deal in cash is a disadvantage, banks charge anything up to 8% on cash foreign exhange, avoid the exchanges at the airports, they are worse again.

Can you send it through online banking and avoid cash? Will cost about 3-4% through the banks that way, or around %1 with online brokers.

 

[wednesday]

I don't think minors and/or OAPs pay commission to exchange money....got any young or old people you can borrow?

 

[tonyrtsmith]

There are two main ways companies charge on foreign exchange, one is the rate and the other is commission. "Commission free" doesn't actually tell you much at all about the cost of exchange, you need to see exactly what you will end up with after the transaction when the rate, commission, and other fees are considered. The airports for example are often commission free, but are the worst place to exchange money by far.