Let´s say I have 10.000 yen in my paypal account....nothing else, just these yen.
no $, no Euros, ...

now, let´s say I have to buy something in US$.....will paypal use the 10.000 Yen, transfer it into $ and pay (my bill) with the yen-then $- I have, or will they let the yen in my account, and get my account into 100$ MINUS and let me still have 10.000 yen PLUS in my account ?

how does it work ?
I made both experiences, that they took another currency PLUS I had to pay my bill/purchase,
then it also happened that they went with my purchase into MINUS and didnt take cash I had in another currency ???

so, is it possible that I convert my currency I have in PLUS into another one that I need in the future ?

hope this isnt too confusing ???
thanx,
Jurgen

Yes, your post is confusing. ;p

Money is money when it comes to Paypal balances, it's like any other bank. When you make a payment to someone in another country, you just select their currency (yen, pounds, etc.) and enter the amount. Paypal charges your account based on the current exchange rate (more or less).

Always at a higher rate . . . just another way of Paypal making more profit (whatever currency!)

Short answer to this is 'yes'.
There's a 'Manage Currency' tab for making currency conversions.
They charge you though! (Forget how much).

If you have PART of the total in the RIGHT CURRENCY, they should use it.

If you don't, they'll just bill the whole total to your card.

ok, understood....thanx a lot guys -really appreciated

I think they charge like 2.5% more than the real cost of currency transfers.

Well everyone charges something for currency conversion. The published exchange rates are pretty much theoretical.

If you use a credit card in PayPal you can make the charge in the destination currency and let your card company convert it. But last time I checked it was more expensive that way than letting PayPal do it.