PayPal Euro to USD conversion question

This is only a software question in that the last couple of times I have purchased software via PayPal for something in Euros that I get charged in dollars more than the conversion amount.
 
For example I just purchase something at:
€64.00 EUR  charged 
$71.33 USD  paid
but at the current exchange (according various Internet sites) what I should have paid is: $69.60
That (according to my sometimes bad math) is 2.4% - if you're skimming that off of every international sale that's big money! 
 
Neither PayPal or my bank (BofA) say that they are charging a fee for the conversion - the last time I tried to get to the root of this both pointed the finger to the other as the culprit.
 
Just wondering if everyone gets hit by this.
 
 
 

Nobody who accepts payment in multiple currencies is obligated to give the "official" exchange rate, which is the rate banks charge one another and not a retail figure. In fact, most do not - even your own bank. PayPal only promises "competitive" exchange rates. 
 
One way to mitigate this is to tell PayPal to use the vendor's currency, not yours.. Yes, you can do that. It'll then be your credit card company that charges the conversion fee, not PayPal. Credit card companies typically charge a little less, but because there can be a delay of days or even weeks before your CC is actually debited, the exchange rate can significantly change between the time of purchase and the actual charge. You could even end up paying more.
 
If you type "Euro to Dollar" or "Pounds to Euros" in your Chrome search bar, you'll get Google's conversion utility. This shows a graph of the currency's history and you can get an idea of whether or not a delayed calculation is likely to benefit you. Those graphs currently show that the pound has been steadily rising against the Euro, while the dollar-to-euro rate has been fairly constant in recent months. So for U.S. consumers, UK-sourced products are getting more expensive, while EU-sourced products remain a good value.

As noted the rate you see is what Forex traders pay. So you get that kind of rate only if you are trading large quantities (like millions) of dollars of currency. Any other institution is going to charge more since they are already paying that rate. If you call your local bank they should tell you what they'll charge, and they'll give two numbers: The amount if they sell to you, and the amount if they buy from you.

The global economy is designed so that everyone in the chain gets their skim. The banks and the credit card companies being at the top. Here's a fun test. Go to the bank and buy $100 of foreign currency. Now, take that money and try and buy back the money you spent to get it. You'll be short and have to pony up a few more bucks to make it happen. The global economy is a racket pure and simple, and its primary goal is to make big money for corporations.