How to calculate what arrives after a transfer: buy, sell and commission

Last reviewed: 2026-10

Understand the buy and sell rates, how to work out the amount in pounds, and why the final figure can differ slightly.

What do the buy and sell rates mean?

The buy rate is what a dealer pays you for foreign currency; the sell rate is what they ask if you want to buy currency from them. The gap between them is their margin.

Foreign currency to pounds

If you send foreign currency for the recipient to get in pounds, the office buys the currency from you, so the amount is worked out at the buy rate. Illustration: 500 units × buy rate = approximate amount in pounds.

Pounds to foreign currency

If you want foreign currency in exchange for pounds, the office sells you the currency, so the amount is worked out at the sell rate.

Why the final figure differs

The calculator gives an estimate based on the general rate. An office may add a commission, round the amount or use a slightly different rate depending on the method, the time and the amount.

One last tip

Ask the office to write the final amount the other side will receive before you pay. That number is the only one that matters.

This is the general parallel market rate for reference, not an office rate. The office sets the final transfer rate.