Buying Pesos

[Skip1]

Hi guys. I'm In California, new to the site, and headed to BA and on around Argentina in early December for a month or so.

If anyone in the US has some A pesos for sale, let me know.

[Hunt99]

Skip,

The best rate I recently found on pesos anywhere in BA was at the Banco Nacional de la Nacion, which is located right by the customs area in the airport. (Not the kiosk, a regular bank branch) 2.95/2.98

Why bring pesos with you?

[Skip1]

I figure anyone who had pesos in the US might want to sell them.

[Cadavez]

Skip,

The best rate I recently found on pesos anywhere in BA was at the Banco Nacional de la Nacion, which is located right by the customs area in the airport. (Not the kiosk, a regular bank branch) 2.95/2.98

Why bring pesos with you?I'm sorry but I don't agree with you: the rate at the airport was very bad. The cambios at Corrientes why Florida gave me a better deal.

[Hunt99]

I'm sorry but I don't agree with you: the rate at the airport was very bad. The cambios at Corrientes why Florida gave me a better deal.What was the rate in Microcentro compared to the bank at the airport on the same day?

Keep in mind that the small cubicle / kiosk at the airport gives TERRIBLE rates. I'm talking about the regular bank branch inside the airport.

[Bangkok Dave]

What was the rate in Microcentro compared to the bank at the airport on the same day?

Keep in mind that the small cubicle / kiosk at the airport gives TERRIBLE rates. I'm talking about the regular bank branch inside the airport.Good to know this. Thanks,.

Dave

[Moore]

Never ever exchange cash no matter what country you're in. You will get fucked without exception. Use your ATM card to get local cash and your credit card for noncash purchases whenever possible. With bank cards, you get almost exactly the spot market rate of the day of the transaction.

In most countries you will get assraped by about 10% on the rate if you change cash, both buying and selling. If you really savor being fucked in the ass, change cash at a hotel or airport and also make several hours of long distance calls from your hotel room phone.

I only change cash when leaving a country to which I have no immediate plans to return (Hungarian Forint for example). If I'm leaving W Europe and have 100-200 Euros leftover I just keep them for my next trip.

[Sportsman]

I only change cash when leaving a country to which I have no immediate plans to return (Hungarian Forint for example) If I'm leaving WEurope and have 100-200 Euros leftover I just keep them for my next trip.I do the same thing. I have about a few hundreds dollars worth of ARS, EUR, and CZK. But in the countries I do not plan to return in the near future, I usually use whatever remaining local curreny for the hotel or car retanl bills and put the rest on credit card. I never exchange it back to USD.

[Daddy Rulz]

There is a black market cambio in Gallaria del Sol that I have used a lot. The Gallaria is at the corner of Florida and Paraguay, enter from the Paraguay when you get to the main part angle to your right, on the corner is a little leather store with a few jackets. At the back of it is a wooden partition. The leather thing is just a front. Good rates, never got any trutcho.

As Moore says, ATM is the best though, but if you have to exchange, this is a good place.

[Moore]

I guess I don't see why someone would have a bunch of USD down here to change. I mean we've all had ATM cards for decades right?

That said, ARS/USD buy/sell spreads are generally very tight everywhere in Argentina. Recently the buy/sell has been about 3.05/3.01, which is only 1% and there are usually no commissions (at banks at least) I attribute this tiny spread to lingering effects of the former USD-ARS convertibilty plan. Compare this to, for example, USD/EUR spreads which are closer to 10% both ways. If you were to change, buy/sell rates might be 1.30/1.10, and that spread is quite expensive if you're changing larger amounts.

My point is - if you must change USD/ARS here, there is no need to go searching around for a black market or something that might give you 3.02 instead of 3.01 ARS for your USD. Just go to any major bank and you'll get the 3.01. Obviously avoid tourist traps like airports and hotels for FX, although Ive never tried them in Argentina.

[Hunt99]

I definitely would not go to a "black market" place. Stick to the regular businesses that legitimately change pesos into dollars. The difference, as Moore says, couldn't be any more than 1%. Personally, I usually change my dollars at the "Metropolis" cambio which sits next door to La Biela (which is on the corner of the Restaurant Row across from the entrance to the Recoleta cemetery) Or I exchange at the Banco de la Nacion at the airport when I am first arriving.

[Daddy Rulz]

I definitely would not go to a "black market" place. Stick to the regular businesses that legitimately change pesos into dollars. The difference, as Moore says, couldn't be any more than 1%. Personally, I usually change my dollars at the "Metropolis" cambio which sits next door to La Biela (which is on the corner of the Restaurant Row across from the entrance to the Recoleta cemetery) Or I exchange at the Banco de la Nacion at the airport when I am first arriving.Actually these guys have been as much as 3 or 4 % above the official exchange rate. Some people insist in bringing dollars and some guys bring A LOT of dollars so that little spread can be dinner somewhere. I took a couple of guys down there one time and AGAINST my advice they all brought a bunch of dollars and needed to change them. I put a 1000 together between the three of them (do not carry this much money at one time) so I made 30 pesos. I'm a cheap prick and to me 30 pesos is 30 pesos.

Again, I agree with both Hunt and Moore, DON'T bring more than 100 bucks or so in cash. You don't need it for anything but airport fees, use your ATM to get cash. Also use it at a bank during business hours and inspect your money. I got a trucho cien at Banko Francais and because I didn't see it right away they wouldn't do a thing for me.

But if you find yourself needing to change money I have used this place in the past with no problems.

[Moore]

I don't get it DaddyRulz. With open market spreads at 1% you're losing money by paying someone 3% over bank buy rates. You can only make money buying and selling within the open market spread. For instance, with the current bank USD buy / sell rate at 3.01/3.05, someone paying a 3% premium would have to pay you 3.10 instead of 3.01. Now who are they going to sell their dollars to for over 3.05 when the bank openly sells at that rate? For 1000 dollars they paid 3100 pesos and now cannot sell them for more than 3050. Please clarify.

PS you don't need dollars for airport fees. They accept pesos, dollars, or any combination of them.

[Hunt99]

I'll echo Moore's question to Daddy here. It's not as if this is old East Germany where the "official" exchange rate is one Ostmark to one Deutchmark, but the "black market" rate is 3-1. In such circumstances going the way of the black market might make economic sense. In Buenos Aires today, at most, as I understand it, you're getting only a 1% better rate to deal with some shady character who will exchange pesos for you out of a shoebox on the street corner (or some such) Hardly worth the hassle or risk, I think.

[Daddy Rulz]

I don't get it DaddyRulz. With open market spreads at 1% you're losing money by paying someone 3% over bank buy rates. You can only make money buying and selling within the open market spread. For instance, with the current bank USD buy / sell rate at 3.01/3.05, someone paying a 3% premium would have to pay you 3.10 instead of 3.01. Now who are they going to sell their dollars to for over 3.05 when the bank openly sells at that rate? For 1000 dollars they paid 3100 pesos and now cannot sell them for more than 3050. Please clarify.

PS you don't need dollars for airport fees. They accept pesos, dollars, or any combination of them.Moore and Hunt I will grant that both of you have forgotten more than I will ever learn about economics. I'm a working class guy from a working class family. I don't know why this black market cambio which is in a very clean shop in a very safe gallaria will often times have a much higher exchange rate than can be found at banks or official cambios and frankly I really don't care. Perhaps they are hording dollars for the next crisis, maybe the little Russian lady sitting behind the partition making the change is a whack-a-doodle and is making a quilt of dollar bills. Don't know, don't care. What I do know is they will give you more pesos per dollar than any place I have ever seen in BsAs, in a safe environment. There is no shoebox in evidance, they use a cash drawer, it is not in an alley but rather in a nice retail shop and the fat guy sitting out front smiles and shakes your hand when you leave.

I'm also aware that you can use either pesos or dollars at the airport (42 trips so far) I use either depending on how much I have in each currancy. I used to use my debit card until they stopped accepting cards at that window (between August and November sometime) I suggest that people do that in dollars because most guys leaving the country are not coming back in 4-6 weeks like myself and might want to use that last 60 pesos for a hand job before they get in the remis to go to the airport.

For the very last time, I don't suggest that anybody bring large amounts of dollars to BsAs, you don't need them USE YOUR FRIGGEN ATM. However if your reading this board and you did bring dollars and need to change them then the place I refered to at the beginning of this thread will give you good pesos at a good rate (except on Fridays for some bizzare reason I can't fathom) If you need to understand why they are doing that before you make an exchange then perhaps you should ask them, because I don't know and don't care. I also don't care if you go there or not. I'm only passing on what I've learned in the 6 months or so that I've been there for the new guys. Use this knowledge or don't, I don't care.

The shop is there, they give a better exchange rate, they don't deal in trucho, it's safe that is good enough for me. Clear enough?

PD. Two other strange things, sometimes the Russian lady won't accept a dollar that the bank bank has stamped with a counting note. (I don't know what you call them but some banks in the EEUU stamp the top bill in a stack as some sort of accounting measure) They also give you a slightly smaller rate if you give them 20 dollar bills as opposed to 100 dollar bills. Personally I never look for logic in BsAs most times it doesn't seem to exsist.

[Jaimito Cartero]

Since I arrived in BA on the first, I've still got all the details fresh in my mind. As Hunt said, the bank gives he best rate at the airport. 3.01 x 1US. I was wincing just watching the big line of tourists line up at the little cambio by the luggage belts. I think they were giving 2.73 x 1US. Ouch.

I'll be exchanging some dollars later in the week. I'll see if I can find he Russian Mob place and give a comparison.