I want to buy Phillippine pesos to take with me to the Phillippines, the currency converter on the internet tells me that 10000pesos is £130.50the post office who are interest free have told me 10000pesos is £145.80. Why is there such a difference
Internet rates are generally interbank midmarket rates. When you buy or sell a currency it is always going to be higher or lower than this, depending on the exchange loading applied. The post office and others might say they are "commission free" but this is not strictly true - they all apply exchange loadings which is how they make their money.
Also exchange rates change continuously - the internet rate will be the live or 20 minute delayed price, the price you get at the point you make the exchange will be different because of this.
You are nearly always better off just getting the money out of an ATM when you get to the country you are visiting rather than buying it in advance, then you still pay a loading fee plus the amount the bank charges for the withdrawal but this will still be less than the Post Office will charge if you buy the currency before you leave in the UK.
Look online to see if there is an ATM at the airport when you get there. If there isn't no doubt there will be exchange desks you can change sterling from when you arrive.
Because everyone who changes money offers their own exchange rate.
Mostly now no one has commission rates - so they just change the rate they are prepared to exchange at to make the profit.
Every exchange rate will be different.
The Internet rates are just averages usually - or one selected provider.
Go to a currency converter comparison website and look at the best deal you can get. Make sure you dont pick one where you get a really good rate - but have to book the deal weeks in advance.
Usually for the amounts in holiday money exchange - best off checking out the high street banks and PO - and just pick the best one out of those.
Good luck!
Thats because the website you used was using average exchange rate figures. The actual rate is forever changing, sometimes every hour. Also because the Post Office only deals in small amounts, the exchange rate is not as competetive, compared to if you were to buy £250,000 or more then you would get much much better exchange rate.
Take my advice, everyone is out to make a quick buck and the PO is no different. The best advice I can give you is to shop around and buy the best deal. If someone online is only askin for £130.50 for 10,000pesos, then you might consider their offer, but be sure it's genuine first.
Try this link for currency converter
http://coinmill.com/GBP_PHP.html
Make sure the on line one is for the tourist rate and not the commercial international rate which is always higher,