How to send money abroad more cheaply

It is obvious that there can be many reasons why you want to send money abroad:
Your children are studying in London, Rome, Paris or Moscow and you need to send money
you're emigrant in Spain and you have relatives in your country to send money to help
you're going to make a payment for any product or service to a foreign company
you are going to buy a property in the United Kingdom and you need to send the money
you are paying your mortgage payments for a home in France
you are going to want to move abroad for work reasons and you need to take your money and prefer not to do it with a briefcase.
You are retired with a second home abroad and you want to bring your money.
Money Order, Western Union, MoneyGram International bank transfers, Santander shipping, Paytoo CaixaGiros, Paypal, Payoneer, WebMoney, Yandex Money, Neteller, Skrill, are just a few of these methods.

But the range of possibilities does not end here, especially by the recent emergence of new international services to send money online that offer attractive commissions as TransferWise and explained.

Which method to use for sending money will depend on various factors: are

you going to make a small payment 100 or 1,000 euros or are you going to transfer a higher amount of money as they could be 10,000 or 30,000 euros?
Do you want the money gets quickly to the final recipient or you do not care to wait a few days?
Do you prefer to perform the entire process from the computer of your house or don't mind go to a bank or post office?
Do you work with a bank that applies few commissions or your bank creaks when you make international operations?
Let's look at the different existing methods classified in 5 large groups:

"Traditional" methods. Take the money with a briefcase or put it in an envelope and send it by
postal mail. Go to the post office to make a money order or sent through Western Union
Bank. Perform a bank draft or bank transfer
Paypal. Use Paypal or similar services such as Neteller, Moneybookers, WebMoney or Yandex Money
Financial Services P2P. TransferWise use financial services.
1. "Traditional" methods

There are "traditional" methods to send money overseas:

get the money out of the bank and take him physically we (or a friend or family member) to the destination country to
put the money in an envelope, affix stamp and mail
with respect to the first it has to be borne in mind that many countries impose legal restrictions on the shipment of cash across their borders and that transport also has its cost.

With regard to the second (send it in an envelope) This is a very cheap method but very risky, although you do it through a certified letter, since there is a possibility that is lost.

Apart from these methods, which may be valid for small amounts of money, there are much better methods, each of which has its pros and cons.

2.CorreosEl Office postal money order is a money transfer service carried out by e-mail or a company specialized in it (such as Western Union). Can be carried out at national or international level.

How does the money order?

The international postal service is very easy to understand:

You're going to a post office with your cash, apply for the service of "International" (or the international service of Western Union that is also available in post offices)
filled a form indicating the place and the identity of the person to whom you sent, as well as corn cobs.
You pay a rate depending on the country and the amount sent, and you stay with the proof
The Post Office is responsible for sending the money to another office in which the recipient will receive the payment
international money order

How much does the money order?

Post Office has two modes of money order:

Eurogiro. Has a fixed cost of 5.75 euros and a variable cost of 1.25% of the total amount
Turn UPU Electronic IFS. It also has a fixed cost of between 4.5 and 6.5 euros but the variable cost is reduced (between 0.20% and 1.25% depending on destination). To know the shipping cost it is best to make an estimate on the low post web site:
For its part, the rates applied by Western Union is tiered and can be found on this link.

Examples:
A shipment of 1,000 euros to Ecuador through electronic IFS would cost 10 euros (5 € 0.5% of 1,000 €), while a shipment of 1,000 euros to Ukraine by Eurogiro would cost 18.25 € (5.75 € 1.25 per cent of 1,000 €).
A shipment of 1,000 euros through Western Union to Ecuador would cost 12.9 € (slightly higher than the cost of the eurogiro), while a shipment of 1,000 euros to Ukraine would cost 20 € (also slightly higher). Shipments to Russia are expensive (48.5 euros for a consignment of 1,000 euros).
western_European__logo is best a money order by mail or through Western Union? It depends. Post offices are generally to be a little cheaper, but it must be borne in mind that Western Union offers more services:

Countries. While the postal service postal shipments only about 40 countries (among which are included European and Latin American countries, and countries of the former USSR and Ukraine, Latvia or Lithuania), Western Union service to virtually all over the world (190 countries).
Network of offices. Western Union, in addition to the Post offices, it also has its own network of agents to be widespread and often travel agencies, real estate, and even some banks). It must be borne in mind that Western Union is not the only company that performs this type of shipping although the most well-known. There are other money transfer systems such as, for example, MoneyGram, which also has an extensive network of offices throughout the national territory.
The maximum amount. The money order by mail allows you to send a maximum of 2,500 euros, while Western Union allows a maximum of 3,000 euros.
Shipping times:
The money order by mail allows for two types of shipping: The Eurogiro that have a delivery period of 4 to 6 days, while the rotation UPU Electronic IFS is payable in 15 minutes. It must be borne in mind that the list of countries for UPU Electronic IFS is smaller (Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Morocco, Moldova, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay), but the shipment is more economical.
Western Union makes the delivery of the money in just a few minutes.
3. Send money through Spanish banking services

The most common to send money abroad through a bank is to do it via bank transfer, but what many people don't know is that banks also offer a service to send money (similar to a postal money order or at the service of Western Union) through which it is not necessary to have an account at the bank.

3.1. Giro

parallel to the growth during the last decade in our country of Western Union and MoneyGram, were appearing similar services but operated by the banks themselves also wanted their piece of the pie. It is not a question of transfers in the strict sense but of a service very similar to that offered by Western Union.

However, these services have not been as successful as expected, due to competition from Western Union and the recent emergence of new systems of sending money through the Internet and you mentioned below.

As well, some of these services as a Banco Popular Credit World have ended up disappearing. Others, such as the Santander shipping, they continue to exist but with a market share much lower than that of other systems.

Santander shipping, for example, allows for shipments up to 2,000 € abroad through a cash 4B or of an office. BBVA currently has another money transfer service (BBVA), while La Caixa has CaixaGiros.

4.New logo PayPal Paypal PayPal is a payment method already known by practically all over the world that allows you to buy in many web sites as well as transferring money between people via email. For more than 15 years is an excellent alternative to other methods in the "role" as the postal money order.
PayPal is not a bank so that is not governed by the same laws as these, even though he has to comply with the regulations of the monetary authorities of each country or economic area.
There are other services similar to Paypal but much less known by the general public: Neteller, AlertPay, Skrill, PAYTPV.

How does PayPal?
The system of sending money via PayPal is not complicated. You have to have a PayPal account (it's free open it with your e-mail address) and link it to a bank account or a credit card with which you are going to make the payments.

If you already have a PayPal account you must use the option to send a personal payment. Personal payments (non-commercial) are free provided that these are sent using a bank account or PayPal balance (for payments using a debit or credit card is charged a fee). The recipient must also possess a PayPal account and a bank account linked. For more information on rates at this link.

The process is as follows:

Transfer from your bank account to your PayPal account. If you already have linked the bank account this process is automatic and has no cost. PayPal automatically loads into account the money that becomes part of the PayPal balance.
You make a payment from your PayPal account to your PayPal account of the recipient. It is also automatic.
The recipient transfers the money from your PayPal account to your bank account linked. This transfer is free but not automatic since it usually takes 1 to 2 business day